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Protesters call for protected bike lane to be removed… by blocking it and forcing cyclists into traffic; Is the Tour de France set to return to the UK in 2026?; Jumbo set to end all sports sponsorship; Remco’s Suisse comeback plans + more on the live blog

It’s Friday and Ryan Mallon’s here to help you finetune your pre-Tour preparations on the last live blog of the week
02 June 2023, 08:06
Bike lane protesters force cyclist into traffic (credit - Deborah Reid, Twitter)
Protesters call for protected bike lane to be removed… by blocking it and forcing cyclists into traffic

A group of residents opposed to Toronto’s dedicated cycling infrastructure, which they believe endangers pedestrians and cyclists as well as increasing congestion, have come up with a new way of voicing their displeasure: by blocking one of the Canadian city’s protected bike lane and forcing cyclists out into traffic.

This clip, filmed on Yonge Street – the site of a controversial protected cycle lane – shows protesters standing on the entrance to the segregated portion of the lane, while others hold up signs saying ‘Move the bike lanes’ and ‘Yonge 4 All should include us too’, a reference to a residents’ group which aims to make the street “welcoming, safe, and accessible for people of all ages and abilities” by encouraging more locals to walk, cycle, and visit the area.

The protest, unsurprisingly, was heavily criticised on Twitter, with a number of cyclists noting the “entitlement” of those blocking the cycle lane, while another wrote: “Of all the things to protest… bike lanes?”

> “People are getting killed on the street next to the park. It does not make a lick of sense”: Lawyer blasts “targeted campaign” against speeding cyclists in Toronto parks

Nevertheless, the Yonge Street bike lane has become a focal point for protesters, especially in the lead up to this month’s Toronto mayoral by-election, sparked by the resignation of John Tory, who prioritised adding 100km of bike lanes in and around the city by the end of 2024.

A group called Keep Toronto Moving claims that “a significant proportion of Toronto residents report being negatively affected by the increase in dedicated bike lanes”, a claim debunked by data released by the city which shows that bike lane usage has increased dramatically, with little effect on congestion in the city.

Another similar group, the snappily titled BeRationalTO, opposed the city’s decision to make the Yonge Street bike lane permanent, and claimed that it was hindering emergency services.

“Ill-conceived bike lanes endanger cyclists and pedestrians. They hurt retailers and restaurants. They transform once-quiet residential streets into congested feeder routes between major thoroughfares, which themselves become gridlocked no-go zones,” the group says on its website.

However, Toronto-based cycling advocate Robin Richardson reckons the furious opposition to the city’s bike lanes is merely a symbol for some locals who are “uncomfortable with change”.

“Toronto has spent decades prioritizing motor vehicle travel, and as a result most people think of driving as the default and believe ‘roads should be for cars.’ But as the city grows, with more people living close to downtown, many residents do not own cars,” he told the Canadian Cycling Magazine.

“That means choosing instead to walk, cycle, or take transit to get where they need to go. Everyone should be proud of the progress Toronto has made in its bike lane expansion initiatives.”

> Police officer dishes out fines to cyclists – then crashes his SUV into one in a cycle lane

Despite Richardson’s argument that everyone should be proud of the city’s new infrastructure, one mayoral candidate, Anthony Furey, has even made removing all bike lanes on Toronto’s major roads a key part of his campaign.

Furey’s claims about blocking access to hospitals were again criticised by local cyclists, with one writing: “With hundreds of health care workers (from nurses to technicians to doctors to medical students plus patients) utilizing the protected cycling infrastructure… this is why, on top a number of other reasons, that you will not be elected the Mayor of Toronto.”

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, our very own CyclingMikey was on hand with an altogether more succinct summary of the prospective mayor’s approach to bike lanes: ““I’m from the Netherlands and you’re as dumb as a rock.”

Well, it wouldn’t be a live blog post without mentioning Mikey, would it?

02 June 2023, 15:52
Comment of the Day: The logic of bike lane blocking protests
Live Blog comment 2 June 2023

What do you mean? That makes perfect sense…

Anyway, that’s us for another sunny week on the live blog. Enjoy the weekend everyone, I’ll be back on Monday (depending on the FA Cup final result, of course).

02 June 2023, 15:07
United Nations’ delegates slam “very conservative and unresponsive” policy of allowing cars in HQ but not bikes ahead of World Bicycle Day
02 June 2023, 14:33
Barguil on 2021 Canyon Aeroad via ARKEA SAMSIC 2
B&B Hotels to link up with Arkéa for 2024 season

The mid-season sponsor merry-go-round continue apace, as French squad Arkéa Samsic, the home of Warren Barguil, Dan McLay, and Nacer Bouhanni, today confirmed the arrival of new title sponsor, B&B Hotels, for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

As regular readers of the blog will know, B&B Hotel’s involvement in pro cycling came to an abrupt halt at the end of last year, when their eponymous team collapsed following manager Jérôme Pineau’s prolonged and ill-fated attempt to secure more substantial backing from other sources.

Despite the budget hotel chain making it clear that it was happy to continue investing in the squad, which had provisionally added Mark Cavendish and Audrey Cordon-Ragot to its books, Pineau allegedly refused to meet with the sponsor as his unwieldy house of cards unceremoniously collapsed.

Warren Barguil (Arkea Samsic), stage 20 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Warren Barguil climbs Monte Lussari during stage 20 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“We are extremely proud to embark on this new sporting adventure, which is obvious to us,” B&B Hotel’s manager for western Europe Vincent Quandalle, said in a statement today.

“At the end of last year, we were saddened by the unexpected end of the cycling team we sponsored. The team did not find the additional sponsors it was hoping for to finance its ambitions, and we could not assume them alone.

“But this experience convinced us of all that cycling, a very popular sport, can bring us in terms of notoriety, image, and emotions. It was therefore obvious for us to embark on a new adventure.”

Arkéa’s general manager Emmanuel Hubert added: “The signing of our new title partner with B&B Hotels, from January 1, 2024, until the end of 2025, allows us to take an additional step with the objective of placing ourselves among the elite of professional cycling for men and women in the long term.

“Today, the best teams leave their mark on men’s and women’s cycling just as much. This is why the arrival of B&B Hotels, an already recognised partner of cycling and whose ties are Breton, will offer the opportunity to our sportsmen and women to progress with the aim of bringing them even more to the top level, which I always wanted.”

02 June 2023, 13:59
Move over Peter Sagan, there’s a new demon descender in town: Formula One driver tries out extreme aero tuck on track tour

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda here, channelling his inner Vincenzo Nibali and Caleb Ewan with a very aero, and perfectly UCI-legal, tuck during his recce of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.

And, before you ask, yes, I know F1 drivers are now banned from riding their bikes during track walks, but it appears that Tsunoda took his Basso for a spin outside of the regulated hours set by the FIA (I think. To be fair, it’s Formula One, I don’t really care enough to check if I’m honest…).

Anyway, it looks like cycling enthusiast and occasional motor racer Valtteri Bottas was also enjoying a few laps of the circuit last night, before focusing on the boring old day job in his car…

Valtteri Bottas Spanish GP training ride (Strava)
02 June 2023, 13:38
Mads Pedersen shows off his, err, design skills…

To be fair, it’s better than most cycling kit designs from the 90s… (ducks for cover) 

02 June 2023, 12:22
Bike industry mourns the loss of bicycle gearbox pioneer Bernhard Rohloff

Bernard Rohloff, the legendary bike gearbox inventor and innovator, has sadly passed away at the age of 73.

The German pioneer, who had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease, died peacefully and unexpectedly on Friday 19 May.

Bernhard Rohloff

Bernard and Barbara Rohloff established Rohloff GmbH in 1986, along with patenting the S-L-T 99 chain, used by Greg LeMond four years later during his third and final Tour de France win. A decade later, he invented the ground-breaking 14 speed Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 planetary gear hub, eventually released in 1998.

“I will miss Bernie, he was such a humble and pleasant person,” Lloyd Townsend, MD of Ison Distribution, Rohloff’s UK Distributor, said.

“His engineering genius produced the World’s most respected internal gear hub.  We are proud to have worked with Bernie for more than two decades and send our sincere condolences to all of the family and great folks at Rohloff who will continue Bernie’s great engineering legacy.”

02 June 2023, 11:56
“Though he did wear a mask just before the start of many races…”: Leading epidemiologist backtracks over Roglič mask tweet

Speaking of Primož Roglič, the leading American epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding (featured on yesterday’s blog), who erroneously and rather bafflingly tweeted that the Slovenian had bludgeoned his way to victory on Monte Lussari last weekend while wearing a mask, has finally admitted that he may have been wrong to make such a sweeping claim based on a few pre- and post-race photographs:

Oops.

02 June 2023, 11:33
Remco Evenepoel (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Remco Evenepoel set to return to racing at the Tour de Suisse this month after recovering from Covid-19 – but Jumbo-Visma confirms Primož Roglič WON’T ride the Tour de France

World champion Remco Evenepoel will return to racing next weekend at the Tour de Suisse, less than a month after pulling out of the Giro d’Italia while wearing the pink jersey due to a positive Covid-19 test.

According to a statement released by his Soudal-Quick Step team this morning, the 23-year-old – who also won two time trial stages of the Giro before his untimely abandon – will make his comeback at the prestigious Swiss stage race, which is bookended by two Remco-favouring efforts against the clock, before defending his Belgian national time trial title three days later.

Evenepoel will also aim to add a national road race title to his growing collection, before heading to a two-week altitude camp at Val di Fassa, which will provide the base for his defence of his rainbow bands in Glasgow in August.

Evenepoel at Giro stage 9 time trial (by Zac Williams/SWpix.com).JPG

 Zac Williams/SWpix.com

“It has been quite the challenge to see a pathway through the rest of my season. We know that my main goal of this year was the Giro d’Italia and what happened was really unfortunate, so it was important to plan the right path with the team management. I think to begin in Suisse is the perfect start, and it allows me to revisit a race where I have good memories from my time trial win last year,” the 2022 Vuelta winner said.

“Hopefully I can take some good legs from there to the Belgian Championships, to defend my TT title and to see what I can do in the road race. And then I can spend some weeks at altitude in the beautiful area around Val di Fassa. I have really enjoyed training there before and it is a stunning place to visit, with the advantages that being at altitude give, and it’s a great place to start looking forwards to the World Championships.”

Primož Roglič wins stage 20 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

While Evenepoel and Soudal-Quick Step are busy finalising their plans for the next few months, one rider due a break is the Belgian’s brief Giro rival Primož Roglič, following his dramatic snatching of the pink jersey off the shoulders of Geraint Thomas last weekend.

While earlier this week the Slovenian himself was coy about his prospects of lining up in Bilbao at the start of next month’s Tour de France, ostensibly in support of 2022 winner Jonas Vingegaard, Jumbo-Visma DS Merijn Zeeman has ruled out the prospect of the Giro champion being deployed as a super domestique on the roads of France.

“We have other plans,” Zeeman told Dutch talkshow OP1. “But in the end, one thing in cycling is very important to know: he has been on the road with the team for four months non-stop, with a few days at home now and then.

“That is the basis for a top performance, but you also need the same period [of preparation] for the Tour. It is very tempting to think that he can now also be the same in the Tour, but the level at the top of the sport is very hard. This is the result of a very long process, but you also need such a process for a good Tour or Vuelta.”

02 June 2023, 11:11
Drum & Bass On The Bike is coming to London again this weekend — and its creator is still trying to make sense of it all
Drum And Bass On The Bike Ireland - Dom Whiting Facebook

road.cc editor Jack sat down with pedalling DJ Dom Whiting as he prepares for another takeover of London’s roads this weekend. Just don’t tell Tony Blackburn…

> Drum & Bass On The Bike is coming to London again this weekend — and its creator is still trying to make sense of it all

02 June 2023, 10:25
Yorkshire Grand Depart crowd (picture credit Welcome to Yorkshire, letouryorkshire com)
Is the Tour de France set to return to the UK in 2026?

It’s been a rough year for the struggling British domestic racing scene, with teams folding, big events such as the Women’s Tour forced into postponements, and GB’s much-vaunted U23 programme now subject to substantial cuts.

> How do we save UK bike racing? SweetSpot's PR Director on Women's Tour cancellation and staying positive for the future

However, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the sport at the moment, reports are beginning to emerge that the biggest race of them all could be set for a return to the UK in the next few years.

According to Radio Cycling, the new podcast hosted by Jeremy Whittle, Chris Marshall-Bell, and Peter Cossins, the team behind the UK’s bid – which was formally launched back in early 2022 – is “confident” that the 2026 Tour de France will get underway in Britain, in what would be the country’s third Grand Départ in two decades.

In October 2021, we reported that then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak set aside £30 million to support plans to stage the start of cycling’s biggest race, though it’s all gone fairly quiet on the bid front since then.

TdF 2014 Stage 2 crowds in Yorkshire - picture credit Welcome to Yorkshire, Le Tour Yorkshire com

The Yorkshire crowds were out in force for the 2014 race

The proposed 2026 Tour de France visit to the UK would include stages in England, Scotland, and Wales, and feature an Edinburgh Grand Départ and, Radio Cycling says, a “showstopping, blockbuster” stage in Wales, which ASO chief Christian Prudhomme has reportedly visited.

The podcast also reports that, while there were initial concerns over the logistics of focusing the stages away from the southeast of England, Prudhomme has apparently been convinced that a return to France from Cardiff would be suitable, following the similar distances travelled after last year’s Grand Départ in Denmark.

Radio Cycling also claimed that there have been “very positive” discussions between ASO and the UK bid, with Prudhomme continuing to herald the 2014 start in Yorkshire as a “benchmark” for Tour opening weekends.

TdF 2014 Vincenzo Nibali after winning in Sheffield (picture credit Welcome to Yorkshire)

Vincenzo Nibali wins stage two of the 2014 Tour in Sheffield 

As we reported last year, a cross-border bid from Ireland, following Belfast’s hosting of the Giro back in 2014, is also hoping to stage the race either in 2026 or 2027, though apparently the Irish and Northern Irish team says that it “wouldn’t see ourselves competing directly with them [the UK bid] at all”.

That cross-border bid to host the Tour in Ireland, however, has been criticised by groups such as Cycling UK, who called the attempt to stage the race as “baffling” when everyday road safety policy in Northern Ireland is still putting cyclists “at risk” and omits recent Highway Code changes.

> Cycling UK slams Northern Ireland's "baffling" Tour de France bid when active travel strategy puts cyclists "at risk"

Similarly, Transport for London (TfL) pulled the plug at the last minute on its bid to host the start of the 2017 edition of the race, following the success of London in 2007 and Yorkshire in 2014, on the orders of then Mayor Boris Johnson, who said the £35 million cost would be better spent on cycling infrastructure in the capital.

Nevertheless, it seems that the UK team is confident that the 2026 Tour de France will grace British shores, though we’ll have to wait until early next year before we can start searching in the roof space for that yellow bunting…

02 June 2023, 09:59
The countdown continues: Netflix releases new trailer for Tour de France doc

Six days to go… until we can all start complaining about what was left out, what wasn’t explained right, and why cycling was so much cooler before all the Netflix Johnny-come-latelys joined the fun…

Or, before we watch one episode and then get distracted by all the, you know, actual racing going on next week:

In any case, nothing will ever beat Movistar’s three-series soap opera The Least Expected Day in my book. Pure poetry…

02 June 2023, 09:26
Primož Roglič wins stage 20 of the 2023 Giro d’Italia (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Jumbo set to end all sports sponsorship, as criminal investigation into beleaguered Dutch supermarket chain continues

Just days after Lidl announced that it will be taking over as title sponsor of Trek-Segafredo in time for next month’s Tour de France, one of its main competitors, Jumbo, has confirmed that it is ending its involvement in sport, in the midst of an investigation into money laundering and fraud at the Dutch supermarket chain.

The decision means that the company’s sponsorship of the Jumbo-Visma men’s and women’s cycling teams, fresh from Primož Roglič’s Giro d’Italia triumph at the weekend, as well as its skating squad, will not be renewed beyond the end of its current contract, which runs until the end of 2024.

However, according to AD, Jumbo has indicated that they will be happy to step aside a year earlier than planned if a new title sponsor can be found in time for next season.

Marianne Vos, stage 7, 2022 Tour de France Femmes (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

Jumbo’s decade-long partnership with double F1 world champion Max Verstappen will also come to an end this year, as part of new CEO Ton van Veen’s aim to withdraw from sports sponsorship altogether, as a criminal investigation into the company’s role in motorsport continues.

Last September, we reported that the house of Jumbo’s CEO, Frits van Eerd, was raided by Dutch police and the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service (FIOD) as part of an investigation into money laundering and fraud, revolving around, among other things, sponsorship contracts in motorsport.

Van Eerd, whose father Karel van Eerd – Jumbo’s founder – died in December, stepped down from his role as CEO soon after his arrest and remains under investigation.

Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte, 2023 Gent-Wevelgem (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Zac Williams/SWpix.com

In March, Jumbo – whose famous yellow and black colours have graced the peloton since 2014, when the chain stepped into sponsor the disgraced team formerly known as Rabobank – confirmed that it had launched a review into its investment into sport.

In his first interview since his appointment, new CEO Van Veen told AD today: “We want nothing to do with motorsport and the allegations. With Max Verstappen and Jumbo-Visma we are stopping for a completely different reason. That sponsorship has brought us a lot of brand awareness, but we have now won everything there is to win.”

02 June 2023, 08:59
Cycling Dragon’s Den: The MTB Mower

Well, that’s one way of getting the miles in while ticking off some jobs around the house. Which reminds me, I’m a bit behind on both of those things…

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

Add new comment

24 comments

Avatar
Hirsute | 9 months ago
4 likes
Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Hirsute | 9 months ago
1 like

Tactical mistake by the Daleks there.  Being restricted to the cycle lanes they found they couldn't conquer a single street, never mind the world.

Presumably the plunger allows them to cope with the pedestrian crossing buttons?

Avatar
Owd Big 'Ead | 9 months ago
1 like

Nice to see the world is in safe hands with Antonio Guterres and his cronies leading by example.

Like all the political classes they talk a good game but fail to deliver at every opportunity.

What a COP out!

Avatar
ktache | 9 months ago
1 like

The Jimmy Mulvile video is up on Mikey's YouTube channel.

 

Avatar
ktache | 9 months ago
6 likes

My thoughts are with Bernie's family, friends and colleagues.

I love my Rohloff. I may never truly understand how it works, apart from the term "planetary gears" but work it does.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to ktache | 9 months ago
4 likes

I love a good internal gear hub.  Grokking them?  Me neither; I lost it before the Nexus / Alfine.  However there are some folks doing their best to explain:

How to put the Rohloff together (in German, of course)

"Gearhubs explored and explained" (I like this chap's delivery as much as the explanations).

Avatar
IanMSpencer replied to ktache | 9 months ago
0 likes

Those were a bit weaselly words though given that the Sturmey Archer hub had been around for yonks using the same principles, and though Raleigh's engineering left a lot to be desired in its later years, the original was perfectly well respected and about the only gearing system to be found on utility bikes in the UK for decades.

But Rohloffs were spoken off with tones of reverence in the touring world. Never heard of any complaints about reliability, just enthusiasm for reaching the next oil change.

Avatar
Matthew Acton-Varian | 9 months ago
0 likes

Don't worry Ryan, I agree about Mads' new Trek kit design and some of the horrors that were 90s kit.

I still want to bleach my eyes every time a classic highlights reel pops up on my YouTube feed.

Avatar
brooksby | 9 months ago
4 likes

Quote:

Is the Tour de France set to return to the UK in 2026?

They ought to have them ride around the RB Kensington & Chelsea.  I bet suddenly money would be found for all sorts of cycle-related stuff...

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
3 likes

Maybe go through the Royal Parks too...

Avatar
muhasib | 9 months ago
7 likes

Presumably then with Furey's logic its impossible for ambulances in Amsterdam to get to hospital with all the bikes obstructing them in traffic ...

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to muhasib | 9 months ago
4 likes

muhasib wrote:

Presumably then with Furey's logic its impossible for ambulances in Amsterdam to get to hospital with all the bikes obstructing them in traffic ...

Simple! Oh wait, that's India.

Avatar
Boopop | 9 months ago
5 likes

It looks like they're only trying to block the entrance, and doing a poor job of it too, so I'd be inclined to slow down or if need be stop and then get on the lane anyway.

It's easy to block motor traffic as it's so space inefficient, but trying to block a cycle lane with 10 people is like trying to block a colander with ten pinky fingers.

Avatar
Matthew Acton-Varian replied to Boopop | 9 months ago
1 like

The spaces between the bollards are a bit tight at tarmac level, it would be a difficult manouvre on anything with a longer wheelbase. Also what's to say you don't have more protesters lining the kerb waiting to push someone off their bike?

I know it's unlikely but that's not a guarantee.

Avatar
Boopop replied to Matthew Acton-Varian | 9 months ago
1 like

I would hope that that they're not so crazy as to physically assault someone that ignores them. That said, if one of them was, there'd be a slight temptation to risk it just to make their dumb cause look even more assinine when it blows up in the media.

Avatar
chrisonabike | 9 months ago
2 likes

Taking back bike lanes is the least he could do.  But will the new mayor of Toronto commit to smoking crack?

Avatar
brooksby | 9 months ago
4 likes

So: protesters who believe that bike lanes are causing congestion protest against the bike lanes by forcing cyclists out into the main traffic lane, which is more likely to cause conflict and congestion and which means that a section of the roadway (the cycle lane) cannot be used by anyone.  Alrighty then... 

Avatar
HoldingOn replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
0 likes

'murica. nuff said.

Avatar
brooksby replied to HoldingOn | 9 months ago
17 likes

HoldingOn wrote:

'murica. nuff said.

Perfect example of how to p!$$ off Canadians, eh?  3

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
5 likes

brooksby wrote:

HoldingOn wrote:

'murica. nuff said.

Perfect example of how to p!$$ off Canadians, eh?  3

Well, what do they expect if they live in North America. It surprises me that there's not more push-back against the U.S. appropriating the word "american" to mean residents of the U.S.

Avatar
HoldingOn replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
2 likes

Must admit - I was a little surprised that it was in Canada. I expected better from them.

Avatar
brooksby replied to HoldingOn | 9 months ago
2 likes

HoldingOn wrote:

Must admit - I was a little surprised that it was in Canada. I expected better from them.

Very polite protesting, for a start.

Avatar
HoldingOn replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
10 likes

brooksby wrote:

Very polite protesting, for a start.

 

Avatar
Matthew Acton-Varian replied to brooksby | 9 months ago
6 likes

One would hope it not necessary, but if anyone was injured cycling on that stretch of road could they sue the protesters for endangerment?

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