road.cc recap: 10 of our top stories this week

1. NSW cyclists sworn at by cycle path driver turned out to be cops on a day off 

From our Wednesday live blog, a serious case of karma for the Aussie driver berating two cyclists for (legally) riding on a road instead of a shared use path....as it turns out they were off-duty policemen. 
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2. Chris Froome does 116-mile gravel ride ... on his Pinarello Bolide TT bike

Froome embarked on an impressive 5 and a half hour ride in Columbia ahead of Tour Columbia 2.1, his first UCI event of the season. Averaging 21.5mph with nearly 9000ft of climbing on the epic ride posted to Strava, Froome is seen riding his custom Pinarello Bolide over some pretty gnarly gravel tracks, where the aero gains of the bike might not exactly be offering him an advantage...  
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3. The extraordinary story of the Olympic track cycling hopeful turned serial bank robber hunted by FBI who'd change into Lycra for his getaway

Here at road.cc, we often come across stories from the US about people who have used a bike to try and ride off after committing a crime, and we tend to skip over them – but we’ve made an exception in this case with a truly extraordinary story of a track cyclist with dreams of Olympic glory turned prolific bank robber who performed an ingenious quick-change routine to effect his getaway, but was caught by an old-fashioned policeman’s hunch... and what's more, his name is Tom Justice!!
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4. Iljo Keisse thrown out of Vuelta a San Juan and fined by judge following sexual harassment of waitress

Belgian professional cyclist Iljo Keisse has been thrown out of the Vuelta a San Juan after he allegedly rubbed his genitals against a waitress on Monday as she posed for a photograph with him and his Deceuninck-Quick Step team mates. He has also been fined by a judge as a result of the incident.
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5. Deceuninck-QuickStep to train riders not to rub their genitals against waitresses

Following the Keisse incident, his team promised to implement “specific conduct training protocols” to ensure “this kind of thing won’t happen again.” Why this is necessary is everything that's wrong with this situation, really. 
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6. West London priest who asked parishioners to pray against Cycle Superhighway is converted after plans tweaked

A Roman Catholic priest at a church in Chiswick that opposed plans for a Cycle Superhighway has been converted to the idea after a redesign of the part of the route in question by Transport for London (TfL).
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7. Auto Trader responds to criticism of its #SwearToChange campaign which sees reflective gear offered free to vulnerable road users

Our article last week about how Auto Trader’s #SwearToChange campaign, which includes giving away free reflective gear to cyclists, runners and dog-walkers, had attracted a backlash on social media generated plenty of comments – and now the people at the used car magazine and website have got in touch with us to outline why they launched the campaign, what the response has been, and how it will evolve.
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8. Video: trying out the reTyre zip-on winter studs

We had our first real taste of snow this year on Friday... so watch Dave try out this fascinating zip-on studded tyre solution! (includes plenty of falling over)
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9. Call for congestion/pollution charges to be applied to black cabs

Stop Killing Cyclists has launched a petition calling on the Mayor of London to (a) apply pollution and congestion charges to the users of black cabs and (b) end free access to bus lanes for black cabs when not carrying passengers.
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10. Driver who killed Carol Boardman handed 30-week jail sentence and 18-month driving ban

Liam Rosney, the pick-up driver who hit and killed Carol Boardman while distracted by his phone in July 2016, has been sentenced to 30 weeks in prison for causing her death by careless driving. Boardman was the mother of former pro rider turned cycling campaigner Chris Boardman, who this week said he would like to see longer driving bans rather than “big custodial sentences” for such crimes.
Read more here