“Imagine we talked about cars like this”: Londoners react to BBC video asking if the city’s “e-bike situation has gone too far”; Reaction to razor-tight European Championships + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
E-bike talk...
I’m going to stick my proverbial neck out here, and say that I think that BBC London’s YouTube video on the rise of e-bikes in the capital is, though not perfect, pretty good.
It outlines the recent growth of e-bikes, the infrastructure difficulties presented by their surging popularity, and gives a voice to efforts to regulate the industry in the name of helping the e-bike market grow and simplify.
It also summarises e-bike policy developments we’ve also covered in recent months, including Westminster council seizing badly parked e-bikes, operators ignoring council contracts to continue operating in boroughs they shouldn’t, and the issues of insurance and compensation for injured riders and pedestrians.
> “The legislation doesn’t cope”: Calls for e-bike hire law changes as Lime bike-related injury claims surge in London
That said, the headline and featured image are a little sensationalist, designed to grab your attention and provoke an opinion. And opinions they have provoked…
“Can’t go very far across London without cars being in your way and being everywhere.”
“Funny when all the roads are clogged with vehicles no one asks if it’s ‘gone too far’”
“Imagine we talked about cars like this. We’re absolutely brainwashed.”
> Plans for London-wide e-bike hire licences delayed by impending public consultation
Indeed, motonormativity was the talk of the town square over on YouTube, whilst Reddit users seemed more aware of some of their flaws…
“The whataboutism about cars being dangerous doesn’t exactly mean we can just ignore the cavalier attitude that the dockless hire companies have taken to chucking their products onto every street corner.
“The fact that each council sets their own rules on them as well doesn’t help, and it’s taking way too long for the mayors office to actually pull this into their remit so we can have a proper city-wide policy.”
“It’s not a zero sum issue. Cars are a problem but so are e-bikes with the lack of storage locations around the city which means they often pile up and cause problems for pedestrians. And the lack of training for most cyclists which means a large proportion of e-bike users frequently flout the Highway Code, putting other road users at risk. The e-bike companies are usually unaccountable also if one of their riders cause a traffic accident. Both issues need to be addressed.”
Or perhaps put most succinctly: “Ignoring the problems of e-bikes because you don’t like cars is not helpful. I say this as a cyclist who hates cars.”
As is often the case, two things can be true at once. A rise in demand for e-bikes should be welcomed and accommodated whilst efforts to shape and improve rider behaviour are also good! But anyway, the thoughts of the panel are welcome!
Death taxes, Valterri Bottas doing something mad
For reasons that can best be surmised as *geopolitics* last weekend’s Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix took place in Malaysia. This weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix takes place in… Singapore.
Most drivers would be tempted to fly between the two, many might even fly on a private jet if they can afford the fuel in light of… *geopolitics*. But Valterri Bottas has decided otherwise.
The 10-time race winner, now driving for Cadillac, has always been a bit of a bike nut having started his own gravel event and even raced in the Gravel World Championships. But cycling 300km in a week between two races is somewhat insane.
What might be more insane is riding the opening 56km the same day as the Grand Prix, though it’s worth noting he spun out after seven laps. Today’s effort was rather more intense…
It’s a pity he wasn’t closer to the Tour of Langkawi, otherwise he could have joined in!
"A question for which I have not yet received an answer" Ciccone unhappy with finish line technology
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Wow, after losing yesterday’s European title by the tiniest margin, Giulio Ciccone is unhappy with the technological explanation for his photo finish loss. Here are the relevant remarks posted on Instagram, bearing in mind there could be some clunky auto-translation here…
“Remco was the strongest rider yesterday. He raced like a champion, he could read and manage a complex race and offered an extraordinary performance.
“Then there’s the photo finish. The title was awarded with a difference of 0.0028 seconds, i.e. 2.8 thousandths [of a second]. I’ve looked at the available images hundreds of times and, in the filming where the finish line is visible, I keep seeing a movement that I cannot reconcile with that verdict.
“This morning the commissaires, together with the technicians, explained to me how it works and the criteria with which the photo finish was determined. So I’m not asking for another explanation.
“I am asking to see the photo finish that corresponds exactly to the actual finish line.
I would like to be able to see, unmistakably, the passing of our two wheels at the exact point where, according to the regulations, the finish is determined.
“Because if a European title is decided by 2.8 thousandths of a second, I think it’s legitimate to ask that that very passage can be shown with the same precision which determined the result.
“I’m not suggesting a television shot will replace the photo finish. I’m not questioning the value of Remco nor the amazing race he ran. I am asking a very simple question: [to] see the photo finish on the real finish line.
“If that picture confirms the verdict, there is nothing else to add. But until that correspondence is shown to me, for me it remains a question for which I have not yet received an answer.”
Strong words, and undoubtedly such footage will not be available, because this is cycling after all, and no one is that organised…
Feel old yet? Ballan's daughter signs first pro contract
Those damn kids. Azzurra Ballan, daughter of 2008 World Champion and herself a junior European Champion as of this weekend, has signed a contract with AG Insurance-Soudal’s Development team. They grow up so fast…
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Car-brained Birmingham
As someone who regularly describes their location as ‘near Birmingham’, I can confirm.
Ok, Birmingham city centre is 10x better than when I first came here 20 years ago, great tips in replies to this. but ehhhh despite everything it’s still far too car brained and not enough people living in the centre and they seem to have forgotten to build cycle lanes. Feel like I’m in Cincinnati.
— Jim Waterson (@jim.londoncentric.media) 5 October 2026 at 14:04
Then again, it’s not exactly surprising…
Nathan Van Hooydonck becomes a Visma Sporting Director
Once Jonas Vingegaard’s favourite road captain, Nathan Van Hooydonck was forced to retire as a pro due to a heart condition discovered when he fell ill whilst driving his pregnant wife.
In the intervening years, Van Hooydonck has stayed within the Visma Lease a bike orbit working for the team’s hospitality and commercial side. Now though, he’s re-entering the racing side of affairs, though not by becoming a directeur sportif.
As Sporting Director, Van Hooydonck “will lead the team’s Sport Management Team and will be responsible for the sporting direction of the team. He will also safeguard the long-term vision, values and culture of Team Visma | Lease a Bike, ensuring that these remain central to the decisions made within the sporting organisation.”
View this post on Instagram
It’s a lot of responsibility for the 30-year-old, but he seems ready to take it on, “It feels very special to return to the sporting side of the team. I was part of it myself as a rider and know how much passion and ambition there is within this organization,” Van Hooydonck said.
“Over the past period, being part of the Business Team has allowed me to see much more of the organisation from a different perspective. It has helped me to better understand the organisation and experience how all the different parts are connected.”
Best of luck to him…
Don't threaten us with a good time...
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Cyclocross is coming
Embrace the chaos…
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Embrace the mud, resistance is futile!
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Lachlan Morton's going west
I would like to wish a warm hello to the EF press officers who announced Lachlan Morton’s next endurance challenge at 5pm on Friday. But since they’re not the first, nor the last, we’ll move on from this gripe and talk about what the Australian is actually doing…
Setting off this morning from the Missouri/Kansas border, Morton is retracing the Pony Express Trail, heading west and paying homage to the horsemen who carried post from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, during the heyday of the 19th-century postal service. It’s 3,164km in total, or 1,966 miles in old money.
“The appeal for me is the history of it,” he said. “It’s wild to get into that mindset – you’re a kid trying to make some money, and there’s this opportunity to ride a horse with a mochila full of mail through the night for 75 miles (120 kilometers) flat out, across remote, gnarly terrain that no one else has been crossing. It’s quite a courageous thing. It’s hard to imagine, and that’s why I want to go out there and try to get a better understanding of what that would have been like, and the difficulties they faced doing it over 150 years ago.”
For all the lore of the route, it only lasted around 18 months before being eclipsed by the telegraph line, but Morton is undeterred, and has set himself the challenge of beating the time set by couriers delivering Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address across the country in seven days and 17 hours. And since they were changing horses every 10 miles, Morton has decided to afford himself the luxury of changing bikes according to the terrain, with his brother Gus accompanying him with a truck full of gear.
Anyway, Morton is underway and already ahead of the horse on the live tracker. Best of luck to him.
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Incidentally, Morton also revealed last week in the aftermath of his Three Peaks cyclocross victory that he would leave the EF stable after this attempt, though the 34-year-old confirmed he had no plans to stop racing. Having first joined the team in 2012, he’s been with the team since 2019, before in 2022 switching to his alternative calendar of ultra-endurance challenges. An end of an era for the pioneer…
MTB opinions...
Whilst we’re chasing up a couple of stories, our Liam (that one, not the other one) has some thoughts on off-road riding…
> Opinion: The mountain bike hills I WILL die on
Beautiful Dutch sight...
And here’s a nice aerial view of the city’s busiest bike lane, which I’m told carries 20,000-30,000 cycling trips a day
— Laura Laker (@lauralaker.bsky.social) 5 October 2026 at 10:51
Racing round-up: Remco completes the set
Where else to start today’s weekend racing round-up than at the European Championships in Slovenia. Before you ask, yes he was there, but celebrating the retirement of compatriot Luka Mezgec.
🇸🇮🐐 Era en su casa y no se lo podía perder: Tadej Pogacar, junto a Urska Zigart, presente en la que es la despedida de Luka Mezgec
#EuroRoad26 #LaCasadelCiclismo https://t.co/H2Y17uLbEz
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) October 4, 2026
As for the race itself, it came to life on the penultimate lap when Remco Evenepoel countered an attack by Giulio Ciccone and looked to be going clear, only to slide out on the corner at the top of the climb!
HUGE DRAMA!!
Remco Evenepoel crashes after attacking off the front with Giulio Ciccone 😱😱 https://t.co/46lkXEs1lf
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 4, 2026
Thankfully for the Belgian, he had two teammates to pace him back to the favourites, before he then attacked on the descent, taking Ciccone with him whilst the chase stalled behind.
It set up an extraordinary two-up sprint at the finish, with the Italian dive-bombing into the final corner and launching his acceleration with 300m remaining. That was too long though, and gave the Belgian time to just, and I mean just, take the win.
INSANE FINALE AT THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS!! 🤯🤯
Remco Evenepoel comes from miles back in the sprint to pip Giulio Ciccone to the title! 🌟 https://t.co/KcSQTo0IB7
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 4, 2026
And the photo-finish suggests it was a marginally mis-timed bike throw by the Italian that cost him glory…
HOW CLOSE WAS THAT!?
This is the margin that decided the European Championships between Remco Evenepoel and Giulio Ciccone 🤯📸 https://t.co/1Z0KvBXpot
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 4, 2026
That win for Evenepoel means he has become the first rider, man or woman, to be a national, continental, world and Olympic champion in BOTH the road race and time trial. He has literally won every race there is to win whilst representing your country – an extraordinary achievement, and he’s still only 26.
For all the Merckx comparisons that surround Tadej Pogacar, Evenepoel is surely staking a claim for consideration as at least the greatest Belgian since then, with apologies to the likes of Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert. Phenomenal nonetheless.
In the women’s race, Demi Vollering cemented her status as the best rider in the world. Debuting in the rainbow stripes of world champion, Vollering attacked with 14km remaining on the steep Mozjanca climb and never looked back. Puck Pieterse took second to complete a Dutch 1-2, whilst Vollering’s victory – a 10th for the Dutch in 11 years – means the European jersey will go unseen the coming year.
Vollering completes the World and Euro double 😮
Demi Vollering and Puck Pieterse finish 1-2 for the Netherlands at the European Championships after attacking clear on the final climb. https://t.co/kdCLkdRB8a
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 3, 2026
Elsewhere, new world champion Brandon McNulty had his first outings in rainbow stripes, over in Italy, and came close to taking a win. But his compatriot Matteo Jorgenson was back in rival colours, marking him down before Visma teammate Davide Piganzoli broke free to take the win ahead of Tom Pidcock. The following day, McNulty came even closer, second in a reduced sprint behind Paul Lapeira at the Coppa Agostini.
McNulty looking good in his new stripes 😍🌈
Brandon McNulty lines up for his first race since becoming World Champion at the Giro dell’Emilia. https://t.co/k2mdFGK87D
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 3, 2026
There were also a few bunch sprints over the weekend, Olav Kooij triumphed in the Munsterland Giro, whilst Jenthe Biermans and Alexys Renard gave Cofidis some late-season joy at the Cholet Agglo Tour and the Tour de Vendee respectively.
Making it look straightforward! ✅
Olav Kooij takes the win at the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro! 🚀 https://t.co/8mu93zpGXA
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 3, 2026
And breathe…
Too many bikes at home?
Liam’s done some thinking…
> 3 reasons you shouldn’t use a gravel bike for road cycling… and 6 reasons you should
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Latest Comments
He is Australian, so that wouldn't be a surprise
@Surreyrider Yawn, you know this site doesn't specifically cater for you
I got a gravel bike last year for commuting, bike backing and for doing a bit of off road cycling that didn't require a mountain bike. I love it, it really is a jack of all trades. 45c tyres deliver a lot of comfort, the position is really nice for long cycles. I think this article covers gravel riding quite nicely
@slc While I think we can all agree that the state of roads are crap in general, the A4 or A431 (through Kelston) between Bath and Bristol is much smoother. Or at least it’s possible to find smooth sections provided you’re not riding in the gutter at all times. I often ride my 28mm race bike on these roads, but no chance I’d take it on the cycle path. I’d argue that’s it’s more than a ‘few’ roots, and there are also a lot of sections with hidden pot holes. I almost destroyed my front wheel falling into one just this Thursday evening gone! There are certain sections that are definitely adequate, but the Bath end (beyond Bitton) is a bit of a disgrace.
@HoarseMann thanks for the feedback on how it works.
@Sniffer I have a nearly 10yr old Mason Definition that's done plenty of miles including LEJOG, and a Strael 3.0 that I haven't used nearly enough yet. Quite similar bikes, the few miles I've done on the Strael suggest a bit more compliance, but the Mason is still a comfy place to be. Still never had the carbon race bike to compare that end of the spectrum and TBH I'm probably past it now.
As regards the crazed Bath cycle lane protesting nutters: I'm at a fantastic Lancashire Wildlife Trust Supporters Day and there was a talk from a rewilding expert from Arkaty farm near Stirling. They were pioneers of reintroducing red kites and beavers and (rather like the Bath nutters) the tactics of the stupid, stupid objectors have to be heard to be believed. Fake farmers turning up at meetings lying about the made up havoc caused in their fake areas by imaginary reintroductions. Just like the fake concern for children, the disabled, trees etc. etc. fabricated by people who are really only concerned about convenient car parking, and to hell with everything and everybody else
@Global Nomad assuming it's pairing you have a profile (or multiple) within which you can add multiple light modes which you can then customise eg solid/flash 0 -100% brightness. You may not have added a mode to customise? I have 10%, 40%, 60% for long run times but you can have more or less depending how many you want to have to scroll through in use.
Gustav had a falling out with Intend? He used to put their forks on all his wild builds, but the one time the upside-down fork would make perfect aesthetic sense, reflecting the upside down tuning machine layout, its back to RockShox? Sponsor obligations perhaps?
@ChasP Price i have a magicshine but I find the app unusable to change the behaviour of the light - keep wondering if i'm missing a step
21 thoughts on ““Imagine we talked about cars like this”: Londoners react to BBC video asking if the city’s “e-bike situation has gone too far”; Reaction to razor-tight European Championships + more on the live blog”
“Funny when all the roads are clogged with vehicles no one asks if it’s ‘gone too far’”
Aside from the whataboutery, it’s also just a dumb statement. Whilst you can (and I do) think London, and many other cities, ought to go further still, it’s patently wrong to suggest that no-one has ever questioned whether there are too many cars in London.
Congestion has been a concern in London for literally centuries (https://historyofparliament.com/2023/09/07/congestion-18th-century-london/). Admittedly for much of that time, the “solution” was perceived to be making more, bigger, faster roads to increase capacity, but even that changed decades ago – “Traffic in Towns” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_in_Towns) was published in 1963 and although its messages took a while to filter through to policy, was pretty seminal in changing that approach.
@OnYerBike for sure, there’s congestion and ULEZ zones, but I don’t remember any “investigative journalism expose’s” looking into the inexorable rise of the motor vehicle and it’s detrimental effect on society.
There have however, been multiple “war on motorist” and “parking wars” style programmes…with a string emphasis on how hard done by, the motorists are.
Having said that, I find it baffling that dockless schemes were allowed to go ahead – especially as the “Boris bikes” weren’t.
@belugabob Maybe you just don’t remember it because it all happened decades ago, quite possibly not even in your lifetime.
There was a Panorama episode in 1963 called “Our Strangled Cities” which appears to have focused on this topic: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt44520558/?ref_=ttep_ep_43
London was the first place of the UK to explicitly ban parking on pavements, which was brought in in 1974.
Climate change, the health harms of air pollution, the health harms of inactivity and obesity, are all things that have been widely acknowledged for decades.
We don’t need “investigative journalism exposes” to point out the harms of excessive car use, because they have long been obvious to anyone with a brain.
Ebikes are more nuanced, because in principle they are an affordable, healthy, convenient, safe, environmentally friendly way to get around. So there’s a need for discussion and critical appraisal to balance promoting them, with avoiding the also very real problems they can cause when there is inadequate regulation and infrastructure to cope.
@OnYerBike well, I was only one in 1963, so definitely don’t remember that.
However, one documentary in over 60 years (maybe one or two more, to be generous) is hardly a good sign.
I put “investigative journalism exposés” is quotes, deliberately.
it may be obvious to you and I (and quite a few others) that traffic and climate change has been a problem for decades but the fact that action to address the issue is quite telling of the motonormativity that exists.
We didn’t need this BBC video to point out the e-bike issue, either, but my point was not so much that we needed a video about the car situation but that the BBC video shows the bias involved.
The presence of a pavement parking ban makes the decision not to make hire bikes lockable even more puzzling than it already is, and definitely doesn’t help the Active travel PR with the naysayers.
@belugabob in other news…a situation that seems to be well suited to address all sorts of parking/storage issues (and possibly make money, too) but, as usual, there’s a definite negative slant to the article…
https://www.ft.com/content/151f2423-b5a9-4541-9397-d85d1a2c8c1b?syn-25a6b1a6=1
@OnYerBike
Unless said brain has been made stoopid by all the pollution…
London ebikes video: Tom Edwards’ selfie cam makes it look as though he is riding on the wrong side of the bi-directional cycle path. I guess he is not though.
@HarrogateSpa Bizarre, isn’t it? He isn’t riding on the wrong side though, for some odd reason the picture has been flipped to mirror image, as you can see if you look at the numberplate of the moped in the bottom left of this screenshot. Why anyone would do that I’m not sure, maybe someone just pressed the wrong button in the edit suite and didn’t realise?
This is how it would have looked in real life, with him correctly on the left hand side of the track:
I enjoyed the cyclist apparently riding through a red light on camera (5:19) and, for a bit of BBC balance, the police van parked on the pavement (4:35).
The kind of thing that responsible outlets like road.cc would never indulge in, of course…
Just curious, did anybody else find it impossible to get most of the European men’s road race yesterday? Saturday was fine, watched the women’s start to finish, yesterday I was out until about 1:30 pm, as soon as I got in I tried to watch the men’s race live but all TNT sports (via HBO Max) were offering was coverage starting at 3:30pm, looked everywhere and it definitely wasn’t available, at 3:30 coverage started but by then there was only about 25 km left. Carlton Kirby seemed to know something about it as he said welcome to those who have just joined us and gave a quick recap of the race but there was no real explanation of why there hadn’t been any coverage before. Anyone know what happened?
@Rendel Harris I recorded it on TNT and it went to baseball with quite a lot left to run….
@mikewood Great, so with five times more expensive subs we get five times more incompetence!
@Rendel Harris I recorded it too and then watched it as live on HBO (as only had part of the race), where they explained what I already knew. It was on TNT, But then they switched to snooker. And when that was done they said it would return to TNT and they seemed to think that was really good the way they presented it.
I love a ‘but cars’ argument as much as the next cycling menace, but come on: we can all see that the ebike situation is ridiculous. It discredits the promotion of active travel to pretend otherwise.
These are profit-seeking enterprises taking over pavements without a second thought for the externalities.
And it’s absurd to have one provider in this borough and a different one in the next. This situation should never have been allowed to develop.
@BroomBroomBroom “These are profit-seeking enterprises taking over pavements…”
Aren’t they currently seeking profits in the sense of “not making any yet”?
I think the issue is that mass public cycle hire schemes don’t even cover their costs from the actual users. (High costs because relatively fragile, portable property, and an “attractive nuisance” for youth. Low income because they’re competing with “free” – many people have access to bikes and/or feel that bike stuff should be very cheap).
So they need things like council funding, advertising etc. That can be an issue because – unless the money is from the local authority – their motivation is not particularly aligned with the cyclists OR the locality. And worse – in these cases doesn’t much of the money still come from venture capital?
So I don’t think they’re necessarily great.
But as the article notes – two things can be true. I bet a *far* greater acreage of footway is in fact covered by the products of profit-seeking enterprises. That is vehicles which are definitely illegal there*, completely immovable when stopped, more dangerous when moving.
* Oh sorry, it’s only illegal in practice when you’ve got a policemen or two there to witness them being driven there and they’re bothered – and they’d probably get in trouble with their boss if they did.
@BroomBroomBroom isn’t driving around a city in a two tonne vehicle the size of a small house more absurd? And seemingly more acceptable.
Really? Even if we allow that it’s five days, rather than a full week, it’s only averaging 37.5 miles a day. Taking out his imperial century leaves him an average of a whopping, er, 22 miles to do on the other four days.
@mdavidford Though the official proceedings of the Grand Prix begin Thursday morning, guessing his team want him there at least a day in advance so he will have to arrive by the end of today (Tuesday) so presumably he will complete the final 82 km today. Whilst “insane” might be slightly hyperbolic it’s certainly a mighty impressive shift considering that Formula One is (as far as I understand it, which is not very far) one of the most physically demanding sports around.
So in other words, as well as being hyperbolic, it’s just inaccurate – it’s not “300km in a week” at all – good ol’ road.cc.
If you flip that around, though, *because* it’s so physically demanding, they’re used to doing insane amounts of work in the gym to keep fit for it – had he flown to the next race, he might not have done a whole lot less in terms of effort – just no-one would have paid any attention to it.