“The most exciting construction sign in London”: Over 10 years of campaigning bears fruits for cyclists as work for cycle lane begins; Pogačar’s Tour de France TT bike on sale; Tour of Britain organisers could face £1m legal action + more on the live blog

Who says campaigning doesn't work?

After over 10 years of painstaking, backbreaking efforts from London cycling campaign, construction for a segregated cycle lane at Holborn, one of central London's deadliest junctions according to many cyclists has finally begun.

Construction has started at #Holborn. We have been campaigning to make this junction safe for cycling for 10+ years.

Tour by Katy @KatyCycles pic.twitter.com/doId6aVKTx

— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) November 30, 2023

"This is probably the most exciting construction sign in central London right now," says Katy from LCC. "We have been campaigning for years to sort out this junction and the Holborn gyratory, and finally, construction is starting."

She continued: "The construction you can see right now is actually the beginnings of a cycle lane which we've campaigned for for ages."

The junction in question is as you join the A40 at High Holborn coming from the Drake Street. Over the last 15 years, at least eight cyclists have lost their lives to crashes involving lorries and coaches in Holborn, including the architect Francis Golding, Alan Neve, Peter Fisher, Dr Marta Krawiec, and most recently, Shatha Ali last year.

> Hundreds ride in Central London to protest cyclists' deaths and call for safer streets

Cyclists now will have their own space and will be able to get in and out of Drake Street without having to share it with other motor traffic, who will be signalled separately.

Katy said: "Letting bikes go early through this space means they get to the next junction much more safely."

💯 junctions like this have no place in a 21st century city

— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) November 30, 2023

This marks two victories in two days for cyclists, after yesterday Cycling UK won a legal challenge against Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council over the latter’s decision to keep the narrow road underneath the 'Keyhole' railway bridge in Poole open to motor vehicles, marking a huge win for cyclists and walkers alike.

It's only the first of December and it's already feeling very Christmas-y! Long may this tradition continue, and kudos to both London Cycling Campaign and Cycling UK for their persistent efforts in making lives safer and better for cyclists.

The 2022 Tour of Britain, which was supposed to go around all the way from up north in Aberdeen and conclude with a hill-top finish at the Needles in Isle of Wight, the island located just off the south coast of England.

However, the death of Queen Elizabeth II midway through the race on 8 September forced the organisers to cancel the Tour’s remaining three stages, leading to an insipid denoument without the promised fireworks of British rider Tom Pidcock versus then leader and eventual winner Gonzalo Serrano.

> Isle of Wight Council says it is £350,000 out of pocket after Tour of Britain stage cancelled due to Queen’s death

Following the state of events, the island’s council had claimed that the organisers' decision cost the local authority £350,000, including the £250,000 paid to SweetSpot to host the event.

The council said that its contract with SweetSpot stipulated that in the case of an extraordinary event beyond either party’s control, a ‘force majeure’, the authority would be entitled to a refund of the host venue fees, after real costs had been deducted.

Now, Cycling Weekly has reported that the Isle of Wight council is considering potential legal action to claim back the race hosting fee at a minimum and may yet seek to recover its other costs too. 

A spokesperson said: "We had been in an ongoing dialogue with SweetSpot about a future stage of the Tour and are taking advice on how we might be able to proceed."

Considering the race fees combined with the hosting fee, the Isle of Wight's claims against the company to around £950,000.

Tour of Britain 2022 (SWpix.com/ Alex Whitehead)

Previously, Sweetspot had responded to a request for a comment from road.cc and told us that it had been talking with the Isle of Wight Council since September's cancellation about next steps, with its first and preferred option being to host a stage of a future edition of the Tour of Britain, possibly 2024.

> "It's at the limit now": Tour of Britain organiser highlights "enormous" costs involved, responds to critics who called route "dull"

A spokesperson from Sweetspot told road.cc: "Given the excitement around the stage and huge amount of work over the previous two years that had gone into it, it would be a real shame if a stage of the Tour of Britain could not now take place on the Isle of Wight.

"Therefore, our hope is that we are able to agree to this with stakeholders following a long-scheduled meeting with them this week. If this agreement is not possible then we will discuss alternative options with colleagues from the Isle of Wight Council."

However, Isle of Wight radio had reported in August that the island will not host the Tour in 2024, with a council spokesperson confirming the decision as the finishing stage had already been decided for next year's route. They said: "While we are keen to look at the options of considering a future stage, there are costs to consider in the context of the current financial position.

"We are keen to stage a future finish for the event rather than just a mid-week stage. Presently the 2024 finish has been secured, so we have a little more time to consider our options."

Was having a look at BikeRoom, and just came across the actual time trial bike used by none other than the swashbuckling Slovenian Tadej Pogačar during the 2022 season.

An Italian reseller of previous used race bikes by pros, BikeRoom has kind of made a name for itself by selling bikes owned by riders from teams such as Lidl-Trek, UAE Team Emirates, AG2R, Bahrain Victorious, EF Education, and Movistar.

The most recent addition to their lineup is a special one though, the Colnago TT1 time trial bike from 2022, introduced first at the opening day of the Tour de France, which saw Pogačar finish on the podium stage, just seven seconds behind winner Yves Lampaert from Soudal Quick-Step, and again for the stage 20 ITT, with Pogaćar finishing third once again, but this 27 seconds behind Wout van Aert and falling even further behind runner-up Jonas Vingegaard in the general standings.

2022 TdF stage 1 time trial tt pogacar Zac Williams/SwPix.com

The bike was used for the remainder of the season by the Slovenian rider, and this model is only one of the four used. So how much does it cost? Of course it doesn't have a price tag, but BikeRoom speculates that the potential owner will have to put up a bid of somewhere around €30,000 at the auction to get their hands on the bike.

So in case any of our esteemed live blog readers have deep coffers and our feeling very generous this Christmas, spare a thought about your good ol' live blog host and all the arduous shifts he's put through to bring the best of all the news from the cycling world right to you...

Pothole season is upon us, so please remember that cyclists may sometimes choose to ride in the centre of the lane to keep away from hazards in the gutter. 🚧 This road positioning also increases a rider's visibility and ensures drivers overtake safely.👀

📸: @davewalkercartoons pic.twitter.com/SYi5FymfJS

— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) December 1, 2023

Yes, we went there. Cycling's curious relationship with so-called wokeness is up for discussion on the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast, plus a much less loaded chat and pro interviews about the crazy sport of cyclocross...

The two subjects we're discussing on episode 66 of the road.cc Podcast are arguably chalk and cheese, but equally as interesting we hope you'll agree! In part one, Jack and Ryan are joined by Jack Gebhard, an avid cyclist who happens to be Chief of Staff for the Conservative MP for Worcester, Robin Walker, about cycling's curious relationship with 'wokeness'. 

In part two, Ryan is speaking to Lidl Trek’s Lucinda Brand and cyclocross specialist Eli Iserbyt at the recent Cyclocross World Cup even in Dublin, before sitting down with Jamie to discuss how ‘cross fits in to the modern pro cyclist’s schedule.

Listen to the podcast: > Is cycling ‘woke’? Cycling and culture wars discussed with a Conservative aide, plus Lucinda Brand and Eli Iserbyt on the future of cyclocross