Paint is not infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/elM8PcEJ7S
— Cycling Professor 🚲 (@fietsprofessor) March 11, 2022
For the Always Sunny fans:
— 🇦🇺 Robert Jamieson (@blkjam) March 11, 2022
Is it true that Vingegaard used to play drums for Sigur Ros?
Pure talent 🤟🏼 pic.twitter.com/NfzYZIFzt2— Jacopo Guarnieri (@jacopoguarnieri) March 11, 2022
Podium at the Tour de France, deliver brilliantly entertaining post-race interviews, play drums for a 2000s Icelandic post-rock band…
Is there anything Jonas Vingegaard can’t do? Apart from remember Filippo Ganna’s name, of course.
🇫🇷 #ParisNice@HugoHoule is fit and healthy and motivated to continue racing so he will fly the IPT flag in France. https://t.co/pq3JrYEU16
— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) March 10, 2022
Poor Hugo Houle.
With illness devestating the Paris-Nice peloton like a Tadej Pogačar attack, the Canadian rider is the last man standing for his Israel-Premier Tech team.
The squad's other remaining riders, James Piccoli, Carl Fredrik Hagen (both due to a non-Covid virus), and Tom Van Asbroeck (respiratory infection), all pulled out before yesterday’s stage, leaving Houle to make it to Nice on his own.
The 31-year-old is riding pretty well too, and sits eleventh overall on the general classification.
Israel team down to one rider in Hugo Houle. In the 2018 Paris-Nice by the time the race reached Nice, Groupama-FDJ had one finisher in Molard, same for Lotto-Jumbo with Gesink... and nobody from UAE finished the race, they were all DNF by the end https://t.co/O8sB6TybAZ
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) March 11, 2022
As of this morning, only 113 riders remain at Paris-Nice, with a further eight – including sprinters Fabio Jakobsen and Jasper Philipsen – withdrawing before today’s stage six to Aubagne.
Even the journalists at the race are falling victim to the bug going around the peloton:
Unfortunately had to DNS Paris-Nice this morning having caught the chest infection that’s decimating the peloton. Eyes so red I look like I’m possessed
— Peter Cossins (@petercossins) March 11, 2022
Time to rest the keyboard and get ready for the spring classics…
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses” - Henry Ford
Why consultation are a waste of time.
How do council's ever expect to get 'consensus' on cycling schemes when most people don't cycle (yet) and don't like change?
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) March 10, 2022
I don't think the 'cycle lobby' are aggressive, in fact i'd say looking at comments on FB groups to any posts suggesting safer cycling it's people who don't want it who are the most aggressive. Here is a typical comment from last night. pic.twitter.com/tZpM4LOcZJ
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) March 10, 2022
Consultations are a good things, but they should no more be allowed to prevent development of cycling infrastructure than anything else that is necessary for the community to function well.
— Darth Linda (@linkcott18) March 10, 2022
100% agree with you. So many planning applications are passed despite massive public outrage. Why councils don’t implement their commitments to active travel and don’t listen to their own experts but value joe publics opinion more is beyond me.
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) March 10, 2022
What do you think? Are public consultations a worthwhile exercise or an unnecessary evil when it comes to implementing cycling and active travel schemes?
I bet Trek-Segafredo’s PR people just love Quinn Simmons.
After his compatriots Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson finished first and third on yesterday’s stage of Paris-Nice (with Simmons himself taking the KOM jersey at Tirreno-Adriatico), everyone’s favourite bike racing Trumper– sorry Chloé – compared the latest generation of American riders to… US Postal.
“The last time we had Americans riding at this level was with Postal,” the 20-year-old said to Cyclingnews after stage four of Tirreno.
“It’s good news about McNulty’s win, he’s had a great season so far, it's his third win. Magnus Sheffield has won too, Neilson (Powless) won San Sebastian last year, too.”
I’m sure those riders will be chuffed to be compared to the pioneering role models Lance, Tyler, Floyd and George…
Though, as a proud supporter of The Donald, perhaps picking role models isn’t Simmons’ strong suit.
Also – though I’m not saying Quinn has read the USADA report cover to cover – just like when George Bennett infamously described Chris Froome’s epic ride at the 2018 Giro as “doing a Landis”, any time a rider compares themselves or others to that murky era in the peloton, eyebrows will certainly be raised.
The poor Trek staff 🤦♀️
'Quinn? Quinn, you said the quiet bits out loud again.'https://t.co/O2UmohzsJl— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) March 11, 2022
Unpopular view, but I actually like seeing Quinn Simmons on TV at the front of a bike race.
Only because it means you can be sure he won't be talking shit on Twitter for a couple of hours.
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) March 11, 2022
Let’s spare a thought for that lost generation of American bike riders, trapped in limbo between the hedonistic Postal days and the current wave – including Transitions Lenses model (and Tour stage winner) Tyler Farrar and 2014 Dauphiné winner Andrew Talan-… actually, let’s just forget about him, shall we?
It’s been Snake Pass-mania this week.
The landslide-affected A57 – closed to motorists due to road works since the end of February – quickly captured the imagination, acting as a symbol of a car-free utopia as riders flocked to the pass to enjoy a temporary reprieve from motor traffic.
However, to many it has also served as a sign of how local authorities view cycling and active travel in general, after Derbyshire County Council barred bike riders and walkers from the road on Tuesday due to ‘safety concerns’.
As we saw earlier this week, many were appalled at the decision to extend the road closure, with one Twitter user describing it as an anti-cyclist move “dressed up cheaply as health and safety”.
To protest the decision, a group of cyclists have organised a ‘mass trespass’ on the hill tomorrow, invoking the 1932 mass trespass of nearby Kinder Scout, which helped galvanise the ‘right-to-roam’ movement for ramblers.
Updated poster with meet location. Please share this one! pic.twitter.com/Yie6zYUlc3
— Harry Gray (@HarryHamishGray) March 9, 2022
However, Saturday’s event has been criticised by Groupama-FDJ pro Jake Stewart, who has warned against the negative effects the protest may have on motorists' views of cyclists.
The Coventry-born rider, who came second in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad last year but has been suffering from intestinal problems this season, tweeted last night: “Please, if you're a cyclist considering attending this mass trespass this weekend, consider again.
“Take a thought to how we as cyclists are currently viewed in a number of people’s eyes and ask yourself how this will be conducive to finding harmony with motorists in the future...”
The 22-year-old, who says he rides Snake Pass regularly, also tried to cool enthusiasm for the climb, arguing that there are “plenty of other climbs in Derbyshire which are more stunning and nicer roads”.
Please, if you're a cyclist considering attending this mass trespass this weekend, consider again. Take a thought to how we as cyclists are currently viewed in a number of peoples eyes and ask yourself how this will be conducive to finding harmony with motorists in the future... https://t.co/YgL8KaBIrh
— Jake (@jakey_stewart) March 10, 2022
I ride Snake Pass regularly and let me tell you, even traffic free, its not that great a climb...plenty of other climbs in Derbyshire which are more stunning and nicer roads...I've got plenty of GPX files for you if you're struggling to get off the A-roads 😘 just a thought x
— Jake (@jakey_stewart) March 10, 2022
The response to Stewart’s tweet has been mixed to say the least. While some agreed with the classics man that cyclists should avoid stoking up antagonism from motorists, others criticised the rider’s perspective, as a professional racing cyclist, of safety on the road:
I totally agree Jake its mad to give motorists more reason to hate cyclist’s by ignoring the rules. It just generates anti cycling rhetoric in the media and that ends up endangering lives.
— Dean Tranter (@BikeWrenchUK) March 10, 2022
He gets to ride on closed roads 80 odd race days a year and has the brass neck to lecture the rest of us for wanting the same
— Harry Gray (@HarryHamishGray) March 10, 2022
The cyclists Vs drivers thing is a media confection, and when you think about it doesn't make much sense. I have a bike, but I don't think of myself as a "cyclist", though I like to go for a bike ride every so often. The conflict comes from 2 tonnes of metal traveling at 60mph
— Chris likes dinosaurs but not transphobes 🦕🦖 (@Nerd_CB) March 10, 2022
If you’re a pro cyclist who doesn’t actively oppose car culture, then you’re just a guy who gets paid to exercise and I’m not interested in your opinions thanks hun
— Hannah 🚲 (@theeyecollector) March 10, 2022
It's not the first time that Stewart has had his say on the cyclists versus drivers debate. In January, he responded to drivers’ complaints about the Highway Code changes, which he claimed underlined why "cycling in the UK is doomed”.
“Daily I have to make the decision to put my life in the hands of people like this...just to do my job,” he tweeted. “Too many have to make that decision to ride their bike for fun/get around. Society is broken.”
So I've just received a Notice of Intended Prosecution because when videoing a phone using, MOT-expired Audi driver, I held up a van by around 9 seconds!
Waiting for the physical letter, then I guess I'll be seeking legal advice. Any suggestions appreciated!@BristolCycling— Tom Bugs (@BugBrand) March 9, 2022
This story, flagged in the comments on yesterday’s blog, is a bit of a weird one.
Tom Bugs, a cyclist in Bristol, tweeted earlier this week that he received a Notice of Intended Prosecution. His offence? Holding up a van driver for ‘around nine seconds’.
According to Tom, the lengthy hold-up occurred as he attempted (CyclingMikey-style) to capture useable footage on his helmet camera of an Audi driver using his phone behind the wheel (bonus points – the Audi’s MOT had also expired).
In doing so, a van driver behind was briefly held up. Tom said that he “acknowledged the van with a hand gesture and moved on in a matter of seconds.”
However, after submitting footage of the phone-using motorist Tom was issued with his notice, for riding his bike “without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other people using the road”.
PS Van driver then went through a red light - ASPolice rep (MB) commented "I would imagine in his frustration then decided to go through the red light" which feels presumptuous & an unprofessional comment which I'll no doubt challenge too.
— Tom Bugs (@BugBrand) March 9, 2022
To make matters worse, after his brief delay the van driver drove through a red light – which the representative from Avon and Somerset Police claimed owed to “his frustration”…
Tom tweeted his annoyance at what he thinks is a “negative and petty” decision, though he was also at pains to praise Avon and Somerset Police in general, which he described as “a leading UK force for dealing with constant road danger”. He later said the incident was “just a minor issue within a system that generally works well”.
I will, of course, add that the submission team at ASPolice are generally doing a great job, a leading UK force for dealing with constant road danger. But the decision to try to pin this one feels negative & petty.
— Tom Bugs (@BugBrand) March 9, 2022
In the words of one of our readers:
Drive into a cyclist, and you just get a warning letter. But a cyclist holds up traffic for nine seconds and they get prosecuted.
Yes, that makes sense.