“1.5 mile detour? Oh poor you”: Builder criticised for moaning about Tour of Britain’s “Bloody Lycra Brigade” causing minor extension to his commute; Skeggy seaside sprint awaits Merlier & Kooij; High mountains return at Vuelta + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Bloody lycra brigade
You may have heard by now I was at the Lloyds Tour of Britain yesterday. I’m afraid this might not even be the last you hear of it, given that I still have some interviews to go through and write-up. But I will be deliberate and smart as to when I insert myself into this story. Anyway, here’s me and Geraint Thomas…
Enough! I was tipped off yesterday that ASO, the owners of the Tour de France, are planning on visiting the race later this week and will be part of the race convoy. Also attending will be a senior gendarmes. They’ll be visiting to see how the race, with its rolling road closures, is policed and how the public receive the race more broadly.
Yesterday’s stage finish would have been a safe bet if British Cycling wanted to show the best of the British public. Thanks to the the Lincoln Grand Prix the city is well-placed and adapted to bike racing by this point, and there was a great turnout all through the closing kilometres of the circuit.
Several villages also came out to show the best of themselves, with bunting and giant tractors on display, along with hordes of newly re-enrolled school children in hi-vis vests and freshly-bought uniforms.
Yet still, we found one complainant, enter Lincolnshire builder Graham Winter…
Bloody Lycra brigade. Put media vans and such like in car parks instead of blocking off complete roads 1.5mile detour just to get to my yard so I can load the van for work pic.twitter.com/RudVLGmgpO
— Graham Winter (@broadway1510) September 2, 2026
1.5 miles! The implication seems to be that Winter works very close to the start-finish line and thus was unable to use the barriered road for much of the day. An inconvenience? Perhaps. But he can’t say he didn’t know this would happen, with the route confirmed many months ago and signs adorning most roads about the road closures on the day.
Thankfully, some Twitter users came to address his concerns…
“Boo hoo. You’ll have had weeks of advance notice. You should have prepared better. This was from the Tour a few years ago.”
“1.5 mile detour? Oh poor you. Thoughts and prayers for your tremendous loss.”
“Oh for Pete’s sake, it was for one single day. I’m sure somehow life will go on. Geez.”
Some things never change…
— Yellowbelly Wheelman (@Lincs_Wheelman) September 2, 2026
Riding without a helmet = "Cycling propaganda"
The helmet discourse will never end…
Jakob Omrzel wins, Mas gains time
The Slovenian has announced himself today with a stunning win from the breakaway that also moves him up on GC. An immense performance. Urko Berrade comes across the line second, nearly two minutes behind.
Esloveno.
20 añitos.
Corriendo su primera Vuelta.🇸🇮 ¿Os suena la historia? Jakob Omrzel gana en Calar Alto desde la fuga y da un salto en la general. #LaVuelta26 #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/HQFzheAzYG
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 3, 2026
Behind, Felix Gall attacked on the steeper gradients near the summit and briefly distanced Roglic. But neither could catch Enric Mas. The race leader has taken another significant step towards winning his first Grand Tour today, with an impressive solo ride aided by some excellent Movistar tactics.
He comes over the line 2’56” behind Omrzel and by my maths gains 27 seconds on Roglic, Gall and Carapaz. That gives the Spaniard nearly two minutes of a GC lead. That’s a much more comfortable buffer to withstand a time trial in the third week.
Tactically they're perfect
Has Alejandro Valverde’s famous prophecy finally come true for Movistar?
Raul Garcia Pierna has joined Enric Mas just as the steepest gradients give way to more undulating roads. They’re stretching the maillot rojo‘s advantage over Roglic and Gall out beyond 30 seconds. Garcia Pierna even had bottles to give his teammate.
Carapaz and Muhlberger have meanwhile dropped Oscar Onley and are about to rejoin the podium contenders.
5km to go for leader Omrzel, 3’45” to Mas and Garcia Pierna, 4’20” to the podium contenders who just get their own reinforcements from the break in the form of Leo Bisiaux and Luke Tuckwell.
10km
Jakob Omrzel, a man disgracefully born in 2006, has gone solo at the front of the race and, given he started the race inside the top-10, you’d back the latest young Slovenian to hang on for the stage win.
Urko Berrade, a former Vuelta stage winner himself is now 20 seconds behind.
Among the favourites, Enric Mas has attacked and gone solo. He quickly gains 15 seconds on Roglic and Gall and has the advantage of having teammate Raul Garcia Pierna up the road. Things are looking good for the Spaniard…
Ones and Twos
Decathlon come to the front and again set a hard pace which drops Skjelmose and Kuss. But the turns are brief, with Matthew Riccitello dropping before he rides on the front.
Last man Muhlberger takes over with only Gall, Mas, Roglic, Onley and Carapaz on the wheel. A brief turn sets up Gall’s attack on the steepest slopes. Mas and Roglic respond whilst Onley and Carapaz are left behind. is the Scot suffering from his injuries?
At the front of the race, Omrzel and Urko Berrade have distanced the rest to be alone up front, but there are still 12.5km to go. 4’13” to the first three on GC, 4’30” to Onley and Carapaz.
Carapaz attacks!
The Ecuadorian, fifth overall, can always be relied upon to animate the race. It was a vicious acceleration to break free of the peloton, but he only gained around 20 seconds on the peloton before the controlled high tempo of Movistar man Ivan Romeo brought him back.
The effect of this is to bring the gap to the break down to 5’30” with the final climb still to go. Omrzel doesn’t like this development and attacked from the break. he initially brought Decathlon’s Leo Bisiaux with him before a group of others caught him, including Buitrago who gratefully claimed maximum points at the top of the climb to extend his lead over Van Aert in the battle for polka dots.
30km, a 10km descent and then the final climb to Calar Alto. The 10 strongest from the break have 5’30” on a very reduced peloton.
Angle-grinder-er arrested after citizen intervenes
To be clear, the thief who used the angle grinder is an angle grinderer. Rolls off the tongue.
Advantage break in Spain?
It’s been the Wout van Aert show so far in Spain, with the Belgian leading over the minor climbs and just now taking maximum points at the intermediate sprint. The green jersey is surely his unless he falls off.
The gap to the peloton is now 7’40”, parachuting Jakob Omrzel onto the podium and within touching distance of the red jersey of Enric Mas. UAE are working hard to keep the stage-win likely.
They’re on the category-1 Alto de Velefique, a long steep climb which somehow is just a warm-up for the final climb. And already riders are starting to drop away. In fact, just as I type there goes Van Aert, his mission done for the day.
The peloton continues to be large and led by Movistar.
42km to go, 7’42” the gap.
A doping scandal in waiting?
A good feature on an overlooked topic:
Unhinged food parody of the day
I’d like to report a crime. An international food crime.
When the person from the team is telling you their latest social media output is “a bit naff” you know you need to brace yourself.
I’ve actually done Soudal Quick-Step a slight disservice by not referring to them as Fix-All Quick-Step during the Tour of Britain, for reasons I’m not quite sure of.
But I feel better misidentifying the team when they have so brazenly trampled over the British culture we hold dear. Imagine us clutching our mock pearls…
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A full English breakfast on the bike? Sure, what the hell, although connoisseurs might be disappointed by the lack of black pudding on display. That said, it’s partly compensated for by the haggis which looks about as horrendous as always in tin foil.
For the fish & chips I’ll give them credit for the newspaper wrapping, even if it’s a pastiche more frequently seen in an overpriced restaurant than down the local takeaway.
But lager? Not ale? I guess the money-spinners in Burton-upon-Trent have won…
At this point, the beige food pulp is nothing. You might as well have had Tim Declercq in the team car wearing a bowler hat, giving his team briefing like Dick Van Dyke. A beige energy gel doesn’t move the comedy-ometer at that point.
I did chuckle at the over earnest parody disclaimer at the end of the video, such is the fear that the disposition of the rest of the world is ill-equipped to navigate the irony of British mick-taking without being explicitly reassured of the silliness of it all.
Although that said, I do remember a Belgian gel maker making a cassoulet-flavoured energy gel parody that seemed to gain a lot more traction than expected. Maybe this is the future of marketing after all. Take note PR folk who keep emailing us!
Tim Merlier wins in Skegness
After attacking yesterday in the finale, UAE’s Florian Vermeersch went again with 7km on the run-in to Skegness. Quick-Step were the team to chase him down and did so with 2km remaining.
With a reduced group denying many of the fast men their usual lead-outs. Mark Stewart and Lewis Askey led into the final km working for Riley Pickrell and Ethan Vernon before Jasper Stuyven came to the front. He perfectly set up Tim Merlier who launched slightly earlier than expected with 200m to go. Despite Kooij’s efforts it was a clear win for the Belgian.
Ez for Tim Merlier #TourofBritain pic.twitter.com/jtjaVj5Rqg
— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) September 3, 2026
I hope he celebrates with an evening in an arcade…
10km to go
It’s looking over for Filippo Ganna. With only Flanders-Baloise willing to co-operate with Netcompany-Ineos the gap to the front echelon has grown to a minute. We’re looking at a reduced bunch sprint. Besides Askey, Matteo Trentin is there as are the big two of Kooij and Merlier. A fast finish is incoming!
Unhinged bike of the day
So much to admire, the frame, the front wheel, the saddle.
There’s a lot of faith there in tape and zip ties…
Echelons!
Wow, an otherwise sleepy stage has been brought to life by the good old Lincolnshire wind. The break have been caught by a ferocious pace led by the sprint teams and a split in the bunch was made more dramatic when Filippo Ganna, second on GC, suffered a mechanical at the worst possible time.
He has two teammates and is driving on a ferocious pace at the front of the second group. Unfortunately for him, multiple teams are riding hard at the front of the race, including UAE and race leader Askey himself. Tense times! The gap is 46 seconds between the groups.
To make matters worse for the Italian, Askey has just nabbed some bonus seconds behind Matteo Trentin at the first intermediate sprint to buttress his GC margin. 47km to go.
The Vuelta in contrast is a little more sedate, the break has grown to 30 riders whilst their advantage has extended beyond four minutes. Van Aert is continuing to chip away at Buitrago’s margin over the day’s early climbs. 104km to go there…
Not exactly what I mean when I say "the bike is my crutch"
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Steady steady
There’s not much to report at the Tour of Britain, a four-rider break have a gap of around 1’30” on the peloton. The four all represent Continental teams, and includes national champion of Finland Axel Källberg, wearing a tremendous jersey.
The peloton are led by NSN, working for race leader Lewis Askey and Ethan Vernon, Soudal Quick-Step, working for Tim Merlier, and Decathlon CMA-CGM, working for Olav Kooij.
Remember you can watch today’s stage at the bottom of today’s page…
In the Vuelta, we finally have a big break away and the race has settled down. Van Aert and Buitrago are among 26 riders up the road. Jakob Omrzel, 10th overall and 8’05” behind Mas is up the road, as are three UAE riders, Eddie Dunbar, Alexey Lutsenko, Andreas Leknessund, Fin Pickering and Urko Berrade. Their advantage over the peloton is stretching up and out beyond 2 minutes.
At the back, Oscar Onley has been involved in a crash at a roundabout. The Scot was quick to remount and rejoin the peloton but has since spent a period at the medical car, with a doctor tending to his wounds and road rash on his right-hand side…
⚠️ Oscar Onley, maillot blanco y uno de los mayores rivales de Enric Mas, se va al suelo en una rotonda.#LaVuelta26 #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/gPwGMCo44h
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 3, 2026
GameBoy head unit
I was more of a Nintendo DS man myself, a man of class…
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Bike shop's sudden closure leaves customers confused
The sudden closure was met with confusion and in some cases anger among the shop’s customers, many of whom had left their bikes to be repaired or had paid deposits for new bikes.
The shop’s phone line had also been disconnected, while its website and social media accounts were shut down.
Vuelta stage 12 preview: High altitude awaits
After a rest day and a couple of sprint opportunities, the GC-race at the Vuelta resumes today with a trip to the high mountains, culminating in a climb to Calar Alto at 2,140m above sea level.
There’s a hell of a lot of climbing before then, including during the start of the stage which should create a strong breakaway – if one can get away. A reminder that Enric Mas leads the race with 1’18 to Primoz Roglic, 1’39 to Felix Gall and 2’20” to Oscar Onley in fourth.
No break has got away just yet in the opening 15km, but Wout van Aert has been active. He’ll be emboldened by Mads Pedersen’s withdrawal from the race due to illness, and might even be targeting a rare tilt at both the points and mountains classifications, having led both competitions before his withdrawal from the Vuelta in 2023. He’s currently 12 points behind Santiago Buitrago in the hunt for polka dots.
155km to go, the peloton are still together.
Why don't they ride in the bike lane?
One of our favourite Facebook groups strikes again…
“Ilfracombe, Devon, part of NCN27.” Richard Webber writes. “The lane allows cyclists to go up an otherwise one way street in the other direction. The blocked lane forces cyclists into the path of incoming cars – one near miss observed!”
The state of the paintwork there also leaves much to be desired, it must be said. There are other criticisms too:
“Lane is too narrow anyway and the sloping gutter to the dangerous curb will flip you off at the slightest wobble. A token bike lane, just greenwash.”
“You can be fined for parking a car on yellow lines so what about bins?”
“The skinny jeans of cycling lanes.”
On the latter point of skinny jean cycle lanes, this is a recurring theme of ours, as recently as last week. But it’s not just in Britain where this is a recurring problem.
My friend Morris was riding his bike in Sweden yesterday and came across this similarly narrow infrastructure…
“Non-existent infrastructure for cyclists in the great 2026”, he writes. “About 70cm [wide] for real, a joke.”
This may be true, but I suspect British cyclists might be grateful for even brief segregation from drivers, even if the resultant painted space allocated to the kerb is far too tight for comfort, bordering on dangerous. A different place, but the same problems persist…
Pogacar spotted in the wild
The 5-time Tour champion has been photographed by his fiancée and fellow pro Urska Zigart. We’re pretty sure it’s the first photo of Pogacar since he was discharged from hospital after undergoing surgery…
View this post on Instagram
He’s still wearing a sling and has bandages on his knee, collarbone and over his black eye. The World Championships in Canada are almost certainly off the table, but could he be tempted to return to racing at a home European championships in Slovenia, or the Italian monument Il Lombardia, where he is a 5-time defending champion?
Both are an exciting prospect, although rest and rehabilitation never hurt anyone…
Tour of Britain live stream!
They’re up and running and have rolled out of Boston…
Today’s stage might produce some crosswinds as well in the latter stages…
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Latest Comments
AI is cancel culture Anyone who thinks it’s good has no talent and wants to be homogenised into a world of bland sameness.
@chrisonabike also a lot easier to wrap up when the 'hurty words' are telling people to burn down hotels hosting asylum seekers and then people go and do exactly that.
"The spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said the force was unable to comment on this recent spate of reported bikejackings because “they are not linked, given they are in different areas”." Because crims on mopeds _definitely_ can't travel to different areas of the city, very easily?
@Pub bike I run nokons on the Good Bike, very little compression on the outers, both xtr brake and gears. For the several years I will keep the well lubricated quality nokons inners I will have to adjust to take the little slack out of the rear a few times, just to make the shifts crisp. Ceramic brakes so pad wear is negligible, the rear will need more adjustment over time than the front, presumably as it's a much longer cable run. Nokons cables on the rohloff on the Ultimate Commuter, have had to take some slack out, mainly out of the getting lower gear cable, I'm guessing as I often trying to find the non existent lower gear on the hard climb.
@imajez Brake adjusters mainly deal with pad wear whilst gear adjusters fine tune shifting during set-up and after fitting a new inner cable. Brake outer housing is spiral-wound and compressible giving compliance at the lever and the false impression that the inner cable somehow stretches whereas the metal strands in gear outer housing are laid axially and as such the outer housing doesn't easily compress over time keeping shifting precise. I find that a previously well-adjusted rear derailleur system that needs adjustment likely needs a new inner cable.
I ride expensive bikes wearing expensive helmets, my bike equipped with an expensive bike computer, fitness watch and cell phone. I carry my debit card. I worry. You would expect anyone living in Chicago to worry about bike jacking. Yet, for some strange reason. The Chicago land criminal community has not caught on to bike jacking. They like retail break ins and ATM smash ups.
@mattw "footpaths" Hmm... true this is an underappreciated resource and indeed in danger. But I think this is very location dependent. If we're taking in urban locations, are you talking alleys - narrow almost always no room for expansion? Or "footways" - also often not ample and we're back to "fighting over scraps" with pedestrians or even forced-conflict with "shared use"? In the countryside - perhaps? If what goes in NL applies more generally (and why wouldn't it - they're humans too) more people may be prepared to travel on bikes there than UK opinion holds. ("people depend on their cars... nobody cycles or walks ... the non-existent footway beside the A-road!"). Although that may depend on "cyclists and walkers get the direct route" which isn't always how we do it...
@james-o Cable brakes and gear shifters have have barrel adjusters to deal with the inevitable cable stretch, that most certainly occurs over time.
@mattw I believe this is exactly the kind of thing that The Ranty Highwayman and Robert Weetman worked on for Manchester City Council. Fixing it for pedestrians *ought* to be uncontroversial. It *ought* to be a path that actually "works" to move forward for the UK. I believe Chris Boardman had success in Manchester with an approach which largely emphasised this (plus buses). BUT... I do wonder if this leaves us stuck at pretty much the status quo - because it reinforces the current "either walking, or driving" split. First we'd get "can't have cycling infra because cycling gets in the way of cars and threatens pedestrians". Then most people simply won't walk far (especially if eg. carrying shopping). Which leads to "we still really need cars!" even for very local trips. Which then kills off active travel again, because cars take up too much space and suppress active travel.
16 thoughts on ““1.5 mile detour? Oh poor you”: Builder criticised for moaning about Tour of Britain’s “Bloody Lycra Brigade” causing minor extension to his commute; Skeggy seaside sprint awaits Merlier & Kooij; High mountains return at Vuelta + more on the live blog”
Per my comment on yesterday’s blog about Sadiq Khan’s prosecution…
“London mayor’s untaxed car conviction withdrawn
…
The DVLA will also investigate the false registration…”
I wonder if they will also apply the same investigations to all the other fraudulent vehicle registrations…
And given:
“After the mayor expanded the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to cover the whole of London he faced a wave of protests, including from motorists who said they planned to register their car in his name – supposedly to make him liable for the £12.50 daily charge.”
Would all of those drivers have been prosecuted (or at least got a formal warning) for openly admitting to planning to commit fraud?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c7708vn2yp7o
It seems that road.cc is on a quest to find someone saying something negative about cycling and report it here.
I find it wearing. Indiana Jones and the Anti-Cycling Facebook Moaner would certainly have been the worst one of the series.
I think roadcc does an excellent job of highlighting ignorance of and prejudice against cyclists from people who should know better. Examples are :
1) A newly appointed police commissioner who believes that cyclists pay nothing towards the upkeep of roads.
2) The BBC and other media outlets lumping together electric motorbikes, ebikes and cycles to suit their arguments.
3) The Daily Telegraph claiming that most cyclists streak through red lights and that some cyclists reach speeds of 57 mph.
I could go on.
I am going to need some roofing work doing soon. I will avoid booking Graham though as he might have to negotiate my bikes whilst undertaking the work, and I would not like to cause him more stress
Where are the mushrooms?
@mdavidford rounded up… follow the anti-doping/ ƃuᴉdop-ᴉʇuɐ arrow
@mdavidford still in the mushroom kingdom?
I have also wrapped the contact points on my crutches in bar tape. Works great.
You might need to add an extra layer of tape if you go walking on Belgian or French cobbled roads.
If Soudal Quick Step want to get a proper handle on British food, I recommend that they try saag mutta aloo (spinach, green peas and potatoes) – madras hot with fresh chillies, bhindi bhaji and maybe a vegetable paratha or a couple of chapatis.
If they are unimpressed with fish and chips then they are eating them from the wrong shop.
They are barely scratching the surface.
Didn’t look like chips to me anyway – surely those were wedges?
Yes. Definitely wedges. Happily not covered with mayonnaise.
They need to give haggis more respect as well. TBH it never looks that inviting, but usually tastes great.
For a great angle on Scottish food, I would like to see them feature haggis as a crouton on top of a Scottish filet steak.
Ahem…
The bit about evil rich people has some road relevance.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/sep/03/ig-nobel-prize-awards-2026-winners
Our window cleaner told me that he rarely gets Christmas tips from his customers in the wealthier areas of town.
Maybe it’s part of the go getter / climb the greasy pole mentality.
I once read that many Olympic gold medalists share a lot of common personality traits with psychopaths – the need to dominate, to come out on top, to soundly beat your opponents. Perhaps the same applies to some high fliers in business?
@Mr Blackbird Definitely my experience in my brief and inglorious year as a motorcycle courier, delivering £10,000 of aeroplane tickets to someone in Belgravia, not a chance of a tip and the snottiest attitudes imaginable, taking work out to some freelancer in a council flat in Leytonstone often a tip, always a chat and an offer of tea. Many very rich people really do regard the rest of the population as a totally different species. I guess if they started thinking of them as equals that might lead to some uncomfortable thoughts that maybe they should be equally rewarded for the same level of work, and that would never do.