‘We need to stop finger-wagging about helmets’; Paradise Lost: Snake Pass no longer open to cyclists; Ganna's not-so-marginal gains; Puerile puns at Paris-Nice; Prog and the Peloton; Cycling > convoluted petrol-saving tips+ more on the live blog

Oh, but it’s actually the safest it’s EVER BEEN! 🤬🤬🤬🤬 https://t.co/gPLc2HQlor

— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) March 8, 2022

Little update on why I'm still yet to start my season 👇 sorry to you guys that I've flicked that had me in your fantasy teams for the spring classics 😘 because it's gonna be a while until I'm racing again. Health is wealth, and we're taking our time to find my 100% again! 😊 https://t.co/WrEKNHQR53

— Jake (@jakey_stewart) March 8, 2022

The promising young British classics rider Jake Stewart has confirmed that he will take a break from racing as he undergoes treatment for intestinal inflammation.

The 22-year-old Groupama-FDJ rider had a strong start to 2021, including an impressive second place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but has not raced at all this season.

“Since mid-January, I have been bothered by intestinal problems, which prevented me from competing,” Stewart said in a statement today. “We are looking for the best solution to cure it. During this period of time, I will not be able to race at a high level, I can train but I will not compete.

“I also want to thank the specialist who is following me, [head of the team’s medical department] Jacky Maillot and the whole team Groupama-FDJ. They listened to me and gave me time to understand what was going on. Everything is in line for me to get better and to get back to my best level.”

Stewart had been hoping to play a key role for Groupama-FDJ in this year’s spring classics, as one of the French squad’s leaders alongside Arnaud Démare and Stefan Küng.

No date has yet been set for a return to competition.

The Roy Keane of the roadside https://t.co/VCL3BYLGxQ

— Jeremy Whittle (@jeremycwhittle) March 8, 2022

With petrol above £1.55-a-litre and set to keep rising, what can you do to trim your fuel use? ... https://t.co/LUfIdaaYPp via @MailOnline

— patrick (@patricksnet) March 8, 2022

With petrol and diesel prices skyrocketing in the last few weeks since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Daily Mail’s This is Money site has helpfully shared their top 10 tips for saving fuel.

You’ll be shocked, shocked I tell you, to find that not one of those tips involves cycling or walking for shorter journeys, or avoiding unnecessary trips (though number nine's advice about doing multiple errands on the one drive arguably strays perilously close to that for the Mail’s readership).

Too much wishful thinking on my part?

After a relatively disappointing classics campaign last year, 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen once again proved he’s one to watch in the upcoming cobbled races with a convincing victory from a reduced bunch sprint into Dun-le-Palestel at stage three of Paris-Nice.

The Trek-Segafredo rider held off classics rival Wout van Aert and a fast-finishing Bryan Coquard on the slightly uphill run to the line to take his team’s first WorldTour success since Bauke Mollema’s win at last year’s Tour de France.

Yellow jersey Christophe Laporte went down hard in a crash during the final sprint with Groupama-FDJ’s Luxembourg champion Kevin Geniets, but was able to retain his one second overall lead over Jumbo-Visma teammate van Aert.

By the frenetic standards of the first two stages, today was altogether quieter. Once the day’s break – a strong one which featured Thomas De Gendt, Alexis Gougeard and Owain Doull – DSM’s Søren Kragh Andersen made two separate attempts to jump away, with no ultimate success.

However, the constant pressure at the front of the peloton on the final climbs killed off the hopes of many of the big sprinters, including yesterday’s winner Fabio Jakobsen and Sam Bennett, who has endured a frustrating start to his time back at Bora-Hansgrohe.

Total Energies’ Pierre Latour – the highest placed possible overall contender behind the Jumbo trio – looked feisty at the day’s second intermediate sprint, taking the bonus seconds ahead of Primož Roglič. The Slovenian, who ends the day third overall, 24 seconds ahead of Latour and 30 in front of the likes of Aleksandr Vlasov, Nairo Quintana, and Adam and Simon Yates, will be hoping to widen the gap opened up on stage one to a yawning chasm following tomorrow’s 13.4km time trial.

The Race from the Sun pic.twitter.com/uA04wVeexL

— Peter Cossins (@petercossins) March 7, 2022

Paris-Nice, the best stage race in the world (you know I’m right), is commonly known as the ‘race to the sun’; the logic being that as the riders travel from France’s capital to the Côte d'Azur they will leave behind the cold, grey, rainy conditions of winter for the inviting blue skies of spring.

However, echelon-inducing wind aside, this has been an unusually sunny start to Paris-Nice, with rain and colder temperatures instead forecast for the race’s conclusion in the south of France at the weekend. Perhaps that’s why Primož Roglič, scuppered by bad luck during the closing stage of the 2021 edition, seems so keen to wrap up proceedings early this year.

At the moment, a very strong trio of Thomas De Gendt (who as we saw earlier was very excited to ride into Balsac today), Alexis Gougeard and Owain Doull are out front enjoying the unseasonal sunshine in La France profonde. Until Jumbo-Visma decide to detonate the race in the crosswinds again, that is…

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's...

🦸🏻‍♂️SUPER TOM!🦸🏻‍♂️

👨‍🎨 Ravanello Sport pic.twitter.com/1BGX4RMvxI

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) March 8, 2022

Because every superhero needs a costume... 🦸‍♂️

From pen to @Tompid, watch how @bioracer brought a kit concept to life 📽️ pic.twitter.com/P5o3hpUQZb

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) March 8, 2022

It’s already one of modern cycling’s most iconic celebrations – now Tom Pidcock’s got the kit to back it up (or at least wear on the local club Halloween ride). Superman and the rainbow bands – a classic combination I’m sure you’ll agree.

Not sure how aero or UCI-compliant the cape is, mind you…

In my new job I've spent too much time explaining why I don't always wear a helmet.

If we're going to reap the benefits of cycling, we need to stop finger-wagging + start backing the kind of infrastructure that will genuinely keep people safe.

My column for @birmingham_live 👇 pic.twitter.com/pBlZFc6kxu

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) March 8, 2022

He’s only been Cycling and Walking Commissioner for the West Midlands for three months, but it seems as if Adam Tranter is already fed up with talking about helmets.

In a column for the Birmingham Mail this week, the former bicycle mayor for Coventry had his say on that evergreen cycling safety debate, arguing that “in order to make cycling a normal and everyday activity, we need to make active travel as convenient as possible”.

Tranter, who started his new role in December, compared the expectation that cyclists should always wear helmets to feeling like “you had to wear safety gear or risk being judged by people on Facebook” every time you want to pop out for a walk.

(I would argue that you should ignore the opinions of Facebook users when it comes to every decision you make in your life, but that’s just me…)

Tranter also noted that the key to really keeping cyclists safe, as evidenced in the Netherlands, is not safety gear but “slower vehicle speeds, safe streets and proper infrastructure”.

“If we’re going to reap the huge benefits of cycling,” he wrote, “we need to stop finger-wagging and start supporting the kind of dedicated infrastructure that will genuinely keep people safe.”

Meanwhile in the land of the pros, UAE Team Emirates’ unofficial cycling safety spokesman Matteo Trentin praised his helmet after a crash at Paris-Nice yesterday.

“You never understand how important wearing your helmet is until your head touches the ground,” the Italian, who has recently spoken about the dangers of cycling in traffic and the need for an attitude change among motorists, said on Twitter. 

You never understand how important is wearing the helmet until your head touch the ground! https://t.co/U4ezWDQhJS

— Matteo Trentin (@MATTEOTRENTIN) March 7, 2022

After going through Pussay yesterday. We are now heading to Balsac. pic.twitter.com/WgWsOlNZ28

— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) March 8, 2022

I also heard this lot were marshalling yesterday’s stage: 

I hope you wore commemorative t shirts, a la The Inbetweeners? pic.twitter.com/UDG7nW8Cky

— Stumpy (@elstumpo250) March 8, 2022

It was good while it lasted, but it seems the rumours were true – Snake Pass, the scenic Peak District climb which has become a cycling paradise over the past few weeks thanks to road closures, is also set to shut its doors to those on two wheels.

EF Education-TIBCO-SVB pro Lizzy Banks reported the sad news after attempting to ride the climb yesterday evening. Banks was told by traffic management on the road that the pass – which was initially closed only to motorists after landslides caused by storms Eunice and Franklin last month, allowing it to quickly become a cycling paradise at weekends – will now also be closed to cyclists full time.

Bad news folks.

I was told by Traffic Management at the bottom of Snake Pass that it will now be closed to cyclists on the weekend as well 😭 Tried to go up this eve at sunset once workers had clocked off. Council said people posing in the slip for pics + has moved 2m further 😭 pic.twitter.com/GqsJe0WWbC

— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) March 7, 2022

Hoping it's not true but the guy I spoke to was convinced this was the case. He said the council had also requested 24h traffic management at either end 😭😭😭😭😭

— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) March 7, 2022

> Snake Pass now “belongs to cyclists” as Peak District climb closed to motorists for at least a month 

Derbyshire’s Roads Policing Unit appeared to confirm this news with a particularly snarky tweet announcing a 24 hour staffed closure yesterday:

#highpeak
Snake pass.
Does it look closed to you?.
Roadworks ongoing for landslip and @DerbyshireFRS dealing with moorland fire, with smoke across the Rd.
Still motorists/cyclists ignoring the closures.
Now requiring a 24hr staffed closure due to people just ignoring the signs. pic.twitter.com/SLjJAEFPft

— Derbyshire RPU Bikers (@DerbysRPUBikers) March 7, 2022

However, some were hopeful that the cycling-specific signs would still be removed come Saturday:

It's only closed to cyclists when they're actually working on it. That's why there's a separate sign for cyclists, which was removed at the weekend for example.

— Mark Ross (@_markross) March 7, 2022

Others, such as Banks herself and cycling writer Simon Warren, were sceptical that the apparent decision to ban people on bikes was based on concern for their safety on the “perfectly passable” pass:

Need to request some urgent modelling and statistical analysis on the road vibrations caused by cyclists.... I'm certain a slowly moving slip is less risk to me than hundreds of drivers close passing me at 60mph on the alternative roads.

— Lizzy Banks (@ElizzyBanks) March 7, 2022

Be great if the same people shutting an empty Snake Pass to protect cyclists were so worried about their safety when it was open.

— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) March 8, 2022

So is this the end of the Snake Pass cycling paradise? Or are you still planning on riding Britain’s most scenic LTN at the weekend?