Geraint Thomas admits he hasn’t cycled for six months as he gifts iconic ‘shades to Greg James; Council receives £16m active travel funding but says “almost no money” for rural cycle lanes; TfL weighing up new charge on SUVs + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Update: G gifts iconic shades to DJ
So much to take away from this video…
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Firstly, it’s not a great omen when even Ineos’ Director of Racing can’t bring himself to wear his own team’s kit (regardless of the colour of his shorts/leggings. But then comes the sunglasses handover.
When SunGod replaced Oakley as the team’s sunglasses provider, such was the disdain that Thomas would no longer be wearing near-decade old white-rimmed sunglasses that his new sponsor were all-but forced to make their own version. Now, they’re in the hands of Greg James, whose pedalling motion seemed surprisingly smooth more than halfway into his eight day challenge.
Then came the semi-awkward moment when James asked his Tour de France champion co-pedaller if he had won any races wearing them. What to say when you haven’t won a race in four years and change your sunglasses on (at least) a yearly basis? What to say when the the whole Radio 1 gang have done a good job of brushing aside the fact that Thomas has actually been retired for several months?
For 1.5 seconds, there is an awkward existential stare from the Welshman, a wondering of how to diffuse this question whilst racing his memory for the last time he stood on the top-step of the podium.
“I’ll say yes” eventually comes the reply, before we cut to a presenter filled with childish excitement at wearing a Tour de France winner’s glasses before heading up the road on his tandem alone.
Just excellent content all-round…
*Postscript* Turns out that Prince William later sat on the very same saddle that Geraint Thomas perched himself. One is the Prince of Wales, an inspiration to millions of people with an enduring legacy for the next generation, the other is… answers on a postcard!
Look unveil new, gravel-specific pedals
Whatever will they think of next?
Sam Bennett's bouncing back
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It’s been a tough few months for Sam Bennett. After struggling for form in his final races with Decathlon-AG2R, the Irish sprinter landed a one-year contract at Pinarello-Q36.5, reuniting him with his one of his first coaches, Kurt Bogaerts. But then came atrial fibrillation, requiring heart surgery and a deliberately slow period of recovery.
But finally, the 35-year old is back racing, and is confirmed to make his season debut at Nokere Koerse tomorrow. Whether he sprints for himself this year, or acts as a mentor to his teammates, here’s hoping the second finest cyclist from Carrick-on-Suir (after Sean Kelly) can enjoy an injury-free season.
Paris' bike-friendly politics still in jeopardy despite promising election results
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From one Mayor to another now, and elections for the next head honcho in Paris started on Sunday, and were a positive result for fans of urban cycling, with Emmanuel Gregoire leading the way. Gregoire is a former deputy of Anne Hidalgo, the incumbent who is not seeking a third, six-year term.
During Hidalgo’s tenure, Paris has undergone an urban transformation, with the creation of several low traffic neighbourhoods and car-free neighbourhoods coupled with an expansion of cycle infrastructure. Gregoire’s strongest rival in the election, conservative Rachida Dati, has campaigned against many of the proposals.
But the election is due to go to a second round where several candidates could spoil each leading contender unless they withdraw. The second round will be held on Sunday.
Mayor Sadiq Khan champions cleaner air in capital
Writing on Bluesky this morning, Sir Sadiq said “They said it would take 193 years to clean London’s air. We did it in nine. 💨 London has now met legal limits for nitrogen dioxide air pollution.”
In case you missed it, the mayor’s upbeat social media post follows last week’s report that found bike lanes and ultra-low emission zones helped London to slash its air pollution by more than 20 percent.
You can read Ryan’s full write-up here:
Council backs town centre cycle hub… only to reject its own proposal over fears of “conflict” between drivers and cyclists
Seems like the people of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Council need to have a stern word with themselves…
UAE unveil team for Milan-Sanremo
This is the one race Tadej Pogacar can’t win. Alright alright I know he hasn’t won Paris-Roubaix, and he still *needs* to get round to the Vuelta a Espana at some point. But this is the one race he has repeatedly tried to win and has so far failed to. So I think my point stands.
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Pogacar’s compatriot Domen Novak has the tactically simple, utterly mind-numbing job of sitting at the front of the peloton for the first 240km, working with an Alpecin domestique (my money’s on Silvan Dillier) to keep a breakaway of Italians on a short leash, then will come the Tre Capi, the Cipressa and the Poggio.
In recent years the pressure has been on Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narvaez to launch the Slovenian but both are out injured. Instead expect Florian Vermeersch, Felix Grossschartner and Brandon McNulty to do the early work of whittling down the peloton before the explosivity will come from Isaac Del Toro, out of position on the Cipressa last year, and Jan Christen, a young Swiss rider whose ego and skills as a teammate have been questioned in recent months.
> “That was a criminal f***ing offence”: Outrage after UAE rider causes serious crash in race finale
Last year we saw Pogacar launch on the Cipressa, bringing Mathieu van der Poel and Filippo Ganna with him. And whilst they dropped Ganna on the Poggio, Pogacar couldn’t shake off the Dutchman. The trio then reunited before Van der Poel bested the home favourite to take his second win at the race. It was the first time the Cipressa determined a race-winning move since Marco Pantani and some very dodgy motorbike slipstreaming.
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Will Pogacar have any better luck in trying to tick off this box? Will Del Toro be a useful decoy to force his rivals to chase. Will it actually end up in a bunch sprint? We’ll have to wait until Saturday to find out…
"Almost no money" for rural cycle route funding, despite £16m from Active Travel England
It’s not all sunlit uplands in the active travel/road safety world.
Somerset Council have recently admitted that there is “almost no money” to support active travel in the rural county, despite receiving £16m from central government for investment. Of that money, less than 10 percent will be used to support new or upgraded active travel project, with councillors upset by the “very, very limited availability to use the money for rural areas,” as reported by Somerset Live.
Lib Dem councillor Ros Wykes went on to say that “Most of the money being spent so far on rural active travel has been money that was ring-fenced coming across from the former Mendip District Council.” In other words, the council’s latest spending plans do not account for any active travel investment at all.
The majority of the funding will be spent on improving road corridors and junctions in Yeovil, Glastonbury, and new links along the A39.
Encouragingly, several local officials spoke in support of better active travel funding, but there appeared to be a recurring theme:
“There is a larger contribution that is being made into urban areas, and that reflects the current government’s views and priorities.” Service director for infrastructure and transport Mike O’Dowd said.
“We’ve got a bit of a balancing act to make sure that we do what we need to do to keep receiving the funding, but also to continue to work with communities to help them deliver rural schemes where they can.”
Conservative Cllr Bob Filmer said “I know there are limitations with the funding, but we need to push as much as we can. We’re constantly telling people they need to get out of their cars, for good environmental reasons and good health reasons – but if we haven’t given them the alternatives, they can’t do it.”
In the meantime, funding for active travel will rely on third-party grants or contributions from housing developers. Plans to spend the allocated £1.55m have been drawn up for the Steam Coast Trail and “officer support to local groups” lobbying for improvements to the Strawberry line and 76-mile Somerset Cycle loop.
Geraint Thomas admits he hasn't cycled for six months, as Greg James' charity ride hits £650,000 in donations
If you’re young, cool or just down with the kids, you probably haven’t been able to avoid Radio 1 DJ Greg James’ latest bike exploits for Comic Relief. We reported on the British-built tandem provided especially for the challenge, and James even got some unexpected advice from F1 driver Ollie Bearman’s “friend who’s a cyclist”…
> Check out the Mercian tandem that Greg James will ride 1,000km for Comic Relief
> Tadej Pogačar cold-called by Radio 1
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Well, things seem to be going well for James, who despite knee pain has made it through Wales and now up towards Yorkshire, where Radio 1 have lined up some proper Welsh cycling pedigree at an upcoming pitstop, apologies to Luke Rowe and Owain Doull.
Introduced as a “the human version of rocket fuel” and “the glass you break to go fast”, Geraint Thomas rocked up to cover hosts Matt and Mollie to chat all-things pro cycling. His insight was typical G.
“It’s definitely tough but I think you’ve got to be glass half full haven’t you?” Thomas said before adding, erroneously, “it’s all downhill from here.”
It was then put to Geraint that he should join Greg on the Mercian tandem, providing public donations can hit £700,000. Hyped up as the Tour de France winning, double Olympic champion, typical G couldn’t let the hosts get too carried away.
“I’m ready to go, I just need to say that I haven’t actually ridden a bike for six months, so I might just be a dead weight!”
Good to know that retirement and the steady embedding into Ineos Grenadiers’ management structure hasn’t dulled the Welshman’s sense of self just yet. Listen back to around 8:25 this morning for the full exchange, and if there’s any footage of the two increasingly middle-aged man wobbling over a Welsh hillock, we’ll be ready to bring it to you.
Shimano agrees $11.5m penalty to settle crankgate failings with US government agency
One of the biggest tech stories of the last year or two appears to be reaching its conclusion…
> Shimano agrees $11.5m penalty to settle crankgate failings with US government agency
Lower speed limits, SUV charges, more 20mph zones - latest TfL plans at a glance
Transport for London last week unveiled its latest ‘Vision Zero’ report, the capital’s long-term plan to eliminate all future road fatalities. Here are some of the highlights of what’s to come and what’s already been introduced:
- Spotlight on SUVs – The action plan is critical of the growing size of cars on the road with collisions involving people walking or cycling and oversized vehicles has increasing from four percent to 26 percent in the last 20 years. Their heavier weight and elevated front-ends lead to more severe outcomes in collisions, particularly for people walking or cycling, and especially for children. A separate congestion charge is being weighed up for these vehicles and is listed as one policy proposal.
- Adult bikeability training targets smashed – Previous efforts to increase cycle skills training to adults by 50 percent by the end of 2024 have been met. Since 2020 50,000 adult and 155,000 children’s places have been provided.
- Lower speed limits – whilst all of Central London is now under a 20mph limit, reduced speed limits are being extended a further 16km at the end of this month to the A1, A312, A23 and A10. That’s Archway, Church, Thornton Road and the Roundway.
- Urban driving safety modules for TfL drivers – drivers of any TfL vehicle over 3.5 tonnes are now required to complete modules such as ‘Cycle Safety’ and are graded for their performance.
The SUV policy is understandably what has taken up the motonormative media’s attention, and it headlines a Guardian write-up of the report from last week. But it does include a quote from Clean Cities’ Oliver Lord who says “Cars are getting bigger every year, but London’s streets aren’t. Supersized SUVs take up more space and threaten children’s lives, who shouldn’t have to dodge two-tonne battering rams just to cross the road.
“Cities across Europe are acting against car-spreading. We need fairer parking tariffs based on the weight of the car. It’s only fair that those with unnecessarily large SUVs pay more for the extra space and danger they bring.”
“A line in the sand”: Cycling club joins campaign to keep controversial LTN closed to drivers, warning ‘reopening’ will lead to scrapping of other active travel schemes
Exeter Wheelers Cycling Club “strongly support the development and protection of safe, high-quality cycling infrastructure that enables a broader range of people, including less confident riders, younger users, and those travelling for everyday purposes, to cycle safely and develop confidence in wider road riding.”
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@lawrence18uk Occasionally I see tradies travelling with some tools on the train, compact tool bags, rucksacks and wheelie luggage, often carrying long spirit levels separately, but on a couple of occasions collapsible ladders.
Finally some proper Gravel for the UCI World Championships! …no dates in the article. Racing starts today 10/11 Oct. Watch it free on SBS 6pm Go well Matt…
@Aluminium can - as an alternative to vans, yes cargo bikes (plenty in Cambridge), and I've been wondering whether supplies could be delivered from retailers - using delivery robots. and it's possible I suppose that ladders could fall in the same category - you could, instead of just hiring a bicycle, hire a ladder and it would arrive of its own accord.
... and we still had apostrophe rationing.
@Rendel Harris There was a bit in the bicycle hating Guardian, a nice little read, part of his justification was to acclimatise to the heat and humidity, which if he was in a better car might have been worth it. Good luck to him, chapeau.
@SecretSam That's not really fair, in fact not fair at all. It wasn't his fault that the last two mountain stages were shortened and on the first one he had dropped everyone and was a minute clear as he summitted the Iseran when the stage was neutralised, and on the second he stayed with or dropped all the other GC contenders. You seem to have forgotten his Giro win as well as Paris Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Only the fourth rider to have won the Tour and Giro before the age of twenty-five. Yes he probably couldn't have stayed with Pogacar even if he hadn't had the awful crash, and probably nor could any other rider in history except perhaps Merckx.
@lesterama Bernal has had two whammys. His crash, which he has probably never fully recovered from and Ineos taking a nosedive. They have no focus and no identity.
@Zermattjohn Read the comment I posted about my experience
I bought some Challenge Strada tyres. After a while the sidewalls began to detach from the tyre and the tread became rippled making them unsafe to use. The shop I bought them from asked me to drop them in and he would show the Challenge rep as he was due in the following week. The rep bizarrely firstly claimed that the tyres had failed because they may have been punctured (they hadn’t), then immediately claimed that they had failed because the rear tyre was more worn than the front! I emailed pictures to Challenge and was told they had failed because they had been fitted incorrectly. The black strip they had introduced to stop the issue I had was supposed to be above the rim. Which it clearly was shown to be correct on the pictures I sent to them which proved that the tyres were correctly fitted. This seems to be the norm now in the cycle industry, if there is an issue with a product, the company automatically blames the end user rather than look to address the issue, thereby pissing the customer off. A pissed off customer rarely returns.
@kingleo And there are hundreds, if not thousands of people holding up a shattered helmet saying it saved their life, the doctor/policeman told me.
10 thoughts on “Geraint Thomas admits he hasn’t cycled for six months as he gifts iconic ‘shades to Greg James; Council receives £16m active travel funding but says “almost no money” for rural cycle lanes; TfL weighing up new charge on SUVs + more on the live blog”
“… with collisions involving people walking or cycling and DRIVERS OF oversized vehicles…”
Also it took me a minute to parse that sentence.
The action plan is critical of the growing size of cars on the road, with collisions involving people walking or cycling and oversized vehicles [has] increasing from four percent to 26 percent in the last 20 years.
Can’t see how to do formatting in this new system, but the word in square brackets shouldn’t be there, and the comma after “road” probably should.
Residents who didn’t approve Hidalgo’s policies, mainly focused on the implementation of a 15-minute city, invluding 1,500 km of cycling lanes and paths, simply left. Voting with your feet is more efficient than dropping a ballot in a Plexiglass box, isn’t it? Ask the Californians who are moving en masse to Florida and Texas, which are consequently becoming blue States.
Absolute bollocks as usual, the main driver for people leaving Paris has been property prices which have doubled over the fifteen years from 2010, most young couples can’t afford to buy there and certainly can’t afford to buy anywhere big enough to raise a family. The same problems that many large cities including London have experienced. The idea that Parisians, some of the most stubborn and devoted to their location city dwellers anywhere on the planet, have been moving out just because they don’t approve of a few cycle lines is as risible as pretty much everything else you post.
Rendal, you asked a question in response to one of their posts in another article. I think they try hard, ultimately fail, but are putting all their effort into it…
It’s certainly true that voting with your feet is a much more attractive option once someone’s invested heavily in active travel and liveable space creation.
Hiplock seem to be offering 15% off everything until midnight. Anything off their very excellent angle grinder resistant locks is something, and they very much look the part.
And it would seem I could add pictures easily now too.
No paragraph breaks yet though…
I wish I had taken a photograph – yesterday I was working in Enfield. I walked to the town centre and cut through a path that went through a church yard to a small market area with stalls and a pub. It’s a small cobbled area and obviously cars are permitted to park so it’s full of cars. But on the pavement was a huge, massive SUV, comparable in dimension to a King Tiger Panzer. I had to squeeze through. I am able bodied. If I had a pram, a wheelchair or even a bloody shopping trolley I would have been stuck. Because some person drives such a huge vehicle in such a small urban environment, can’t park it and just leaves it on the pavement – But not just on the pavement but blocking the pavement. I wish the local authorities would do something about pavement parking. It’s frustrating that even pavements now have to be negotiated with cars.
Probably worth contacting the Tyre Extinguishers.