Anger as “tone-deaf” Traffic Scotland tells cycling groups “courtesy goes a long way” and to “be mindful of traffic behind you”, days after cyclist killed by driver during club ride; The most stylish man at the worlds?; SNL x Lime + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“A lack of courtesy was the reason a driver killed one of my pals”: Traffic Scotland criticised for “shameful” post telling groups of cyclists “courtesy goes a long way” and to “be mindful of traffic behind you”, days after cyclist killed by driver during club ride
Traffic Scotland, the traffic-reporting wing of Transport Scotland, has come in for criticism over the weekend after telling cyclists on group rides to be “mindful of traffic behind you” and that “courtesy goes a long way”, just over a week after the death of Iain McTavish at the hands of a driver during a club ride.
46-year-old McTavish, a popular member of Johnstone Wheelers Cycling Club, was cycling with two clubmates on the A8 in Port Glasgow, in the west of Scotland, on Tuesday 8 September when he was fatally struck by the driver of a Ford C-Max Zetec. He died at the scene.
The two other cyclists, aged 37 and 27, were also involved in the collision and taken to hospital to be treated, with one believed to have suffered serious injuries.
“Iain was a vital member of the Scottish Cycling community, a member of Johnstone Wheelers Cycling Club, a stalwart of the Renfrew bunch and Georgetown TTs,” Scottish Cycling said in a statement at the time.
“Iain was the only person to have attended every round of Track League last year and stood as rider rep on their committee. A reliable and friendly face that you knew would be at the meet point of a ride even if nobody else showed up.
“The messages highlighting his positive influence on so many people are already pouring in, and his loss will be felt heavily in the west of Scotland. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends, and everyone who knew him.”
The outpouring of grief among the cycling community in the wake of McTavish’s death was then compounded at the weekend by an ill-timed road safety post from Traffic Scotland.
Traffic Scotland, a service provided by government agency Transport Scotland, publishes real-time traffic and travel information for the entire Scottish trunk road and motorway network. It also occasionally posts safety advice on its social media channels, its most recent one directed at groups of cyclists on the roads.
“Group rides are great fun – but remember to be mindful of traffic behind you. Courtesy on the road goes a long way,” Traffic Scotland posted on X on Saturday afternoon, complete with the hashtag #SafeJourney.
The post has since been widely condemned by the Scottish cycling community, who have accused the government body of adopting a “tone deaf, victim blaming” stance in the wake of this month’s fatal crash.
“Yes, responding to a lack of courtesy was the reason a driver killed one of my pals last week. Should’ve been more courteous. Thanks for the tip,” Colin Edgar, a director of comms at Glasgow City Council, replied.
“Why on earth would you post this?!” asked Terence. “An important rider from our cycling community in central Scotland, literally died after being struck from behind just 11 days before this post was made. Whoever came up with this and signed off on it can seriously GTF!”
“Victim blaming never goes out of fashion it seems,” said Jerry, while Willie added: “Talk about tone deaf victim blaming. Perhaps a word to impatient and discourteous drivers, Traffic Scotland.”
> Why do cyclists ride two abreast?
“Whose idea was this?” asked Alan. “Absolutely shameful. I’m fucking raging about the message you are sending out.”
“In the last decade, about three people every week have been killed by drivers on your roads,” noted Johnny. “In that time, the only people you’ve asked to be courteous are cyclists. Make it make sense.”
“I’m always mindful of the traffic behind me,” noted Michael. “I always feel I need to keep half my peripheral vision locked on whether they’re about to close pass, injure, or kill me.
“It’s a little discourteous to kill people through one’s rubbish driving, don’t you think?”
Meanwhile, others noted that the post was misleading when it comes to the safety advantages of riding two-abreast on the road, as opposed to single file.
“You’ve got to be having a laugh, right?!” another Michael said. “If you are riding in a group, riding two abreast and in a close group is a protective factor against a road death rate which is over three times the murder rate. Get a grip of the reality of things, for goodness’ sake.”
And Will said: “I thought all those daily deaths on the road were caused mostly by dangerous, negligent, and careless driving. Turns out it just requires a little courtesy.”
Adespoto accused Traffic Scotland of “garbage messaging”, telling the body that “drunk, drugged, unlicensed and speeding drivers are killing people. Delete this shit.”
Finally, Donald said: “Remember to be mindful of cyclists in front of you lest you mow them down through bad driving, lack of concentration, speeding, close passing, phone use, and a host of other dangerous driving practices seen daily.
“Traffic Scotland, your timing is astonishing given recent death.”
Saturday Night Live UK: Not a hit with road.cc readers, it appears
Down in the comments section today, there’s been a bit of debate concerning the criticism directed at the timing of Traffic Scotland’s ill-advised “courtesy” post.
> Everything you need to know about riding in a group — tips for staying safe at peloton speeds
“Is there ever good timing for something like this?” asked besynnock. “The phrase ‘in light of the recent death’, could be applied to any time.”
“Like when right-wingers in the US complain that talking about gun control shortly after a major incident is the wrong time,” mitsky added.
“When is the right time? Given the US death rate by people using guns: ALL the time. The same goes for KSIs on roads, everywhere.”
However, OnYerBike noted:
Whilst I see your point, in Scotland there were “only” 7 cyclist deaths in 2025, and 3 in 2024*. Whilst the statistics don’t include a break down by club ride or not, based on media reporting, it would appear that the majority of fatal incidents are commuters or solo cyclists.
Therefore, posting about group rides less than a week after a cyclist in a group ride was killed is particularly bad timing. There are likely to be periods of months at a time without any cyclist fatalities on Scottish roads (group or otherwise), so they could have just waited a few weeks and it would have been a bit less inappropriate.
There’s also the “why now?” element – if they were posting in spring/early summer, then they could argue it was prompted by more people getting out on their bikes and unrelated to current events. But as we approach autumn, it’s hard to avoid jumping to the conclusion that it was prompted by the Port Glasgow incident.
* of course, that is still far too many – zero is the only acceptable number.
In any case, it turns out that the harshest criticism in today’s comments section was reserved for SNL UK, courtesy of eburtthebike:
“Adespoto accused Traffic Scotland of “garbage messaging”, telling the body that “drunk, drugged, unlicensed and speeding drivers are killing people. Delete this shit.”
Adespoto is right: it’s shit. But compared to the Saturday Night Live sketch it’s not bad.
Maybe I’m an out of touch old git with a cycling dependency, but that wasn’t funny. Nor was it amusing, not so much as the hint of a smile. Just very silly, inaccurate and absurd. To call it drivel would be a compliment.
Still, at least now I know what not to watch on Saturday nights. The US version is infinitely better.
Ouch. Harsh but fair. To be honest though, I’m not sure we’re the target demographic for that particular sketch.
Although I’d dread to see what the US version of the show would come up with on hire bikes. “Infinitely better”? Maybe 20 years ago… Alright, I think we’ve digressed enough for one day, I’ll catch you all later.
3,500 cyclists take to the streets of the capital for the second edition of the London Cycling Festival
The London Cycling Festival took place yesterday, with around 3,500 cyclists taking to the capital’s streets to attend over 50 inclusive, family-free rides and cycling-themed activities.
Organised by the London Cycling Campaign, with support from Lime, Voi, and the Zero Emissions Network, the festival is now in its second year, and was held across 20 boroughs with 18 local councils taking part.
Along with the 50 mass rides, some of which were booked up within weeks of being advertised, the festival featured four our activity ‘hubs’ in Westminster, City of London, Tower Hamlets, and Richmond, boasting music, stalls, games, and bike rides.
At St Paul’s, a wide range of accessible cycles, such as hand cycles and trikes, were available to try out, while Richmond held its own cargo bike festival, enabling families to go for a test ride.
Other councils also provided information on how to return to cycling, while services such as Dr Bike were on hand to fix bikes for free, all with the intention of encouraging more people to cycle. The long-standing Tour de Waltham Forest also took place on the day of the festival.
“We’re delighted that so many took part in the festival this year!” the London Cycling Campaign’s Tom Fyans said in a statement.
“Everyone deserves to enjoy the freedom and fun of cycling, regardless of age, gender, ability or background, and we loved seeing our led rides and opportunities to try accessible cycles at the festival making that a reality.
“We’re really proud as London Cycling Campaign, and our festival partners Lime and Voi, for giving so many people a great day out.”
British Cycling does Sesame Street
You may have missed it, but British Cycling is currently running its Sofa to Saddle programme, aimed at encouraging people to, well, swap the sofa for a bike saddle and start cycling (which is why they made Callum and Geraint Thomas sit uncomfortably on a daft ‘sofa bike’ at the Tour of Britain this month).
And one of governing body’s brainwaves for the initiative is to publish a semi-regular cycling A to Z guide, so prospective cyclists can embrace the joy and wonder of the bike one letter at a time. Like Sesame Street, if it was the brainchild of suited corporate, social media types.
So far, we’ve had A for aero (which is very helpful if you’re a parent thinking of buying a cargo bike), B is for bonk, C is for cadence, and D is for drafting. And today we’ve got… drum roll, please… F is for flat!
View this post on Instagram
Gosh, this is exciting.
“A flat tyre happens when air scapes from your tyre, usually because of a puncture or a problem with the valve,” BC’s resident Elmo tells us.
“Practise changing a tube at home or ask an experienced friend to show you how. It can make your first flat feel a lot less daunting when it happens.”
That’s good, helpful stuff (better than the aero advice anyway), but I wonder how they’ll cope with the rest of the alphabet.
I’ve got a few ideas. I is for Independent Review, J is for Jiffy Bag, S is for Shell/sportswashing, T is for TUE. Or Testogel… I could go on.
Australia’s Felicity Wilson-Haffenden secures another rainbow jersey with dominant ride in U23 women’s time trial
It’s the turn of the U23 time trials in Montreal this afternoon, with Australia’s Felicity Wilson-Haffenden continuing the trend of dominant rides with a very impressive display to secure the third rainbow jersey of her young career.
The 21-year-old, who races for Lidl-Trek on the road, won the junior time trial in Stirling and is already her nation’s elite champion against the clock.
She also has a Commonwealth Games gold medal to her name, thanks to victory in the team pursuit in Glasgow earlier this year (though she was disqualified from the individual pursuit after the race jury deemed the strapping tape on her shoulders to have altered her “morphological” shape).
View this post on Instagram
There was to be no denying Wilson-Haffenden in Canada, however, the Australian upping the pace during the second half of the 20.3km course to unseat early leader Nienke Vinke of the Netherlands and claim gold. Wilson-Haffenden completed the course in 27.40 (the only sub-28-minute ride of the day), beating Vinke by 29 seconds, as Belgium’s Luca Vierstraete took bronze, a further 16 seconds back.
“It’s a really big win for me to pace something well because it’s something I really, really struggle with,” the 21-year-old said at the finish.
“To be honest, I did explode myself a little bit on the way out. The tailwind gets you so excited and then you turn and you realise you do have legs and they do actually get lactic, so I was just fighting with everything I had and really picking the moments where I could put time in and where I could conserve.
“With that finish you can lose so much time in the last 600 metres, so I was just trying to give everything but not quite over the limit until I got to that corner. Then, as I said, I saw rainbows at the top and I went as hard as I could.
View this post on Instagram
“In Glasgow when I won, I was still one year into cycling. So to sit here now three years later with already three world titles, I never would have believed it, to be honest. I definitely have my eyes on more in the future.
“I’m a hungry person, and I will say the elite title is something that I do dream of, but right now I’m going to be so happy just to sit in my room and have a look at those three tonight.”
“People are changing their habits and the way they do things. We are trying to encourage people to walk and cycle as much as possible, and that would automatically mean lower parking revenue”
A classic case of ‘if in doubt, blame cycling’ from Bournemouth Council here:
> Council claims more people cycling causing budget shortfall, despite car park income increasing
“You’ve got to learn to live with the fact that I could die any minute on a Lime”: Saturday Night Live UK takes on Lime bikes
The second episode of the second series of Saturday Night Live UK – the funnier, British version of the longstanding American sketch show – aired at the weekend on Sky. And frankly, I’m surprised it took a bunch of London-based comedy writers in their 20s and 30s this long to write a song about Lime bikes.
But it’s finally here. And it’s actually quite catchy:
Unfortunately the lime bike sketch from snl is very real for me 😔 pic.twitter.com/4ZsiMPSFZh
— captain nukeface ☆ (@616IMPULSE) September 20, 2026
Your daily reminder that Paul Seixas is still a teenager
He may be the most frighteningly precocious talent the cycling world has witnessed since a certain Slovenian burst onto the scene seven years ago. But Paul Seixas is still 19, after all.
Which is why he’d rather scroll on his phone than have a boring post-TT debrief with Remco and Pippo:
☝️Ah, there’s a little chit-chat going on!👂😉
#Smalltalk #Evenepoel #Ganna
…and #Seixas’s on the #Smartphone📱🏳️🌈 World Road Championships 2026
🗓️ Sunday, Sept 20th
🚩 #Montréal 🏁
📏 39,2 km#Montréal2026 #IndividualTimeTrial #ITT@UCI_cycling #UCI #Canada #Cycling #Vélo pic.twitter.com/3jFqoDJmXi— Kingdom of Cycling (@Cycling_Kingdom) September 20, 2026
‘What was that? Something about a headwind? Hold on, I need to reply to this TikTok…’
The young Frenchman also couldn’t wait to grab hold of his phone once he made his way to the hot seat, just in case he’d been tagged in any cool posts (I assume, I don’t know what the kids do these days, come on).
We used to joke about Andy Schleck texting girls while racing up Alpe d’Huez at the Tour. I reckon we’re only a few years away from that actually happening. ‘Hold on, Isaac’s just attacked, I’ll text you back…’
Mathieu van der Poel’s ‘accidental’ 174km solo victory at the Tour of Luxembourg
Earlier this month, the Irish Independent released a three-part vodcast series, which saw Paul Kimmage travel to Pennsylvania to interview Floyd Landis about his Mennonite upbringing, his experience at US Postal with Lance Armstrong, his Tour win, and his subsequent fall from grace and doping confession. It’s really good, you should check it out.
In the second episode, Kimmage tells Landis that his epic, albeit ill-fated, Tour-winning 120km solo ride to Morzine at the 2006 race was the greatest performance he’d ever seen.
Landis just laughs and tells the Irishman: ‘You obviously don’t watch much cycling now, they do that every day.’
He’s not far wrong.
View this post on Instagram
Yesterday at the Tour of Luxembourg, Mathieu van der Poel – fresh from his new Adidas deal – clipped off the front of the bunch, on his own, with 174km left of the race’s final stage. And then just stayed there.
The Dutchman ended up riding solo to the victory, winning the stage by over a minute after one of the longest lone ranger attacks cycling’s ever seen. And apparently it was all an accident.
“That was not the plan before the start,” Van der Poel said at the finish after his lonely day out in front.
“I found myself alone from the start of the race in fact, and I just rode my tempo the whole day.
“At first I thought the chasers would catch up to me, but I just continued to ride at my power and the gap grew out again. At that point I decided to just go all-out until the finish.”
As easy as that. I told you this Sunday in Montreal will be fun.
No Merseyrail
Worlds TT round-up: Zoe Bäckstedt announces herself at elite level and emulates Pooley with first British women’s medal for 15 years, as Swiss powerhouse Marlen Reusser defends
Until yesterday afternoon, it had been 15 long years since a British rider stood on the podium of the elite women’s time trial at the world championships. But Zoe Bäckstedt isn’t one to be burdened by the weight of history, or the expectations of the worlds.
On the bumpy, constantly turning streets of Montreal, the Welsh star became only the second British women ever – after Emma Pooley, who bagged the rainbow jersey in 2010 before taking bronze the following year – to win a medal in the elite women’s TT, finishing second behind Marlen Reusser with a stunning ride.
Eschewing the opportunity to defend her U23 TT title, and add a ninth rainbow jersey to her collection, Bäckstedt delivered a blistering ride, leading through the first two intermediate time checks, with gold seemingly in reach.
But then Marlen Reusser did some classic Marlen Reusser things, the Swiss locomotive powering through the final section, overtaking her Tour de France Femmes nemesis Demi Vollering, who started a minute and a half ahead of her, in the process, to secure back-to-back world TT titles, 40 seconds clear of Bäckstedt.
But that was enough for Bäckstedt to take silver on the longest women’s time trial course in worlds history, her time of 51.04 on the 39.2km route enough to beat Paris-Roubaix winner Franzi Koch by five seconds and fourth-placed Elisa Longo Borghini by 10.
Not bad for an elite debut, not bad at all.
“At the Tour I was fourth, and I was really disappointed with this, and I think that was also a super good ride,” Bäckstedt told Cycling Weekly after bagging an elite silver.
“But immediately when I crossed the line here, I was over the moon. I didn’t know what to expect in a result. I could’ve been anywhere from the win to top 10. And to come away with second… I felt strong on the bike, which was really a positive thing.”
For Reusser, her second consecutive rainbow jersey means she ends 2026 on a high, after a turbulent year marred by a broken back and a rollercoaster Tour, which saw her wear yellow before sliding off the podium on the final day in Nice following a crash.
“It was a good present,” the Swiss rider, who celebrated her 35th birthday yesterday, said.
“The course made me really nervous. On one hand I really was looking forward to it because it has so many challenges, technical aspects, which makes it much more interesting to ride.
“But from the side of pacing and understanding how fast you should go and how you should also cope with these challenges on the way, I was really nervous and I wasn’t really sure because we don’t have time trials like this often. Until an hour ago I was not 100 per cent sure and also on the course I was not 100 per cent sure.”
Asked how she coped in the end on the longer, technical course, the ever-charismatic Reusser smiled and replied: “I think I coped well, apparently.”
Now, there’s an understatement.
“Full focus on Sunday from Tuesday on”: Can Remco Evenepoel pull off the rainbow double after dominant time trial win? + Paul Seixas is truly terrifying
Is Remco Evenepoel the greatest time triallist we’ve ever seen?
The Belgian joined a small elite group of TT specialists in Montreal yesterday afternoon, joining Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara as the only men to win four world time trial titles.
(Of course, the world TT championships have only existed since 1995, so it’s not exactly the best barometer when it comes to historical excellence against the clock. For example, how many rainbow jerseys would Anquetil, Hinault, or Induráin have won if the discipline had existed in their pomp?)
Anyway, pedantic tangents aside, it seems like Evenepoel, four back-to-back titles already in the bag, is only getting better and better when it comes to one-off races against the clock.
The 26-year-old Belgian beat two-time champion Filippo Ganna, the man we all expected to dominate the discipline for years, by 57 seconds in Montreal, the Italian overcoming a bafflingly slow start to secure silver, though never looking in danger of threatening the rampant Evenepoel.
While the Red Bull man’s time trialling masterclass was no surprise, it’s fair to say the big shock of the day came courtesy of Paul Seixas. The 19-year-old French phenom added another terrifying string to his bow by taking bronze, just 16 seconds behind Ganna, beating a host of proper, aero-obsessed TT specialists in the process.
It’s a result that doesn’t bode well for Seixas’ grand tour rivals, who must be left scratching their heads thinking, ‘he can time trial, too?’ I reckon we could be in for a treat at the Tour de France in the next few years, especially if the teenager’s all-round trajectory continues.
Before we get carried away, however, there’s a road race this Sunday to be considered first. And with Evenepoel and Seixas, plus the likes of Isaac Del Toro (sixth yesterday, despite not being a ‘true’ TTer) and Mathieu van der Poel, in top form, we could be in for a humdinger in Montreal.
But for Evenepoel, he’s going to allow his record-equalling fourth time trial rainbow jersey to sink in first, before he thinks about any double attempt.
“I must say that I’ve just had a wonderful feeling all day. It’s a pretty good start of the worlds,” he said at the finish.
“I think there’s quite some time to rest out now and enjoy this special one. Full focus on Sunday from Tuesday on.”
Enjoy your Monday, Remco.
The race of truth: Montreal world championships gallery, day one
Our good pal, and award-winning photographer James Startt, was busy yesterday flying around the streets of Montreal on a motorbike, dodging potholes, and chasing Remco Evenepoel and Marlen Reusser.
Here’s a selection of his best shots from the first day of the 2026 road world championships:
Is Gil Gomes the most stylish man at the worlds?
You can have your space-age aero kit, nutrition plans, and super-fast tyres. You can even have your rainbow jerseys. Because this is what the world championships is really all about.
A few hours before Remco blew everyone away with another jaw-dropping, bullet-like display, GIL Gomes of Guinea-Bissau rocked up to the start-line of the elite men’s world time trial championships in Montreal… sporting a pair of Ray-Bans, a normal Casco road helmet, and riding a Scott road bike.
Class.
Who cares if Gil finished dead-last, with the kind of average speed that would earn you a ‘well done, son, you’ll get better as the season goes on’ at your local club 10? He’s just raced at a world championships. In Ray-Bans.
When it comes to time trialling, or cycling in general, style should always beat substance. Well, that’s my opinion, anyway. I’m not sure Evenepoel or Reusser would agree with me, but as I’ve said before, a world champs is about much more than those wearing a nice rainbow jersey on the podium.
Anyway, would you rather ride your bike wearing one of those new massive alien-like time trial helmets or looking like Gil? Told you…
New TT tech leak from the world championships
I reckon Remco could have gone even quicker on this bad boy:
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Brian Smith’s very relaxing Sunday at home
Poor Brian. The TNT Sports pundit was probably drifting off, the soporific sounds of Celtic versus Rangers playing in the background, when he got the call to take on solo comms for the Giro di Campania (I didn’t even know it was on) at the last minute.
Thank goodness for home studios at the bottom of the garden, eh?
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@chrisonabike exactly, words are cheap. They can safely bang the drum knowing that little will or can be done. OK, some things could be done, but the chance of nobody cocking something up . . ? Realist or pessimist, take your pick; but still optimistic enough to hope that things will work out :-)
@ChrisA isn't this story more along the lines of "tobacco company is demanding government crackdown on nasty rolling papers and dangerous pipes?" Silly of me! How could there be any conflict between and "improving things for their ... definitely not employees ... and the public at large" and these companies' entire business model...?
"Deliveroo has announced a crackdown on modified and ‘dangerous’ e-bikes . . . . . company is calling on the Government to prohibit the sale of unsafe e-bike conversion kits." Really? Do they not know how difficult it is to legislate for such things, the politicians inability to understand details, the competence of the DoJ in drafting such legislation and what seems to be a widespread disregard of those rules; not to mention the total lack of enforcement. Just saying.
@Nigel Garage The Mercedes driver drove through the light three seconds after it turned amber. Official government text: "AMBER means STOP. You may go on only if the amber appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident." Three seconds is more than enough time to stop safely at the speed the Mercedes was going so the driver was breaking the law and therefore committing a prosecutable offence. Deliberately putting others at risk and breaking the law is not "acceptable" and if you saw a cyclist running a red in those circumstances you would rightly condemn it. Is there anything you can't be completely wrong about?
I see quite a few MAAP items out in the Surrey Hills. The new shop has a cafe and they're from Melbourne so the coffee should be good: I'm looking forward to visiting.
@chrisonabike Mercedes was acceptable, but the second one (old Toyota people carrier/ex-taxi) was a prosecutable offence.
I wasn't saying that nor talking about people who say that. I said it was silly to claim that wearing a helmet indicates acceptance of dangerous driving and poor infrastructure. I choose to wear a helmet; I also regularly report dangerous driving to the police and correspond with councils and road authorities about ways infrastructure could be improved for cyclists. I rather doubt I'm the only helmet wearer who does so.
@JamieT (a pedant writes) she's a London Assembly member, not an MP.
33 thoughts on “Anger as “tone-deaf” Traffic Scotland tells cycling groups “courtesy goes a long way” and to “be mindful of traffic behind you”, days after cyclist killed by driver during club ride; The most stylish man at the worlds?; SNL x Lime + more on the live blog”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckrer0yjp1zno?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-gb
Perhaps the traders could ask for a bike lane so that people who don’t need to use someone else’s car park can visit their shops?
@Backladder Nonsense sir! It is a well known fact that the business plan of any small commercial operation in the UK is built around, and solely dependent on, the car parking space immediately outside the front door of the establishment in question. Without such parking, no business could possibly hope to survive. How on God’s green earth can their exclusively motorist clientele (surely) possibly hope to access their services otherwise?
And are the public seriously expected to have to *pay* to store their private possessions in a public space, even temporarily???!??
It’s woke nonsense dreamt up by Sadiq Khan I tell you – Burnham’s Britain etc etc
General E Uninformed
Tunbridge Wells
Great story in the Guardian today, still cycling 5000 km a year aged 92!
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/sep/21/a-new-start-after-60-cycling-92
@Rendel Harris “Great story in the Guardian ”
Can’t say I’ve seen that mentioned very often in my time.
Iain McTavish was hit and killed on a very clear, very straight duel carriageway. Courtesy is using the whole second lane to overtake safely.
If this were a single laned A road with twists and turns I would kind of understand their comments, but the A8 is a road I have ridden on many times in group rides with Ian and alone. It is generally a safe road to ride on. It shows yet again, Traffic Scotland is totally unprepared to side with anyone other than motorists.
Then, in the same week a person was killed walking not far up the road on the M8. Where were Traffic Scotland in relation to that incident?
That a good number of riders from poorer nations have to rock up at UCI and other (e.g., Commonwealth games) championships with road bikes (sometimes borrowed – e.g., I know Neil at Bilslands Cycles in Glasgow lent out a couple of bikes back at the ’14 CW games) and basic kit shows what a bad idea it was to allow rich manufacturers/teams/nations to play at aero arms races.
UCI sanctioned cycling is meant to be a human sport. The bikes and gear needs much heavier regulation. The current situation is a farce (“just a bit of aero, but not too much.. Ok, a bit more, but not that one thing… Ok, that little bit more, but not that one other thing”. Daft.
The obvious answer is to go the pentathlon horse route – the UCI provides an assortment of bikes, and riders are randomly assigned one by drawing of lots, with 20 minutes available to set them up.
@mdavidford The random horse route didn’t work out well for Modern Pentathlon, there were some disastrous rider/horse pairings. They don’t use horses at all now, the riding has been replaced by racing an obstacle course. By the human, that is.
I think it was more the humans that didn’t work out well, rather than the horses.
@mdavidford Reminds one of a very old comedy sketch – Not the 9 o’clock News, maybe? – with a racehorse owner whose horse had come last coming into the stables after the race and apologising to the horse for giving him such a rubbish jockey and sticking the jockey in the knacker’s van.
Well yes. And no.
It is a mechanically assisted sport, in that, unlike Formula One, it is generally not possible to become World Champion/Grand Tour/Monument winner solely on the basis of how good your bike is.
However, as with F1, the top level of world cycling is where the innovation in road bikes is going to happen whether we like it or not. Claiming it as solely a HUMAN sport would mean either everyone still riding steel framed, non-aero machines or simply mandating the specs for the bike and having everyone ride exactly the same machine.
That would probably mean the world’s bike companies losing interest in the racing and/or having no rigourous, real world testing for the results of their R&D.
Not saying either of those options is wrong per se, but for me seeing bike technology move forward and innovate is part of the fun, as long as, at the end of the day, it is still the best/best prepared rider that crosses the line first.
@Jetmans Dad “Claiming it as solely a HUMAN sport would mean either everyone still riding steel framed, non-aero machines or simply mandating the specs for the bike and having everyone ride exactly the same machine. ”
^ Sounds good to me!
@Paul J they could even allow recumbents back in again! Everyone on eg M5 carbon high-racers – that could be interesting.
@Jetmans Dad In the case of cycling, especially Time Trialling, A lot of that tech comes about from the team you ride for and the bikes supplied. Evanapoel has a strong tie with Specialized for their bike development, but for many other riders that has absolutely nothing to do with them or their nation.
Is it not giving the competition a less than level playing field where one or two riders get far preferential treatment than the rest? Many riders could be forced to ride a less than optimal bike based on their current contractual obligations.
This was very evident in Yorkshire when a certain Rohan Dennis rode a blacked out BMC instead of his pro teams provided Merida leading to his contract being terminated. If the bike plays that big a part in the event its not really a level playing field at all
@Jetmans Dad There is merit in what you say in terms of bicycles but I don’t think anyone would claim that the development of those bloody stupid helmets benefits anyone except TT riders; ordinary road helmets have pretty much evolved as far as they can go in terms of shape. I don’t think that a proscription on any helmets that protrude more than 60 mm from the rider’s head in any direction would do any harm and it would stop the sport looking quite so ridiculous. Kasper Asgreen in his silver POC monstrosity looked like nothing so much as someone who was wearing a novelty dolphin costume for a laugh.
I mean, there must have been *some* evolutionary benefit to them.
@mdavidford where are they now?
(Apart from being trolled at Crystal Palace).
@chrisonabike Some say they went extinct, but in reality they just moved off-world.
@Paul J I like that idea. The TT is supposed to be just you against the clock, so standard bikes (e.g. the ‘neutral service vehicle’ bikes) and standard helmets and clothing would remove some variables and also make it a level playing field
I’d be willing to bet that Mr Gomes’ compatriot Apolinario Ca, who finished one place above him, was also on a road bike. Whether he was sporting Ray-Bans, I cannot say, as I can’t find photos.
@AidanR He was on a road bike but wearing cycling glasses – here’s a picture of the two of them on the Grand Prix section of the course.
@Rendel Harris but is he less cool with his rim brakes?!
I think the tie-breaker is Gomes’ ankle-length sock look out-cools Cá’s regulation mid-calf choice.
@AidanR More cool, clearly looked at the course and thought it’s a TT, the weight saving is going to be more important than braking. We know who beat whom!
Is there ever good timing for something like this?
The phrase “in light of the recent death”, could be applied to any time.
@bensynnock
Like when right-wingers in the US complain that talking about gun control shortly after a major incident is the wrong time.
When is the right time?
Given the US death rate by people using guns: ALL the time.
The same goes for KSIs on roads, everywhere.
@bensynnock Whilst I see your point, in Scotland there were “only” 7 cyclist deaths in 2025, and 3 in 2024*. Whilst the statistics don’t include a break down by club ride or not, based on media reporting, it would appear that the majority of fatal incidents are commuters or solo cyclists.
Therefore, posting about group rides less than a week after a cyclist in a group ride was killed is particularly bad timing. There are likely to be periods of months at a time without any cyclist fatalities on Scottish roads (group or otherwise), so they could have just waited a few weeks and it would have been a bit less inappropriate.
There’s also the “why now?” element – if they were posting in spring/early summer, then they could argue it was prompted by more people getting out on their bikes and unrelated to current events. But as we approach autumn, it’s hard to avoid jumping to the conclusion that it was prompted by the Port Glasgow incident.
* of course, that is still far too many – zero is the only acceptable number.
“Adespoto accused Traffic Scotland of “garbage messaging”, telling the body that “drunk, drugged, unlicensed and speeding drivers are killing people. Delete this shit.”
Adespoto is right: it’s shit. But compared to the Saturday Night Live, or Like (sic) sketch it’s not bad.
Maybe I’m an out of touch old git with a cycling dependency, but that wasn’t funny. Nor was it amusing, not so much as the hint of a smile. Just very silly, inaccurate and absurd. To call it drivel would be a compliment.
Still, at least now I know what not to watch on Saturday nights. The US version is infinitely better.
Traffic Scotland have not replied to comments, but they have deleted the post.
Why so much focus on the timing of Traffic Scotland’s post? …this is relentless.
Obviously even the Traffic Scotland employees need to re-sit their driving tests! …Why not a campaign for every driver to have to re-take their driving tests? This is so serious.
“For example, how many rainbow jerseys would Anquetil, Hinault, or Induráin have won if the discipline had existed in their pomp?”
Before the world TT championship existed, the GP Des Nations was regarded as the unofficial world championship. Anquetil won that six times in a row and nine times in all, so there’s a bit of a way to go for anyone to match that record…
Bloody vigilante HGVs, persecuting hardworking motorists – bet they don’t even pay road ta… wait, what?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6x2zpdmnxkeo
@mdavidford Four days to catch 54 people on their phones, that’s pathetic unless Londoners are far more law abiding than Scots, I could spot 54 phone users in a morning!