Transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris emphasised that the public's growing enthusiasm for active travel must be nurtured as the UK emerges from lockdown. Heaton-Harris said the pandemic had given many people a "newfound love" for cycling and walking and that it was the government's responsibility to make sure this stays.
Speaking at the Living Streets charity, the minister used the £2bn funding for walking and cycling announced last year as proof of the government's commitment. He also stressed that despite vocal opposition, the majority of residents back low traffic neighbourhood schemes and improved cycle infrastructure.
"We need to take people with us on this journey, but we know the majority support the improvements to their local communities," he said. "This year has been one like no other, changing the way we travel whether it be for work or leisure. We do need to make sure we keep people’s newfound love for walking and cycling."
Alaphilippe stays on well up the hill to finish 5th #CheltenhamFestivalhttps://t.co/QAB2wdQogo
— Chloe Hackett 🏇⚽ (@ChloeSH07) March 19, 2021
Not ideal preparation for Milan-San Remo, hopefully for his sake we see a better performance tomorrow...
Alaphilippe getting dropped! #CheltenhamFestival
— Ian (@cyclingbetting) March 19, 2021
sshhhh 🤫 - thought we said we weren't giving tactics away 😬
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) March 19, 2021
Uttoxeter Cycles is the latest local bike shop to be targeted by thieves. The shop was broken in to at around 3am on Sunday and had eight mountain bikes taken. Security footage showed the gang singling out high-spec models after breaking in and disabling the shop's alarms.
John Kucharik, who owns the shop, told the Stoke Sentinel he believes the gang had targeted his business. "They took nothing else, and disturbed nothing else. They literally just came, took what they wanted and left," he explained. "They were moving items out of the way to get to what they wanted.
"Based on the footage it looks like they took their time over it, methodically disarmed the alarm system and everything else. They knew what they were doing. You just get the impression they’re not afraid of the police turning up or anyone disturbing them. They did pick a very stormy, windy night, so the local residents weren’t really disturbed."
Due to the current bike shortage, John isn't sure they'll be able to restock the lost bikes until next year. "These bikes were hand built, so there’s days and days of work involved in preparing and assembling them," he continued. "In normal circumstances we could pick up the phone, order some bikes and have them delivered but at the minute we’re looking at perhaps next year before we see any new stock."
The shop's insurance will pay for the cost of the bikes but any profit that could have been made has been lost. Staffordshire Police has appealed for information and urged any witnesses to come forward.
All teams except one confirmed their roster for #MilanoSanremo@Milano_Sanremohttps://t.co/mAmWBlWGlnpic.twitter.com/sxTK0zFGzK
— ProCyclingStats.com (@ProCyclingStats) March 19, 2021
It's Milan-San Remo tomorrow which means spring must be in the air. The longest race of the season at just shy of 300km and GCN will be broadcasting it in its entirety from 8am...
Great news for the most hardcore fans but if we're being honest, if there's one race not to watch from start to finish...it's San Remo. But hey, maybe you want to experience the same fatigue as the riders, testing your endurance over seven hours in front of the telly...
Luke Rowe's giving away his race jersey to whoever can predict the time of the winner and even Philippe Gilbert has had a go. Does the Belgian legend have a sneaky plan up his sleeve? It's the only one of the five Monument's Phil Gil hasn't won so victory tomorrow would write his name in the history books alongside Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy as the only riders to have won all five...We think Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe might have something to say about that...
6:09
— Philippe Gilbert (@PhilippeGilbert) March 18, 2021
15h37min. 19h01min if they take the detour pic.twitter.com/2Y6hwRrNOW
— Hendrik Lemmer (@GrootLem) March 18, 2021
This Australian cyclist came around while lying on the roadside shortly after a pickup truck had passed. At the time 'rock bobster' as he's known on Reddit, had no idea what had happened but was quickly met by the driver who "was genuinely remorseful". The cyclist holds no grudges and said it was just a "freak accident" as the driver had checked the straps on the timber 15 minutes earlier before they'd come undone on the mountain road.
"You can see that the driver made a concerted effort to give me enough room as he overtook me," the cyclist explained. "Unfortunately while travelling up the mountain road the ratchet strap securing the timber failed causing it to swing off the side of his vehicle. Fortunately he looked into his rear view mirror as he overtook and saw me fall to the ground. He initially thought that I had simply lost control and crashed as I went off the edge of the road. As he exited his vehicle he noticed that the length of timber was protruding over the edge of the road and he had hit me."
After the impact, which he shared today on a BikeCammers thread, rock bobster says the driver took him home and persuaded him to seek medical attention. Despite several comments raising concerns that the driver should have been investigated further, the cyclist seemed pretty content with "a bottle of Bourbon, some chocolates and a new helmet"...
YOU CAN. Never forget it 💙 @comicreliefpic.twitter.com/aCOc1RwUg4
— billywhizz (@BillyMonger) March 18, 2021
Anyone catch Billy Monger's Big Red Nose Day Challenge last night? Definitely one to catch up on this weekend. The 21-year-old racing driver lost both his legs in a 120mph crash in 2017 but took on the 140-mile triathlon challenge to raise money for Comic Relief, including cycling 65 miles from Birmingham to Blenheim Palace and finishing with 18 laps of Brands Hatch. Chapeau...
One man.
140 miles of walking, cycling and kayaking.
In the sun, the wind and the rain.COMPLETE.
All to raise money for #RedNoseDay which will help people living incredibly tough lives.
You can still donate to #BillysBigChallenge: https://t.co/Na6I95QsKU@BillyMongerpic.twitter.com/Yy5IShmciD
— Comic Relief (@comicrelief) March 18, 2021
Laura Kenny crashed out of the World Cup in Canada way back in January 2020, around the same time the city of Wuhan was locked down and the first case of Covid in Europe was reported in France. It seems a lifetime ago now, but at the time Kenny was gearing up for the Tokyo Olympics that summer and any significant injury would be a disaster for her quest for a fifth Olympic gold.
At the World Cup she broke her shoulder, and then four weeks later at the World Championships in Berlin, another fall left her with a broken arm. The 28-year-old admitted to The Guardian it was the first time in her career when she considered quitting the sport.
"It was a struggle getting back into a bunch," she explained. "I’ve never broken a bone before, so to break my shoulder then get back on my bike and throw myself back at it at the World Championships and then break my arm, made me think: ‘Why I am putting myself through this? What’s the end game? I’ll just get hurt.’ I thought I could can this now and that would be it.
"We have a week off after the worlds and for that week I just thought: ‘I’ve had enough.’ I was in so much pain and it didn’t help that my arm was broken and we didn’t even know."
The four-time gold medallist says the pandemic and subsequent postponement of the Tokyo Olympics left her "gutted and heartbroken" but meant she could "get back in the right headspace" to return to the sport.
Fernando Alonso says he has no intention of hanging up his cleats after a crash last month left him hospitalised needing surgery on a fractured jaw and broken teeth. Alonso was urged to give up cycling by his former team boss, Flavio Briatore, who joked he would have to "lock him in the garage".
Alonso told CNN that he still "loves cycling". "I will probably have to use the mountain bike a little bit more now, on different trails and avoid the normal roads. Maybe, the car could be more scared now than before. But in a way, it will not change much. My preparation will be based on a bicycle always."
The Alpine F1 driver was riding his bike in Switzerland at the beginning of February when he was struck by a motorist entering a supermarket car park. Alonso remained in hospital for 48 hours after the crash and needed two titanium plates in his upper jaw. The two-time F1 world champion's cycling history goes beyond just keeping in shape for F1 races. In 2013, he tried to buy the licence of former Basque team Euskatel-Euskadi and a year later he presented Nairo Quintana with his Maglia Rosa after stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia.