Cycle lane nearing completion branded “a complete waste of money” by local MP; Factor return to the WorldTour; Former Team Picnic PostNL’s women’s riders speak out + more on the live blog
Cycle lane discourse - a pub surviving!
Our most loyal readers may remember the story of the Sheffield pub which survived two World Wars, floods and the pandemic” but faces “almost certain closure” due to plans to put a protected cycle lane outside.
Almost five months later, 162-year-old The Carlton Hotel Pub is still alive and, according to their social media posts, should have held their fortnightly meat raffle last night. That’s despite ongoing construction works outside their premises to build active travel infrastructure “designed to transform access between growing employment, leisure and housing opportunities in Darnall, and the Lower Don Valley into the City Centre and to Meadowhall, which will make the area more attractive to live, work and invest in.”
The Darnall-Attercliffe-City Centre cycle lane is designed to provide “new and improved crossing points for pedestrians and cyclists, public realm enhancements on Attercliffe High Street, bus priority improvements and segregated cycle routes linking Darnall and Attercliffe to the city centre. You can see the full map of the plans here.
But the pub landlords have gained a new ally in their mission to cancel the cycle lane works: local Labour MP Clive Betts.
Betts went as far as to describe the whole scheme to the BBC as “a complete waste of money”, “not necessary” and “a cycle lane to nowhere” – my favourite Talking Heads song. Unsurprisingly, the pub landlords have shared their support for Betts’ call for the lane to be scrapped…
The disruption also seems to be irritating locals:
“Sheffield is built on seven hills, it’s not Holland”
“They built the grate [sic] wall of China quicker 
“
“Why are cycle lanes more important than businesses and pedestrians?”
There’s also the usual tripe about ‘road tax’, driving tests and ghost bikes which we needn’t share here. It just shows how, even when the end of the work is in sight, some people will never be appeased…
Dylan Teuns retires
The Belgian always felt like a rider who couldn’t easily be categorised. He’d win up mountains but also had a hell of a kick on him. Very similar in profile perhaps to Julian Alaphilippe only without the the fervour…
View this post on Instagram
“What a ride it has been! It is time to say goodbye to the professional peloton.” The 34-year-old announced.
“After wonderful youth years, I was able to transition from the BMC Development Team to the main squad in 2014. That was the start of a twelve-year pro career (2014-2026) that took me through top teams like BMC, Bahrain Victorious, Israel-Premier Tech, and Cofidis. Wearing their jerseys was an absolute privilege. I look back with immense pride and gratitude on a career in which I was able to fulfil my absolute childhood dreams.
“I am proud of the versatility I was able to show: from a time trial victory in the Ruta del Sol to completing all five Monuments and all three Grand Tours. I stood on the podium of Il Lombardia (2020) and narrowly missed out on the podium at the Tour of Flanders (2024). On top of that, I had the honor of wearing the iconic Belgian national jersey at four World Championships.
“To all the fans, teammates, and staff members who have backed me all these years along the road and in front of the screen: thank you!
“But a special thanks goes out to my parents, close friends, and girlfriend for having my back during the highs and the lows.
“Deep gratitude for my loyal, steady entourage over the years. Without you all, this dream would have never become reality. It is time for a new chapter, but the love for the bike remains forever. Merci!”
In his career, Teuns won two Tour de France stages (atop Super Planche des Belles Filles and Grand Bornand respectively) as well as the prestigious Fleche Wallonne classic, a home race for the Belgian. He also wore the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta a Espana, and even podiumed Il Lombardia in 2018. Pretty good going!
RIP Sir Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart and his e-bike in 2015
#RIPPatrickStewart
— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 29 October 2026 at 20:44
Serious injuries still down since 20mph introduced in Wales
Hear, ye! Hear, ye! Spread the news far and wide…
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The anticyclist exaggerates the disadvantages of cycle lanes beyond belief; it's like they imagine the worst-case scenario and then make it even worse. The Netherlands and Belgium have no problem with cycle paths.
@DrG82 just wait 'till you hear about the "blanket" 30mph limits it was replacing, or those "NSL" signs that just got stuck up everywhere else by default...
@Clem Fandango from that last observation I conclude that the only way to protect drivers from delays by being forced to stop and argue the toss with cyclists, or even being falsely accused by cyclists of various driving offenses is: - traffic lights at regular intervals along all roads, which should turn red whenever a cyclist approaches, alerting drivers there is a (RLJ) cyclist in front. - lights at every junction which default to all-ways red, unless they are briefly reset to green by a cyclist passing (and obviously riding through on red).
Um, yes, that's how evidence works. Perhaps you meant they're not *proof*, which would be true. But they are the best evidence we have.
These stats aren't evidence, they show correlation. Without isolating the variables they don't actually say that much about the impact of the change. Speed limits are an ineffective tool when the problem is drivers not driving in an appropriate manner for the conditions and environment. Those drivers weren't following the speed limit and/or paying sufficient attention anyway! If that is the problem and you don't deal with it, but you want to keep reducing injuries/fatalities, you have to keep dropping speed limits until you prohibit road use entirely. The solution is driving standards improvement (education) and enforcement. In wider terms but more importantly it's better city and road design, and reducing commuting distances by reforming the housing market (to an easily exchanged basic human need - shelter, not primarily an asset with massive financial inertia to change) But that's expensive, in £, time, administration, politics.
@OnYerBike I also find Zwift is a best bet if you want a very easy recovery ride on a windy day. A lot of my cycling is on the fens, where wind is a huge factor, making it difficult to keep power at a low level. An indoor ride on a flat course like Tempus Fugit or similar is perfect - as long as I ride to my power level and don't try to catch other riders.
Bet that Patrick Stewart was a menace - running red(shift) lights at warp speed, and then appearing out of nowhere...
@DrG82 - on the other hand not doing it would merely have been a waste of life.
@Rapha Nadal I believe there other platforms such as TrainerRoad that would let you do that, although you'd need both the (standard) Zwift subscription and a subscription to TrainerRoad on top, which comes to a higher total. I know Zwift does now let you sync with Garmin etc. so it does "know" about your outside bike rides, although it's unclear how thoroughly integrated this is (e.g. if you manually recreate the recommended workout outside, is that recognized as being equivalent training?) That said, whilst in general I much prefer riding outside, indoor training does have distinct advantages for structured training - you can just focus on hitting the target power and not have to worry about traffic/traffic lights/potholes/hills etc.
3 thoughts on “Cycle lane nearing completion branded “a complete waste of money” by local MP; Factor return to the WorldTour; Former Team Picnic PostNL’s women’s riders speak out + more on the live blog”
Bet that Patrick Stewart was a menace – running red(shift) lights at warp speed, and then appearing out of nowhere…
Make it so
The anticyclist exaggerates the disadvantages of cycle lanes beyond belief; it’s like they imagine the worst-case scenario and then make it even worse. The Netherlands and Belgium have no problem with cycle paths.