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HGV driver suspended after threatening to knock down "spandex-wearing f******"; Patrick Lefevere accuses Sam Bennett of "playing with my balls in public" by riding European Champs; LCC protest reaction; CyclingMikey's bonnet ride + more on the live blog

It's Thursday, unfortunately summer looks like it's done...anyway, Dan Alexander is here for your live blog fix...
09 September 2021, 16:04
Chris Froome joins forces with Supersapiens as newest advisor and investor
Chris Froome Supersapiens

Chris Froome has joined with energy management brand Supersapiens as a technical advisor and investor. The deal follows on from the news that the seven-time Tour de France winner will be joining Factor's board of directors and will take up a product development role.

Speaking about his latest partnership, Froome said: "I’m proud to be joining Phil and his team at Supersapiens. I’m constantly searching for improved performance from myself and my equipment. I’m looking forward to playing my part in bringing Supersapiens to performance athletes of all levels in cycling and beyond. It’s great to be part of something so genuinely game-changing"

Supersapiens glucose monitoring system aims to help atheltes inform fuelling habits by measuring spikes and troughs in blood sugar levels.

09 September 2021, 15:17
Stefan Küng defends European Championships TT title

Swiss time trial machine Stefan Küng can keep his European Championships jersey for another year after defending his crown. The FDJ man beat Filippo Ganna's time by eight seconds. Remco Evenepoel was third, 15 seconds slower.

Of the other notable starters, Tadej Pogacar's 12th place caught the eye. Possibly a result down to minimal racing since dominating the Tour de France. The road race follows this Sunday...and you'd expect Pog to be one of the main favourites considering the 4,000m+ of climbing on the route.

Sam Bennett not so much, but hey, if it winds up Patrick Lefevere then surely it's worth it...

09 September 2021, 14:52
North London's big gravel day out is back...Brooks comes onboard as sponsor
North London Dirt x Brooks

North London Dirt is back for its fourth year on the scene. The team wanted to create an event that could incorporate the qualities of urban and gravel riding - two types at riding you might not necessarily assume go together. The 113km route winds through North London's overlooked paths, farm roads and winding trails.

The event is also raising money for the St Mary's community centre and is partnered with Ride 4 Unity to celebrate diversity and togetherness in cycling. Unfortunately, if you've had your head turned, this year's event is already full...but the NLD team encourage you to head over to Instagram to check out all the best photos from the big day, as well as details on a charity raffle and info on signing up to future events.

09 September 2021, 14:16
Ethan Hayter wins stage five of the Tour of Britain to reclaim leader's jersey - heavily reduced bunch contested the win after a big crash on the final bend

It was another chaotic finish at the Tour of Britain, this time because of a big crash on the final bend. Ethan Hayter and his final leadout man Michal Kwiatkowski made it through safely before the young Brit held off Giacomo Nizzolo to win his second stage of the race, reclaiming the leader's jersey in the process.

Mark Cavendish was briefly held up by the fall and had to sprint just to regain contact with the front of the race. Once back in he had little left for the burst to the line and rolled over in fifth.

Wout van Aert wasn't at the front either and missed the opportunity to sprint for bonus seconds. Consequently, Hayter will wear the blue jersey tomorrow, which he takes from his Belgian by eight seconds.

09 September 2021, 13:24
Tour of Britain...showcasing the best of British driving

Sometimes you've just got to laugh... 

09 September 2021, 12:36
White & Co. reportedly suspends driver over comments

Here's the latest update on the main story of the morning...White & Co. has reportedly suspended the driver involved and told Wandsworth Labour's Jo Rigby they couldn't responsibly have the man driving an HGV.

09 September 2021, 12:29
Swiss Side’s new pressure measurement rake allows you to SEE drag
Swiss Side new pressure measurement

Swiss Side has unveiled a new pressure measurement rake that allows you to see aerodynamic drag, where it is coming from, and at what intensity.

“The Swiss Side pressure measurement rake measures the energy lost in the airflow behind an object,” says Swiss Side. “This is the aerodynamic drag. It does this using an array of 128 Kiel probes which are illuminated by 288 individually controlled LEDs, which change colour depending on the measured air pressure.”

A Kiel probe is a device that measures the pressure of a flow. Swiss Side says that its new equipment captures “a complete live colour picture of the aerodynamic drag and its intensity across the area measured”. 

No device of this kind existed before, so the Swiss Side engineering team developed everything in house to its exact requirements. 

“This included the design and assembly of every component from the physical rake hardware itself, the pressure measurement system electronics and data logger, all the way through to the software systems, “ says Swiss Side.  

The extensive array of sensors used by the rake system are connected wirelessly over a local internet network. 

Swiss Side says that its activities now extend well beyond cycling to include a wide range of industries from sports to automotive. 

“The pressure measurement rake provides a hugely valuable development tool for any application,” says Swiss Side. “It also provides extremely useful data for correlation back to the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation models, which further improves and refines the development process.”

09 September 2021, 10:59
CyclingMikey takes a "stop a Douchebag" bonnet ride
09 September 2021, 10:28
Patrick Lefevere accuses Sam Bennett of "playing with my balls in public" by returning to competition at European Championships
Specialized S-Works Ares 6 Sam Bennett

Another day, another amusing balls story...today it's Sam Bennett playing the wasp, while Patrick Lefevere is the unamused Sir Chris Hoy. The Deceuninck-Quick-Step boss has accused Sam Bennett of "playing with his balls in public" as the Irishman prepares to represent his country at the European Championships this week.

Lefevere, who earlier this year distastefully compared his sprinter to a domestic abuse victim, wrote in his Het Nieuwsblad column that Bennett has not communicated with the team about the knee injury that forced him to miss the Tour de France. At the time, the team boss said the 30-year-old's problem was a "fear of failure", not a physical issue.

Lefevere has begun the process of cutting Bennett's salary in half from this month onwards, something the UCI allows if a rider has been inactive for three months. The Belgian believes Bennett is riding this weekend to prepare for a possible legal dispute, to prove he was fit and ready to race.

"What he's doing now is playing with my balls in public," Lefevere said. "Anyone who knows me knows that I never do that [cut riders' pay]. I continued to pay Fabio Jakobsen and dozens of other riders in full, despite long injuries. But here the rider acts in bad faith. He no longer uploads training files. He doesn't want to be operated on. And he is crying on the phone with our doctor Philip Jansen.

"I hear from his manager Andrew McQuaid that he will definitely finish the European Championship. I'm not so sure about that yet. We have already suggested that we do an exercise test at our Bakala Academy, but he does not go into that. For me it's simple; first prove that you're fit, before you take the place of a teammate."

Lefevere also sarcastically questioned why Bennett was suddenly so keen to race a hilly course with more than 4,000 metres of climbing, having not raced since May.

09 September 2021, 10:00
White & Co. addresses "absolutely unacceptable" comments from one of its drivers threatening to knock down "spandex-wearing fuckers"

Here it is... I'm guessing it has been a busy morning over at White & Co. headquarters. Joel Lewis, who first shared the picture of the comment, got back to the removal firm, thanking them for the response.

He also suggested it could be a good opportunity to re-evaluate the training drivers are given regarding safe conduct on the road around vulnerable road users. An idea that seems particularly topical in the context of the upcoming changes to the Highway Code to be published this autumn. Under the new hierarchy of road users, those with potential to cause the most danger to others will be deemed to have greater responsibility to those who are more vulnerable.

09 September 2021, 09:05
Huge turnout at LCC ride protesting inaction on dangerous junctions

These were the scenes in the capital last night for the London Cycling Campaign's big protest ride demanding action on dangerous junctions. In August, yet another cyclist was killed at London's Holborn gyratory, the seventh since 2008.

Riders were joined by Caroline Russell, the London Assembly member, and heard speeches, including from Liberal Democrat London Assembly member and Chair of the Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon. Flowers were laid and victims' names read in Holborn, where Marta Krawiec was killed last month.

 The LCC's petition demanding action on lethal junctions has more than 7,000 signatures and can be accessed here...

09 September 2021, 07:52
HGV driver under fire after threatening to knock down "spandex-wearing f******"
Joel Lewis tweet name of HGV driver removed

A HGV driver, whose Facebook profile says he works for White & Company, is today under fire after a message threatening to knock down "Lycra-clad, spandex-wearing fuckers" emerged online. Here it is in full...

HGV driver comment name removed

Joel Lewis raised the alarm and asked White & Company on Twitter if the views were company policy? We'll see if they reply...Lewis later clarified that, "I personally would not expect someone to lose a job over one (albeit vile) social media shitpost. I would expect the company to make clear to all drivers to drive impeccably around cyclists."

It wasn't long before another user shared a negative review of the company on Trustpilot. Another said he was "unfortunately" using the company for his upcoming move to the Netherlands, and "if I had known this before hand, I would not have used them. Shame as they still have my stuff in storage, service has been good so far…However I shall now send a complaint to my contact."

Matt Burnham shared the company contact details and speculated it may be receiving a few calls asking what action had been taken. 

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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48 comments

Avatar
espressodan | 2 years ago
5 likes

Airlines wouldn't emoloy a pilot who threatened to deliberately crash their aircraft, even if they were "just joking".

Police force wouldn't emoloy an officer who threatened deliberate violence, even if they were "just joking".

Haulage companies shouldn't employ drivers who threaten to deliberately knock cyclists of bikes.

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wycombewheeler replied to espressodan | 2 years ago
4 likes

espressodan wrote:

 Police force wouldn't emoloy an officer who threatened deliberate violence,.

it seems like in America it may actually move the application up the pile.

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brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

And now onto the important things: so what's the latest Mikey story on about?

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
4 likes

Sounds like someone drove at him rather then reverse back into the queue and drive to a legal requirement. Mikey had to jump on the bonnet or get run over.  Of course the accused is supposedly claiming that Mikey jumped across the bonnet of the stationary car for no reason and then the driver feared for his life so drove around the corner with mikey clawing at the windowscreen to break it and rip the drivers throat out. I expect a video will be up in a few months time when the court case is completed.

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brooksby | 2 years ago
12 likes

Quick show of hands - who thinks the HGV Driver of the Day will now go around blaming bl00dy cyclists for losing him his job?

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DoomeFrog replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
9 likes

Probably in the the Daily Hate tomorrow as

War on HGV Drivers!.....Cyclists trying to clear roads of hard working lorry drivers during pandemic shortages

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brooksby replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
2 likes

I'd say maybe 50/50.

He's been suspended because bl00dy cyclists read what he'd written and mentioned it to his employers (and it's really not a good look for them), but on the other hand he's the one who thought that it would be a good idea to write that and put it out in the public domain.

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Sniffer replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes

Nigel prefers to blame cyclists as a general rule.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Sniffer | 2 years ago
5 likes

But he also supports a Government that never actually have to own their consequences. Make an obvious "they all look the same don't they" mistake like Gavin Williamson, "oh well". Lying to parliament, "so what". Given billions to your buddies during a pandemic "they needed to rush and what has Labour done anyway to control the pandemic". 

So someone posting in public he wants to drive over cyclists in his HGV whilst promoting his company links, and then getting reported to his company... "well that is cancel culture and I will not have any part of it as it is only the snowflakes who do that...... unless someone on GBNews takes a knee of course."

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wycombewheeler replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes

brooksby wrote:

I'd say maybe 50/50.

He's been suspended because bl00dy cyclists read what he'd written and mentioned it to his employers (and it's really not a good look for them), but on the other hand he's the one who thought that it would be a good idea to write that and put it out in the public domain.

some people really need to understand that they should only post something on facebook if they would be happy to put the same thing on display on their company notice board and sign it.

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brooksby replied to wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
1 like

wycombewheeler wrote:

brooksby wrote:

I'd say maybe 50/50.

He's been suspended because bl00dy cyclists read what he'd written and mentioned it to his employers (and it's really not a good look for them), but on the other hand he's the one who thought that it would be a good idea to write that and put it out in the public domain.

some people really need to understand that they should only post something on facebook if they would be happy to put the same thing on display on their company notice board and sign it.

I tell my kids that when they are texting someone or emailing them or anything like that, they need to be aware that the content of that message - once it's been written down - could end up being seen by anyone (and to write accordingly).

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Rendel Harris replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
14 likes

Nigel Garrage wrote:

Well if he did do that, he'd be 100% correct wouldn't he? 

No he wouldn't, bloody cyclists wouldn't have lost him his job, he would have lost his job himself by making threats of violence against cyclists in a public forum in which he clearly identified his employers. 100% on him.

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Velo-drone replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
10 likes

A threat of violence can only be pursued as a public order offence and if it causes a specific person or persons(s) to alarm or distress. The police would not be able to do anything.

Let's also recall that this individual is stating in public that he wishes to use his employer's equipment to maim or kill people, in the course of his work duties.

So yes, that is a matter of concern for the employer.

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grumpyoldcyclist replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
5 likes

Read the thread. the comment was reported to the police several times

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Rendel Harris replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
11 likes

Nigel Garrage wrote:

I don't see anything here about it being reported to the police. If that's what happened, great - leave it to the police to take action if that's what is decided and then report on the outcome.

Why Nigel - it's almost as if you have a vested interest in people saying stupid anti-cyclist nonsense online remaining anonymous and unpunished! 

The police most likely would/will take no action or issue a mild warning at best. Why shouldn't people warn an employer that their driver is making threats to run over cyclists? Should people wait until he does it and give their evidence at the inquest?

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Mungecrundle replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
6 likes

Say stupid things in public, expect to get called out in public.

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Jetmans Dad replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
6 likes

Nigel Garrage wrote:

I don't see anything here about it being reported to the police. If that's what happened, great - leave it to the police to take action if that's what is decided and then report on the outcome.

As a teacher, I feel pretty certain that if I posted on Facebook last week that I couldn't wait for term to start because I have missed being able to slap kids around whenever I want to, having someone report that to my school would be a prelude to at least a suspension, probably dismissal and most likely also a tribunal at which it was decided whether I would be allowed to ever teach again. 

And you know what ... that would 100% be my fault. 

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Rendel Harris replied to Jetmans Dad | 2 years ago
2 likes

Are you sure? Wouldn't they have been "weaseling around [your] Facebook profile looking to snitch [you] to [your] employer"?

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Rendel Harris replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
9 likes

Nigel Garrage wrote:

So if someone makes threats of violence you report them to the police... you don't go weaseling around their Facebook profile looking to snitch them to their employer.

Oh Nigel, you really are 'phoning it in now. Come on love, if you must troll, put your back into it. This is just too lame even by your standards. A truck driver says he wants to run over cyclists and you're criticising cyclists for asking his employer if they're cool with that? 1.5/10 troll rating.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
5 likes

As someone else pointed out, he specifically was stating he would run them over in the equipment supplied by said employer with their branding all over it. So why not alert the employer. 

It is funny Boo only wants it reporting to the Police when he has called out some other NMotD as they would get spoken to for wasting Police time. 

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Rendel Harris replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
0 likes

Where's the "hit the nail on the head" emoji?

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Rendel Harris replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
2 likes

Nigel Garrage wrote:

None of what you've written here is true - for example in the latest NMOTD video I specifically mention that I hope the driver gets a good penalty for their illegal driving.

AS said "he has called out some other NMotD as they would get spoken to for wasting Police time." As indeed you have, so it's perfectly true. Maybe you don't read your own drivel? Don't blame you if so. 

Nigel Garrage wrote:

I'm simply asking to keep the law with the lawmakers - I dislike this populist trial by Twitter that takes place daily to try to cancel people's livelihoods.

An HGV driver said he wants to run over cyclists and some people have quite properly alerted his employer to that fact. That's not trial by Twitter, it's a perfectly legitimate action to get an aggressive and potentially murderous driver off the road. I suppose you'd like it if everyone had stayed silent and only spoken up about it once he'd killed someone?

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
2 likes

Apparently, as none of what I had written in that post is true, Mr THurd didn't post he wanted to drive over cyclists in his company branded HGV either. Maybe he was going to go out an buy an all black one so no one would see him hitting and then "not stopping".  Or maybe the screenshots were all just a figment of our imagination. 

 

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brooksby replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
0 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Apparently, as none of what I had written in that post is true, Mr THurd didn't post he wanted to drive over cyclists in his company branded HGV either. Maybe he was going to go out an buy an all black one so no one would see him hitting and then "not stopping".  Or maybe the screenshots were all just a figment of our imagination. 

Was that supposed to have been aimed at Our Nige rather than Rendel?

 

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
1 like

Nope, continuing a convo with Rendel about comments made by another poster in addition to rens reply about said same comments. 

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Rendel Harris replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
0 likes

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

Nope, continuing a convo with Rendel about comments made by another poster in addition to rens reply about said same comments. 

Yes I understood that - slight misunderstanding from Brooks but s/he's a good  'un so all good!

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Awavey replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
1 like

and change his name to Garthe?

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Captain Badger replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
1 like

Awavey wrote:

and change his name to Garthe?

WOW. There's a blast from the past. I'd totally forgotten that

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Captain Badger replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
4 likes

brooksby wrote:

Quick show of hands - who thinks the HGV Driver of the Day will now go around blaming bl00dy cyclists for losing him his job?

I wonder if anyone is going to say that it was the cyclist's fault? 

Nah, that'd be like agreeing with a criminal who blames a witness for his bird. No one's that stoopid....

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Captain Badger | 2 years ago
5 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

....

I wonder if anyone is going to say that it was the cyclist's fault? 

Nah, that'd be like agreeing with a criminal who blames a witness for his bird. No one's that stoopid....

I'm going to keep away from Twatter et al though. If I see anyone talking about snitches, grasses or anything like that, I'll want to stick a fork in my eye.

Perfectly safe from that here though. None of our regular posters has the mentality of an under 12 year old.....

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