Business group say they have “significant” evidence of town centre cycling that “feels dangerous” as they lobby for ban; Bahrain Victorious rider suspended for anti-doping violation; Sarah Ruggins’ latest challenge + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Grumbling Spaldonians
Not the name of a 19th century F.A. Cup winner, but the term I’ve just invented to describe the the residents of a Lincolnshire village unhappy with people moving efficiently and environmentally-consciously through their town.
A few weeks ago, Ryan wrote a good summary of the story, outlining how South Holland District Council have a Public Space Protection Order to renew shortly, but that the Spalding Business Improvement District (BID) are putting together evidence that “dangerous cycling” in the town centre justifies a complete ban on cycling in the town centre.
Ryan also explained how, facing a shortage of evidence, the BID had launched a consultation as a call for evidence. Well, two weeks later, has it worked?
“We received what we expected to receive – which was an overwhelming number of people who not only said ‘please stop it’ but also shared their personal stories of fear.” BID manager Sarah Fletcher told LincsOnline.
“We want people to feel safe and not worry about coming out of the shop and being hit by a bike because it’s cycling illegally on the pavement.”
Indeed, don’t we all? But it seems ambitious to presume that the solution to cyclists breaking a law is to impose another law. There’s a metaphor involving a nut and a sledgehammer that comes to mind.
But also, a quick look at the streets of Spalding are quite revealing in themself.
Very narrow streets, low kerbs. No wonder they need double yellow lines. I’d be inclined to suggest that from a safety perspective, pedestrianisation might be the better option, though that doesn’t seem particularly appealing for the BID. Or of course, safe, protected cycle infrastructure, but baby steps.
LincsOnline also say that the BID’s findings have been submitted to Lincolnshire Police, South Holland District Council’s Community Safety Team, Lincolnshire County Council’s Active Travel Team and secondary schools in the town with a view to using the evidence when the local council renew the Public Space Protection Order later this year.
Whether the Conservative-led council choose to follow the BID’s recommendations remains to be seen, though we’re fearing the worst…
Life in the old dog Sevilla
We’ll end today with a contract renewal for a rider riding for a third-tier Colombian team. Normally that wouldn’t make it to this page, but when the rider is Oscar Sevilla, we’ll make an exception.
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Undeterred by another recent mugging whilst out training, the 50 year old has agreed terms to ride for Medellin-EPM in 2027, and will race “with motivation, discipline, respect, and admiration for this beautiful sport.”
A 29th season in the peloton will also see the Spanish-Colombian rider draw to within a year of the late Davide Rebellin, who managed a 30-year long career before his life was cruelly ended by a lorry driver weeks after his retirement.
> 49-year-old pro cyclist Oscar Sevilla victim of an armed robbery whilst training in Colombia
Poor Ion
It’s the time of year where riders are racing their final races, preparing for a wheeled guard of honour and questions about what comes next. Although such is the fickle nature of the sport, for many riders they don’t know it’s their last time. At the Vuelta, we bid farewell to Steven Kruijswijk, Magnus Cort, David de la Cruz, Pello Bilbao and Jesus Herrada. Proper hitters…
For Ion Izagirre, Il Lombardia was supposed to be the final race of a glittering career that included two Tour de France stage wins, national titles as well as the biggest race in his world, the Tour of the Basque Country.
But, his Cofidis team announced yesterday that Izagirre had broken his wrist in a training crash, denying the 37-year-old the accolades of a proper farewell. Our best wishes to him.
What it does mean though, is that the last time Izagirre pinned on a race number was at the Memorial Marco Pantani, a race he only went and won!
Ion Izagirre wins the Memorial Marco Pantani, just weeks before his retirement 🏆
What a way to bow out 🥹 pic.twitter.com/KlBE5oiUz6
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) September 12, 2026
How many riders win the last race of their career? And before you start, we’re most definitely not counting criteriums or exhibitions. Sorry Cav…
A curious fess...
One of the few bits of social media that remains tolerable is the bit where people anonymously submit opinions or accounts of events. Some are funny, some are a bore, others are rather profound and moving. A lot like people in general. Today, this one caught our attention…
Pro cyclist here who grew up in abject poverty as an only child. When I started cycling seriously in my teens I needed extra calories mom couldn’t afford. I used to go to the local food bank and pretend I had three siblings. They knew and never said a word. They were true saints.
— Fesshole🧻 (@fesshole) September 30, 2026
A part of me wants to try and identify who it might be, but that also undercuts the purpose of the submission, so we’ll leave it be. Instead, it’s always worth remembering that, amid all the unpleasant-ness we end up covering, people are still good!
Ruggins round the world!
Ay ay ay! Sarah Ruggins, the ultra-endurance cyclist extraordinaire who broke the world record for cycling across Europe by a whopping three days earlier this year, has announced her new challenge.
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Project ATLAS will see Ruggins attempt to break Mark Beaumont’s record for cycling around the world in 78 days, 14 hours and 14 minutes, cycling more than 29,000km in the process. The women’s record, set by Lael Wilcox two years ago, is 108 days, 12 hours and 15 minutes. Ruggins has set herself a mission of doing it in 75 days. That’s averaging 387km a day, excluding flights.
Whilst her route will be confirmed closer to the time, she plans on heading east from Nova Scotia, and will be required per the rules to pass through two points on opposite sides of the globe.
“I want to push the boundaries of what we believe is possible in endurance sport – but more importantly, I want people to see that the limits we imagine for ourselves are not always the limits that exist.” Ruggins says.
“If I can keep going when something feels impossible, perhaps someone else will believe they can keep going too.”
Best load up on gels…
An all too common occurrence...
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Bike mechanic shortage
Have we found an AI proof industry?
If we have, then the bike shops might have to get their act together based on what they were saying a few months ago…
Pro suspended for anti-doping violation
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It’s been a little while since we’ve had a WorldTour doping case. Of the top of my head it’s Oier Lazkano who was suspended last year. The Spaniard denied all wrong doing and an investigation is believed to be ongoing. But given the manner Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe cut him adrift, things aren’t looking good.
In contrast, Alberto Bruttomesso, a 22-year old sprinter in his third season, has the “full support” of his Bahrain Victorious team, after the Italian anti-doping agency announced his provisional suspension over the detection and “use or attempted use” of banned substances.
Bahrain add they will “cooperate fully with the relevant anti-doping authorities as the matter is investigated”, the sort of statement you know they have to say, but still is different from how you may remember other riders being dropped with immediate effect in years gone by.
Bruttomesso won a stage of the under-23 Giro d’Italia, age 18, in 2022, and turned professional in 2024. His best result came, funnily enough, at the Tour of Guangxi that year, when he finished third on a stage behind Ethan Vernon. In recent years he has worked more regularly as a domestique
Mayor seeks legal advice over merseyrail e-bike ban
The story won’t go away. Merseyrail’s incoming blanket ban on non-folding e-bikes has faced consternation, protests and might soon face a legal review. Here’s what Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said yesterday about the ban. Suffice to say he sounds dismayed…
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Banning charging the lithium batteries seems a suitable compromise that provides all the insurance/liability cover the rail operator could want. Besides, as pointed out by the host, Tony Snell, that’s hardly a common sight.
And whilst we’re normally a little cynical towards consultations, pausing the incoming ban would only be a good thing…
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@OldTom I've been toning down my reactions too. I'm not much of a fighter, and even if I was, that's not the point. I'm not great at internalising it either! It does feel like there is an increase in terrible road rage lately, Simon Richardson, David Morgan, Joseph Hedley, this one, the two fatalities in the States...
@the little onion I don't know, he was arrested for attempted murder initially, before Mr Smith sadly died.
Condolences to the family of Richard Smith, and I'm glad this psycho has been locked up. What worries me is not that a driver who used their car as a weapon to kill has been convicted of murder. Rather, what worries me is how unusual it is for a driver to be prosecuted for an Offense Against the Person (the legal category of one person causing harm to another, spanning assault through GBH, through murder) in which a car was a weapon. I suspect that if Mr Smith had merely been injured, the police would have treated it as a road crime, not an offense against the person like GBH/assault. I've experienced this myself - threats coming from a driver, who deliberately swerves at me, but in every case it was treated as a road crime despite the threats being clearly audible on my handlebar camera. Indeed, I've been victim-blamed in some instances for allegedly provoking it by not being fully in a cycle lane! There needs to be many more prosecutions for assault, GBH etc in road rage incidents, not just dangerous/careless driving charges. I hope, though perhaps naively, that this represents a change in how road rage and the use of vehicles as weapons, are treated by police and CPS.
Completely quackers...
@Zermattjohn and dared to "touch his car". in my experience this is what most angers drivers. if they close pass you and you dare to tap on any panel of their car.
@Zermattjohn Something tells me that he isn't exactly father of the year material. His whole "in front of my children" schtick is just for his own massive ego. If he cared a jot about his kids he wouldn't drive them about whilst drunk.
@Geoff H I know I am replying to myself, but the warning I referred to is called the Watson warning. And there 'should' be an equivalent EVERYWHERE!
@HoarseMann I would also hope that the relevant authorities look into the relationship between his partner and their knowledge of him driving his children around drunk.
Anyone who drinks 6 pints before getting behind the wheel for the school run obviously has no concern for their kids, or anyone else's. The fact this occurred when he was transporting children is a massive aggravating factor IMO.
@IanMK Interesting how it is labelled "A cyclist has been jailed for stealing..." I am assuming that if the individual had used a car then the report would NOT have said: "A driver has been jailed for stealing..." Or if they had walked away... "A pedestrian has been jailed for stealing…”
37 thoughts on “Business group say they have “significant” evidence of town centre cycling that “feels dangerous” as they lobby for ban; Bahrain Victorious rider suspended for anti-doping violation; Sarah Ruggins’ latest challenge + more on the live blog”
South Holland council is anti-cycling. That’s ironic.
@Steve K we can’t have cycling here because … it’s too flat, it’s too sunny, it’s windy here, because we have canals, because there’s no space (between the large fields), because we have historic towns with narrow streets, because the culture isn’t Dutch (didn’t they do lots of the engineering here and some of them stayed … is this right?)
Sir Humphrey would be proud.
@mdavidford What until Sarah Fletcher finds out about the damage motor vehicles can do.
@mdavidford I’d be more convinced of the “overwhelming number” of submissions she’s received if she could actually put a number on it. Perhaps she’s easily overwhelmed? When one hears that sort of thing one can’t help but think of dear old Humphrey Lyttelton on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, “Looking in our mailbox I see we’ve been inundated this week with a letter from a MrsTrellis of North Wales…”
ETA Just looked at the linked article, apparently she has received 150 responses, not exactly “overwhelming” for a town with a population of 32,000 people. Knock off people connected with local businesses and one assumes it would be even more paltry. Also, apparently the “consultation” results came from an online survey but also responses to social media posts and in person questioning. It’s pretty easy to get 150 responses to a social media post if you put out a bait like “Don’t you think we should stop cyclists riding dangerously everywhere”, a “consultation” that relies on that to claim “overwhelming” numbers really is dodgy in the extreme.
@Rendel Harris “Don’t you think we should stop cyclists riding dangerously everywhere”
That was my first thought: what was the question. Can we find out?
@eburtthebike I haven’t been able to find the survey, not sure it actually existed, but I did find the below from them on Facebook: as you can see, it’s not a survey at all as in “What do you think of cycling in Spalding?” but a specific call for any anti-cycling evidence.
Additionally Spalding BID seems a very dodgy organisation: it’s funded by a significant levy on local businesses – all local businesses, whether they want to be a part of it or not – which business owners have been taken to court for refusal to pay. It was set up after a poll of local businesses, winning by a single vote, but a number of businesses say they weren’t informed of the initiative or weren’t given a chance to vote, with “antis” somehow not receiving the paperwork etc. They have received £800,000 from this levy thus far plus £224,000 in other grants, having operated since 2024, and they seem to have managed to run a few minor events (“Keep Spalding tidy week” et cetera), organise some hanging baskets around the town centre and run this anti-cyclists campaign.
@Rendel Harris do you think they got any evidence – or was it just anecdote?
@Rendel Harris hmm… wonder if this organisation has received some journalistic attention?
It could just be wording but yeah that reads “we’ve decided x, now let’s come up with ‘evidence’ to prove that…”
@Rendel Harris Thanks for digging all that up.
That link is of the ‘this is the answer, now put it in your own words’ variety.
As for Spalding BID, this is interesting:
“Spalding BID Ltd is a registered company with a Board of Directors who volunteer their time to provide performance monitoring and strategic oversight of the delivery of Spalding BID Improvement Plan. Its Directors must be members of the registered company and in general appointed because they are business owners, business partners or have another vested interest in the town.
It is important to note that Spalding BID Ltd is an independent company which is not owned, governed or operated by South Holland District Council.”
It raises £170k/year by taxing local businesses, which as you point out, they can’t avoid, and they can’t vote them out until 2029.
“Spalding BID 5-year term of operation runs from 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2029, after which businesses will be invited to take part in a new ballot to determine whether Spalding BID will run for a further 5-year term.”
I got curious about what exactly BIDs are so I googled and found some stuff, amongst which the ballot information was particularly interesting:
“The Ballot Process
• Postal Vote: Ballots are conducted entirely by post via the local authority’s returning officer.
• Dual Majority: Approval requires a simple majority of those who vote, and a majority of those votes must represent a majority of the aggregate rateable value.”
Spalding’s local MP is John Hayes. He, and Sewer Bravermann are extremely close. I think that says all you need to know about Spalding
Good old Spalding BID, confusing evidence with opinion.
In case Road CC missed this…
“Helmet warning after woman’s Center Parcs death
…
Penny Bulpitt was riding a work bicycle when she was hit from behind by a maintenance worker riding an electric buggy…”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6x2zelgp25no
@mitsky FFS. So the focus isn’t on training staff to drive buggies safely, it’s on telling ridrers to wear helmets (that isn’t a legal requirement) and ignore the fact that the tragedy wouldn’t have happened in the first place if someone had been driving responsibly.
Even if it was, it would be irrelevant, given that this was on private land.
@mdavidford Well, technically parliament could legislate to require helmets to be worn at all times.
That’s going to make washing your hair a right pain.
@mdavidford If it saves one life…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4626205/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022480418306656
@mdavidford living in Aus’ with mandatory helmet laws and here they do apply on some privately owned land. Concept is called “road related areas” and road rules apply. A road related area is anywhere public can access with a vehicle such as car parks on private land, roads that access sporting facilities and campsites. Not the UK but an interesting approach to how far legislation can be stretched
@antigee The same applies in the UK to motor vehicle laws, e.g. they apply in supermarket car parks and other areas of public land, so presumably if we did have mandatory helmet laws that extension would also apply.
@mdavidford It may be private land but, unless it was a staff-only area, it was a way open to the public (even if they have to pay to be there). Road legislation therefore still applies.
@GMBasix This is getting into the legal weeds here, but I don’t think the roads within a Centre Parcs would count as “public” for the purposes Road Traffic Act.
Last time I went, Centre Parcs had security barriers at the entrance and only permitted paying visitors, staff etc. access. Places where only a “special class” of the public have access are not “public” places for the purposes of the Road Traffic Act. To be a public place, the landowner needs to tolerate any member of the general public accessing it (at the time it was accessed – a place may be public during opening hours but not at other times).
This would align with the usage of the electric buggy – I imagine the electric buggies they keep on site for staff to get around are not registered, insured etc. for use on public roads.
This article has some examples of places that were established to be, or established to not be, public for the purpose of the Road Traffic Act: https://thedrivingsolicitor.co.uk/2019/03/11/road-or-other-public-place-where-do-driving-laws-apply/
@Surreyrider
Indeed.
The article doesn’t state if there was any real investigation into whether the buggy was being driven carelessly/dangerously.
But from what I can see, based on what is written,
– it was being driven at about 9mph
– the victim was hit from behind
– it occurred when the buggy driver turned a corner but he said
“As I completed the left turn, I suddenly saw a woman on a bicycle in front of my buggy,”
So, I would surmise that it was being driven carelessly/dangerously, particularly given she was hit from behind.
Erm,
(Admittedly, that doesn’t necessarily mean there was a *proper* investigation – depending on your definition of ‘proper’)
@mdavidford
Ugh. I need to go to Specsavers.
@mdavidford
It’s vanishingly rare that someone gets prosecuted for driving into a cyclists when there is no independent witnesses or camera footage. The defense of the single-witness-suicide-swerve (i.e. “yer honour, I was driving perfectly safely when the cyclist suddenly for no reason swerved three meters to the right, in front of my car, and I couldn’t avoid them”) means the CPS are very unwilling to prosecute.
@mdavidford There was a thorough investigation but it was hampered by the fact that the vehicles were removed from the scene and it rained heavily before the police arrived.
More details here :
https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Ruling-on-submissions-of-no-case-R-v-Davies-for-publication.pdf
A sorry story from start to finish but it was not entirely the fault of the police as far as I can tell.
@Surreyrider The basis of H&S is to reduce exposure to the risk first, and lastly, only if all other measures have failed, mandate Personal Protective Equipment: except in the case of cyclists, where the order is reversed.
@eburtthebike I’d be genuinely surprised if this didn’t fall under the remit of the HSE and they hadn’t done an investigation. Imagine if a forklift hit a cyclist on a large industrial site. Having said that, although the HSE are unlikely to give specific advice, the ‘staff are encouraged to wear helmets’ doesn’t sound like the outcome of a competent risk assessment.
@IanMK Many years ago, HSE decided that cycle helmets were not PPE. Not sure if their position has changed since then.
Um – surely riding *out*doors is still the choice that saves you money? It’s just saving 10% less than it would have done previously.
Car drivers are a big danger to people going shopping, they make the roads feel dangerous, so ban them from city and town centers.
@kingleo Seems fair.
I mean, banning things also is really effective. Since they brought in the speed limit I don’t see anyone breaking it. I’m sure that the oiks that ride like bellends will be very annoyed that they are not allowed to any more. I’m sure they will stop.
From my limited experience of cycling in Spalding, parts of the historic centre are narrow streets with narrow pavements and cycling on the pavement, even extremely carefully, is very likely to bring you into conflict with pedestrians so pushing is the best bet but also from memory these areas have no vaguely secure bike parking to speak of which makes spending money there a stressful experience. The roads around the edge are busy and uninviting as a cyclist unless you enjoy being close passed at every opportunity. Always been a place I visit for the shortest period possible, usually just to stock up on food and drink for the next part of my ride.
So Merseyrail have finally realised that they’ve cocked up big time, and despite having made the decision without any justification or warning, they’re pausing it to gather evidence. A welcome reverse ferret, but this doesn’t exactly give one confidence in the ability of their management.
Any competent management would have consulted, gathered evidence, then come to a logical decision. But I suppose we should be grateful for small mercies.
I have significant evidence that Spalding feels pretty wanky. It needs to be banned without delay.
@Mr Blackbird And the evidence that Spalding BID are a wunch of bankers is overwhelming.