Video – “Rentacop” armed NYC security guard wrestles cyclist to ground; Paris-Brest-Paris rider posts terrific ABC guide to event; Danish men smash team pursuit world record again; Top Candid Camera bike prank + more on live blog

The Danish quartet have this evening taken the record below 3 minutes 45 seconds having bossed the event from start to finish in Berlin.

Team GB's men have won the team pursuit at the past three Olympics ... is that dominance set to end in Tokyo?

3️⃣ Team Pursuit World Records in a row! 3:44.672 🕑

Denmark 🇩🇰 domination in Berlin 😵#Berlin2020 pic.twitter.com/x9WW1EYXyn

— UCI Track Cycling (@UCI_Track) February 27, 2020

An armed security guard in New York City who got into a heated argument with a motorized unicycle rider after stepping out in front of him to cross the cycle lane he was riding on was filmed grabbing another cyclist and pulling him off his bike.

NYC rent-a-cop aimlessly walks into bike lane with his nose in his phone, gets cursed out, tries to act like he did nothing wrong, then tackles a passing cyclist and puts him in a headlock, exposing the concealed handgun under his jacket. @TheWarOnCars @driversofnyc @Julcuba pic.twitter.com/DvHrYGCQIR

— Cycling with Colin (@colinridesabike) February 26, 2020

The incident took place on Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue on Tuesday evening, reports Streetsblog NYC. Motorised unicycle rider Vincenzo Tran, who had to swerve to avoid hitting the security guard, filmed their subsequent exchange after the man started shouting and hurling racial abuse at him.

“This is a bike path,” he said. “You stepped the f*ck out looking at your phone like a f*cking piece of shit.”

The security guard, whose vehicle bore the logo of New Jersey based Harvard Security, said: “Listen to me, I had the right of way to go. You have to watch out for me. You almost hit me,” as the argument continued, becoming increasingly heated.

He then grabbed a cyclist who was riding past, wrestling him to the ground (and exposing the handgun he was carrying in a waist holster), with one bystander telling the security guard, “That’s a young ass kid what’s wrong with you?”

Other cyclists intervened just as it seemed the guard was about to punch the one he had grabbed.

Tran said: “The kid was crying and he took off.” The security guard also made off after Tran threatened to call the police – although its subsequently transpired that in the past three and a half months, the car he was driving has been the subject of nine tickets for infractions including parking offences.

Cycling News reports that ProTeam Fundación-Orbea have announced that the Basque telecommunications company has agreed to join the team as a main sponsor for four years.

They’ll be Euskaltel-Euskadi from the Tour of the Basque Country in April – and they’ll wear orange.

The previous incarnation of Euskaltel-Euskadi raced between 1998 and 2013 and drew its entire squad from the Basque Country.

Parece que la cosa va creciendo..a pasos agigantados!!! Vuelve la marea naranja!! Parece mentira con lo que me hicisteis sufrir en mi época y la alegría que me da saber que os volvemos a tener en el peloton!!! Zorionak @FundaCiclisEusk pic.twitter.com/mYEKjo7eiT

— Joaquim Rodríguez (@PuritoRodriguez) February 27, 2020

Definitely not Tenerife-type conditions.

Snowy cobbles. @LukeRowe1990, @GianniMoscon and @owaindoull hitting the Bosberg ahead of #OHN20. It’s good to be in Belgium 👌🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/IjX3YOfYbS

— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) February 27, 2020

No MVDP for OHN.

Unfortunately no 🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad due to flu and high fever. Get well soon @mathieuvdpoel https://t.co/8twZPFAwof

— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) February 27, 2020

What odds on a Wout Van Aert victory? He reportedly took a Strava KOM off Chris Froome in Tenerife this week. He probably shouldn't expect Tenerife conditions for the race though.

Paul Olszewski, the owner of Valencia Cyclery, wrote to the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this month complaining of plans to ban cars from the street his shop is on.

He reckons that if cars were banned from Valencia Street, he would probably have to close.

“Most of our new bike customers drive here and return home with their new bike in their car,” he said.

“This is especially true for children’s bikes. Likewise, a lot of bicycles in need of repair are not rideable, and are driven here to be fixed.

“Parking on the street has gotten prohibitively expensive and harder to find. Many parking spaces are taken by the banks of share-rental bikes and parklets. It seems that our bike lane will soon become a “protected bike lane,” which inevitably results in even more spaces lost.

“If the city is truly interested in keeping small businesses, especially legacy businesses, alive and well, then there needs to be a balanced use of our public streets.”

Locals say Olszewski has never been much of a fan of cycle infrastructure on his street.

They were not initial supporters of the Valencia street bike lanes 20 years ago, so this is consistent.

— Dave Snyder (@dave_bikes) February 10, 2020

Valencia Street meets Market Street at its northern end where a car ban is already in place.

Barry Grosfield, who runs Huckleberry Bikes on Market Street, told Streets Blog that while Olszewski could expect to lose a handful of customers, “you just get a new batch of people who uses buses, bikes, BART [San Francisco’s local railway system] – you don’t have to worry about parking.”

Kash, the owner of Warm Planet Bikes on the same street, said that anything that makes it safer and more comfortable for cyclists will get more people – especially families – cycling and said that this could only be good for business.

“If Valencia has such a lack of confidence in their customers, then I will take all of them,” he said.

Making his comeback after 8 months of absence, @ChrisFroome shows he can still go hard. Here's his data from the crosswind earlier:

⏱️Duration: 5’23
🚴‍♂️Avg Speed: 58.0 km/h
💨Max Speed: 67.8 km/h
⚡️Avg Power: 360W
💥Max Power: 860W
🌪️Avg Cadence: 99 rpm
______________
🇦🇪 #UAETour pic.twitter.com/mdZVjp5mEh

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) February 27, 2020

Fair Fuel UK have replied to that tweet from earlier.

.@HowardCCox has had death threats, s..t through his letter box. All From cyclists. At 65 He also cycles. Why don’t you work with us. He has repeatedly ask Green and cycle groups. Never a constructive response just personal abuse

— FairFuelUKCampaign (@FairFuelUK) February 27, 2020

Howard must be a real faecal connoisseur to have so confidently identified those responsible for that second act.

Not sure too many people travelling through the city on four wheels are hitting the dizzy heights of 25mph or whatever, but there you go.

Happy to report that the speed limit across @TfL roads in central London will reduce from 30mph to 20mph from Monday 2 March. This new measure will save countless lives and eradicate serious injuries on our roads, whilst making it safer to walk and cycle around the capital.

— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) February 27, 2020

Transport for London is also looking to introduce safer speed limits across 150km of its road network. A spokesperson said it would focus on, “high-risk sections of road, town centres where people walk and cycle, and ambitious local speed reduction programmes led by London boroughs.”

Weird and juvenile language from very influential cheap petrol lobbyists Fair Fuel UK welcoming reports that fuel duty rates will be frozen again in the budget. Apparently if you oppose their aims you're part of the "liberal green Lycra wearing privileged elite". pic.twitter.com/3eG7HZ8PCr

— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) February 26, 2020

Launched in January 2011 to fight for lower fuel duty, FairFuelUK claims to represent “the real concerns of hard working motorists, families, small businesses, commercial drivers and hauliers across the UK.”

It is funded by the Freight Transport Association, the Road Haulage Association and the Association of Pallet Networks.

It's fair to say the organisation is not a huge supporter of cycling.

Back in 2017, campaign founder Howard Cox revealed a certain (perhaps wilful) ignorance of where funding for roads actually comes from, saying: “What infuriates the highest taxed motorists in the world is what they see as the lack of fairness apportioned to all road users.

“They believe cyclists should be making some financial contribution to roads and increasing cycle lanes they currently benefit from.

“They also want to see the compulsory use of helmets, cyclists to be road insured, wear fluorescent clothing, pass a road proficiency test and more prosecutions for the increasing episodes of dangerous cycling.”

Cox has previously seen fit to deploy the phrase "Lycra army". It's unclear how he came to be so fixated on the fabric.