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All I want for Christmas is this beautiful bike lane; WorldTour pro handed four-year doping ban; Qhubeka-NextHash ends sponsorship hunt — team set to fold; 'But cyclists' Xmas special; Only two sleeps until WVA v MVDP v Pidcock + more on the live blog

Welcome to the infamous Christmas Eve live blog...Dan Alexander will be typing up some stories before slowly sinking into a beer, mince pie and mulled wine-induced slump as the day goes on...
24 December 2021, 15:12
Feeling festive?
24 December 2021, 14:45
All I want for Christmas is this beautiful bike lane

Don't worry, I haven't passed out in a pool of mulled wine just yet... I got distracted by a best of the live blog 2021 feature which will be coming to your screens soon...keep your eyes peeled...

Back to the main order of business...Andrew Pendleton got what he asked for this Christmas — a segregated bike lane with all the trimmings.

Jeremy Vine is a fan of this one too, calling it: "Wonderful. It will make the street better for everyone."

The reindeer must have worked hard to drag all that white paint and wands down from the North Pole...maybe we'll have to include proper infra in our '2022 Christmas gift ideas for cyclists who have family members in government'...niche, I know. 

I reckon it's about time for a beverage...

24 December 2021, 11:31
The sequel we all needed to see

Remember this 'but cyclists' special from yesterday? Well, here's the full incident... 

24 December 2021, 09:51
World Tour pro handed four-year ban for doping

 Two-time Mexican national champion and former EF Pro Cycling rider Luis Villalobos has been banned for four years by the UCI. Villalobos, who rode for EF Pro Cycling for one year between 2019 and 2020, tested positive for a presence of GHRP-6, a prohibited growth hormone-releasing substance, from a sample provided while he rode for the US-based Aevolo team in 2019.

The 23-year-old was provisionally suspended in May last year and was suspended by EF Pro Cycling too. "The Tribunal found the rider guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (presence of GHRP-6) and imposed a four-year period of ineligibility on the rider,”  the UCI said in a statement.

"If we’d have known, we would not have signed Luis," EF Education-Nippo CEO Jonathan Vaughters said last year. "The burden of this is on the UCI because there is no internal testing program that has access to the level of equipment needed to screen for GHRP-6."

24 December 2021, 09:24
Only two sleeps until Wout van Aert v Mathieu van der Poel v Tom Pidock

This is all anyone cares about this weekend, right? The trident of terror going head to head in the Dendermonde mud. 2pm GMT, GCN Race Pass...grab yourself some leftovers and try not to fall asleep before it gets underway...

24 December 2021, 09:04
Qhubeka-NextHash ends sponsorship hunt — team set to fold
2021 Tour de France Team Qhubeka NextHash Burberry - 2

Let's get the serious news out of the way early before the mulled wine turns the blog into a sloppy minefield of bad grammar and silly stories (no change from usual then...)

Qhubeka-NextHash have given up the hunt for a sponsor, ending hopes of keeping the team running beyond 2021. Earlier in the month the team was refused a UCI licence for 2022, signalling the beginning of the end for 'Africa's Team', which helped get 30,000 people bikes through Qhubeka's charity work.

Yesterday, a statement sent out to riders was leaked, in which team boss Doug Ryder told riders and staff, "I am very sad to send this message. We have tried everything to find sponsors for our team for next season, right up until the last few days, but nothing has materialised in time."

The team faced a similar last-minute scramble for a sponsor last off-season but survived thanks to Assos' intervention. The team was rewarded at the Giro where Victor Campenaerts, Giacomo Nizzolo and Mauro Schmid won stages. All three have already confirmed moves to new teams for 2022.

24 December 2021, 09:17
What day is it, Alex?

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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20 comments

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
0 likes

Driver claimed they gave me loads of room - pannier was level with the right side of the 3 in 30

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SimoninSpalding replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
2 likes

Merry Christmas to you too!

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Simon E replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
1 like

Cheers!

smiley

All the best to you to and to everyone on road.cc.

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Rendel Harris replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
3 likes

Garage at Large wrote:

Just wanted to wish a warm "Merry Christmas" to everyone at Road.cc, all subscribers and commenters, and all your families. Have a good one, Nige.

Is that the road.cc community you've frequently described as "a warped echo chamber" and that you continually attack with nonsense and lies?

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chrisonabike replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
3 likes

Yes - but there's the bloated, tired 26th for that, surely?

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Rendel Harris replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
3 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Yes - but there's the bloated, tired 26th for that, surely?

Yeah...but didn't fancy letting the sexist racist pro-car alt-right Trump supporter think that he could make up for a year's worth of polluting a really good website with his foul opinions with tuppence-worth of hypocritical good wishes.

A very happy Christmas to you though Chris, and all others on here who are interested in sharing, discussing and debating about cycling, rather than trolling!

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Rich_cb replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
1 like

Looks like the season of 'goodwill to all men' is in full swing in that there London.

Merry Christmas Rendel!

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SimoninSpalding replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
3 likes

I took the message as an olive branch/ cry for help. Maybe he momentarily got control of his account from his mum and Mr Poophole🤷‍♂️

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chrisonabike replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
1 like

Merry Christmas to all! And if you've had enough of the company - take a ride.

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Rich_cb replied to Lance ꜱtrongarm | 2 years ago
0 likes

Merry Christmas to you too Nige.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
4 likes

Following on from a few weeks ago. According to the BBC, Tesla are now disabling the Gaming whilst driving feature. Seems they didn't want "yet another" investigation into their cars and the functions they allow as they already have several pending. 

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IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
1 like

Robin Hood Island north of Shirley near Solihull is a nightmare of peculiar lane arrangements and too many intersecting desired paths of travel.

So any motorist is normally on edge negotiating that roundabout which needs your full attention.

What was spectacularly lacking therefore was attention.

It was interesting to see the interaction of a small, oddly shaped car with the high SUV (Solihull's finest). One wonders if it would pass the elk test after that performance?

(The elk test caused the Mercedes A Class to be withdrawn and delayed due to falling over during a swerve test some 20 years ago).

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HeadDown replied to IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
0 likes

I wonder if the driver pressed the accelerator instead of the brake? Is there a cloud of revved engine exhaust just before impact?
Frightening, any which way.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to HeadDown | 2 years ago
5 likes

Either they were distracted, or thought they would "bypass" the stationary traffic and was lokking over their shoulder for space and zoomed without realising they were too close to the car in front. 

However Aygo(?) V Range Rover and Aygo winning should be worrisome for all the people who claim they want these large cars for their "safety". 

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IanMSpencer replied to HeadDown | 2 years ago
0 likes

The acceleration was quite strong yet the path of the car indicated a deliberate lane change. Perhaps instead of signaling they accidentally resumed cruise control? The Discovery steering wheel controls look hellishly complex.

Just Googling, some Land Rovers have adaptive cruise control with stop and go assist. Perhaps they had engaged that and it got confused???

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Drinfinity replied to IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
5 likes

I don't think it's necessary to invent an excuse for the driver here, incompetence and impatience are sufficient. 
 

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iandusud replied to IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
4 likes

This demonstrates how unstable these high cars are (despite the excuse for buying them that they are safer!). 

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TheBillder | 2 years ago
10 likes

Very disappointing about Qhubeka-NextHash. As Rendel said in response to the previous story when the team's licence was refused, it's an indictment of the world we live in that planet wreckers and dictatorships are suitable and successful team sponsors but teams trying to do something good live a hand-to-mouth existence.

Stable teams are necessary - riders need to be paid reliably, sponsors need to know that their investment is safe, events and TV need to be sure that everyone will show up. But this feels brutal.

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tomascjenkins replied to TheBillder | 2 years ago
2 likes

So agree with your comment. Couldn't the UCI ban dictorships and planet wreckers from being sponsors? Also isn't it wrong to have countries (read dictatorships) sponsor sporting teams as it's basically politicising sport?

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TheBillder replied to tomascjenkins | 2 years ago
3 likes

I expect nothing positive from the UCI given the president's chumminess with various regimes. See https://cyclingtips.com/2020/06/the-uci-just-gave-its-highest-award-to-a... for details (and a really excellent article, not that I'm disloyal to road.cc, but other interesting sites do exist).

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