- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
Extinction Rebellion protest at National Cycling Centre Extinction Rebellion protest British Cycling's Shell deal at National Cycling Centre
Extinction Rebellion protesters have climbed onto the entrance of the National Cycling Centre in Manchester to protest British Cycling's partnership with Shell.
Two protesters displayed a banner demanding 'Get Shell out of British Cycling' and held smoke bomb-like devices. The video was filmed by Extinction Rebellion Midlands and uploaded to Twitter.
Protest in Manchester to Get the Shell out of @BritishCycling pic.twitter.com/0oHh4efaeT
— Extinction Rebellion Midlands (@MidlandsXR) November 20, 2022
Earlier this week Extinction Rebellion Midlands accused the governing body of "taking their AGM online" due to the "likelihood of vocal opposition" to the partnership with oil and gas giants Shell.
> British Cycling and Shell: How HSBC pulling plug and COVID-19 hit governing body's finances
The protest group also advertised a Critical Mass Ride which was held this morning in Birmingham to demand Shell get "out of British Cycling".
road.cc has contacted British Cycling and Extinction Rebellion for comment.
Note: We are NOT against British Cycling – many of us are keen cyclists and all of us treasure cycling as a key component of clean transport BUT, GETTING IN BED WITH SHELL IS NOT OK pic.twitter.com/794FOcewGu
— Extinction Rebellion Midlands (@MidlandsXR) November 17, 2022
Last month, British Cycling's announcement of Shell as a new partner on a deal that runs until 2030 attracted widespread accusations of "greenwashing".
There was outrage at the deal, with many now-former members telling us they would not continue to financially support the governing body because of the partnership.
One British Cycling member, a trained ride leader for the organisation's Breeze women-only rides, said that the energy company "stands for everything we everyday cyclists don't" while another who has belonged to the organisation for more than a quarter of a century said that the sponsorship was "greenwashing for them [Shell UK], plain and simple."
> British Cycling and Shell: THAT very controversial deal discussed
At the time then-CEO Brian Facer, who has since stepped away from his role "by mutual agreement", said the deal would help "widen access to the sport, support our elite riders and help our organisation and sport take important steps towards net zero".
However, many were unconvinced and highlighted the fact oil and gas still accounts for the vast majority of Shell's profits, with 'Renewables and energy solutions' making up just 6.3 per cent of the company's earnings for the second quarter of 2022 as it announced record $11.5bn (£9.4bn) profits.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.
Latest Comments
- Boopop 26 min 25 sec ago
Great stuff. Maybe you could contact FlightFreeUK and take a lifetime pledge as a company. I'm pretty sure the founder cycles too
- Sriracha 52 min 50 sec ago
Looks more like it is designed to keep the bike thieves in rather than out. That might in fact be a better solution.
- Sriracha 56 min 47 sec ago
Shimano were castigated for not bringing on new factories to meet pandemic demand, thus gumming up the supply chain. Their argument at the time was...
- Romanp 1 hour 6 min ago
I figured out a reason of that squeaking noise. I have xpresso 2 and 7, and also xpro 10 pedals, and that squeaking isn't present only at Xpresso 2...
- MichaelWinnerRIP 2 hours 7 min ago
Italian tourist and pussycat in Portugal.
- David9694 2 hours 55 min ago
Yep, it's official - reds under the, er, bonnet...
- Rendel Harris 3 hours 34 min ago
Indeed, I was drawing from personal experience – I don't use it that often but it's such a nice bit of infrastructure that I sometimes go out of my...
- paulgardener@gmail.com 3 hours 38 min ago
Except socialism doesn't work like that in real life. It's the capitals countries that try to look after those in need, and the average person's...
Add new comment
22 comments
".....smoke bomb-like devices."
So, they were devices that emitted smoke, just like a smoke bomb would.
Now I'm even more confused.
I'll see if another glass of wine sorts it.
Holy crap look at that protest march, there must be nearly 100 white middle class people there.
Why is that a problem? Because white middle class people are not affected by climate catastrophe?
It's a problem because no one else is interested.
As always you are wrong.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/w...
So predictably boring from the resident troll. Sigh. I'll see you next Tuesday at the chainy though yeah?
I think you might be wrong
I think that's why they're trying to get more people interested. It's a shame many people don't care about the future of our planet. Our politians seem to share that lack of interest judging by the outcomes from the latest COP.
That is apart from those pesky Pacific Islanders, Pakistanis who lost their homes to flooding, Southern Europeans seeing refugees from famine arriving daily or those dispossessed by East Africa's draught. It would be foolhardy to think that no one else cares.
What climate catastrophe? Total bollocks.
You're right, it's worse than catastrophic. Or perhaps I misunderstood?
We usually get a date and walnut loaf to have with cheese. Last week my wife got a cinnamon loaf by mistake and it wasn't very nice at all. I still ate it but I didn't like it very much. We usually go to Morrisons but every three or four weeks we go to Tesco. When we go to Tesco I go to the nearby garden centre for a coffee. There is a Costa in Tesco but I don't like it very much. I thought the internet was closed on Sundays
Quality is maintained. Reminds me a bit of the style of: https://27bslash6.com/foggot.html
Must resist reading more of those blogs, I am supposed to be working!
You've already proved, and been banned for it, in your previous incarnations that you're a poisonous little racist where people of colour are concerned, if you're going to start hating on white folks too not sure you've really got anywhere left to go.
Loving how ER borrowed the moto-hoon "I am also a cyclist" line, as if it helps explain their ingrowing stupidity.
Are people still using Twitter?
Elon Musk. And Donald Trump once he's either increased his platform's subscriptions or cashed it in.
I haven't seen many people dropping it, as we don't know how it will turn out.
Various lefty types seem to be pushing Masto-don, which bears an unfortunate name.
I'm holding back and waiting to see.
Reading about the tech behind Mastodon it has the potential to be even worse than twitter in the sense that there is no overarching control and each server operator sets their own rules on content etc.
Well, it's open source and decentralised, so that does mean that it's anti-authoritarian (those lefty types, huh?). Like any communication system, it's open to abuse, but that's more of a social problem than a technical issue. I think that a large part of the problems we see with social media is that it's run by for-profit companies and thus they chase advertising and end up heavily promoting click-bait and reaction-generating posts. At least with open source tech, you can just choose to self-host your own instance and invite a select group to avoid spammers and trolls.
(I hardly ever used twitter, but maybe I should check out Mastodon as open source tech is what I'm into)
I must admit, I am now only clicking links to a twitter feed if it is REALLY interesting. I think that most of the 4 followers I had at my peak have probably left by now...