He’s just Peter: Sagan goes topless (and blonde) as Ken for Barbie-themed cha-cha-cha – and survives another week on Let’s Dance; “People on bikes are really just pedestrians”: James May on “extremist” traffic controls for cyclists + more on the live blog

What was your stand-out pro cycling moment from the weekend? Was it Matteo Jorgenson’s dominant, inch-perfect ride at Paris-Nice, which secured the American his second consecutive overall triumph at the Race to the Sun?

Or was it Elisa Balsamo’s canny, powerful sprint – and career hat-trick – at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda? Or 18-year-old Cat Ferguson’s hugely impressive third place on her WorldTour debut at the Italian classic? Or the flying Juan Ayuso’s dismantling of his Tirreno–Adriatico rivals?

Well, you’re all wrong. Because the real highlight of that bumper weekend of cycling actually came late last night, courtesy of Slovakian light entertainment TV.

Yes, that’s right. On week three of Slovakia’s version of Strictly, Let’s Dance, former Flanders and Roubaix winner Peter Sagan channelled his inner Ryan Gosling by discarding his top, plonking on a blonde wig, and spraying on an impressive set of abs (at least I’m pretty sure they’re sprayed on) to dance a potentially career-defining Barbie-themed cha-cha-cha… as the Ken doll himself:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Nový Čas (@novycas)

Now that’s what I call a proper world champion.

The legs could have been straighter in places, allowing for more hip action, mind you – but still, who had ‘Peter Sagan dancing as Ken from Barbie’ on their 2025 cycling bingo card?

And it’s fair to say, after a shaky opening jive, the seven-times Tour de France green jersey winner has really grown into the celebrity dancing competition.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Let's Dance (@letsdance.markiza)

Last week, Sagan and his pro partner Eliška Lenčešová scored a highly respectable 26 out of 40 for their waltz to Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable.

And for Movie Week (which explains the Barbie theme, in case you’ve never seen Strictly before), his topless cha-cha earned him a 24, even garnering him Len Goodman-approved sevens from two of the judges.

> “My dancing idol is Patrick Swayze”: Peter Sagan signs up for Strictly Slovakia – but how have other pro cyclists who swapped their bikes for the ballroom fared?

And what’s more, the three-time rainbow jersey winner’s performances have been ‘Kenough’ to see him sail safely through to week four’s tissue-laden ‘dedication’ segment of the competition, which will see Sagan dedicate his dance to someone very important to him. I’m assuming it’ll be Oleg Tinkov, but who knows?

Plus, I think it’s safe to say the Slovakian public are loving every minute of Sagan’s ‘journey’ on Let’s Dance… which may have something to do with his lack of clothing (they did the same with poor Nico Roche on the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars, too. Can someone please throw these retired pro cyclists a t-shirt?).

“I’m gonna eat it. He’s on fire. I always look forward to his performance. I don’t care how he dances, but I’m really entertained,” wrote Janka on Instagram. Alright, calm down…

“Well, Peter was extreme! I will watch this dance every night now, wish I had such a Ken at home,” added Kristina.

I sense a theme emerging.

However, Mayo noted: “Peter must be missing his bike, I can’t imagine him enjoying playing Ken.”

“But he did! And a lot!” replied a very enthusiastic Monika.

Alright everyone, altogether now – ‘He’s just Peter, anywhere else he’d be a leader…’

While Britain’s domestic road racing scene continues to struggle, on Friday Ribble announced the launch of the country’s first ever professional gravel squad, featuring a diverse cast of off-road specialists and roadie newbies.

The Ribble Outliers team, and their bright pink kits, will compete at the biggest gravel events, including the UCI Gravel Series and marquee events such as the Gralloch, Sea Otter Classic, Traka, and Unbound, starting at this week’s Turnhout Gravel race in Belgium.

The six-rider squad, who from May will ride Ribble’s currently unreleased prototype carbon gravel bike, includes four-time national marathon mountain bike champion Ben Thomas, double British time trial champion and former WorldTour pro Hayley Simonds, promising roadie and cyclocrosser Jenson Young, gravel specialist Matheven Bond, former UAE Team ADQ and Fenix-Deceuninck pro Sophie Wright, and ex-Katusha and AG2R rider Harry Tanfield.

> Last-minute bid to form men’s British Conti team following demise of Saint Piran collapses, due to inability to attract title sponsor

“I’m really excited to be starting this new chapter of my career with the Ribble Outliers, and I am looking forward to competing in some of the world's biggest and most diverse gravel races,” Tanfield, who joined Ribble’s gravel project after a last ditch attempt to form a new British professional road team in the wake of Saint Piran’s demise fell through, said in a statement.

“Having not competed in this discipline before, I’m stoked for the adventure that’s in store. Coming from the north of England, Ribble is a revered and hugely respected brand and it will be awesome to race on their bikes, especially knowing the amount of work and dedication that’s gone into developing them.”

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“Having spent six years in the UCI WorldTour peloton, I’m excited by the new challenge of gravel racing,” added Wright, who returns to her off-road roots after a prolonged spell racing as a pro in Europe.

“I’m delighted to join the Ribble Outliers squad and can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”

Stockport Council here, with a contender for the most useless ‘Cyclists Diversion’ sign placement of all time:

Cycling infrastructure as ever it was in @stockportcouncil.bsky.social

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— James Dyson (@dysonsk3.bsky.social) March 17, 2025 at 1:05 PM

Unbelievable council tekkers.

In the latest reminder of the challenging times facing the bike industry in the years since the pandemic, Giant has posted its financial results for 2024 and announced that profits were slashed by almost two-thirds last year, as heavy discounting and inventory challenges hit the business.

Read more: > Giant profits plummet by 60 per cent as inventory woes and heavy discounting bite, but bike brand confident of “recovery” in 2025

A higher proportion of cyclists in Bristol experience bike theft than anywhere else in the UK, a new study has found.

According to research carried out recently by Novuna Personal Finance, the total cost of bike theft across the UK equates to £2.4bn, with 70 per cent of cyclists having their bike stolen at least once.

In Bristol, that figure rises to 82 per cent, meaning the southwest city ‘top’ the charts for the highest percentage of cyclists affected by bike theft, followed by Newcastle (76 per cent) and Edinburgh (74 per cent). Meanwhile, 73 per cent of cyclists in Liverpool and London have fallen victim to bike theft at least once in each city.

> Police force admits bike thefts "unlikely to ever be solved" after spoof sign pokes fun at station's "Bicycle Redistribution Point"

The study also found that 51 per cent of bikes stolen were stored in public places and 30 per cent were stolen in owners’ homes – while 46 per cent of stolen bikes were locked at the time of theft.

And in the same week Bristol topped this unwelcome chart, councillors in the city have called for more secure cycle hangars to be installed in the city, after spaces in 40 new storage facilities were almost completely booked up within an hour and a half of them becoming available.

> 40 cycle hangars to be installed across Bristol in February... cue the Facebook comments

Last month, the West of England Combined Authority has installed 40 new hangars in areas such as Ashley, Bedminster, Cotham, and Eastville, providing secure spaces for 240 bicycles.

However, the roll-out of the hangars was hampered by both website problems and the “incredible” demand for spaces, which saw 227 of the 240 spots secured in the first 90 minutes – while councillors claimed in a meeting last week that there is “untapped demand” for hangars in other parts of a city deeply affected by bike theft.

“Bishopston is receiving two new bike hangars, however from conversations from residents there is a lot of untapped demand for more,” Green councillor James Crawford told the meeting.

“It’s great to see such incredible demand for these hangars. But there were a lot of suggested sites that were unsuccessful in this round.”

> Scrapped funding puts the future of 1,000 bike hangars in doubt

Ed Plowden, the chair of the transport policy committee, noted that the unprecedented demand for the storage facilities mean that the booking website, run by the West of England authority after it took over from Bristol City Council, struggled to cope with the numbers looking to reserve a space.

“We’ve had a bit of a problem with this. We had a long-standing way of suggesting bike hangars, and WECA insisted on putting in their own way of doing that,” Plowden said.

“Residents across Bristol responded really well to that. We’ll be working with WECA to ensure that when we roll out future phases, they’re based on information that we hold, as well as any new information that we can feed in.”

The Green councillor added that there is currently no timeline for installing new hangars in Bristol, but noted that some could be installed as part of liveable neighbourhood projects in the east and south of the city. However, he said that no decisions will be made until after May’s election for a new West of England mayor.

Hmm… Can’t say those would fill me with too much confidence:

Reassuring.

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— Alison Stenning (@alisonstenning.bsky.social) March 17, 2025 at 8:46 AM