Driver tells road safety meeting kids cycling should take more responsibility for crashes; Meanwhile... Dutch children cycle to school without controversy; TDF confirms 2024 Nice TT finale (+ your thoughts); Rebellin tributes + more on the live blog

Here's an opinion piece published in yesterday's Evening Standard calling for further investment into London's cycling infa...

> The Standard View: Cyclists are returning to the capital – now is the time to invest in infrastructure

Before whoever made the point on yesterday's blog about funding being needed for the rest of the country has to dig out their comment, I'll say it for you – it would be ideal if infra didn't just pop up in London...

Anyway, that wasn't the point of this post, as usual I've been sidetracked...as the Standard said:

Cycling or walking isn't for every journey, but a city in which locals and tourists alike can get around under their own steam, or on public transport, is within our grasp if we make the investments now.

Send me one, and I’ll let you know!

— Matt Comley (@Mattjobsacuk) December 1, 2022

Classified Cycling, the brains behind the innovative Powershift drivetrain, has raised $23 million (£19 million) in investment, led by a former backer of Rapha and Evans Cycles — Active Partners.

> REVIEW: Classified Powershift Kit & Wheelset

Existing investor Bridford Investments Limited was also involved in the funding round, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports, while retired pros Tom Boonen, Anna van der Breggen, Marcel Kittel and André Greipel have also invested in the brand.

With the investment Classified Cycling hopes to expand to e-bike drivetrains and develop business in the US and European markets.

When Liam got his hands on one of Classified's Powershift hubs for review he was impressed, calling it a "really interesting bit of tech that has the power to change road bike design for good".

"It's a front derailleur-killing design that I think is going to really shake things up, particularly in the aero bike world, by allowing you to run what is effectively a 2x setup while reaping the benefits of 1x. And with more wheel brands on board, things are going to get even better"...

Compare this...

Dutch children love to cycle to school in groups. In December that is in the dark. pic.twitter.com/moV93jBgjM

— Mark Wagenbuur (@BicycleDutch) December 1, 2022

 To how this went down...

> Viral video of driver refusing to stop for five-year-old cyclist debated on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show

> Sajid Javid blames father of five-year-old cyclist for letting child ride on road

> "Should not be on the public highway riding a bike": Conservative politician weighs in on viral clip of driver refusing to stop for child

All we're seeing here is a group of human beings travelling to school... no cycling kit, no hi-vis, basic lights, no helmets even, just a country with a safe culture and infrastructure for cycling...

I imagine the rest of Europe + US having mild heart attacks now 😅

— Suzanne Beenackers (@SLBeenackers) December 1, 2022

It reminds me of the reader email we shared on yesterday's live blog:

I was born and raised in Holland. Road division is as follows: Main carriageway, grass verge, cycle path and then footpath. I have cycled to school, gone shopping all on my bike. Not once was I involved in an accident or disagreement with a car driver. There it is. Dutch common sense.

Where do we buy this 'common sense' thing you talk of? 

[📷: A.S.O/Charly Lopez]

As we shared on yesterday's blog, the Tour de France is likely to swap out the final stage in Paris for a seaside finale in 2024 because of the Olympic Games being held in the French capital just days later. So what do you make of the rumoured finish in Nice?

Rendel Harris hopes the procession will be dropped in favour of "full-on racing"...

"It would be really great if in finishing in Nice in 2024 the organisers could, for once, eschew the usual processionary stage and have full-on racing, there are such wonderful mountains all around the area that it could make a finish for the ages. Knowing ASO I'm 99 per cent sure they'll just go for a dull pootle along the coast with a sprint finish on the Anglais, but hope springs eternal.

Miller replied: "I suspect the riders enjoy the last stage being relatively low stress. One last sprint and they can have a big party and then take their family for a beach holiday."

But Rendel's got an idea... "I'm sure they do and by God they earn it, but just every now and again it might be nice to have a last day that actually meant something? Two thirds of the Giro last days since 2008 have been individual time trials and produced some amazing finales...imagine Pog, Rog, Bernal, Vingegaard — maybe even Pidcock! — all within two minutes of each other and an out and back 40k TT over the Col de Braus on the final day. A man can dream… but as I said, almost certainly won't happen."

I'm sold.

[📷: A.S.O/Aurélien Vialatte]

AlsoSomniloquism: "After my volunteering stint with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, I was looking at Paris Olympics for an encore and wondering if I could go early and catch the finale. (I was aware it was probably being moved but no decision had fully been made).

"However I do hope, as you mentioned, that they decide a good full race now rather then a GC procession."

Fredy: "Very seldom watch the final stage of Tour de France as such an anticlimax. Hopefully Nice will be nice 👍"

HarrogateSpa agreed: "With you on that one. Ok, there's the sprint, but all the divving about and sipping champagne beforehand...it's not sport."