Live blog: Cyclist pops wheelie, falls off, almost gets run over, US study finds local news "subtly, but consistently, blames vulnerable road users for crashes", Twitter acronym tribute to legendary Liggett TdF commentary, Video: crit carnage + more

A dashcam user in Lincolnshire has filmed the moment that a cyclist popping a wheelie in Spalding fell off his bike and was almost run over, with the motorist managing to avoid the rider, who was apparently unhurt - apart, perhaps, for his pride. Maybe best leave it to the likes of Peter Sagan and Danny MacAskill, eh?

Haringey wants a reputation for being a walking and cycling borough nationally - yet this is what greets pedestrians on our streets....it’s time for change @haringeycouncil @kirstenhearn @CllrEjiofor @HaringeyCyclist @CrescentRdChaos @livingstreets @ZenaBrabazon pic.twitter.com/UsvPMxRRoc

— Catherine Kenyon (@cmdkenyon) January 15, 2019

The Texas A&M University study, titled 'Editorial Patterns in Bicyclist and Pedestrian Crash Reporting', says that local news reports generally show overly negative reporting towards car crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists, often using terminology to suggest the victim may have been at fault. The study scraped 200 news articles from a two month period from early 2018, 100 involving cyclists and 100 pedestrians, and used content and linguistic analysis to examine how the information assigned blame and if the injuries and deaths were framed as public health issues. 

They found that only 65% of articles identified the 'agent' who hit the vulnerable road user, and in 35% of cases the crash just 'happened' without describing any details. They also found 73% of articles emphasised mentions of the vulnerable road user, which is found to receive more blame. 48% of articles suggested that the incident could have been avoided if the VRU's behaviour was different i.e. wearing high-vis clothing or crossing only at designated crossings. The researchers recommends this for journalists: "We first suggest journalists be aware of the relationship between grammatical choices and perceived blame. As a test, try replacing the word “car” with the word “hammer” when describing a crash. “A person was hit by a hammer” sounds strange, as someone must have been holding it. “Hit by a car” similarly obscures agency. Next, journalists should use public health framing when describing crashes. Linking each instance to the epidemic of VRU deaths will help bring about meaningful solutions. Finally, we advise journalists to include elements that humanize VRU crash victims when possible."

Do you think crashes involving cyclists and pedestrians are often wrongly reported in the UK too? 

Pedalling into the first race of the UCI WorldTour calendar like... @tourdownunder pic.twitter.com/5sfoZw8sKu

— UCI (@UCI_cycling) January 14, 2019

And I'm done. Look back through my timeline and read the first word of each of my Tweets and you'll find a, quite frankly, bizarre tribute to the greatest cycling commentary of all time.

And here it is (about 2 minutes in) enjoy! https://t.co/qiV6zOmTZM

— Cillian Kelly (@irishpeloton) January 14, 2019

Cillian Kelly may have a little too much time on his hands, but this is pretty impressive all the same! Ic you have a Twitter account, check out Kelly's profile and read the first word of each tweet from the top-down. 

The World Tour kicked off early this morning in Australia with the first stage of the Tour Down Under. A sprint stage to begin with, so one for the flat track bullies to have a go at. And who came out on top? Watch the highlights to find out!