16 minutes and 45 seconds encounter at Gandalf Corner last week. Aggressive pushy driver called the police, and she was absolutely incensed that they told her to reverse after she said she was in the oncoming traffic lane. Just cutting the video for police report now.
— CyclingMikey tired of road crime. 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇿🇼 (@MikeyCycling) September 13, 2021
Netflix and Amazon should be battling for the rights to this...
35 years after the world's worst nuclear disaster, a new type of tourism is becoming popular in Chernobyl's 30km Exclusion Zone. Cyclists can take tours of the site's "scenic routes" near to where the explosion ripped through the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
Euro News reports 123,403 people visited the Exclusion Zone in 2019, it's unknown how many of these were taking cycle tours. All riders are checked for radiation levels before they leave the site.
In April, Ukraine marked the 35th anniversary of the disaster by applying for the site to be a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Olympic gold medallist Primož Roglič will skip the World Championships time trial next week, according to reports from Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian outlet says sources at the Slovenian federation have confirmed Tadej Pogačar and Jan Tratnik will take the nation's spots instead.
The 43.4 kilometres course, ending in Bruges, is flat and will favour the powerhouses. Home favourites Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel have already confirmed their participation. Newly crowned European champ Stefan Küng and defending champion Filippo Ganna are likely to be two of the big favourites for the rainbow jersey.
The Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard reports vandals pulled out two bike stands from a Cirencester Park last month. The vandalism occurred in the Thistle Park area on Wednesday 18 August between 4.30pm and 4.50pm. Anyone with information is asked to report it to Gloucestershire Police on 101 quoting incident 324 of 18/08/2021.
Hey Scotland, are we doing this right? 🏴🏴#TourOfBritainpic.twitter.com/U6As3nhw6U
— Rally Cycling (@Rally_Cycling) September 12, 2021
Caramel Wafers are elite ride food. I won't accept any criticism - 20g of delicious carbs per wafer. Any excuse to eat as many as possible is a strong nutrition strategy.
I'm more of a Lidl man these days, but respect to Aldi too...its famous middle aisle Specialbuys will soon be featuring a host of cycling kit, including base layers for £17.99, £14.99 jackets and gloves for £5.99. Now we just need them to release creatively marketed readily available Shimano-standard (and compatible) components for half the price...
The latest Specialbuys are in store from Sunday and also include some genuinely quite tempting looking deals...Muc-Off for £3.99, GT85 for £1.99...they've even got wheel bags and workstands...
Name a better duo than 🏴 Xander Graham & 🇳🇱 @PascalEenkhoorn..
..We’ll wait! 😄 pic.twitter.com/4o3W8VniIA
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) September 12, 2021
Wout van Aert may have won the final stage of the Tour of Britain to win the race overall, but it was local rider Xander Graham who was the star of the show. The pint-sized youngster caught the TV camera's attention as he sprinted off up the pavement, putting distance between himself and the breakaway.
As the group passed, Pascal Eenkhoorn handed him a bottle...
The real race we're here for!
Nicely done, @PascalEenkhoorn🙌
📺 Watch stage seven live on ITV4#TourOfBritain🔵⚪🔵 pic.twitter.com/C4G646nZ5I
— AJ Bell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 11, 2021
Xander got the call up to meet with the team in Stonehaven for the start of stage eight and even got a bit of free kit and a tour of the team bus. Great stuff, story of the weekend...
Let us introduce you our fifth rider for today. 😎 pic.twitter.com/FADE2AeJTK
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) September 12, 2021
Ever wondered what it's like being on the other side of the TV and actually racing the Tour of Britain? Alex Dowsett's been kind enough to make a vid for his YouTube channel...something for your lunch break.
The suspended White & Co. HGV driver, who last week threatened to knock down "Lycra-clad, spandex-wearing fuckers", got in touch with a statement apologising for his actions.
Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to you and your members for any offence or fear I have caused by posting this aggressive and uncharacteristic post.
Secondly, I would like to assure everyone that despite what I said... I would NEVER intentionally harm a cyclist or any human being for that matter.
Writing this post was a stupid and thoughtless mistake and I never expected it to go this far. In reality I am a hard working, family man who was momentarily carried away by social media and took things too far.
Not only has this reflected badly on myself, my family and my company, but it has also caused offence to many around the cycling community and community as a whole so once again, I would like to apologise whole heartedly to anyone that has been affected by my actions.
Best wishes to you all
The shit that people going out for a ride on their bikes have to put up with from aggressive ignorant cowards using their cars as weapons. https://t.co/TST24jSSS4
— Paul Campbell (@PauloCampbell) September 12, 2021
That video of a driver assaulting a Swindon Wheelers member and knocking off another rider picked up a lot of attention over the weekend. The motorist became enraged by having to wait a few seconds behind the group riding two abreast, brake checking them before punching ride leader Ady Short as he tried to calmly explain why they ride in that formation.
The reaction has been a mixture of anger and disbelief that the driver was only given a caution for the attack. Questions have also been asked about Ady's explanation that Wiltshire Police ignored the camera footage of his wife being knocked over as the police "couldn't actually see her".
Under our story, the comments rolled in...Shades wondered what's the point of even bothering carrying a camera..."Camera evidence AND witnesses; only a caution! Next time I'm riding I'll save the weight and leave the cameras at home; normally if I'm riding with someone else I'll leave them behind as I've (hopefully) got a witness in an incident."
OldRidgeback summed the whole situation up nicely: "So assault isn't assault?"
On Twitter, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox commented on the story: "Road rage has appalling traits and is never a good look. How many seconds did waiting to pass safely cost him? Hardly any but his reaction cost time! Glad the headcam proved a deterrent when he spotted it. The assault is a crime but so was his driving, putting other lives at risk."
@wiltshirepolice Am I correct in saying that if i:
1 drive dangerously,
2 punch someone repeatedly in the face,
3 Drive into a cyclist causing injury,
that I will receive nothing more than a caution?Asking for a friend
— sowerbob - Let's want something better (@mnogogotin) September 12, 2021
@pwilkinson_pcc Can you please take this up with @wiltshirepolice. A caution for driving dangerously, repeatingly assaulting someone & using your vehicle as a weapon to assault someone is not right.
— James Stafford (@Jamesdestafford) September 12, 2021
We also updated our story with links to contact the office for Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner due to the extremely strong reaction to the article...
just wanna ride my bike without contemplating my own mortality
— hypebeast coffee truther (@sssabriiiinaaa) September 12, 2021
As it turned out, Patrick Lefevere's suspicions that Sunday's European Championship road race would be too hard for Sam Bennett turned out to be correct. Although in fairness to the Irishman, only 31 of the 150 starters made it to the finish.
Bennett was asked about his team boss' furious comments last week after finding out his sprinter was competing behind the team's back. Bennett distanced himself, saying: "I just want to focus on my race today and try to forget about that and focus on the race.I’m coming back so it will be a hard day today. The first climb will be the first challenge then I’ll take it climb-by-climb after that. I’m looking forward to being back in the mix."
Last week, Lefevere accused the 2020 green jersey winner of "playing with his balls in public" by competing, and suggested the appearance was a stunt reacting to the Belgian's threat to cut his pay by 50 per cent. It was the latest example of the Deceuninck-Quick-Step boss making unsavoury comments about his rider...before the Tour de France, Lefevere accused Bennett of being mentally weak. Then, in July, he compared Bennett's upcoming Borah-Hansgrohe return to a woman returning to an abusive relationship.
Kolesarstvo je nevaren šport ⚡️ še ko si v cilju, nisi na varnem 😨😱@TamauPogi🇸🇮🚴se pa ni zmedel, izjavo izpeljal do konca 👍 pic.twitter.com/hXlswf1YL8
— Igor Tominec (@IgorTominec) September 12, 2021
Even when you're the Tour de France champion, you have to put up with terrible driving from time to time...Tadej Pogačar found this out while being interviewed after yesterday's European Championship road race where he finished fifth. The double yellow jersey was speaking to Slovenian radio when the driver got closer, and closer, to the point the reporter had to shout a warning...
Pog was characteristically unruffled, barely pausing his sentence. Igor Tominec, the radio reporter, posted the video on Twitter, with the caption: "Cycling is a dangerous sport. Even when you’re at the finish line, you’re not safe." Italian police have identified one early suspect in the investigation...
— Niall Quinn (@irishniall941) September 12, 2021
Pogačar was making his reappearance, competing at the European Championships as he begins his late season campaign to Il Lombardia. The 22-year-old has only raced three days since the Olympic Games road race but is expected to compete at next week's World Championship time trial and road race.