“One-sided” ITV story on Oxford Street pedestrianisation features 7 seconds on cyclists; Council unveils major cycle lane plans… supported by Facebook comments! Merida replace Specialized after 18 years at Soudal-Quick Step + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Oxford Street 'ordeal' exaggerated
Admittedly, the story of Oxford Street’s pedestrianisation is not, primarily, a story about cyclists. But given this is an audience of people interested in safer streets and cycle infrastructure, I think we’re talking to the right crowd.
First let’s recap. One of the busiest streets in Britain will be closed to cars and cyclists from Monday, with the blockade to eventually be enforced by anti-terrorism barriers. Alternative cycle lane routes are planned but are not fully implemented.
That detail makes up a whopping seven seconds of ITV London’s report on the pedestrianisation. But what’s most remarkable the tone of the whole package. Let’s break it down…
🛍️ 🚶♂️ With the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street taking shape from Sunday, the future of cycling in the area is still far from ideal…
🗣️ LCC’s CEO Tom Fyans spoke with ITV London about the need for viable and safe alternative routes (look out for more on that from us 🔜).
— London Cycling Campaign (@londoncycling.bsky.social) 20 October 2026 at 09:58
We start with a short interview with a cab driver bemoaning the “horrors” of the road’s closure to cars, describing pedestrianisation as “madness”.
> Free Boris bikes for Cabbie candidates – as requested by the drivers themselves
The reporter’s framing of cars being “banned” from the street rather than it being fully opened to pedestrians doesn’t help matters, before a TfL employee offers some brief semblance of balance to the whole piece. Then come the vox pops…
“I think it’ll be great for tourists” says one.
“I can’t walk too far so I don’t think [the street] is possible without traffic”, a tourist says.
Hmm, not a great omen, but then comes the personal favourite:
“I think it’s gonna be mayhem, I really do. People who buy a lot of shopping then come and get a taxi, I think the shops are gonna miss out on some of their purchases.”
I would be fascinated by the number of people who do their shopping then get a taxi. Surely only a segment of tourists? Or people with more money than sense? How big a shop is someone going to do on Oxford Street for which they cannot then walk to a bus stop or tube station? Incredible car-brained logic, and these points are not addressed in the reporter’s subsequent voiceover.
We then get an explanation of how the gates will be manned to enable emergency services to use Oxford Street when necessary, before details of the re-diverted cycle lanes bring out Tom Fyans from the London Cycling Campaign for his seven seconds of fame.
“We need to get a move on really, we need the alternative routes that are close by so that cyclists aren’t still tempted to cycle through Oxford Street.”
Then comes one more contributor, a planner for the Mayor of London who’s intervention is framed against the mayor “wrestling control” of Oxford Street away from famously cycle-unfriendly Westminster Council. His included quote is limited to ensuring “everything will go exactly to plan” against the reporter’s claims that “chaos” could arrive next week.
All in all, it’s a rather loaded report that does no one any favours. Change is bad, the cabbies are upset, the people with loads of shopping unable to imagine walking to a nearby road to access a vehicle are upset, even the cyclists are portrayed as concerned.
All for what should in theory be one of the most transformative urban street designs imaginable. Bizarre…
Halfords sales up, but share prices down...
Paula Blasi set for Movistar
One of the biggest expected transfers of the season looks finally like it’s heading towards a conclusion.
Paula Blasi achieved an astonishing overall victory at the Vuelta a Espana earlier this year, before a strange Tour de France where, after her team initially put her to work on the front of the peloton as a domestique, she was allowed to shine in the high mountains, rising to eventually finished 5th overall.
Following team tensions, and reports that Blasi had a relatively low €100,000 release clause from her contract, she became the hottest target for a host of teams. Now, it seems like Movistar has won out.
Spanish newspaper Marca report the 23-year-old has signed a three-year contract whilst the Spanish team will only pay UAE €85,000 in compensation. The implication seems to be that Blasi has chosen a team with the best ‘sporting project’ than the best wage offer, although €600,000 is not too shabby.
The move will unite Blasi into a team with last year’s yellow jersey wearer and TT world champion Marlen Reusser, British star Cat Ferguson and Lianne Lippert. That could create some new intra-team rivalries if they’re not careful!
A tale as old as recent time...
people get hella mad when you suggest adult drivers should be more responsible than children walking/biking.
— Tom Flood (@tomflood.bsky.social) 21 October 2026 at 15:27
Gravel Tips!
> Stay loose, pick your line, and session to success: 7 things gravel riders can learn from MTB
Car-free Catalan cyclotourism
Do you fancy a cycling holiday in or around Catalonia? Do you want to channel your inner professional?
The Catalan Cycling Federation have announced that on eight days over the next ten months, a select major Pyrenean mountain will be closed to cars to enable cyclists to climb the high mountains without worrying about vehicle round every corner. El Pais also report the events will be non-competitive and celebrate the legacy of this year’s Tour de France Grand Depart. Here’s the full list of mountains, and the dates they will be closed:
November 21, 2026. Rocacorba, from Banyoles (Girona). 14 km.
January 31, 2027. El Farell, from Caldes de Montbui (Barcelona). 6.15 km.
March 13. Mont Caro, from Roquetes (Terres de l’Ebre). 22.6 km.
April 17. La Musara, from Vilaplana (Tarragona). Distance to be confirmed.
May 8. Portell del Tell-Port del Comte, from Solsona (Lleida). 28.8 km.
May 29. Coll de Pal, from Bagà (Barcelona). 20.11 km.
June 19. Rasos de Peguera, from Berga (Barcelona). 18.15 km.
July 10. Vallter 2000, from Camprodon (Girona). 23.73 km.
Would be nice to see a similar thing for the British Grand Depart next year, even if we don’t quite have the mountains to match. We might have to settle for Snake Pass if they can fix the road…
Facebook surprises
Where better to start than with a pleasant surprise? At a certain point, the lobes of your brain become trained to expect the worst of the internet. This is after all the internet of 2026.
Big Tech thrives off of spewing, it relishes the enraged pressing of like buttons and cross-faced emojis. We know all about how cycle lanes have become victim of this sort of thing, and even take a deeper breath when daring to plunge into the hell of a Facebook comments section. So imagine our joy when seeing the reaction to this post from Haringey Borough Council in North London…
Cycle lanes connecting tube stations, protected infrastructure along busy roads, enhanced access to bus lanes. In the words of the council cabinet member for Transport: “Our roads are too dangerous. The number one reason why more people don’t cycle is safety.
“So, we’re prioritising roads where the most road collisions and injuries happen for new cycle lanes. Green Lanes is one of the most dangerous roads in London – and that has to change.”
We might think this is a slam dunk… but so do the commenters!
“Brilliant. Currently, Green Lanes is a nightmare to cycle down.”
“Would love more cycle lanes and separate tracks”
“Amazing news!!
“
“So long at it’s a proper cycle lane and not just a line of paint on the road.”
And on it goes. Sure there’s one man griping about LTNs, (this isn’t Tower Hamlets sir) another who thinks, “They cycle on the pavement why would they need cycle lanes?”, but maybe just maybe Facebook is not so bad.
Oh, and for those of you in and around Haringey, you can have your say on the consultation when it opens, with work due to begin in the new year. Perhaps the internet has its perks after all…
Another Brit joins the World Tour...
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I said there’d be some transfer news, and it concerns a Brit! Noémie Thomson, a 23-year-old who earlier this year triumphed in the Rutland Cicle classic, has been announced as joining AG Insurance-Soudal for the next two seasons.
Thomson, from Kent, becomes the 14th British woman confirmed to be on the Women’s WorldTour next year and will join a team featuring stars such as Kim Le Court-Pienaar, Sarah Gigante and Urska Zigart.
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As we reported earlier this month Thomson’s current team, DAS-Hutchinson, are to fold at the end of the season and prioritise their development programme.
Impending redundancies at British Cycling
Has there ever been a fortnight or so where British Cycling’s performance has been simultaneously sensationally superb and unsatisfactory at once? Schrodinger’s federation…
End of an era! Soudal swap Specialized for Merida after 18 years
It’s difficult to think of the Quick-Step team in all its iterations not riding a Specialized bike. But it’s all change, with both Quick-Step disappearing as a men’s team title sponsor, to be replaced by Soudal-Safety Jogger, and the team themselves parting company with the bike brand. Unusually for the end of a bike team partnership, the team have put together this rather nice video which, semi-tragically, has amassed only 370 viewers in the two days since it was published.
Specialized for their part have gathered some messages and snazzy photos and popped them on social media…
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Their replacement is Merida, who provided bikes for Bahrain Victorious until the end of last season. Some of you may even remember the team as Bahrain-Merida for three glorious years before McLaren swooped in for the abortive 2020 season.
The new deal has come about following what the team describe as “an extensive research and evaluation process”. Merida have agreed a four-year deal with Soudal-Safety Jogger, and my favourite line from the press release concerns the Taiwanese manufacturer’s philosophy:
“At the heart of Merida’s philosophy is a commitment to research and development, with performance driven by extensive testing and continual refinement. Its engineers work across areas including aerodynamics, weight, stiffness, handling and rider comfort, looking not simply at individual components but at how the complete bicycle can help a rider perform more efficiently.”
Sometimes the best way to analyse the meaningfulness of a statement is to imagine whether a brand could conceivably say the opposite. For example, would a bike brand talk about “a commitment to guesswork and ‘old-is-gold’ with performance driven by estimates and a rough design. Its engineers look simply at individual components, rather than at how the bicycle helps a rider perform more efficiently.”
I think not…
Cross swirls
You’d be a brave soul to attempt a dive bomb here…
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Tributes paid to active travel and road safety campaigner Mayer Hillman
Mayer Hillman, the pioneering architect, town planner and cycling campaigner has died.
In an obituary published yesterday by the Guardian, the ‘paper notes that Hillman was campaigning for 20mph speed limits and cycle lanes 40 years ago.
As a young man Hillman’s PhD focused on countering the spread of cars in urban areas in the 1960s. He also later went against the grain of popular opinion when he argued that child road traffic casualties had not decreased due to safer roads, but rather because streets had become so dangerous, parents were increasingly refusing to let their children on them.
He later became a supporter of Extinction Rebellion, and addressed the group before retiring in 2018, you can watch his final message above.
Just back from the well attended funeral of my old friend, colleague and comrade Mayer Hillman.
Here’s the “Order of Service” cover….
1./
— Dr Robert Davis (@chairrdrf.bsky.social) 9 October 2026 at 20:22
95 year old sets new World Hour record!
Just a tremendous story this. Peter Grandiek, to celebrate his 95th birthday decided to try and break the age-group hour record.
Riding on the Cote d’Azure at the ILT velodrome in Invercargill, New Zealand, Grandiek rode 22.948km, breaking the existing record with seven minutes to go whilst circling a bunch of padel players!
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My favourite thing about this though is the camapgnolo rear disk wheel, very classy…
That's err... one weak fork!
The poster says their mudguard got caught in the brake and they then “slid a while on my hands, pavement gave me a delicate kiss on the cheek.” Poetically put…
Olympian handed retroactive suspension for missed doping tests but keeps silver medal
Now we can officially say the off-season has begun, the live blog sinks into its two regular spots of transfer speculation and doping chat, with an occasional splodge of Grand Tour route analysis and new kit reveals.
This post is from the doping side of things, where Olympic silver medallist in the Omnium Daria Pikulik has been handed an 18-month suspension after missing three anti-doping tests within a year.
In a statement on Instagram, Pikulik who competed on the road for Human Powered Health until earlier this year, wrote that she was “fully aware of the gravity of the situation” after missing two tests in September and October 2023.
“I made a consistent effort to keep my whereabouts information updated in the system; however, due to an oversight on my part—compounded by an exceptionally heavy workload—a third missed test occurred in September 2024.
“I spent the last two years trying to defend my good name. Ultimately, in March 2026, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued a ruling; while no specific sanction was imposed, I was found at fault for missing the tests.
“In September, I was officially suspended for the period from December 2024 to June 2026. This has been an incredibly difficult time for me and my loved ones. It was never my intention to violate anti-doping regulations.
“Throughout my entire career, I have undergone dozens of doping control tests without any issues.
“Nevertheless, I must accept what has happened and move on. I apologise to everyone I have let down, and I thank everyone who has stood by me during this period.”
The interesting thing about this is that Pikulik’s suspension is backdated to the date she was informed of her third missed test meaning that, coupled with the length of her suspension, she’s already free to return to racing, having only forfeited her results and prize money gained during her suspension, not the period during which she missed the tests. The Olympic silver remains hers.
Though Human Powered Health dispensed of Pikulik’s services following the public announcement of missed tests, it does also make you think the team could have used her a super-domestique deluxe since it was only her result that would be disqualified. Alas, another instance of anti-doping not catching someone doping, and another curious outcomes that leaves an athlete able to continue their career like nothing has happened.
The jousting sequel someone was presumably asking for
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Latest Comments
I can't remember too many reviews of their bikes from their home country's well known media/channels. Yet they flood timelines with yet another WT race bike for £10K........The British cycling media don't do enough to support home businesses - yet lap up the big companies. Not good enough.......
I quite enjoyed the article, not too weighed down with' technological advances' that are imo ruining the road riding scene, making it all about the cash. The best line is there are no rules....just enjoy it, or stick with what you know. Personally its taken me back to the early 90s xc trails I rode as a teenager, just fantastic.
Carefully setting a low bar for yourselves to clear there, I see. 😉
This seems a little unfair Jo! You clearly ripped off AI and didn't give it any credit ;) You can't have your cake and eat it.
⁴I know this is ROAD cc but a huge shout out for Cam Mason for pure dogged determination. ( and enormous skill of course)Well done!!
Without much bias......this is a great jacket. Much....
Good effort by all concerned! But for entertaining and evocative mental images of barmy events it can't exceed one of a competitor battling on in the Netherlands Headwind Cycling Championship
Class, love the joy. Hope you beat Lisa Simpson
Top tip. If you are racing cyclo-cross at night, it is better to dress as a tawny or barn owl, or if you need to get more aero, a nightjar.
"tree routes"? or "three roots"? Both in an Irish accent...
15 thoughts on ““One-sided” ITV story on Oxford Street pedestrianisation features 7 seconds on cyclists; Council unveils major cycle lane plans… supported by Facebook comments! Merida replace Specialized after 18 years at Soudal-Quick Step + more on the live blog”
Weak fork not necessarily weak. I did the same once, not so dramatically as here, but the fork was still toast and I cracked a wrist bone. Mechanism is, if the tyre catches the mudguard, the guard can start rotating with the tyre. The mudguard stays instantly dig into the tyre, because geometry, the front wheel locks completely solid in about a quarter of a revolution, and the rider gets brutally thrown off the front while wondering what just happened.
This is why front mudguard stays need a breakaway fitment.
Not sure I trust myself to comment on this one, so I’ll just give the facts: guy ran over a cyclist, a 56-year-old headteacher, with his 4×4. Dragged him a mile with the passenger still able to hear him moaning in pain. Stopped to try and pull him off the car, couldn’t so got back in and drove off again, slaloming to get rid of him. At least he’s on trial for murder, which is something.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c674p0l8925eo
@Rendel Harris absolute scum..no other words
@Rendel Harris If was the passenger, I’d have got out at the petrol station, taken the keys (if possible) walked away and phoned the police.
@Rendel Harris that was a hard read. Not often am I stuck for words but I can’t even begin to comprehend how someone can be so callous. I also wonder how there isn’t something the passenger could be charged with.
Even though it would have unlikely changed the outcome (but she wouldn’t have known at that point), the fact she delayed so long in reporting it shows she is just as scummy as the driver.
@DS2025 RE the passenger: I’m no lawyer, but I’m not aware of any charges that could obviously be brought. We do have the legal principle of “joint enterprise”, but that requires the secondary party to assist or encourage the primary to commit the offence. If we take her account verbatim, it does not sound to me like she actively assisted or encouraged the offence, even if she didn’t do anything to stop it. We don’t have “good samaritan” laws nor (as far as I am aware) any obligation to report offences we see or know about. It’s morally reprehensible behaviour, but if she just sat there and let him carry on, I don’t think that she would have been committing an offence.
The other thing to consider, even if there is a charge that could be brought, is whether the public interest is better served by granting leniency given she did, belatedly, contact the police and tell them everything. Charging her for her participation might put other people off from contacting the police in future, which could be considered a greater injustice if it means the drivers manage to get away with it. It’s far from a unique situation to have a passenger in the car when an offence is committed, albeit few as horrific as this.
@OnYerBike you make very good and valid points. I wrote that comment pretty much after reading the article so I can’t say I was not emotional. You can’t legislate for morally reprehensible behaviour otherwise the CJS would be in a much worse state than it is now.
Thanks for taking the time to provide a reply.
@Rendel Harris That is probably the worst motorist kills cyclist case I have read.
But in mitigation, the driver was crying and driving erratically, so clearly showed remorse. Presumably he will claim that he is considering never driving again.
@Mr Blackbird in mitigation, the driver was crying and driving erratically, so clearly showed remorse
Well, Dr Jekyll, please let Mr Hyde know that there’s a top job awaiting him at the Lancashire Constabulary Driver Justification Division!
@Rendel Harris A tragic, inexplicable case, but at least the CPS are prosecuting it to the full extent of the law.
Apparently, there was a police chase in a van and on foot before Simon Richardson was arrested, report here:
https://www.knutsfordguardian.co.uk/news/26654787.simon-richardson-no-consideration-amid-police-chase-jury-hears/
From the BBC article, Richardson was recently released from prison before the incident, but I haven’t been able to find out what offence he committed to be sent there.
A pretty comprehensive court report here:
https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/26656131.court-updates-michael-mullins-murder-trial-day-7/
Another example, based on the criminal’s actions, whereby I advocate for loss of taste buds and libido being the only deterrent for himself and other potential criminals.
Will be interesting to see the (presumably unduly lenient) end result in Road CCs sentencing updates.
Trainers with steel toe-caps?
surely the shopping carrying dilemma at Oxford Street is no worse than at places like Bluewater?
RIP Mayer Hillman.
Excellent obituary in the Guardian, apparently the only medium to notice his passing, but neither it nor the article here mentions one of his most important publications, at least for cycling.
I refer of course to ‘Cycling Towards Health and Safety’ (BMA, 1992) a seminal work which demonstrated the overwhelming health benefits of regular bike riding. I treasure my copy. He also authored ‘Cycle helmets: the case for and against’ (Policy Studies Institute, 1993) which helped prevent the UK from getting a disastrous helmet law.
Goodbye Mayer Hillman, and thank you for all the ammunition us cycle campaigners needed so badly.
Retroactive suspension?
I had a mountain bike like that, once.