Quite interesting that Visma are working to bring the gap down to the break, obvs trying for the stage with Jonas. I thought breakaway win was pretty nailed on with the GC situation, but I suppose why not?! If the stage is there for the taking, then take it. #ParisNice

Calling a breakaway win tomorrow in Paris-Nice. Vast majority of the peloton are so far down on GC, with plenty of lumps for a strong break to form and Visma with no pressure to chase (esp. after a brutal stage today). Maybe Leknessund, Tejada, Vlasov, Romeo could be good candidates for the win.

That’s as good as can be hoped, wishing Juan a speedy recovery.

Crazy top 10 GC at Paris Nice.

Watching all the horrors that have occurred during this Paris-Nice stage and it’s Jonas Vingegaard’s bib tights with flappy sides that have me most perplexed.

Horrific crash in the lead group and Ayuso looking like he’s seriously injured. Will be leaving the race and can only hope his injuries are not as serious as they look. #ParisNice

Hello Ineos, one hell of a TTT, big Kev spinning like a mad man up the drag to the line, but looks like Ayuso taking the yellow jersey. Really like how this is gonna be poised going into the lumpy stages. #ParisNice

Absolute luxury having Söderqvist and Vacek pulling you into the finale, Trek surely taking the lead shortly? #ParisNice

Epic stage at Tirreno Adriatico. Feel really sorry for Thymen Arensman who was the plan for Ineos to try and stay up in GC but hit the deck on the gravel. No surprise with the winner, but really close trio sprint.

Got a Reform leaflet through the post earlier. Picked it up, laughed and chucked it without hesitation in it’s rightful place, the f**king bin.

Round 2 of the Velogames Stage Race Championship begins tomorrow with Tirreno Adriatico. Very interesting parcours, opens the GC up to a much wider pool of riders.

Really feel for the people who write previews for pro cycling races with teams leaving it so late before announcing their squad. Mid afternoon with Tirreno Adriatico starting tomorrow and still 10 teams still to complete their roster for the race.

The Velogames Stage Race Championship begins today with Paris-Nice. Lots of good interesting value picks at 6cr, which helps get Ayuso and Vingegaard on the team. Certainly a few stages with breakaway potential in the route, Costiou, Leknessund good candidates to get up the road.

Busy, busy week, almost there with one last task and then it’s the weekend, with one of my favourite races of the year - Strade Bianche. Weather also looks viable (i.e. not raining) to get out for a couple of weekend rides. 👍

2 years ago I had 2 kids on bikes fly out of a side road right in front on me when driving. The road is a 20mph limit and I was able to stop in time because I was adhering to the speed limit. The vast majority of drivers break 20mph limits and would have not been able to stop in time.

This week’s Question Time summary: George Monbiot was on 🔥 and Denham was dire (but then she is a Telegraph columnist, so what do you expect?!)

@kimwillsher.bsky.social This is the typical outcome of such motorists being emboldened by that criminally irresponsible Times article you were defending.  I like the majority of cyclists follow rules and laws religiously and it still doesn’t stop us from being callously endangered.

2 abysmal close passes today (<50cm), 1 clearly a punishment pass after I pointed out the less worse one the same motorist did earlier. Always middle to later aged men. You may feel temporarily better about yourself, but it won’t change the fact you’re a micro-penis coward with fragile masculinity.

@coureur.app Thoughts on using Millionaire today? Prob a slightly easier race to call than Strade (for riders to get in top 15), but only pro-race points (and likely fielding barely any riders in the bigger race this weekend).

@coureur.app I took my shot, only one I had in the barrel and somehow hit the bullseye. Lucky shot though, it was Wellens injury that prompted me to look for an equivalent value replacement. Go Meeus!🚴🥇

Eagles draft strategy for the picks in the top 100: - 23rd - OT (prob Freeling) unless an EDGE or CB drops and becomes BPA - 54th - EDGE (LT Overton/Jacas) unless CB drops as BPA - 68th - CB (Devin Moore/Neal), if gone then TE (Stowers/Klare) - 98th - Open, maybe WR, poss S Bell/Burks, but BPA.

Working with MVDP turned out to be a wise move then. Why oh why would you?!

How on earth did MVDP keep that upright? Insane reactions and bike handling.

Lot of people going into the weekend with a feeling they’ve maybe not had for a while, one of optimism. Seeing the far right fail and Reform-lite derail is joyous. We’ve the Green Party, Hannah Spencer MP (congrats) and the good people of Gorton & Denton to thank for that. Have a super weekend! 🟢

A colossal truth-bomb, brutal honesty. I can understand this will anger some in terms of undermining the party. But under Keir Starmer’s leadership the Labour Party is unrecognisable & in it’s current guise heading towards political oblivion, unless something drastically changes.

Sectarian. The sheer contempt and entitlement in that word. Thousands of Muslim voters just voted for a white, (I think) working class non-Muslim woman because they feel abandoned by Labour and agree with her views on a huge foreign policy issue and on immigration policy

Incapable of listening, unwilling to learn and for the Labour Party there is no plan B (which will keep him in place as PM for the time being). This is it. I’m not confident that disastrous local election results in May would prompt “change“ either. youtube.com/shorts/aYCy6...

I’m not sure if it’s me who‘s meant to be weeping here? Any tears from my side come from laughter. 😂

The epic win for Hannah Spencer and the Green Party 🟢 in Gorton & Denton, represents a seismic shift in British politics. What they’ve achieved is both remarkable and richly deserved. They’ve taken their first Northern sear, overturning a stronghold majority that had been held for almost 100 years.

Congratulations to Hannah Spencer, the Green Party 🟢 and esp to the people in Gorton & Denton. You’ve all proved that hope can win people’s hearts in politics. ”Only Labour can stop Reform”??? Appalling judgement is most definitely a Labour thing. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

😂

The Gorton and Denton be-election breakdown: Hope = 🟢 Hate = 🥶 Shame = 🔴 Vote with your heart, vote for something better and vote for someone who cares, vote 🟢

In the U.K. there‘s a relentless campaign targeting cyclists, driven by the MSM. Truth is often not required, all that’s needed is to bait people into engaging online by provoking outrage. The MSM know this only too well, they’ve been cultivating this hostile environment for many years. Thread...

Well, well, well… I will not miss your ignorance and it seems you certainly couldn’t handle the facts.

We've written an Open Letter to Steve Reed asking him to share any messages he had from Peter Mandelson when he was Environment Minister. bit.ly/4rvzwa8 So it seems timely to re-post the timeline of his suspect & contradictory statements last year about the cost of renationalising water...

If you genuinely want to improve road safety, you focus on the greatest source of danger. Nothing radical about this, it’s just straightforward logic. Churning out endless anti-cycling opinion pieces, designed to provoke outrage does entirely the opposite, ultimately doing more harm than good.

With the latest anti-cycling article doing the rounds… As a cyclist I take issue with cyclists that run red lights. Not primarily because they present a serious risk of danger, but because they reaffirm confirmation bias that’ll then be used against other cyclists through collective responsibility.

Providing indisputable factual information on what kills pedestrians on the pavement is apparently a “weird defence”. Facts care little for manufactured hyperbole and rightly so.

Absolutely brilliant, but I’m now really angry. I’m a child of the early 80’s and remember a summer day in my very early teens spent at Meanwood Park. Was about to have a dip in Meanwood Beck when I saw a sign on the bank edge - “DANGER - Raw Sewage”. This has been going on for a very long time.

Haven’t got round to watching this yet, but have dedicated this evening entirely to watch them all. www.channel4.com/programmes/d...

Getting more and more despondent with Operation Snap and West Yorkshire Police. 3 dangerously close passes last week, where I could have easily reached out and touched the vehicle, and they've said they're perfectly fine. Despite me providing video footage, screenshots, measurements, etc.

Driving standards are as bad as they’ve ever been. Impatience being the prime driver for unacceptable behaviour behind the wheel. Which now I’m back made me think: There‘s a lot of focus on practical driving competence, but almost zero on mental competence, arguably the most important of the 2.

Just back from a ride with lovely weather. Great to get outdoors again. However, a rude awakening in respect to appalling driving standards, worse than usual. Within 2km had a MGIF close pass (hadn’t even managed to to fully pass before joining the back of traffic queue. 1/2

Safe arrival in Andalusia, all arrived without problem. My custom packaging effort seemed to work out ok. Industrial bubble wrap is robust stuff.

Most drivers break the law every time they get behind the wheel and on this stretch of road alone, 40% were caught doing so. As endemic as illegal mobile phone use behind the wheel is, it falls a distant 2nd to motorists habitually breaking speed limits. Both have been allowed to get out of hand.

New Vision for Water The Government’s New Vision for Water fails to tackle water companies’ perverse incentives to game the industry for profit westenglandbylines.co.uk/business/wat...

Looking like a lovely day to get out on the bike tomorrow. After all the rain we’ve had the novelty factor could not be higher.

Illegal mobile phone use behind the wheel = drastically reduced situational awareness and ongoing cognitive distraction before full focus returns to the primary task of driving. In short, you are willingly increasing the dangers to other road users by your own selfish actions.

That’s a wrap for the Velogames Warm Up Champs. Good fun, love the relentless nature of the racing program. Finished a respectable 126th which wasn’t too bad with some howlers in there. Now onto the Stage Race Champs starting soon with the double header of Paris-Nice and Tirreno Adriatico.