Cycle lane plans scrapped from active travel scheme – despite council identifying road as “priority route” for cycling; The UK’s most useless ‘cycle path’?; CiCLE Classic organiser speaks; Alison Jackson: Cycling’s best celebrator? + more on the live blog

Just a month after it was told to “get its act together” and “step up its game” when it comes to cycling infrastructure, after a series of abandoned and much-criticised projects, North Yorkshire Council has this week decided to ignore that advice by scrapping plans to install protected, 1.5m-wide cycle lanes on Harrogate’s Victoria Avenue.

Yesterday, the council announced it was holding a month-long consultation on proposed changes to the wide avenue, which will begin in the autumn and include a new bus stop, improved pedestrian crossings, measures to prevent motorists from illegally driving straight ahead at a junction, the removal of some parking bays, and public realm improvements, the Stray Ferret reports.

However, despite the council last year identifying Victoria Avenue as a “priority route” for cyclists and announcing that it intended to install protected cycle lanes with buffer zones on both sides of the road, the new plans include no reference whatsoever to cycling infrastructure of any kind – a glaring omission the local authority has put down to “budgetary constraints”.

> Councillors urge Tory-led council to “get its act together so people can get out of cars” after series of “failed and abandoned” cycling schemes

“Unfortunately budgetary constraints mean that the previously envisaged cycle lanes cannot be included within this initial phase of this Victoria Avenue scheme,” a council letter to residents announcing the consultation said.

“Following advice from Active Travel England, we have therefore concentrated on improvements for pedestrians and improvements to the public realm.”

Active Travel England awarded North Yorkshire Council funding for the Victoria Avenue scheme in November 2020, with the road regarded as a crucial part of plans to create a joined-up, off-road cycling route from Harrogate’s train and bus stations to Cardale Park.

> Campaigners accuse council of “failing our children” after failing to deliver “significant cycling infrastructure for nine years”

However, since then, the Conservative-controlled council has come under fire due to its failure to implement safe cycling infrastructure in the town, after phase two of the widely criticised Otley Road cycleway was scrapped, along with a Low Traffic Neighbourhood on Beech Grove and a one-way system on Oatlands Drive – prompting Harrogate District Cycle Action to accuse the local authority of “failing our children” and failing to deliver any “significant cycling infrastructure for nine years”.

Last month, we reported that opposition councillors also took aim at the council’s apparently shoddy cycling record.

“To improve things you have to acknowledge there’s a problem. Active travel is absolutely terrible,” Liberal Democrat councillor Matt Walker said at a council meeting.

“Roads are gridlocked and full of potholes, buses are missed all the time between Harrogate and Knaresborough. We have to make improvements and the council needs to step its game up.

“It needs to get its act together so people can get out of cars and get around in a quick and environmentally-friendly way.”

Green councillor Arnold Warneken: “The frustration of people who want to cycle in Harrogate and Knaresborough isn’t being taken seriously.”

> Council scraps £500,000 Harrogate cycle lane expansions… even though majority support plans

However, in its letter to residents yesterday, North Yorkshire Council said it is still committed to delivering some kind of cycling infrastructure on Victoria Avenue.

“The works proposed support North Yorkshire Council’s desire and vision to increase active travel in and around Harrogate town centre by proposing a number of measures to increase pedestrian safety as well as improved bus provision,” the letter said.

“Whilst unfortunately is it not possible to include the desired cycle lanes within this proposed scheme, the proposed works will not prevent the installation of the cycle lanes in the future, and this will be the ambition within a future funding bid. North Yorkshire Council is committed to delivering a cycle scheme on Victoria Avenue.”

To be honest, I’m not sure cyclists in Harrogate are holding their breath…

When Marianne Vos sets her sights on something, she very rarely disappoints.

The resurgent Dutchwoman, who has been on blistering form throughout 2024, continued her late-career renaissance with a stunningly dominant sprint on stage three of the Vuelta Femenina into Teruel – the 252nd pro road win of her unique, incomparable career – finishing bike lengths ahead of DSM-Firmenich’s Charlotte Kool.

Such was Vos’ confidence in her finishing kick at the end of a draining, lumpy day, she set her Visma-Lease a Bike team to work throughout the stage, keeping things under control before eventually reining in Mireia Benito, the courageous AG Insurance-Soudal rider who spent a long and lonely 110km as the sole breakaway rider out front.

The day 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙨 to Marianne Vos! 🟡⚫

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider storms past the bunch sprint to win Stage 3 at La Vuelta Femenina! 🙌#LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/14g9z5Qprt

— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 30, 2024

Vos then found herself on the right side of a bunch splitting crash with just under 3km to go, before surfing the wheels to perfection, launching her sprint at the right moment – just as Kool, who fought hard to make the front after some poor positioning, began to toil – for one of the more straightforward sprint victories of the 36-year-old’s illustrious career.

“Yesterday we worked and tried hard, but had some bad luck in the final. And today we again went all-in. All the girls worked really hard for this, so it’s really nice to finish it off,” Vos said at the finish, her 2024 comeback tour continuing to reach new heights.

A new free cycle loan scheme has kicked off in Greater Manchester and Inverness, in a bid to help and encourage people with long-term health conditions and disabilities to enjoy the benefits of cycling.

Launched by Cycling UK and funded by the Motability Foundation, the Inclusive Cycling Experience features a variety of bespoke and customised cycles, including tricycles, e-cycles, recumbent cycles, and tandems, which the charity says will “help overcome many of the problems that prevent people with disabilities, such as visual impairment, limited mobility, or dyspraxia, from using a standard upright two-wheel bicycle”.

The loans, which first became available in Greater Manchester on 17 April and in Inverness on 19 April, also come with confidence-building taster sessions and expert support, ensuring each person gets a cycle that is right for them and their cycling needs.

“Cycling is not only a joyful experience that everyone should have a chance to enjoy, but it can significantly boost independence for people with long-term health conditions or limited mobility,” Cycling UK’s deputy director of behaviour change Jenny Box said in a statement.

“With the right support and the right cycle, almost anyone can benefit from cycling. The Inclusive Cycling Experience will make congestion-busting, healthy, and energising travel accessible to everyone.”

Lisa Jones, director of charitable operations at the Motability Foundation, added: “We’re excited to award Cycling UK with this grant to introduce inclusive cycling training programmes at mobility hubs for disabled people in Manchester and Inverness.

“We know that active travel, such as cycling, can benefit wellbeing for disabled people, by increasing mobility and reducing social isolation. Awarding grants to important organisations like these helps us to make an immediate difference to the transport needs of disabled people.”

> Cervélo updates Áspero gravel bike to be “faster, more comfortable, and more versatile” – we’ve ridden it and here’s what we think so far

🇪🇸 #LaVueltaFemenina

Por desgracia, hemos de informar del abandono de @emmanorsgaard1 durante el arranque de la 3ª etapa de @lavueltafem.

La danesa recibió ayer puntos de sutura por las heridas en su codo, amén de numerosos golpes, en las multitudinarias caidas del tramo final.… pic.twitter.com/9GDAmTi0aY

— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) April 30, 2024

After Anna Henderson was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone following a nasty crash inside the last three kilometres of Monday’s second stage of the Vuelta Femenina, Movistar’s Emma Norsgaard has become the latest casualty of Spain’s slippery roads, abandoning the race today due to injuries sustained yesterday.

The Dane, a winner of a stage at last year’s Tour de France Femmes, injured her elbow after being involved in a crash that took place just a few hundred metres after Henderson, Marianne Vos, and Lizzie Deignan fell during yesterday’s wet and chaotic run-in to Moncófar, and which also involved Lianne Lippert, Georgia Baker, and others.

While Norsgaard attempted to start today’s stage to Teruel, she pulled out of the race soon after the stage got underway, her Movistar team confirmed this lunchtime.

“The Dane yesterday received stitches for the wounds in her elbow, in addition to numerous blows, in the massive falls of the final stretch,” Movistar posted on social media. “We will confirm Emma’s circumstances and condition as soon as we can.”

In the midst of all the creative, and weird spaghetti-based social media team announcements, Bora-Hansgrohe’s Emanuel Buchmann has hit out at the German team’s decision to leave him out of their Giro d’Italia squad, claiming that he was only told two weeks ago of his omission after spending time at altitude camp in Tenerife.

Bora will head to Italy with Dani Martínez as their main GC threat, after a last-minute change to the team following provisional co-leader Lennard Kämna’s horrific training crash, when he was struck by a motorist and seriously injured while training in Tenerife, earlier this month.

> Lennard Kämna update: German rider in “stable condition” and “awake and responsive” after motorist turned across lane and struck him during training ride

“Our strategy for the Giro d'Italia has changed radically in the last four weeks,” the team said, while a announcing an eight-man line-up that also includes Giovanni Aleotti, Jonas Koch, Florian Lipowitz, Ryan Mullen, Maximilian Schachmann, Danny van Poppel, and Patrick Gamper.

“Up until then, it was clear that we would go to Turin with Dani and Lennard as co-leaders. Our support team was heavily focused on the mountains.

“After Lennard’s serious accident, we were forced to reorganise. We now have only one GC leader and several versatile riders as back-ups who are looking for opportunities on the hilly terrain themselves.”

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Emanuel Buchmann (@emubuchmann)

However, Buchmann – who finished fourth at the 2019 Tour de France but has so far underwhelmed this season, placing 32nd overall at the recent Tour of the Basque Country – clearly had a different perspective on Bora’s pre-Giro plan, taking to Instagram to vent his frustration yesterday.

“I cannot describe my disappointment and frustration [to] not [be] nominated for the Giro this year,” the 31-year-old German champion wrote, along with some, ahem, interesting hashtags, including #bandofbrothers (Bora’s team slogan) and #freeeumu.

“All year was planned for the Giro and even Bora-Hansgrohe promised me the co-leadership for the GC. The training went well, the shape is good. The last three weeks at [Mount] Teide I wanted to do the last preparation, but 16 days before the start of the Giro I got the call that I won’t be in the lineup.”

Bora management trying to stop Buchmann getting on the team bus pic.twitter.com/AEnZkbRo0E

— Joshua Carnn (@JoshuaCarnn) April 30, 2024

Buchmann’s very public display of frustration may not be the last time Bora are faced with team leadership issues this year, considering their squad is now stacked with potential stage race contenders (and big egos), including Giro winner Jai Hindley, Aleksandr Vlasov, Martinez, and new arrival (and obligatory Tour leader) Primož Roglič.

And even beyond the GC wannabes, Bora’s Giro squad also raised eyebrows due to the omission of sprinter Sam Welsford, whose lack of form at the Tour of Turkey saw him sidelined from his team’s Italian job.

Which also means that Danny van Poppel – arguably the best lead-out man in the world – will once again head to a grand tour… without a sprinter to lead out.

Make it make sense…

This morning, two days after the CiCLE Classic was cancelled due to heavy rainfall and flooding, the race’s organiser Colin Clews has spoken about the “gigantic” efforts of his team to try to ensure it went ahead, while praising the “overwhelming support” they’ve received since Sunday’s cancellation.

The 18th edition of the Rutland-Melton CiCLE Classic, the iconic Belgian classic-style race that thunders along Rutland’s farm tracks, was cancelled on Sunday as floods rendered some of the race route impassable.

I think it was the right decision although very painful for Colin ⁦@CiCLEClassic⁩ pic.twitter.com/pxkXVcahYA

— Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling (@SpiritTBW) April 28, 2024

After originally attempting to delay the start time, Clews and his organising team ultimately (and correctly) had to pull the plug due to the flooded roads and extreme weather – the first time, barring Covid, that the race has been cancelled, in what is a bitter blow for a struggling domestic scene and yet another example, as journalist and Halesowen Academy DS William Fotheringham wrote on Twitter, of “cycling in the era of climate breakdown”.

“Following discussions in line with the UCI extreme weather protocol, with the Organisation Commissaires Panel and representatives from teams and riders from Israel Premier Academy and Saint Piran discussing the safety and management of the route, it has reluctantly been decided to cancel the 2024 CiCLE Classic,” the organisers said on Sunday afternoon.

“The decision has been taken after the best efforts of the organisation to design a reduced route, but significant flooding at different sections of the routes have sadly made this impossible. The race organisation wishes to convey their thanks to the team’s riders, officials, volunteers and supporters for the patience and understanding.”

And this morning, posting a photo of his painfully ironically sunny back garden, Clews thanked his organising team and the UK’s cycling community for their support following the race’s cancellation.

“After the 'deluge' that was Sunday. On behalf of myself and all the organisational team at Sigma Sports /Schwalbe UK of (what would have been) the 18th Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic, I wish to thank everyone for the messages and overwhelming support for the event and the decision taken to cancel due to the extreme weather conditions,” Clews wrote.

“It was a decision I never believed, or hoped, that I would ever be required to make. But, inevitably it was, but only after gigantic, best efforts of  my international and national commissaire colleagues to help keep the show on the road. You were all magnificent with your efforts and I'll never forget that. THANK YOU.

“Many 'dark' moments for me, and the team since then; three days set up, one and a half days clear up; but a major void between.

“But, the messages received from friends here and abroad only demonstrate for me what our great sport is all about, and why myself and so many others DO what we DO! A massive THANK YOU to you all. You deserve a bike race in return, and not just any old race.

“Looking forward to seeing you next April, and the sun is shining!”

Cyclists in my area get moaned at for using the road, rather than this crap. I rode it on Friday to see how pants it really is. pic.twitter.com/QsoVORbeVJ

— Jim's Wheels (@JimsWheels) April 29, 2024

A terribly surfaced shared path with pedestrians, a few completely unnecessary sets of barriers, random lampposts plonked in the middle, protruding hedges, and lots of parked vehicles…

I think we can call it now – we’ve finally found what could well be the worst, most useless cycle path in the UK, courtesy of South Gloucestershire, where, as Jim notes, motorists tend to get a bit cross and “throw shapes” if you venture with your bike onto the adjacent road.

Remember cyclists, stay off that road (it’s for drivers after all) when quality infrastructure like this exists right beside it…