Traffic Watch account claims “road restrictions squeezing lifeblood out of London” – but cyclists say “it’s not cycle lanes or LTNs… it’s too many cars”; Tommy Voeckler clocks super-fast 1:13.21 half-marathon – while gurning for TV + more on the live blog

A Northern Irish cyclist says he is “eternally grateful” to the volunteer first responders who saved his life, after he suffered a heart attack during a club ride in December and was told an ambulance would take two hours to arrive.

54-year-old Paul McAdam, from Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, was cycling with his Island Wheelers Club on 29 December when he felt a tightness in his chest and passed out at the side of the road, suffering a heart attack.

With a lengthy wait for an ambulance in prospect, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) alerted the local Killeeshil/Galbally Community First Responders who treated him and drove him to Craigavon Area Hospital.

Community First Responder Schemes are made up of volunteers who live within their local community and whose aim is to reach potentially life-threatening emergencies in the vital first few minutes before the arrival of an ambulance crew.

After being treated in Craigavon Area Hospital, McAdam was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he had surgery to remove a clot in his artery and a stent fitted.

“I’m here and a big part of that’s down to being in the first instance out with the cycling club, the Island Wheelers,” the cyclist told the BBC this morning.

“If I was on my own somewhere this could have been an entirely different story. The first responders were brought in and got me where I needed to be.”

The 54-year-old added that the surgeon later showed him a plastic container with the blood clot in it and told him: “When I see that, 99 per cent of people haven’t made it”.

“That really hit home how lucky I was,” he said.

Yes, I know it’s early, but I think we may have already found the least self-aware social media post of 2025, courtesy of the fine folks over at the ‘London Traffic Watch’ Twitter/X account.

While on the surface at least, London Traffic Watch operates as, well, a normal traffic watch account – informing the capital’s residents of road closures, congestion and delays due to incidents, tube closures, and so on – it also has a tendency to repost the views of those opposed, oddly enough, to traffic-calming measures and active travel schemes.

In the last two days alone, the account has shared our old friend and retired Hackney councillor Vincent Stops’ latest criticism of Transport for London’s cycling initiatives, along with posts by anti-ULEZ groups and campaigners opposed to low traffic neighbourhoods.

So, it was no surprise, then, when London Traffic Watch posted this evocative image and Daily Mail-style headline this week:

“London grinding to a halt. Road restrictions squeezing the lifeblood out of the capital,” the account proclaimed, under an image of at least five lanes of traffic packed mostly with, you guessed it, cars.

Let’s just say the irony of that particular image wasn’t lost on Twitter’s remaining cohort of cyclists.

“Congestion?” asked Bob from Accounts in response to the traffic account’s post. “It’s not road restrictions. It’s not cycle lanes. It’s not 20mph zones. It’s not LTNs. It’s not the timing of traffic lights

“It’s this: too many cars.”

“It’s drivers causing all the congestion and blocking up the roads,” agreed Cycling Mikey. “We can’t afford to have so many cars in London.”

Chapona Bike added: “It’s already one of the busiest cities in the world. The only answer is to reduce private cars.”

“But, but but… it’s all those cycle lanes causing it, apparently! Not the fact that there are way too many motorised vehicles,” wrote Keith.

> BBC U-turns on article blaming London’s ‘most congested city’ title on cycle lanes

“Interesting that these characters equate ‘lifeblood’ with lots of cars,” noted Dr Robert Davis, chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum.

“Traffic isn’t the lifeblood of the capital,” concurred Rob. “It’s a blight on the capital, ruining it for everyone. Cities should be designed for people, not cars.”

“Because giving up large swathes of public space for people to go around in large metal boxes on their own is somehow good for the economy?” the Cycleway, my arse! account helpfully suggested (don’t give them any ideas).

“Those objecting to road restrictions, cycle lanes, 20mph zones, LTNs, and traffic lights timings forget that 30 years ago when there were far less of them congestion was still horrendous,” Mark pointed out.

“Congestion was, is and always will be caused by too many vehicles.”

“The fun thing is that they themselves demonstrated the cause with their own poster,” joked Valerie.

What was I saying about self-awareness?

It looks like we have a feature to update, because a new cycling-themed song was released into the wild this morning. And no, I’m not talking about a Belgian Eurodance track about Wout van Aert’s multidisciplinary abilities.

Instead, ‘Cycling’ is the latest single from London-based indie-folk duo lilo, from their forthcoming debut album Blood Ties.

> When cycling meets rock 'n' roll: legendary musicians, bands and songs that celebrate all things bike

According to the group, consisting of Christie Gardner and Helen Dixon, the song is about – among other, more existential things – riding a bike down the Old Kent Road in south-east London.

“I wrote Cycling, as with a number of the songs on this album, when I was working at a primary school during Covid,” the band said in a statement announcing the single’s release. “The journey referenced was my journey down the Old Kent Road on my bike.

“At the best of times, I felt like I was really helping, like the students were learning, and I was helping them move through this very confusing time. Then, there would come bouts of uncertainty, of sorrow, of grief.

“The song comes from this uncertainty, this unclaimed blame. But the good in this song, the feeling of being made to help out, the feeling of knowing you’re beautiful even covered in sweat, the arduous yet ever changing route cycling down the Old Kent Road, all comes from the inspiration of those children who, perhaps didn’t know another world, but were doing the very best with the one they were irresponsibly given.”

The above video for the song is also based, naturally, around cycling and bikes, and features a bloodied and bruised Gardner and Dixon carrying a battered tandem across the English countryside, just to… well, I’ll not spoil the punchline.

> 7 reasons why your bike doesn’t fit you, and the easiest ways to solve them

This year’s edition of the week-long Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour in Germany is reportedly on the verge of cancellation, after the government of the state of Thuringia refused to contribute its annual subsidy of €200,000 to support the event.

The six-day women’s stage race has been held in the central German state since 1986 and features an impressive list of winners including Nicole Cooke, Judith Arndt, Lucinda Brand, Lotte Kopecky, and 2024 winner Ruth Edwards.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour (@lottoladiestour)

However, while the organisers have publicly stated their aim to bring their race to the Women’s World Tour in the near future, reports have emerged this week that the state government’s refusal to provide its annual subsidy could put July’s event in serious jeopardy.

According to MDR, Thuringia’s state chancellery has said the government’s “difficult budget situation” has made the “support in the required six-figure amount” – believed to be €200,000 – impossible.

“It is possible for the state government to provide support on a small scale,” the statement said.

However, race organiser Vera Hohlfeld has said that without the government funding there is “no realistic possibility of compensating for the funds planned in advance from last year”, with plans already in full swing for the July race, which receives most of its support from Thuringia’s state lottery.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour (@lottoladiestour)

In response to the news, the Left Party’s Andreas Schubert said: “It is a blow for sport in Thuringia if the event cannot take place due to the lack of support from the state. It will endanger the long-term existence of the race.”

Schubert also noted that the funding for the race had already been budgeted by the state government for 2025, making the decision “even more incomprehensible”.

Meanwhile, former world time trial and four-time world cyclocross champion Hanka Kupfernagel, who won the Thüringen Ladies Tour in 1999, said she “thought it was an early April Fool’s joke”.

“How can you not be proud of an event that has grown over three decades and is broadcast all over the world every day? It is such a great image advertisement for our Free State of Thuringia,” the 50-year-old said, adding that she hoped the government and organisers could come to a “positive decision” before July.

> British Cycling unveils “bold” four-year strategy to get people riding bikes – but road safety expert blasts failure to “tackle danger for cyclists”