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Live blog: Belgium’s word of the year? “Murderstrip” – a painted bike lane, pump track cycle lane, Geraint Thomas the Grogg + more
After the BBC’s blunder of editing out G’s Welsh flag as he celebrates his TDF victory, national pride is restored after we spotted that he’s proving so popular as a Grogg you’ll have to wait five months for one!
Tue, Dec 18, 2018 17:01
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
GravelIsNothingNew 16 minutes ago
The best thing about the TTT as Stage 1 is that it emphasises the fact that cycling grand tours incl the TDF are a team sport.
mdavidford 43 minutes ago
If you click through and read the story you'll see that the first motorist hit the cyclist, and the second, following, motorist then also hit them while they were lying in the road - both were convicted of causing the cyclist's death.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
I may be reading far too much into it, but I felt as though Pogacar and UAE weren't actually that bothered about winning today. Not having yellow to defend and all the extra press etc to do this early in the race is an indisputable advantage; I just got the impression that they were out to lose no more than a handful of seconds but not to bury themselves for the win. With about 2.5kms to go I thought that if Pogacar really wanted it he would have gone from there, but he stayed with Del Toro for nearly another kilometre even though the body language was saying that no way was Del Toro in as good shape as Pogacar. Even after the finish he didn't seem as wiped out as Ganna (whom I don't think I've ever seen quite so shattered) or Jonas. As I say, might be reading too much into it but I would not be surprised if UAE had played a very clever hand not to lose any meaningful time but to avoid the burden of yellow from the get go.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@tomlew It's not his youth so much as his inexperience. He's never ridden a race longer than eight days before. Pogacar won his first Tour, it's true, but he'd already finished a Vuelta. There's simply to much for him to learn and become accustomed to in my opinion for him to have a realistic chance of victory, particularly as he's up against probably the greatest of all time and a double Tour winner, both of whom seem to be at the peak of their powers. It's not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility but he'd need a hatful of luck and something fairly catastrophic to happen to both of those guys before he'd realistically be in with a shout. Don't forget nobody has won their first Grand Tour since Hinault in 1978, forty-eight years is a hell of a lot of precedent.
tomlew 4 hours ago
There is no rational reason for a rider this young not to dominate the race, other than some of us believing this is "not right" based purely on opinion. Younger athletes recover much, much faster. They adapt more easily. They are typically more eager to take risks, which is... well, risky, but could pay off big time if the stars align. Burnout? Yes, that is a risk. But it's not a given. See how long Leo Messi has been absolutely top-notch. The risks are high, but the potential is even more so. And even if Seixas does burn out early, it may just be his choice despite the awareness of the risk. If I were a prodigy cyclist youngster with a realistic shot at winning, I might take it even if I knew it might be the end of my career. After all, it's winning the TdF we're talking about!
tomlew 4 hours ago
@Rendel Harris Let's turn this around. One can hack their electronic shifting and nobody will believe them!
Davidb67 5 hours ago
I’m confused: “ A driver who took a selfie, watched videos and sent messages at the wheel before killing a cyclist was jailed for five years, whilst a hit-and-run motorist who subsequently struck the same rider….” How does that work? Resurrection? Did the poor unfortunate cyclist recover from his/her case of death, only to be hit by a motorist again? Please, I don’t mean to make light of either case, merely to point out the poor/lazy journalism….
Mr Blackbird 5 hours ago
It was certainly an exciting watch today. Surprised that INEOS selected Ganna and Tarling. It felt like win at all costs and they didn't quite manage it. Personally I would rather see more riders having to stay together till the finish. It will reduce opportunities for teams to "rest" climbing domestiques and it preserves the spectacle and identity of the TTT discipline. Great start to the tour. Vingegaard is obviously in outstanding shape, but will he pay for today's effort later on.
Pub bike 7 hours ago
@chrisonabike Yes does it mean those without it are intrinsically less safe because they don't appear on the motorists' "radar" (in both senses of the word)? This is the problem with bike radars - they aren't addressing the root cause. The problem isn't cyclists being informed just before a motorist smacks into them for which the cyclists can do very little. The problem is motorists not taking evasive action before they (almost?) collide with the cyclist. Radar should be mandatory for cars.
darnac 8 hours ago
I watched it in thé Dauphiné but didn't get that feeling.
22 thoughts on “Live blog: Belgium’s word of the year? “Murderstrip” – a painted bike lane, pump track cycle lane, Geraint Thomas the Grogg + more”
So other police forces
So other police forces responded and said they would take action, but is there anything from the Met?
The BBC was best described as “where the truth comes to die.” Removing the flag is crass.
burtthebike wrote:
I’m hoping that the Met aren’t commenting because they’re dealing with the driver.
The BBC is truly a disgrace – it’s supposed to be “British”, not English.
burtthebike wrote:
— burtthebikeDisagree. Removing the SKY logo was crass.
Removing Geraint’s flag is deeply offensive.
Good of the WMP to emphasise
Good of the WMP to emphasise ‘if it were on our patch’ – puts the onus on the Met to treat JV and other London commuters fairly.
Re G and the flag – a bit antagonistic, given some people’s sensitivity, but you coulld argue that it looks better aesthetically for their purposes – it looks a bit ‘busy’ with the dragon directly behind his head. The removal of the Sky logo on the other hand just smacks of petty rivalry!
Why is is always so
Why is is always so predictable:
Cyclist: I was almost killed
Some idiot: Ye, well what about cyclists that run red lights?
Cyclist: Drivers run red lights too/speed/put more road users at risk
Idiot: Were not talking about that. We are talking about cyclists!
I got in to one of these arguments at work the other day. Apparently it is totally acceptable to stand in the middle of the office bitching loudly about cyclists running a red light at the end of the road, but I’m being rude when I butt in to point out that its because drivers also ignore the light, stop in the ASL and cut the corner (It’s left only for cars and a crossroads for cyclists. I have seen cyclists hit there) and cycists feel unsafe stopping there. Still bitter about that.
John Smith wrote:
Don’t waste your time being bitter. Gammon’s gonna Gammon.
John Smith wrote:
Like pretty much every local paper story that mentions a cyclist, and is used as an excuse to talk not about the story in question but “about this one time, there was this one cyclist, and he did something I don’t agree with, and another time I saw this other cyclist who…, and another time…”.
John Smith wrote:
Get a new job. It sounds like you work with a bunch of morons.
That’s pretty embarrasing by
That’s pretty embarrasing by the BBC.
BBC removed the Sky logo
BBC removed the Sky logo because one of their core sports didntd win POTY. It’s infuriating for them that these bally cyclists keep winning when our other national teams have won nothing this year.
They don’t give road cycling any coverage in their sports reports, apart from the mearest mention when G,Yates or Froome win a stage. This despite the UK public loving road cycling, witness the crowds by the roadside during major events, and ITV4s viewing figures for the TDF and Vuelta.
But give them a cycling scandal and it’s all hands to the pumps
maviczap wrote:
Brushing out the SKY logo is the least of the BBC’s problems in that photo, byt.
maviczap wrote:
I was trying not to mention the BBC’s 30 year helmet campaign that breaks every rule in their own Editorial Guidelines, but you made me do it! And they have endless programmes about obesity and always, but always, blame it solely on diet, and never, but never, ever mention the single most effective way of treating it; cycling.
Ergo, they hate cyclists.
From what I can see the Flag
From what I can see the Flag was removed from the picture that was used in promotions prior to the votes for SPOTY, just as the union flag was removed from the picture used for Lizzie Yarnold, it’s not about Celt bashing but a clumsy attempt at reducing the “vote for the one from my part of the country”
As a Scot I’m not suddenly getting upset that no Scots were in the short list this year, though I do get annoyed by the amout of Football drivel on the show (mostly because I love nearly all sport but really really dislike football and this country’s obsession with it)
EK Spinner wrote:
Missed this earlier. So why not use a different picture of Thomas? There are surely lots to choose from.
Merely the possibility that the editing was politically motivated is disconcerting. Or perhaps some of us are interpreting it has having a particular meaning when there is none.
Football drivel is a staple of British sports media. It sells newspapers and website clicks and it’s not hard to find a pundit as any dimwit can spout about footie.
Are there Scottish athletes / sportspeople / hoofball celebrities that should be on the list? I don’t follow sports other than those with 2 or 3 wheels so wouldn’t have a clue. TBH the programme is a backslapping exercise and of no relevance to anything else. Its only merit is in showcasing people from less popular sports. Cycling surely isn’t one of those now but I can’t imagine what that must have been like when Tom Simpson won spoty.
I don’t get it? Morrissey isn
I don’t get it? Morrissey isn’t Welsh.
See 59 wrote:
Now you’ve pointed that out…I actually laughed out loud when I went back to look what you meant!
Perhaps the JV footage should have a Smiths soundtrack “…and if a double decker bus, crashes into us…”)
Either way, at least he’s a Sports Personality who actually HAS a personality for once!
The tarmac hasn’t risen up
The tarmac hasn’t risen up between the concrete blocks, it has been laid on top of the original flat tarmac so that pedestrians can easily get up to the road. It would have been extremely difficult with a wheelchair/buggie or any kind of disablement to get onto the road. Looks hideous, is probably dangerous for cyclists and demonstrates the complete lack of forethought by the planners.
You don’t say where it is, but it’s kind of comforting to realise that it isn’t just UK planners who can screw up so utterly royally. Kind of.
No experienced planner would have done this, but it seems that the raw planners, straight out of college, are given the pedestrian/cycling schemes, so we keep getting results like this. Experience is what you get when you make a mistake, but after they’ve got some experience they are promoted, and the next school-leaver gets to practice on the cyclists/pedestrians, and the cycle continues. When I used to go to meetings with the local planners, I often wondered why poor little amateur me seemed to know more about planning for cyclists than the professionals and eventually worked out that I had read the books and the planning documents, they’d just spent a couple of years at college talking statistics and getting pissed.
Reminds me a little of the
Reminds me a little of the cycle lane on Sealand Road heading towards Chester, running across all of the dropped kerbs for the drives to each house.
Tommytrucker wrote:
My thought exactly.
Murderstrip, I get that.
Murderstrip, I get that.
I just love the bluntness of
I just love the bluntness of the Belgians….
Chris Hayes wrote:
I was in a relatively small Belgian town (Dendermonde) on a business trip last week. The place was absolutely teeming with cyclists who have priority most places and the “protection” of presumed liability laws. Driving round with a local four things were noticeable:
It’s an odd mix and I can see why they’re called murder strips. It felt like around town the average driving speed was over 30mph, or certainly higher than it is in a UK town. The strips are narrow, and most cyclists are getting it done too, even on hybrids and dutch bikes. So plenty of overtaking in narrow cycle lanes alongside fast traffic, and most kids cycle to school.
Looking at the stats fatalities are between 73 & 90 deaths per year since 2011. Couldn’t find anything on fatalities per km travelled but clearly Les Belges cycle more for utility than we do.