Just tried to book a train to Heathrow Airport in London. It's cheaper to drive and park, which should be a shock but it's not.

A thread (no one will read) on the UK Government's proposed policing changes. Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood said there is an "epidemic" of crime in the UK. Not true. The Crime Survey is said to be the most accurate measure of crime and states all main types of crime except fraud are down.

It's great being able to watch races from the off, but 40 minutes of coverage before the flag drops is too much, unless we have something else to watch like The Breakaway before the big races.

When I was a police officer I went to a burglary at a masonic lodge. While the keyholder showed me round my colleague found many police officer's names in the visitor book. Police officers must not be allowed to be members of a secret club, which puts fellow members ahead of all else.

@newsagents.bsky.social Loving your coverage but it's a sickening irony when your piece on Minneapolis deportations is followed by an ad for travel to America. I won't be going, thanks.

Current state of the nation

If anyone else here is a drummer, Drum Shack in London are brilliant.

Could the level in women's races drop as a result of the Women's WorldTour regulation changes? www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/...

Stage 3 of next year's men's TdF goes through Llandrindod Wells where you can find the National Cycle Museum. It hosted the start of the penultimate stage of the 2019 Women's Tour and is where my mum grew up, which was very poignant. Before the race I parked in the spot I trod in dog poo as a kid.

Big sigh of relief. I've just sent the second of two very involved features for publication. A lot of work researching them, speaking to people and making them readable. To celebrate it's time for a cup of tea and a Ripple.

This evening I have read examples of exceptional leadership, one from Iwan Spekenbrink, the other from Sven Vantourenhout. I also had an interaction with a former Army colleague who was another great leader. Leadership is totally inspiring. Gents, tell me what to do, I'll do it.

'If I have the best legs on the day, I'll try to win' – Anna van der Breggen still adapting to the new women's peloton, but realistic about 2026 www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/...

Farage: "I believe in vaccinations when they're vaccinations. I don't think what happened with Covid were vaccinations. You have to keep having them every 6 months." Conspiratorial nonsense. Some vaccinations like Covid shots require multiple/seasonal doses because immunity fades & viruses change.

If you're annoyed by any country's international actions, boycott their goods. No Levi's, Timberland or Vic Firth drumsticks.

Trump is probably focused on the money he wrongly thinks he'll make from Venezuelan oil. But he's not a details guy and nobody has thought through the details. Essentially, the US has taken over Venezuela by mistake. Stranger things have happened, but not many. open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...

TNT Sports' rugby coverage allows both entire 40 minute halves to go uninterrupted by ad breaks. There are two breaks at half time. But a 50 minute women's cyclocross race has two breaks. Seems they're taking advantage of cycling fans.

The band I'm have just sent out a list of songs to work on. In response I described the Importance Of Being Idle by Oasis as akin to I've Got a A Brand New Combine Harvester, surely a comedy song and the worst of a bad lot. Not an oasis fan.

Trump gone full-on Putin.

I rode 4169 (6709km) in 2025, hitting my target for the first time since 2020. Pleasing. The final ride was not pleasing. Not only is there is too much mud and sand and not enough gravel round Thetford Forest, I now have a headache and sore throat.

I love the way TNT Sport have billed tonight's cyclocross as Diegem and Diagem. I guess it's to make us all think there are two races on...

It seems some people are arguing for someone to have his citizenship stripped for something he said on social media, while on the other hand saying we must stop persecuting people for the comments they make on social media.

'Cycling is not cricket. It is a far smaller sport, with a much smaller audience. If cricket – with its large and largely affluent fanbase – has suffered from not being on free TV, pushed to the margins, what hope does cycling have?' www.cyclingweekly.com/news/tnt-kil...

Fancy reading about one of Britain's best ever cyclists to start your Boxing Day? How about my interview with Lizzie Deignan. www.cyclingweekly.com/racing/lizzi...

On the day before Christmas I dropped a camera lens and it shattered...

Puck Pieterse and Tibor del Grosso's Dutch national champs bikes are almost identical to Iris Slappendel's Cervelo in 2015 when she was with Bigla.

Cycling Weekly's review of the year issue is excellent reading. We should cherish and support the print magazines that we still have. Proud to have contributed to this issue. My favourite article is the inside (and comical) story of the Vuelta podium. Buy here: www.magazine.co.uk/magazines/cy...

It's not just terrible words, I'd put the contents of my sock drawer in there. And I have a lot of socks.

Quite curious what other people think about AI when it comes to writing - particularly cycling journalism. Do you care if AI is used to write a race report? I do. I care a lot. open.substack.com/pub/cilliank...

A few weeks ago I visited Lizzie Deignan for the final of four feature interviews over 11 years. Read it in @cyclingweekly.com magazine out today.

Remember folks, licence is a noun and license is a verb in UK English.

This is bonkers, but wonderful. www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/...

@rachelburden.bsky.social With the Up Down Quiz today and the final two items yesterday, your programme has illustrated how brilliant our teenagers are.

A complaint against Infantino for allegedly breaching FIFA'S code on political neutrality. Oh dear, never mind. www.lequipe.fr/Football/Act...

Only 20 tabs open today...

The way FIFA knelt for trump and happily noshed him off means I cannot watch the world cup football. It's the kind of cowing, fawning deference we expect in a tin pot dictatorship. Football, you sicken me.

@lewisgoodall.com Brilliant show today, though I believe those people farage appeals to would have loved The Black and White Minstrels and 'Til Death Us Do Part, and, until today, would have been appalled by the BBC's withdrawal of both programmes. They'd have called it 'woke.'

Hmmm... something missing?

I used to love watching Robin Smith play. So sad he's gone, best wishes to his family and friends. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

Stage 13 of the men's Giro finishes in Verbania, which is where Elisa Longo Borghini is from - well, just up the road. The town has hosted the Giro Rosa a few times.

Coincidence corner: Nigel Farage and crypto. From the new Private Eye, out now.

Sir Dave Brailsford still isn't being given a job title in Ineos comms. I asked the team for one this morning, as it's customary for us to tell our readers who people are, and they declined to provide one, saying it's just 'Sir Dave Brailsford'. Very strange

‘The clip, which appeared on live television, shows the President of the United States snapping at a female reporter “Quiet, Piggy!”’ From the new Private Eye, out now.

Times headline: ‘BBC failing to tackle systemic bias, says author of leaked memo’. In fact, when asked by MPs, this man, Michael Prescott, said he didn’t believe the BBC was institutionally biased. The Times failed to quote that, in an article about the issue of truthful reporting.

Hugely under did my food intake on today's ride. Not quite to the point of hallucinating, but almost to a standstill. Just had time to have a sleep to help recover and to warm up.

Interviewer: "Do you need to keep the players' feet on the ground?" Steve Borthwick: "No." Borthwick didn't say that but the interviewer is lucky Borthwick isn't awkward.

Hollie Davidson is an exceptional rugby referee.

The spellcheck in Apple's Pages word processing app is the perfect example of AD (Artificial Dumbness.)

No doubts - Cameron Mason poised for cyclocross World Cup breakthrough with strength, progression and newfound confidence https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/teams-riders/no-doubts-cameron-mason-poised-for-cyclocross-world-cup-breakthrough-with-strength-progression-and-newfound-confidence/

England were 39/3 when I gave up.

The Argentinian tight head prop in the Scotland rugby game is Pedro Delgado. Who'd have thought you could win grand tours in the 80s and go on to play pro rugby 40 years later. He's put some weight on though.