UCI looking into hookless rims safety as “matter of urgency” following De Gendt’s UAE Tour crash; Police calls video of “dangerous interaction” between cyclists and motorists “concerning”; Football fan vs works sign on cycle lane + more on the live blog

Narrow handlebars,  pin-less number pockets, support car trickery, and “extreme” turned-in brake levers, we’ve seen it all. Now, the latest object of UCI’s keen attention seems set to be hookless rims, with the pro cycling’s governing body announcing today that it is going to examine their use in the peloton.

Quick refresher for those out of the loop: Hookless rims look like they’re the latest shiny things to come out of the cycling industry and the pros’ eternal chase for those valued tenths of seconds. These do not feature the conventional hooks to hold the tyre onto the rim, instead relying on tyre pressure, specially designed tyre beads and tight tolerances to hold the tyre onto the rim.

And together with the tubeless-specific tyres (not tubeless-ready, mind you), the whole rig is often referred to as ‘hookless’.

> What’s the difference between hooked and hookless bike wheels, and which is better for you?

Unfortunately, they’ve been back in the news following Thomas De Gendt’s crash at the UAE Tour — a freak tyre blowout bringing the Belgian veteran from Lotto-Dstny down.

Now, the UCI has confirmed to road.cc that it intends to reach a decision on their legality soon. The statement read: “In light of a series of recent incidents involving the use of hookless rims and tubeless tyres (a combination commonly referred to as hookless) in professional road cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has decided to study the situation as a matter of urgency with a view to taking a rapid decision in the interest of rider safety.”

UCI added that these measures will be communicated as soon as possible, with the review and the decisions that will follow to be part of the UCI's policy to “promote rider safety”, which it called one of its major concerns.

After De Grendt’s crash this Sunday at the UAE Tour, CPA president Adam Hansen said that the  professional cyclists’ association was “not happy” with riders racing on hookless system in the peloton. “There have been concerns from riders and teams with this new system,” he said.

> Pro cyclists’ union “not happy” with hookless wheels after “freak” blowout causes Thomas De Gendt crash – but team defends tyre system as “100% within the rules”

The former Australian pro, who was teammates with De Gendt at Lotto between 2015 and 2020, said the riders’ union was “100 per cent against hookless rims”, claiming that they could potentially cause a “mass crash” in the bunch.

“When you look at the images of Thomas De Gendt’s bike, his tyre came off, the safety foam inside got caught in the fork, and that locks up the front wheel,” Hansen said.

“Some teams are racing with hookless rims. This crash is why the CPA are 100 per cent against hookless rims.

“Tyres should not come off a rim. The maximum psi these hookless tyres can have put in them is 73, and if you hit something for sure it goes above the maximum 73psi rating on impact. That is why tyres are coming off.”

He continued: “We have heard from some teams that they have put tyres on before, they left them out in the sun and their tyres just pop off.

“But the manufacturers really like them because it is much easier to produce the rim, you need less moulds for this. The rims are much lighter, it is easier for production, so they are pushing for this.”

The women's cycling team that made headlines across the sporting world this week, after the UCI dished out sanctions including a one-race suspension for the entire team, has blamed its "fraudulent actions", namely dressing a mechanic up as an ill rider to avoid disqualification from a race, on a "rogue director" and said he would not be working with the team in the future.

> "Rogue director" blamed and role terminated after women's cycling team suspended by UCI for "fraudulent" dressing of mechanic as rider to avoid disqualification

If you haven't noticed, we've had two groups of naughty police forces here on today's live blog: First, it was Irish police force's victim-blaming, and then, maybe a bit, tenuosly, it was Australian police force calling the shocking footage "concerning".

However, Surrey Police seems to have bucked the trend, with a plan-clothes police officer on a bicycle informing uniformed officers when they witnessed offences. And guess what? In just 2 hours, the cycling officer recorded 23 drivers on their phones & 1 not wearing a seatbelt.

Tues, #SPCasualtyReduction Officers worked together on the A281, Guildford. A plain clothed Officer on a bicycle informed uniformed officers when they witnessed offences. In just 2 hours, the cycling officer recorded 23 drivers on their phones & 1 not wearing a seatbelt.#Fatal5 pic.twitter.com/5lwgtNnzyd

— Surrey RoadSafe (@SurreyRS) February 29, 2024

And of course, the comments were flooded with people disregarding the initiative and playing down the force's operation.

No cyclists or other vehicles were seen travelling through red lights when the officers were in this location.

However, cyclists as well as other vehicles do get stopped when Officers see them travelling through red lights.

— Surrey RoadSafe (@SurreyRS) March 1, 2024

The team of officers are casualty reduction officers, they are working to reduce collisions and as a result, the number of people killed and seriously injured on the roads.

— Surrey RoadSafe (@SurreyRS) March 1, 2024

Distracted driving (including using a mobile phone whilst driving) is one of the fatal 5 causation factors of collisions where people are killed and seriously injured.

— Surrey RoadSafe (@SurreyRS) March 1, 2024

In January, this was the same police force caught in a whirlwind of storm after they were blasted for sharing footage of a group ride of four cyclists ignoring red light, who were eventually stopped and issued fixed penalty notices by Surrey Police.

Matters got so tense that the under-fire forced to release the full footage of the incident showing the offence being committed, to address the hundreds of replies under its original post questioning the validity of the video as it was cut just after the cyclists had passed the red light.

If you were to ask me what use can the police force make of their brand-new, shiny new electric bikes, going around and patrolling cyclists probably wouldn’t be one of the first things that springs to my mind.

But Garda Síochána’s road/traffic account has drawn flak on social media, not just because they found this precise use of their e-bikes, but also for claiming that cyclists are responsible for not only their own, but also other road users’ safety.

This very interesting post on Twitter shows two Gardaí riding their new electric bikes in Raheny, a suburb in Dublin, to partrol.

So far, so good, right? I mean, the police using active travel modes to patrol neighbourhoods, seems like a win-win situation? But maybe not, for these were the next words in their tweet: “It's crucial that cyclists continue to work with us by practicing good road safety, and taking personal responsibility for their own safety and that of other road users.”

Our two new electric bikes in Raheny are being put to use by Gardaí on patrol around Dublin 5.

It's crucial that cyclists continue to work with us by practicing good road safety, and taking personal responsibility for their own safety and that of other road users.#SaferRoads pic.twitter.com/BigQEIlz08

— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) February 28, 2024

> “Culture of recklessness” has developed on roads, says minister – as cycling campaigners point out government’s “willingness” to ignore road safety issues

Pinning all responsibility for safety on cyclists — not just their own, but also others! On most days, I would be convinced that it was one of those random fake accounts peddling anti-cycling non-sense on social media, only for the snazzy silver check mark to make me realise otherwise.

The air of the replies can be summed best as confused, annoyed, angry, and reproachful (I’m certainly not talking about my feeling here at all). The first comment under the post, made by Hannah Daly, a professor of sustainable energy at UCC, Ireland, reads: “In most cases it’s not possible to take personal responsibility for your safety as a cyclist because the infrastructure mixes you with dangerous vehicles.”

CyclingMikey, or Mike van Erp, mostly known for his road safety campaigning via reporting careless or unsafe drivers, also chimed in: “This is a very foolish tweet. Around 95% of KSI collisions between cyclists and drivers are solely the fault of the drivers. If you want safety, it's driver behaviour that you need to alter.”

Dave Mathieson wrote: “We can take all the personal responsibility possible (and I try to) but in the absence of segregated infrastructure and proactive, effective policing we're only as safe as whatever we get from the worst driver we encounter on our way to work, school or the shops.”

I cycle my kids to school every day. Motorists on phones, close passes, cars parked in cycle lanes, motorists breaking red lights, dangerous infrastructure/ lack infrastructure - how would you like me to take personal responsibility for this?

— Caroline Murphy (@Carofrances11) February 28, 2024

Does "work with us" include Garda sergents mocking and threatening me when I produce video evidence of road violence perpetrated on me as I try to cycle to work? 🤔 Cos that didn't feel like it. Cop on and address the actual source of deaths and serious injuries, thanks.

— /Siobhán/ (mar dhea) 🚴🏞📚 (@Maulvirane) February 29, 2024

Another cyclist Phil Wright said: “It’s crucial that Garda Traffic work to ensure good road safety by prosecuting those endangering or inconveniencing cyclists when dangerously overtaking them - 24 FCPN issued per year is woeful,” referring to the fact that only 47 fixed charge notices were handed to drivers in the first two years of the dangerous overtaking of a cyclist legislation, meanwhile 5,000 of those were handed to cyclists in four years since FCPNs were introduced for cycling offences.

It’s crucial that @GardaTraffic work to ensure good road safety by prosecuting those endangering or inconveniencing cyclists when dangerously overtaking them - 24 FCPN issued per year is woeful pic.twitter.com/8tnQvKYZXi

— phil wright (he/him) (@ukwrightphil) February 28, 2024

What? I'm the one threatened by speeding cars almost everyday! Drivers on phones... footpath parking, breaking lights, close passing and horn and verbal abuse. Can u suggest how me 'taking personal responsibility' will help me with this?

— cormac mac gearailt (@Surfjuggler) February 28, 2024

This is not the first time the Garda has been involved in a deeply divisive cycling issue. In 2021, the police force fined a cyclist for “cycling without reasonable consideration” after he had submitted videos of unsafe overtaking to them, marking a precursor for a similar event that happened earlier this week, with Met prosecuting a cyclist for “riding in the middle of the road” and without due care and attention after he reported a driver using a mobile phone (who was let off with an advisory letter).

> “Making reference to clothing creates confusion about the law and leads to victimisation of cyclists”: Irish Police accused of spreading “misinformation” over “dark clothing” cyclist post, after fining rider with no lights on bike

And just earlier this year, the Garda Twitter account posted a classic victim-blaming post, informing us that “while on patrol, Naas Roads Policing observed this pedal cyclist in dark clothing with no front or rear lights”.

However, as many – including politicians and cycling campaigners – noted on Twitter soon after the police’s post, wearing “dark clothing” is not against the law, as noted by the police itself when it responded “Oops, we got that wrong” following last year’s ill-advised hi-vis tweet.

It’s not just the police catching the flak from cyclists in Ireland. In January, minister Jack Chambers said that a significant number of motorists are ignoring the law and refusing to slow down, while also continuing to drive while drunk, following his commitment to introduce fast-track legislation that will focus on “life-saver offences”.

Following Chambers’ pledge to clamp down on dangerous drivers, campaigners and cyclists in Ireland were quick to point out what they believe to be the government’s inaction when it comes to road safety in recent years.

“A culture of recklessness has been ALLOWED to develop… There you go, Jack Chambers, fixed that for you,” the Safe Cycling Ireland campaign’s account wrote on Twitter.

In an unfortunate incident, promising Spanish teenage cyclist Juan Pujalte who rode for Valverde Team-Ricardo Fuentes, headed by former world champion Alejandro Valverde, has died in a training incident in the Murcia region of Spain.

The tragic news was confirmed by The Cycling Federation of the Region of Murcia (FCRM), who released an official statement. The statement read: "With all the pain in our heart we have to report the death by accident of Juan Pujalte Martinez, member of the Murcia cycling team. The great cycling family will miss you."

Con todo el dolor de nuestro corazón tenemos que informar del fallecimiento por accidente de Juan Pujalte Martinez

Miembro de la Selección Murciana de Ciclismo 🖤

La Gran Familia Ciclista te echara de menos 🎗
D.E.P. 🌹 pic.twitter.com/t5dKjDhqF9

— Federación de Ciclismo de la Región de Murcia (@FedCiciclismoRM) February 29, 2024

El País reports that the nature of the fatal incident is yet unknown, but the police have launched an official investigation into it. Pujalte reportedly suffered damage to his spleen and kidney, as well as a head injury and internal bleeding. 

In a post shared on Instagram, Valverde wrote that he was "shocked" by Pujalte’s death, describing the teenager as a "young man in love with cycling". "A big hug and my deepest condolences to his family and friends in these difficult times,” the retired pro added. 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Valverde Team-Ricardo Fuentes (@valverde.team)

Pujalte’s team released an official statement on social media, writing: “Broken by pain, we regret to confirm the death of our colleague Juan Pujalte, member of Valverde Team-Ricardo Fuentes’ under-23 team. Juan’s smile, his happiness and his passion for life and cycling will be in our hearts every day. Our thoughts are with your family, friends and your team-mates. Rest in peace, Juan."

Pujalte joined Valverde Team-Ricardo Fuentes in the winter of 2023, and had just made the step-up into the under-23 squad. 

He spent the previous two seasons in the junior ranks, racing almost entirely in his native Spain. Last year, he won the Junior Criterium Lorca and rode in the Spanish Championships alongside Murcia’s regional team.

Supersapiens, the brand behind the continuous blood glucose-monitoring tech that has increased in popularity across the cycling world in recent years, has announced that it is undergoing a "strategic restructuring" amid "an increasingly challenging business environment", with all memberships terminated and shipping of sensors stopped.

> Supersapiens cancels all memberships and stops shipping glucose sensors amid "strategic restructuring"

Not much (maybe a bit, actually), but one of the best places to cycle around in Cardiff (approved by your live blogger) is around Roath Park, and the council has begun construction for a cycle lane around it, which will hopefully make the experience even better!

And what's even more fascinating is that areas surrounding the beautiful park have an average of less than 50 per cent car ownership, hammering home the point how important the cycling route could be, not just for leisurely reasons, but also for safer commuting.

Reminder that almost half of households in Plasnewydd (48.3%) & nearby Cathays (49.1%) & Adamsdown (48.1%) have NO access to a car.

Some of the lowest rates of car ownership not just in Cardiff but in Wales.

Improving pedestrian, cycling & public transport is essential & fair. https://t.co/B1owhEshHw

— G (@gomedia91) February 26, 2024