Andrew Marr aims bizarre ‘testosterone and Lycra’ dig at cyclists; “My front wheel hit the pothole and exploded instantly”; Anti-LTN MP criticised for banging on about bike lights and helmets; Mr Loophole finds another loophole + more on the live blog

Agree. Too much testosterone squeezed into slightly too little Lycra tends to prove explosive https://t.co/cJ0O2TBcvW

— Andrew Marr (@AndrewMarr9) January 19, 2023

Welcome to the live blog, Mr Marr…

The six climate activists who brought the Tour de France to a stop on stage 19 from Castelnau-Magnoac to Cahors – the third and final environmental protest of the 2022 Tour – have received a €500 fine, suspended, from a court in Auch, La Depeche reports.

🇫🇷 #TDF2022

once again the race has been neutralized because of some protests. pic.twitter.com/ouJNPMeEUu

— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) July 22, 2022

The Dernière Rénovation campaigners could have faced two years in prison for disrupting the race by blocking the road, but in November prosecutor Jacques-Edouard Andrault requested a €500 fine, €300 of which would be suspended, as the activists’ “unexpected action could have been dangerous for cyclists and motorcyclists”.

> “They’re protesting about a good thing”: Tour de France riders, organisers and journalists react to climate protest

Speaking in court, one of the defendants, a student named Nicolas, justified the group’s actions by pointing to the current climate emergency.

“Nobody wants to do this,” he told the court. “But the situation is so catastrophic. I don’t can’t project myself into a world that continues like this.”

Soudal Quick-Step’s notoriously outspoken boss Patrick Lefevere has continued his annual tradition of aiming parting shots at outgoing riders while lambasting his current stars with a few well-prepared snipes in the press.

After all, this is the man who once claimed that his green jersey winning sprinter Sam Bennett represented the “pinnacle of mental weakness” and that the Irish rider’s return to Bora-Hansgrohe was “like women who return home after domestic abuse” – so we shouldn’t be too surprised when he crops up with yet another self-manufactured controversy in the Belgian media.

This year’s victims of Lefevere’s publicity-hungry remarks are Mark Cavendish and, surprisingly, two-time world champion Julian Alaphilippe.

Cavendish in his new Astana colours after leaving Quick-Step

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws at the weekend, the Soudal Quick-Step manager seemed sceptical about Cavendish’s chances of success at his new Astana team, and revealed that he warned the British champion about continuing his career after leaving the Belgian outfit.

“Some people listen, others don’t. Cavendish’s story is that he still can’t do without the racing bike. That's his right. But I don't know if that's wise”, he said.

Credit: A.S.O./Gautier Demouveaux

In another interview published today, this time with Sporza, Lefevere also claimed that he held crunch talks with one of his star riders, Alaphilippe, following the 30-year-old’s difficult 2022.

The usually dazzling French star endured a torrid season in the rainbow jersey, punctuated by high-speed crashes at Strade Bianche, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Vuelta a España, as well as a bout of Covid-19.

However, Lefevere seems to have dismissed what he regards as Alaphilippe’s “excuses” in a face-to-face meeting held over the winter, though the Frenchman has recently denied that any such encounter took place.

“He says we didn't have that conversation, I say we did. His wife and his manager were there,” Lefevere told Sporza.

“I told him I was not happy at all. I understand his illnesses and falls, but you can’t keep hiding behind that. It was the cool truth.

“Everyone knows that I do not attack injured riders, but if there is a high price tag attached to it, then I can respond.

“Last year he won two times, the years before three and four times. I didn’t take him into the team for that.”

Drivers: You're blinding drivers with your helmet light!

Also drivers: https://t.co/m3xFs3srtl

— Travis Nelson (@ihaverottenguts) January 24, 2023

It’s the answer not the question that is important here. The government is clearly stating that it supports children cycling on roads in the UK. They have created a website. It’s the job of local authorities to create roads that are safe for these children to cycle on. pic.twitter.com/QmVQDdn03l

— Jo ❤️ Balham (@JoRigby_Balham) January 24, 2023

Independent MP and prominent anti-LTN campaigner Rupa Huq has been criticised by local councillors and cyclists for – once again – bringing up bike lights and helmets in parliament.

Yesterday in the House of Commons, the MP for Ealing Central and Acton – who in 2021 used viral footage of a tree falling over in a London suburb to call for Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to be scrapped – asked the Secretary of State for Transport “whether he has taken recent steps to help encourage cyclists to (a) wear helmets and (b) turn on bicycle lights when cycling in the dark”.

Avid readers of the live blog will recall that this is not the first time that Huq has spoken out about cyclists not using lights.

In January 2021, she responded to a Twitter user pointing out how many people had been out cycling, walking, and scooting in an LTN in Ealing by bizarrely tweeting “Bully for you! Hope they all had lights – been pitch black other [sic] there for a good couple of hours”.

> Anti-LTN MP criticised for directing hate with bizarre cyclists need lights tweet

The MP (who is currently suspended from the Labour party after referring to then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in September as “superficially black”) has long been a vocal critic of LTNs – which she claimed should require a referendum – and other active travel schemes, and once described the “Lycra brigade” as “surprisingly vicious”.

Responding to Huq’s question, Jesse Norman, a minister in the Department for Transport, said: “The THINK! road safety campaign promotes best practice in cycling, including wearing helmets and the correct use of bicycle lights.

“The THINK! website also provides educational resources for children, such as Tales of the Road, which encourages helmet-wearing and reinforces the importance of using bicycle lights from a young age.”

According to Labour councillor, and active travel activist, Jo Rigby, Norman’s response should be the end of the matter.

“It’s the answer not the question that is important here,” the Balham councillor tweeted. “The government is clearly stating that it supports children cycling on roads in the UK. They have created a website. 

“It’s the job of local authorities to create roads that are safe for these children to cycle on.”

While Rigby argues that Norman’s response is more important than Huq’s rather predictable question, the suspended Labour MP’s “out of touch” stance on active travel still came in for some criticism:

MP campaigning to take away safe cycling infrastructure can always say ‘but helmets are pretty good when you get hit by a driver’.

— Jo ❤️ Balham (@JoRigby_Balham) January 24, 2023

Jo, it’s shockingly grim around Ealing. Clogged up main and residential roads, no safe/ any cycling infrastructure, high levels of pollution and the council doesn’t seem to care about active travel. Rupa, Peter, Deirdre… all on the wrong side of history.

— Alexandra (@whyteshome) January 24, 2023

Why is MP Rupa Huq so out of touch with national active travel policy and how it affects her beat?

— Le Bête de Londres. (@BastieVelo) January 24, 2023

Another day, another ‘cyclists crash due to the awful state of the UK’s roads’ story…

While this winter has proven that there is indeed a ‘pothole crisis’ sweeping the nation – with potentially serious, tragic consequences – the problem appears particularly acute in the New Forest, where cyclists have intensified their calls for urgent improvements to the area’s roads.

> Is there a pothole crisis on Britain's roads?

Last weekend, two cyclists enjoying a Sunday group ride – including current European junior points race champion Izzy Sharp – crashed after hitting a pothole just outside the Hampshire village of Pilley.

The pothole, which was several inches deep and obscured by a puddle, caused one of the riders, Oliver Berney, to suffer a broken wrist, as well as concussion and a chipped tooth, while Sharp sprained her wrist and wrecked her bike.

“My front wheel hit it and it just exploded instantly and indented my rim. It sent me on to the grass,” says 17-year-old Sharp, who – along with her European title – enjoyed a successful 2022, picking up worlds medals on the track, as well as a top five at the junior Gent-Wevelgem and tenth in the junior time trial at the road worlds in Wollongong.

 

 

 

 

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Berney, who hit the pothole right after it sent Sharp sprawling, told the BBC: “I looked ahead and thought I recognised my friend sat by the side of the road and that’s the last thing I remember because I hit the same pothole she had done.

“The most significant thing is the concussion – I can’t look at screens and no exercise for a couple of weeks.”

Criticising the state of Hampshire’s roads, Berney continued: “I’ve raced all over the world – there is a noticeable difference in the quality of roads abroad to here, and a noticeable difference in the roads in the New Forest to the rest of the country.”

> Wife of “much loved” cyclist who died after wheel got stuck in nine-inch pothole says government must do more to repair “woefully inadequate” roads

While one thoughtful cyclist placed a cone over the pothole to prevent further injuries, Hampshire County Council said that the road would be fixed immediately.

The local authority claimed that the recent increase in road defects was the result of prolonged spells of heavy rain and freezing temperatures and that it was “prioritising the most urgent, including those that pose a safety risk”.

“We can confirm that repairs have been ordered and these should be completed by the end of the week,” a spokesperson said.

> "Same question every winter": Cyclists slam "disgraceful" state of Britain's pothole-covered roads

While the council’s response may appear immediate, cycling lawyer Rory McCarron pointed out on Twitter yesterday the defect on Pilley’s Bull Hill which caused the two riders to crash last week was actually first reported to the council way back in January 2021:

The great thing about the internet these days is there is so much available information to refute arguments about knowledge of defects existing etc. A simple search on Google and FixMyStreet shows the historical problem here… pic.twitter.com/OhwRkNhar0

— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) January 23, 2023