“I immediately felt like my teeth were gone”: Pro cyclist loses front teeth in cobbles crash; “You asked, we did”: Police celebrate £50 fine for driver “boldly using cycle lane as pretend VIP car parking”; Pothole pain + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"I immediately felt like my teeth were gone": Pro rider loses front teeth in cobbles crash at Omloop
While Mathieu van der Poel and Demi Vollering were enjoying the glory of the front of the race at Omloop Nieuwsblad, further back there was a grim reminder of the dangers pro cyclists put themselves through just for showing up to work.
In Tudor Pro Cycling rider Rick Pluimers’ case that meant leaving Ninove with two fewer teeth than he’d started with in Ghent a few hours earlier. Unsurprisingly, Pluimers was one of four Tudor riders to DNF the opening classic of the season, Stefan Küng suffering a fractured femur which will rule him out of action for a lengthy period of recovery.
He remained in hospital in Belgium at the weekend and is due to arrive back in Switzerland early this week for surgery.
Pluimers was at least able to speak to the press after his Omloop teeth-bashing, the Dutchman telling Dutch cycling news website Wielerflits he immediately knew he’d lost teeth after hitting the deck on the notoriously slippery, narrow and steep opening slopes of the Molenberg.
“Luckily, it’s not too bad. They’re probably broken in a good spot, but I still have to go to the dentist. We’ll see then,” a surprisingly cheerful Pluimers said, a medic for the team a little less positive and suggesting it would likely end up being quite a “painful injury, because his nerves are now exposed”. Ouch.
“I just slid off,” Pluimers recalled. “I wanted to follow Florian [Vermeersch, who finished third]. I was just coming off the head of a cobblestone when I felt my wheel slip. Then I hit the ground face down. That was really frustrating. I think I could have done a lot today, because I felt good. But when you crash, you can’t show it.”
Behind Pluimers was eventual winner Van der Poel, who showed some pretty special bike-handling to avoid the fall…
La dextérité légendaire de van Der Poel ! 😯
Suivez le Omloop Nieuwsblad > https://t.co/iUODPabf0y pic.twitter.com/SXUcVHR6uB
— L’Équipe (@lequipe) February 28, 2026
Work begins on £2.17m removal of controversial cycle lane dubbed ‘Britian’s most-hated’
> Work begins on £2.17m removal of controversial cycle lane dubbed ‘Britain’s most-hated’
Only for the most competitive sportive riders...
No more aero cable-tying a race number around a headtube in the car park pre-event…
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Celebrities who cycle #603?
Life in 2026, eh? The official Giant account has liked the post, the store is a legit Giant store, Ed Sheeran is indeed in Australia at the minute… and yet there’s something still a bit AI-y about the pic? Maybe I’m just paranoid…
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Someone from Brisbane Bayside, get in touch and prove it to us!
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Walk Wheel Cycle Trust downplays concerns over dozens of trees cut down on popular cycling route, clarifies felling for safety reasons
Active travel charity Walk Wheel Cycle Trust has responded to residents who questioned why dozens of trees had been cut down next to a popular cycling path in Manchester. Images of the felled stumps along the Fallowfield Loop appeared on social media, some locals “surprised by the tree loss”.
In a statement provided to the Manchester Evening News, the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) confirmed it was all due to safety reasons and came following advice from an arborist.
“For safety reasons we were advised by an arborist to remove a number of trees from the Fallowfield Loop,” the charity stated.
“As an environmental charity, we only fell trees if they are dead, diseased or a risk to health and safety, or as part of a planned management programme. Unfortunately the arborist’s report identified these trees as a safety risk.
“During the October storm last year some trees fell on the fence at Whalley Range High school. Poplar trees normally have a life span of around 70 years, but there are many poplars on the Loop which are now over 100 years old. This means that more trees are likely to fall, and they are a potential hazard to local people.
“The Forestry Commission’s felling licence states that we should check the site regularly to ensure that natural regeneration occurs. If not, we will plant some more trees.”
United Utilities also said it had cut down a “small number of trees” elsewhere on the path, that in order for work on the water network to take place.
SRAM 1x XPLR & custom bikes | Omloop pro tech 2026
"It’s the first Flemish classic I’ve won, and hopefully not the last": Reaction to Matthew Brennan's stunning Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne win + Van der Poel and Vollering score memorable Omloop victories
Matthew Brennan does it! 🇬🇧 The Brit storms to victory at Kuurne–Brussel–Kuurne with a sensational sprint! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VYJ9UyBbyY
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) March 1, 2026
This was the moment British wonderkid Matthew Brennan took the biggest win of his career so far, sprinting to victory at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne yesterday and becoming only the second Brit to win the race after Sir Mark Cavendish, who won it in 2015 and 2012. Scarily, at the time of Cav’s first Kuurne win, Brennan was just 11 years old, the 2000-born prospect delivering on an Opening Weekend when Visma-Lease a Bike might have expected to go winless in the absence of ill team leader Wout van Aert.
After a heavy crash at Omloop Nieuwsblad on Saturday it wasn’t even certain that Brennan would start Kuurne.
“I was nervous and riding slightly on the back foot at first,” he admitted.
“I got back into the race and from that moment found my rhythm. We wanted to make it a hard race as a team, and we executed that perfectly. The guys guided me to the front flawlessly. Christophe dropped me off at exactly the right moment and made sure the hardest part was done. I still had to finish it off. It’s the first Flemish classic I’ve won, and hopefully not the last.
“It’s special to be able to say that I’ve won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. As a junior, I stood here watching the pros race, so it still needs to sink in. Everyone went above and beyond today. We took the initiative as a team, so I’m incredibly happy that it paid off.”
Sunday’s racing came after the main event at Omloop Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Yes, it’s not longer Omloop Het Nieuwsblad… apparently. Mathieu van der Poel started his road campaign where he finished his cyclocross season, on the top-step of the podium after another dominant win. We’ll now see if Van der Poel can become the first male rider ever to win Omloop and the Tour of Flanders in the same season. Lotte Kopecky and Lizzie Deignan have achieved that rare feat in the women’s ranks but it remains never accomplished in men’s cycling.
Demi Vollering continued her fine start to 2026 and will also have a shot at the Omloop/Flanders double later this spring. For now, we’ll be spending the morning wondering what else Brennan can win over the next few weeks. He’s down to race Milan-San Remo, Gent Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders and Roubaix, his classics campaign already a success.
"You asked, we did": Police celebrate £50 fine for driver "boldly using cycle lane as pretend VIP car parking"
Rotherham Central Neighbourhood Policing Team is pleased to report its latest work cracking down on those who “boldly use cycle lanes as a pretend VIP car parking space”.
“You asked, we did!” the force told locals on Facebook. “After receiving numerous reports and complaints of inconsiderate drivers parking their cars completely blocking the cycle lane and pavements along Wellgate Rotherham, this driver can look forward to a £50.00 fixed penalty ticket after boldly using the cycle lane as a pretend VIP car parking space.”
I almost had a heart attack before I saw that dot after 50, but still some proactive police work to avoid one of the classic ‘why don’t cyclists use cycle lanes’ answers… because there’s someone parked in it.
There was plenty of reaction along the lines of Paul Leith’s comment. He replied: “At least someone using [sic] the waste of money cycle lane”. Meanwhile, a local delivery driver responded asking “WTF are we meant to do around there”? We’ll have to double check this but, given they’re fining people for parking in the bike lane, we’d take a wild stab at… don’t park in the cycle lane. That particular comment appeared more just an opportunity to rant that they’ve “seen more unicorns ridden by Lord Lucan than bikes using the cycle lane”. Oh, and finally there was this contribution…
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Latest Comments
I agree, the study was made after cycle paths that had been introduced in Berlin during the 70’s and 80’s caused a big increase in cycling deaths. It is an interesting study for cyclists to read in order to know what dangers exist at badly designed junctions. Here in Paris we have very few bi-directional paths. The ones I have cycled on have no building entrances or courtyards (so no cars crossing the path) and every junction is traffic lights to prevent accidents.
We have enough regulation. They're running a motorbike without insurance/registration and possibly without a licence, and the punishment for being caught with all that is pretty severe already. The problem is lack of enforcement.
In my experience with anything less than one of those serious mid-bike two-foot kickstands, a wall / tree / hedge is the better option, or the bike will sometimes show you the alternative and lie down by itself. Maybe I've got panniers that are just too large and the wrong balance of (too much) cargo though? And of course Edinburgh streets are great at funneling gusts of wind...
I agree there's a clear legal line * but I do see something here. Like much tech it's entirely opaque from the outside (without even invoking things like the VW emissions cheating).** I know in NL they have trialled semi-portable "test stations" to check max motor speeds. However with the latest "but there's no money" crisis I can't see that over here. Indeed it's hard to see the police being motivated to do any more roads policing, with this even further down the priority list. Hope I'm wrong... While I guess many of us *would* be fine with EAPCs as a means to attract "non-cyclists" ... perhaps there's an "attractive nuisance" element to this? We're ushering people into an apparently effortless, easy and minimal consequence mobility mode without the "learning experience" of managing a lighter, unpowered machine on roads. And it's still (busy) *roads* where the new power-assisted riders will often find themselves. Not like in more advanced countries where people usually cycle in much safer and more controlled environments. OTOH we should always balance such concerns against "but cars and full-power ICE motorbikes now" though! Number plates, licences and insurance aren't necessarily mitigating that well... * As soon as there are laws games will be played. How long can you be above the "continuous rate power" for? Can we have *multiple* legal motors on one machine? ** Is the power / speed actually regulated by software, and how long will that keep a child armed with the internet from unlocking it?
And maybe a planning obligation to have traffic Marshalls controlling access out of the site not obstructing the path and restricting it if cyclists are likely to be obstructed …one can hope
I'll stick to my low rider with Karrimor Kalahari dry bag panniers and Karrimor Kalahari barbag thanks.
How is the Hover Air X1 Smart more jersey pocket friendly? It doesn’t fold, like the original Hover Air X1 (which is excellent BTW). Are your jersey pockets larger than standard? You did read the part about this also being available only for Japanese market?
Presumably your bike has the legal restriction to 25 km/h, in which case you're not dangerously close to the line at all, it's the high speed achievable by illegal electric motorcycles (there is a plague of them at the moment in my area of London that, I would estimate, are capable of at least 45 mph) that's causing the collisions, the actual power is fairly irrelevant.
I use this cycle path regularly. It is used by commuters during the week but it is used more and more by families with young children evenings and weekends when the weather is fine. The car boot takes place on a Sunday which conflicts with this leisure use. One problem is with cars stopping on the cycle path to wait for a gap in traffic (as in the picture). Even if the car is stopped and there is space behind it, as in the picture, you can't be sure that the driver won't reverse or the driver behind won't close the gap so you have to slow down to almost a stop to get through safely. You would have to dismount as well as you would be using the footway part of the path. This isn't a huge problem going up the hill into Cheltenham, (coming towards you in the picture) as it is relatively steep and usually against the prevailing wind if there is any, so you are going slowly anyway. Going down the hill however it is easy to reach 30mph and this is where cyclists are going to be seriously inconvenienced by having to slow down and dismount. I don't think it's a huge safety issue but it will be annoying. Obviously the driver should not be blocking the cycle path at all and should wait in the entrance, which has good visibility, until there is a gap in both the road and the cycle path traffic. This is obviously beyond the skill set of the majority of motorists who would not dream of blocking the road but can't see any problem with blocking the cycle path. The main problem, however, is with drivers from Cheltenham crossing the oncoming traffic to enter the car boot sale. There may be nothing blocking the cycle path and the drivers will be looking for gaps in the (usually continuous) oncoming traffic. When a gap appears they will go but will they have checked that there are no cyclists on the track who will expect the driver to give them priority as instructed in the highway code. A cyclist coming from Cheltenham down the hill will be travelling at speed from behind the driver and the driver will cut across them from their left if they are not seen. Experienced cyclists will be watching out for this but that is not who the cycle path is intended for, it is intended to encourage new cyclists to get on their bikes. Another concern is when a driver is turning into the site and does notice a cyclist and does give way. The driver behind may not be expecting the car in front to stop and there is potential for a rear ending incident. The speed limit is 40mph but it is only adhered to in heavy traffic. I rarely drive but I did drive the road recently and I was doing exactly 40mph when I was overtaken. None of these would be a problem if drivers could be relied upon to obey the highway code but it seems to me that it is asking too much in today's "drivers come first" and "must drive as fast as possible" mentality. Finally one time I cycled when the car boot was on there was a person in a hi vis jacket directing the traffic. If the individual has received training then it should be safer but it will still inconvenience cyclists unless we are given priority.
@KiwiMike Respectfully, I don't think "oh well people can afford it" is a valid excuse for blatantly overcharging for a product. Yes of course it's people's choice whether they want to pay for it or not, just as it's my choice to point out that in my opinion, as with so many cycling products, it's a rip-off.
17 thoughts on ““I immediately felt like my teeth were gone”: Pro cyclist loses front teeth in cobbles crash; “You asked, we did”: Police celebrate £50 fine for driver “boldly using cycle lane as pretend VIP car parking”; Pothole pain + more on the live blog”
The MET Police followed Critical Mass London to the halfway point on Friday evening. They asked us “Where are you going?”, “Who is the leader?”, “What is this?” showing a complete lack of understanding. You would think they might know given they attempted and failed to ban CML in 2008.
Fortunately they didn’t interrupt our installation of a ghost bike on Commercial Road where a 23 y/o was struck and tragically died five days later in hospital.
RE: police concern about critical mass. This could start being serious activism (with consequences for the participants). If some bright spark in parliament (many have shown willing) notices this “causes disruption” (or say a party full of the same)…
… then it could be “into the JSO / Extinction Rebellion terrorist sin-bin with you”.
Can you be certain you *didn’t* delay an emergency vehicle / someone going to a vital health-and- wellbeing-related appointment – even if indirectly because “causing congestion”? And slowing people down – that’s “economic terrorism” isn’t it?
All that sounds a bit extreme, but we’re already arresting folks for silently holding up non-sweary, non-offensive, not very threatening slogans. (I can hear “a laaaybour government…”)
We are not.
We are arresting people for holding up banners supporting a proscribed organisation, which the protestors are happily conflating with protesting against the Gaza genocide.
Lets not pretend that CML will ever be proscibed. Especially since the Govt managed to Custard Pie themselves with PA.
Sounds like we’re both right – the organisation is indeed still proscribed, and the protests were silent and peaceful.
Yes, there are people protesting and expressing sympathy with Hamas or shouting antisemitic slogans – but as I understand it the recent ones were not.
As for critical mass being proscribed … I would hope that’s paranoia. Except that in the case of the JSO / XR folks there seemed to be a quick mutual escalation between them and government/ police when their actions were seen to be effective (causing a fuss).
I still doubt this would happen in the case of cycle protests / gatherings, mostly because they aren’t frequent or aiming to be as noisy. So most politicians don’t see enough mileage in making it an “issue”.
But note there are already some who might. Such types may be increasingly gathered in Reform as some of the Conservatives migrate there.
The Labour Party’s slogan is ‘I support Genocide, I oppose Palestine Action’
“Where are you going?”, “Who is the leader?”, “What is this?”
I don’t answer questions.
“Search me – I’m just out for a ride
Wait – no – I didn’t mean ACTUALLY search me…!”
I’m sure drivers the country over will be petrified of a £50 fine for parking where they shouldn’t and putting vulnerable road users at more risk. I got a higher fine for parking opposite my house the other year because I was overhanging a bay by a foot. Every day I take the boys to nursery I deal with people parking completely over the pavement and I can’t wait for the better weather when the bushes grow over the path and make it impossible to get past. Its OK though, I’ll just keep pushing past these lovely cars with my pram until then… hope they don’t get scratched…
Considering the fuss over £2 parking fees here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c204p0pprvxo a £50 fine might be enough to make them vote for reform!
It’s surely long overdue that whilst civil fines should remain in place for minor offences such as overstaying paid-for time in a parking space or parking in a permit only area without a permit, parking that puts other people in danger, e.g. parking on blind bends or, as here, parking in such a way that pedestrians/cyclists are forced to leave their protected space and move into the roadway, should be criminalised and incur points as well as fines. Plenty of people can afford a £50 fine and I’ve known quite a few who just regard it as an occasional hazard of being able to park where you like; when a few such offences could put their licence at risk they would start to think a bit harder about it.
My suggestion is to use a dry-wipe marker.
When the owner finds it and then eventually wipes it off easily, hopefully they might realise how much worse it could have been with a permanent one.
£50.00? You’ve got to be kidding. Move the dot two space right.
We shouldn’t have to ask.
Unfortunately in many cases this has been devolved from the police, and even if you’re alleging that the car got into the cycle infra by being illegally driven there you’ll need evidence (a very sympathetic police officer to witness it, plus…)
However in many cases this isn’t even against the rules – even for “mandatory cycle lanes”. See for example here:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/blog/underhand-law-change-undermines-mandatory-cycle-lanes
I was reminded of this when cycling west along Edinburgh’s
Aargh bloody new site! Anyway Portobello road by Jock’s Lodge – the north side actually has a proper separated cycle path (albeit with some issues) but the south side is a mix of “Lane behind the parked cars” and “bus lane”. And of course – the latter had cars parked every 30 metres or so – and this is perfectly legal for most of the day and on weekends as the signage recorded.
Pragmatism? Only in the sense of “I suppose we have to let the buses through some some times – if only to get them out of the way of drivers. But only at peak times!”
You say it’s proactive police work, but if they had to be asked to do it then there’s no proactivity whatsoever really.
Also, PCS suggests that Matthew Brennan was actually born in 2005, which makes his performances even more impressive.
RE: “there’s something still a bit AI-y about the pic? ”
Odd McSheeran had a bot farm? AI AI AIEOU?