Live blog: Leave v Remain poll: Leave the Lycra or remain in it? Brompton boss clarifies Mamil comments; Vogel inspiration; (Very) off piste cross country skier; What has the EU ever done for you? NewPirelli tyre +more

Yesterday we reported on comments made by Will Butler-Adams, the head of Brompton Bicycles, regarding Mamils and why there’s such enmity between motorists and cyclists.

The Telegraph had it down as a ‘rant about middle-aged men in Lycra’ but it sounds more like Butler-Adams was ranting about the need to normalise cycling.

He says he was actually crediting Mamils with ‘bringing cycling back to life’ after it ‘died’ in the Fifties.

Somehow this seems to have been taken out of context. I said that cycling as a mode of transport died in the 50’s & MAMILS drove its rediscovery but if we want mass cycling in our cities we need to normalise it, with great infrastructure & mass participation. pic.twitter.com/ssaK7S222g

— Will Butler-Adams (@Will_Brompton) February 28, 2019

Yesterday we reported on Andrew Gilligan’s accusation that Sadiq Khan is presiding over the construction of a “fake cycle network”.

He said that in many areas the mayor is doing little more than adding Quietway signs to roads and claiming them as new routes.

We’ve just added the response from the current London cycling commissioner, Will Norman. You can read the story here.

Great save from Jack Carlin over at the World Champs in Poland:

well held @jack_carlin97 pic.twitter.com/cR7vKPt9HO

— Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) March 1, 2019

New world record for the Aussie men’s team.

Full story here.

After Great Britain took silver in the team pursuit, Laura Kenny said she wasn’t performing to her usual standards (see below).

A bit more on that.

View this post on Instagram

I am absolutely gutted to announce that I won’t be riding in the Omnium at the world championships today. I haven’t been feeling right all week for reasons we’re not sure of, but we do know my performances in the team pursuit over the last two days have been well off where I have been in training over the last two weeks. I would have given the Omnium my best shot and I really wanted to do it but with the depth of the squad it was decided that it was better that I didn’t compete and give someone else the opportunity. I agree with the decision and I think Katie will do a brilliant job. I wish her, and all my team mates, the best of luck for the rest of the competition.

A post shared by Laura Kenny (@laurakenny31) on Mar 1, 2019 at 2:24am PST

Austria’s National Anti-Doping Agency has been working alongside police for the last few months on Operation Aderlass.

It’s been pretty high profile in the world of cross-crounty skiing.

Video of Austrian police walking in on Nordic skier Max Hauke WHILE HE WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A BLOOD TRANSFUSIONhttps://t.co/1kUCPH1Mn7 pic.twitter.com/eOVethtfVY

— Neal Rogers (@nealrogers) February 28, 2019

It’s being reported that blood bags have been seized and that 50-60 athletes have been linked to the doctor involved – some of them cyclists.

Two years after launching their range of road tyres and a year after going road tubeless, Pirelli have finally hit the trails. There’s a tyre for hard terrain, soft terrain and a rear only option too. They’re available in the UK from March 2019, head over to off.road.cc for the full report. 

Review of the Cinturato Velo tubeless is here and of the Pirelli P Zero silver road tyre here. 

While this might not apply to us by the end of the month, it’s good to hear the EU has agreed to have the needs of cyclists represented in the revision process of the Road Infrastructure Safety Management Directive, which the European Cyclist’s Federation said was previously car-centric. The ECF gave presentations for the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament and reached out to representatives of the Member States highlighting the importance of providing adequate infrastructure to all road users, including cyclists and pedestrians. They also prepared a set of amendments when the first legislative proposals were published.

Thanks in part to lobbying by the ECF, new changes to the RISM include: 

– Member States shall take the needs of cyclists (as well as pedestrians and motorcyclists) into account in the implementation of all safety procedures defined in the Directive.

– The European Commission shall provide guidance on quality requirements regarding vulnerable road users. Those guidelines shall be developed in close cooperation with Member State experts. The ECF considers this a key element to make sure EU funding is not spent on infrastructure projects that are unsafe for cyclists or that create new barriers for cycling.

– Member States shall ensure that the training curricula for road safety auditors includes aspects related to cyclists and cycling infrastructure.

– Cycling traffic and cycling infrastructure are on the indicative list of data to be collected in the new procedure of network-wide road assessment. This should form a solid basis for more evidence-based policies.

Normalising cycling’s image as a mode of transport in the UK is a hot topic at the moment – the furore about Brompton boss, Will Butler Adams’, comments on Lycra and his clarification of them below is proof of that. It’s also reflected in the row over between former London Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan and his successor over the substance of Sadiq Khan’s vaunted cycling infrastructure improvements in his term as mayor.

One thing we can all agree on though, Lycra the sight of cyclist’s in Lycra (particularly if they’re middle aged) does seem to get some people’s goat. So in our usual spirit of Friday Leave V Remain mutual love tolerance and respect we’re asking if you’d be prepared to do your bit to normalise the image of cycling by leaving the Lycra on your next urban adventure or will you remain a MAMIL/MAWIL (or some variety thereof) and proud? The poll is live – have your say!

For @KristinaVogel to be so positive after going through something so horrendous is nothing sort of incredible

More on her interview with @Chrishoy https://t.co/o62H0peRB2 pic.twitter.com/Rdn2nFlpWk

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 1, 2019

Watch Chris Hoy’s interview with Kristina Vogel. Hoy called her “an incredible human being”, and Vogel recently said her passion for cycling “still burns” despite her paralysis. Link to Hoy’s full length feature on the BBC here.  

Full story here.

There must be a cyclist holding up all the traffic pic.twitter.com/i0Ilt1Acu4

— Jorgy (@Jorgy1967Tiger) February 27, 2019

Less cyclists holding up traffic on the way home pic.twitter.com/dzleZ9pVF2

— Jorgy (@Jorgy1967Tiger) February 27, 2019

#UAETOUR Unfortunately, @alexdowsett could not finish today’s stage 6 due to a crash. He was taken from the parcours to the hospital for examination. First diagnosis besides abrasions and bruises: fracture of the thumb. Get well soon, mate!

— Team KATUSHA ALPECIN (@katushacycling) March 1, 2019

Despite a fractured thumb, it seems like the Katusha-Alecin rider had a fairly lucky escape.  

Yeah, probably not really the right time to overtake judging by the smoking tyres of the fella going the other way.

Watch the video here.