Danny MacAskill is back doing ridiculous things on two wheels; Shocking attack on cyclist punched to the ground; Anti-LTN MP criticised for directing hate with bizarre lights tweet; Motoring group stop calling crashes 'accidents' + more on the live blog

The president of the International Association of Professional Riders, Gianni Bugno, today condemed the horific threats that Dylan Groenewegen said he received in the aftermath of the crash on the opening stage of the Tour of Poland. Earlier this week Groenewegen revealed he was sent death threats, including a noose with a note saying he should hang his unborn child and needed a police guard at his home.

"I read the threats received by Dylan Groenewegen after the incident at the Tour de Pologne and got from the press that he was placed under police protection who feared the worst for him and his family. What happened is inadmissible, unworthy and indecent. Words and actions have weight and those that have been addressed to this boy are unacceptable," Bugno said.

The former pro cyclist also blamed the barriers at the race for the crash and said that although Groenewegen made a mistake, the barriers "determined the severity of the fall".

"The first point on our list of requests that we sincerely hope will become operational as soon as possible concerns the barriers that must be homologated and certified," Bugno continued. "The finger must be pointed at the dangerous barriers that determined the severity of the fall in which Fabio Jakobsen suffered the most serious consequences. Dylan made a mistake in the race that he paid dearly."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Heino H (@h.haussler)

Bahrain Victorious' Heinrich Haussler will take to the start line in Oostende for the cyclo-cross world championships this Sunday. The 36-year-old told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that the discipline is an off-season hobby and that he won't have a camper or mechanic like most competitors. Instead, the Aussie says he's just happy to have the opportunity to compete at the biggest races. 

"You can't imagine how happy I am – like a child – to be able to attend the World Championships," he said. "I don't have a camper or a mechanic, but that doesn't bother me. I'm a hobbyist among pro cyclists, but I know that even as a veteran on the road I get better from such an intensive winter in the field."

Haussler's best result at the UCI World Cup series was 47th in Dendermonde and the veteran competitor says he regrets not racing cross sooner, saying it has helped improve his performance on the road too.

"I was immediately attracted to this discipline and immediately experienced how hard an hour in the field is. The cyclo-cross itself is only ten per cent of the work. I go to the races all by myself, I arrange and pay for everything myself. I do the reconnaissance and then I have to quickly clean my two bikes myself before the actual race."

Yesterday, the UCI confirmed the World Championships will go ahead as planned, despite an outbreak of the South African coronavirus in Oostende. All riders, media and organisational staff are having an additional test tomorrow before the women's and U23 races on Saturday.

Conor and Nic, two local cyclists to road.cc offices in Bath, are undertaking a monumental Everesting challenge to raise money for World Bicycle Relief. The pair will attempt to ride seven Everests in seven days on Ralph Allen Drive. That's 76 ascents of the 1km climb, which averages 10%, every day for a week...On their GoFundMe page they say lockdown "has sent us crazy, so we decided to do something even crazier". They've even taken into account Everest's new height, 8849m, after scientists agreed on a new figure for the summit's peak before Christmas. So far they've raised £440, almost half of their £1,000 target. 

The Tour Series will be delayed until August, the races organiser SweetSpot has confirmed. The multi-round circuit race series across several locations towns and cities in the UK is normally held in May but will be run during the first two weeks of August due to the global health situation. Exact dates and locations are to be announced in the next few months. Should the pandemic not allow for the traditional crit format, SweetSpot say they have actively explored the possibility of staging the event virtually. As with previous years the event will remain free-to-air on ITV 4 in the UK.

Bully for you!

Hope they all had lights - been pitch black other there for a good couple of hours https://t.co/k73eMI9Keh

— Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) January 27, 2021

Rupa Huq tweeted this bizarre response to someone pointing out how many people had been out cycling, walking and scooting in an LTN in Ealing. The Labour MP for Ealing and Central Acton has been a vocal critic of LTNs and suggested in a Telegraph column that a referendum could be the only way to reach a decision on their future...No, really. In the same article she described the "Lycra brigade" as "surprisingly vicious".

Huq tweeted saying: "Bully for you! Hope they all had lights - been pitch black other (sic) there for a good couple of hours," and left a link to The Highway Code: 'Rules for Cyclists 59 to 82'. Earlier in the thread she shared a photo of an article claiming £1 million has been wasted on LTN schemes that were later reversed. Yesterday, Adam Tranter pointed out an Auto Express article on the same topic and suggested they weren't as concerned by the £49 million spent on an abandoned roundabout near the M49.

Every tweet like this makes the streets more unsafe for the individual trying to do the right thing and travel under their own steam as it directs hate towards users. It also makes it harder to redesign our cities for a low carbon future. You really need to wind it in.

— The Ranty Highwayman (@RantyHighwayman) January 28, 2021

What a strange response. Do you respond to tweets about people shopping for food with "I hope they weren't stealing it"?

— The Dynas Low Traffic Neighbour (@TheDynaslow) January 28, 2021

The cyclists did. Admittedly, I didn't see any pedestrians with lights. 🙂

— Andy Hillier (@andy_hillier) January 27, 2021