Driver slams police’s “disgusting” failure to prosecute cyclist who collided with her car – and broke his leg; Annemiek van Vleuten’s Sonic the Hedgehog bottle missing tribute at the Vuelta; Cycle to Vote day + more on the live blog

Since it’s my first live blog shift in over a week (it’s great to be back…), I thought I’d start the morning by flicking through the latest cycling (or anti-cycling?) stories filling up the pages of this week’s local newspapers, and this complaint to the Swindon Advertiser certainly caught my attention…

The story centres around a collision between a motorist and a cyclist on a busy major roundabout, which left the rider with a broken leg. Why do we know this? Because just under four months after the collision, the motorist has contacted the Advertiser to complain about the police’s “shocking” failure to prosecute the cyclist for damaging her car.

According to the driver, the collision happened on the Wiltshire town’s Gablecross roundabout on 9 January, when she claims the cyclist hit the side of her vehicle.

“I heard the most horrendous noise and felt a bang on the passenger side of my car and I was horrified at the time,” she told the Advertiser.

“I was breathalysed and it showed nothing, but the police didn’t take a statement off of me at all and purely went from the dash cam footage.

“It is disgusting as the cyclist was riding illegally with no lights on at all.”

Wiltshire Police, who did not take action against either party, also confirmed that the 19-year-old cyclist involved in the crash suffered a serious leg injury.

Our source doesn’t come across as entirely sympathetic with regards to the cyclist’s injuries, telling the Advertiser that she had to fork out £700 to pay for the damage to her car, in order to protect her insurance policy’s no claims bonus.

“I want awareness to be put out there that this sort of thing can occur,” she added.

“I’m concerned that the people who use bikes for work don’t spend money on protective clothing and lights. He wasn’t even wearing a helmet, dark clothing, it is reckless.

“I’m upset and I’m more wary of driving now and it’s something that could have been totally avoided.

“The police response is absolutely shocking and no prosecution has happened, and instead, I’ve had to fork out for my own car’s insurance. I have found the whole experience harrowing.”

We asked for your experiences taking bikes on trains, and you duly delivered (albeit without much storage space on the journey).

Here are some of your thoughts on taking bikes on trains in the UK:

Yes. Just go onto National Rail Enquiries and look up how much train fares cost. Plenty of horror stories there, unless you're lucky and find a good deal. And that's even before trying to get the bike on a train. Good luck tandems, trikes, other types of cycles or group travel...

— steve abraham 💙 (@steve_abraham74) May 4, 2023

Awavey was one of our more positive readers, concluding that “Greater Anglia is always pretty good, only know a few times when reserved spaces meant friends had to wait for the next train. I've still not tried with any of the new trains so don't know what they're like yet, (or seen any cyclists on board them either) though I suspect the Dunwich Dynamo riders would disagree.”

Avanti is always great IMO. You can book your cycle reservation at the same time as your ticket in the app and it's secure cycle storage in the guard carriage and a dedicated reserved seat for cyclists even on fully booked trains 👍

— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@SustainablySam) May 4, 2023

Global Nomad said they “occasionally had to use trains to return into London after mechanicals out in the countryside – never had a problem when out of rush hour. Buy ticket, take bike on local train.

“Only problem was when the trains were cancelled and the replacement bus service refused to let me on the bus. Ended up struggling to another station on a different line.”

99% no issues. Though once couldn't get off at my station because the train was too long for the platform, doors in the carriage with the bike storage didn't open, my bike was too wide to go through doors to the next carriage. Long story short, got home very late after much faff.

— Just Another Cyclist (@justacwab) May 4, 2023

Secret_squirrel, meanwhile, reckoned editor Jack’s attempt to store his bike was a “bit naff”.

They continued: “Absolutely no problem getting that bike hung properly. Are they a bit crap and sub-optimal, absolutely, but not for someone whose fit enough to ride a decent graveller.  Those tyres are narrow enough to fit as well. Just laziness IMO.”

However, Dnnnnn replied: “Pretty sure you couldn't hang that bike on the new(ish) GWR or LNER Hitachi trains. The rims are far too deep for the silly hooks.

“There's also the issue of expecting smaller and less strong people to lift relatively heavy and cumbersome objects off the ground and manoeuvre them in tight spaces. I regularly encounter people who struggle with this, not helped by LNER (not GWR) leaving of the two doors to the compartment locked.”

Plus a couple of times someone has got on having booked a bike space only to find the bike locker full of luggage, and the attitude of the guard is that it's first come first served, booking or no booking the suitcases were there first.

— Stew Elliott (@StewCElliott) May 4, 2023

And finally, David9694 added: “It's easiest if you can stick to commuter/ local type trains. Problems arise these days because on long distance/express trains, like on the GWR main line, the guard's van has disappeared and not been replaced.

“No issue on GWR local trains (Portsmouth-Cardiff) or South West or Southern. In practice, there is no-one around to give you a hard time.”

Vos got an armchair ride to the finish as the GC favourites battled each other and chased down Dygert for her!

2 wins in 2 days for Marianne Vos and Jumbo-Visma's 3rd win in 4 days#LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/y6xlBbw49X

— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) May 4, 2023

Cycling, as Gary Lineker never said, is a simple game. 150 riders take on a grippy, complicated 133km in the middle of a week-long stage race, the best in the world launch attack after attack in the closing kilometres, and in the end, Marianne Vos wins.

The greatest cyclist who’s ever lived wrote yet another line in her illustrious, and now weighty, tome, this afternoon in Guadalajara, easily following the pace on the series of climbs that defined the fourth stage of this year’s Vuelta Femenina, before keeping a low profile as the likes of Demi Vollering, Liane Lippert, and Chloe Dygert launched attacks on the fast run-in.

Vos, wearing the red jersey, then timed her sprint to perfection to comfortably beat Emma Norsgaard and Marlen Reusser for her second stage in a row, extending her lead over Dygert to 25 seconds in the process.

𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 be with you 🌃✨@marianne_vos seals her second stage win at La Vuelta Femenina!@JumboVismaWomen | #LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/BrT0QGT8xd

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 4, 2023

With the first summit finish of the Vuelta coming at the 4.6km, 7.2 percent average Mirador de Penas Llanas tomorrow, the Jumbo-Visma star may be set to finally relinquish her iron grip on the red jersey.

But then again, this is Marianne Vos we’re talking about…

The organisers of the Bay Crits, the cycling season’s annual curtain raiser (sit down, Paris-Nice purists), have called time on the 34-year-old races, citing the financial and logistical issues affecting events all over the world as the reasons behind their demise.

> How do we save UK bike racing? SweetSpot's PR Director on Women's Tour cancellation and staying positive for the future

The Bay Crits, based in Geelong, took place right at the start of January, marking the start of an Australian summer of elite racing that also includes the national championships, the Tour Down Under, and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean road race.

The races have boasted an impressive list of winners, including Caleb Ewan, Robbie McEwen, and Chloe Hosking, and were won in 2023 by Brenton Jones and Ruby Roseman-Gannon.

Zac Williams/ZWP/SWpix.com

However, those races will prove the last for an event founded in 1989, according to a statement issued by organisers John Trevorrow and Karin Jones.

“It is with a heavy heart we are announcing the famous ‘Bay Crits’ have taken their last pedal stroke, with event organisers making the tough call that the much-loved event will not be continuing into 2024,” the organisers said.

“For the best part of 30 years, and despite some very trying times, we have collectively found a way to make this wonderful event happen, an event cherished by riders, fans, and stakeholders alike and one that has enjoyed a significant place in the Australian cycling calendar.

“The financial and logistics issues we have absorbed now over an extended period of time have become simply too prohibitive to continue, with a significant increase in costs again this year. The packed January cycling calendar has also impacted on the event with it regularly having to start on New Year’s Day. This has made it challenging for many riders and fans, especially those coming from interstate, to participate.

“These factors have increased to such an extent that it is completely uneconomic and unrealistic to get to the start line next year.

“It’s been quite a ride, but all good things must come to an end, and today it is the famous ‘Bay Crits’ that have crossed the line for the final time.”

And the list of positive Covid cases goes on, as the Dutch team – which heads into the Giro aiming for pink with Primož Roglič – announced at lunchtime their third enforced line-up change of the week, with Jos van Emden making way for Sam Oomen:

🇮🇹 #Giro

Another covid case, another change… Sam Oomen will replace Jos van Emden in the Giro d’Italia. pic.twitter.com/SihyEV5XIq

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 4, 2023

At this rate, if you have nothing else on over the next three weeks, turn up in Italy with your bike and you may just be handed a spot in Jumbo’s Giro team…

After what must have felt like the longest Wednesday in history for those involved, Wiggle and Chain Reaction’s sites are finally back in action… with controversial rebrands still intact:  

It’s alive! It’s alive!

> Wiggle and Chain Reaction down... days after much-criticised rebrand

You know the Giro's just around the corner when images start to appear of passes on the route buried beneath metres of snow https://t.co/Oo2SE4Qo01

— Peter Cossins (@petercossins) May 4, 2023

Is any bike race more synonymous with the snow than the Giro? The Gavia, Hampsten, Kruijswijk – I could go on.

Though, as someone who got caught in a wild thunderstorm in Barcelona at the weekend, I have a degree of sympathy for any riders who prefer the balmier temperatures of the Tour or Vuelta’s showpiece climbs.

Anyway, just two days to go now…

World champion Annemiek van Vleuten hasn’t looked her dazzling best in the rainbow bands this year so far, I think it’s fair to say.

The 40-year-old Dutch superstar, rather staggeringly given her dominance in recent years, is yet to win a bike race in 2023 and, during yesterday’s wind-ravaged third stage of the newly expanded Vuelta Femenina (won by another icon of the sport, Marianne Vos), continued to look decidedly uncomfortable as the peloton split into echelons.

Not that the brutally effective Van Vleuten has ever troubled the style charts even when at her best, of course.

But yesterday’s four (four!) attempts to grab a bottle from the side of the road – which, finally, saw her nearly grind to a halt to secure one before almost immediately weaving into a startled Jayco swanny in the process – were definitely ragged, to say the least, resembling a particularly frustrating game of Sonic or Mario Kart. Yes, someone was playing the Nintendo over the weekend…

💥💥💥✅

Annemiek van Vleuten was having a 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙚 with these water bottles! 😅@AvVleuten | #LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/kNTXLoqBJE

— Eurosport (@eurosport) May 3, 2023

But, remember, this is Annemiek van Vleuten. And, despite the awkwardness of her bottle grabbing, the Movistar leader still had the strength to solo back up to the group, during the hectic closing stages of the fastest ever road race in the history of the Women’s WorldTour.

And, as we learned to stunning effect at last year’s Tour de France, never write Van Vleuten off after a few shaky opening days at a stage race…