Hertfordshire County Council has uploaded a video tutorial ahead of a new Dutch-style 'cycling roundabout' opening in Hemel Hempstead next month, the roundabout designed to boost safety by prioritising vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians and keeping their journey through the junction separate to other traffic.
It's like Dutch-style roundabouts we've seen built elsewhere in the country, such as the one below in Chichester, and links to other cycle routes to allow those on bikes to cross the approach, navigate and ride away from the junction entirely on dedicated cycling infrastructure.
Mark Doran, executive director of growth and environment at the council, said they were delighted the project is approaching completion time and has faith locals will work it out fairly quickly, adding that "Hemel residents are no strangers to an innovative roundabout" and are familiar with the town's six-route Magic Roundabout already.
The project has been funded by Active Travel England, so any comments about wasting council funds should be ignored from the outset, but the tutorial has prompted the usual discussion on Facebook. However, unlike many schemes, some of the Hemel residents at least were keen for the comments not to just descend into the usual complaining and anti-cycling bingo.
One person commented: "The most straightforward thing ever, once you have used it and took the blinkers off. They work great, in fact we could learn a lot more from the Netherlands approach to traffic etc."
Another added: "I don't see the problem here — basically give way to pedestrians and cyclists. So long as drivers approach with caution and wait for a gap everyone will be fine."
Someone from Sheffield who "heard the same 'accident waiting to happen' comments" before it was installed reported theirs was "working fine".
Of course, there were also plenty of the usual comments when anything to do with keeping cyclists safe appears on Facebook... I couldn't be bothered to sub the first comment, so ignore the errors...
"Why on earth would you put a Dutch style roundabout in an industrial area with the volume of commercial vehicles on that road??? If anything you want people and cyclists kept well away from the Lorry’s. What an utter waste of Decorum borough councils money."
1. As we established, it's not the council's money. 2. That second sentence sounds awfully like... the entire point of the roundabout... 3. If sentence two is true then maybe you've got an answer to sentence one.
Another comment was this classic: "Maybe they can make a video about how traffic lights work for cyclists, before getting too technical."
And another: "Cycles work great in Dutch towns where they are transport and the bikes are pedalled upright with the rider looking around them. In the UK cyclist put on their lycra and race around like demented Speedy Gonzales."
It was all summed up by one of the most-liked comments, perhaps proving there was as much sense as hysteria in this comments section... "Drivers throw tantrum as engineers make it harder for them to injure others".
Dan Hoole telling the TV cameras he was doing a rain dance about two hours ago aged superbly for the Dutchman, the clip above showing the hideous conditions that greeted the GC favourites by the time they got onto the course. By that time Hoole and the rest of the early starters were done for the day and had set their times in the dry.
We've already covered Josh Tarling, Jay Vine and Wout van Aert's rides in an earlier update, but the short story is that the stage leaderboard barely changed in the final hour, the GC favourites unable to get near the rest once the roads turned into a swimming pool.
Some minor sketchy moments aside, thankfully there were no major crashes of note to any of the big favourites, Primož Roglič's recon spill aside. Isaac del Torro remains in pink, but his advantage has been cut to 25 seconds by teammate Juan Ayuso, while Antonio Tiberi, Simon Yates and Roglič are all within 1:20 of the Mexican rider now too, Roglič enjoying one of the better days of the GC contenders.
However, when it came to the stage win, the truth is that little would have changed even if everyone had the same conditions, Hoole's time multiple minutes quicker than many of those battling it out for the maglia rosa.
Asked if he was surprised he'd beaten Tarling, Hoole admitted: "To be honest, yes [...] it's crazy, I can't understand it yet." A rider on few people's radars this morning, but some ride from the Dutch national TT champ.
Sussex Gardens in Westminster is getting "a joyful new look – thanks to recycled plastic, inspired design, and a bold vision for safer cycling".
They're trialling a new way to make London's cycle lanes "safer, greener, and more beautiful", with newly appointed Lord Mayor of Westminster, Paul Dimoldenberg, to this weekend officially open London's first ever tulip cycle lane.
The tulips are designed by award-winning architects Pitman Tozer, the flexible tulip-shaped wands made with recycled plastic collected by Westminster City Council.
Cllr Max Sullivan, Cabinet Member for Streets said: "We're delighted Sussex Gardens is the first street in the world to have these delightful tulip cycle wands, designed by Luke Tozer. They make you smile and make the street safer for cycling. What's not to love? We look forward to seeing more tulip cycle wands blossoming on Westminster streets and hopefully around the world."
The Lord Mayor of Westminster Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg said: "Cycling is a fantastic way to travel and an easy way to see the sights in our city. Thank you to Pitman Tozer Architects for inviting me to unveil the first one in London. These new Tulip Cycle Wands add a pop of colour along Sussex Gardens, and I hope they bring a smile to cyclists for many years to come."
We're going early, and apologies to James Shaw, James Knox, Max Poole, Tom Pidcock, Simon Yates and Adam Yates, but there won't be a British winner today. Josh Tarling, the stage two TT winner, was the heavy pre-race favourite with the bookies this morning but could only set the second fastest time, seven seconds slower than current leader Dan Hoole.
Hoole told the TV cameras he's doing a rain dance, the heavy precipitation likely to come at some point in Pisa this afternoon a forecast that would be very favourable to him, having set his time in the dry as one of the earliest starters.
Tarling found himself held up by an apologetic Mikkel Frølich Honoré, although the couple of seconds lost was unlikely to have been decisive for why the Ineos Grenadiers powerhouse could not better Hoole's time.
Josh Tarling is not hanging about! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/UhCwkWRy7Y
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) May 20, 2025
Jay Vine suffered misfortune too, the UAE Team Emirates rider puncturing, only to still finish just 37 seconds back. Wout van Aert didn't trouble the top of the leaderboard either and said there were "no excuses", others just went faster, perhaps (even if he wouldn't say it) not helped by his monster stage-winning effort on Sunday afternoon.
Plenty of the TT specialists have been and gone, so Hoole's looking good as things stand. If it starts to rain he may just be able to start to dream. The GC riders will be on the way soon...
More on these now.
We shared a link earlier, Chinese cycling tech brand Magene having quietly launched a set of power meter pedals at an eye-catching price point, coming in at £399 for dual-sided power measurement claimed to be accurate to +/-1%.
That's the same price as Favero's Assioma UNO pedals that only measure power from one side, and Magene's P715 will also come ready to go for Look Keo or Shimano SPD-SL cleats out the box.
Some thoughts from you guys...
Boleslaw Zaras: "Thermal correction and calibration consistency is the key. I doubt they are as good an Assioma. But as a travel option they will be ok, provided the accuracy is as advertised."
Wait does anyone else have a 'travel' power meter?
Osobel Soto: "It's great that there are more power meter options on the market."
Tom Abbott: "Bought one of their P505 power meters and it’s been very good so far. Fraction of the price."
And a personal favourite from Facebook...
Tim Tomlins: "Power meters. What a waste of time. Just feel the muscle burn. The hotter it is, the harder you are working. So much unnecessary tech nowadays. The body is the engine!"
Someone was having a good Monday...
It's TT day at the Giro, the second and final one of this year's race. It's 28.6km, so quite long for a time trial in the year of 2025 (fans who remember Grand Tour TTs of decades past are allowed to roll their eyes at the suggestion 28km is 'long').
Tappa 🔟 | Stage 🔟 - TUDOR ITT
🔻 Lucca
🏁 Pisa
📏 28,6 KM
🏳️ 13:15#GirodItalia | @ENIT_italiapic.twitter.com/6EmH8vPgbO— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 20, 2025
The big news from Lucca this morning is that Primož Roglič has crashed during his recon, images on social media showing the Slovenian slipping out on a bend, but thankfully quickly up on his feet and able to ride away, apparently unscathed. Josh Tarling is the bookies' favourite to take the stage, Edoardo Affini, Wout van Aert and Ethan Hayter the likeliest of the non-GC riders. Juan Ayuso and Roglič are also expected to go well, but time will tell how much of an impact that crash is going to have.
#Roglicpic.twitter.com/ivKcLHP0lm
— Stefano Bernardini (@cioncetti) May 20, 2025
A quick break from blogging to write up this, your usual updates will be resuming shortly...
> Gang who robbed Mark Cavendish at knifepoint ordered to repay £750,000 for stolen watches
We love a stolen bike story that has a happy ending, Gareth Bourne reporting his family's electric bike was nabbed outside Beckenham Spa swimming pool on Friday night. Thanks to a hidden AirTag they got the location, tracked the thief down, got the police involved and had their bike back that night.
"They also took the helmets and high-vis jackets attached to it. Who steals a kids bike helmet? It was caught on CCTV, but staff couldn't get there in time. When I picked up Emma and Eila I reminded them it had an AirTag, and they immediately turned to the fight for justice... Eila was shouting get the baddies! get the baddies!!
(they found it far too exciting...)
"A (within the speed limit) chase around SE London led us to an encounter with a thief riding our bike (he got away down a path) and then onto a dodgy looking house a few miles away. We got some snacks, staked it out, and waited for the police... a few hours later they responded, and retrieved our bike."