“Despite my dislike of cyclists, that’s shocking”: Farming community divided over “arrogant, entitled” farmer spraying camping cyclist with slurry; Mark Cavendish confirmed for final Tour de France; No fish for unlucky British pro + more on the live blog

Forget the national championships (though I promise I’ll get onto that far more pleasant topic in a moment), the most talked-about cycling-related video of the weekend featured a charity touring cyclist, a disproportionate irate farmer, and a s**t-tonne of, well, s**t.

In case you were actually out on your bike, or watching some world-class cyclists near you this weekend, here’s a quick recap of the whole sorry debacle, which one Devon-based farmer thought would be a great idea to share in the national press (we’ve got a full story with more detail coming soon).

On Friday, the Sun published an interview with Jack Bellamy, who earlier that week had filmed himself spotting a cyclist camped in a tent near a hedge in one of his fields.

Moment farmer blasts camper in SLURRY after catching him sleeping in a tent on his land pic.twitter.com/IzIsafeLYv

— The Sun (@TheSun) June 21, 2024

In the clip, 29-year-old Jack narrates that “I tell you what, these ***** will set up anywhere,” before turning around and driving towards the cyclist, telling him to “have a bit of this”, and spraying slurry at him, his tent, and his bike for 15 long, terribly smelly seconds.

“He never said a word. He couldn’t really argue with that,” the clearly pleasant farmer told the Sun. “They come up from the towns and think they can do what they want.”

According to some on social media, the cyclist subject to the wall of excrement early in the morning is currently undertaking a self-supported charity ride across the length of Britain, camping out and avoiding hotels in a bid to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research following his wife’s death from the disease last year.

Lots of support for the cyclist assaulted with slurry, but many take the farmer's side.

Ignoring the more deranged replies, most are:

- Landowner is defending his land.
- Cyclist should have planned better.
- People cause damage/litter etc.

Let's unpick these a little... 🧵 https://t.co/Esdwc4LXCn pic.twitter.com/5aeA90Ll3u

— Lewis Winks (@curiousways) June 22, 2024

And while the clip has unleashed unbridled euphoria among the more devoutly anti-cycling elements of social media, it appears to have – somewhat surprisingly, depending on your viewpoint – divided the farming community.

Here’s a selection of some of the comments we’ve seen on the Farming Forum.

“Whilst the farmer’s frustration is probably valid, I’m not sure that his reaction and possible assault in respect of a civil matter is doing farming any favours.”

“Horrible, horrible, thing to do and the height of ignorance on the part of the farmer. Forget about ‘wider implications for the farming industry’ or any of that aul pish, that was downright nasty.”

“If it’d been a whole load of itinerant campers barbecuing and littering in the middle of the field maybe... but one bloke tight up against the hedge, just bunked up for the night obviously trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. Think that’s harsh, bordering on cruel. I mean to pause the tractor deliberately, the lad’s an arrogant entitled git who should know better.”

“Despite my dislike for cyclists, that’s shocking. If I employed him he’d be looking for another job.”

> How to wild camp responsibly with OS Maps and Cycling UK

“What possible harm could he be doing in a freshly cut field tucked right up against the hedge? I’m sure he was only there for one night and moved on. Some folk really get too wound up about stuff. Go up and have a chat with him, see where he’s from he could be from, abroad even. We are regularly getting the cows in and a cyclist comes along from Netherlands etc, it’s really cool chatting to them and they always love seeing what we are up to.”

“Pretty grim and quite sad behaviour from the tractor driver, no doubt he got his quota of social media laugh emojis for the day. Karma is a funny thing, hopefully his victim isn't his future dentist, surgeon, or county court judge.”

“Some farmers are miserable. I think it’s good to see people out enjoying the countryside, if he was camping in my field I would have stopped and had a chat with him, he could have been doing a charity bike ride or something.”

“Cyclist was in the wrong, so ask him politely to move. Zero empathy from the tractor driver. He could be charged with assault I am sure (while trespass is a civil offence). Tractor driver is a twit.”

> Too posh to bush: bikepacking (with a tent) on the Isle of Wight

However, other members of the Farming Forum weren’t quite as supportive of the cyclist’s right to not be sprayed with slurry.

“What if the bloke had told the guy to leave and he was refusing?” one asked (though, as others on the forum noted, it’s pretty clear by the video that no such discussion took place before the slurry was unloaded).

“If someone started trying to camp in my drive or garden you can bet I’d be less than enthused about it. It’s someone's property. I don’t care if it's a 200 acre field of rewilded grassland no one ever lays eyes on or a £9.5 million 18 hole golf course. The principle is the same. One has to have respect for private property.”

Of course, the poor bike covered in slurry doesn’t count as private property, I imagine?

Monday’s squad selection bonanza continues, but this time we’re moving away – briefly – anyway from the Tour and focusing instead on the Olympics, as the British Olympic Association announced the first wave of riders selected for the Games in Paris.

With the riders set to take on a punchy city centre course in Paris, the men’s road race squad is full of firepower and features Tom Pidcock (who was also named in the mountain biking squad alongside debutant Charlie Aldridge), Josh Tarling, Stevie Williams, and Fred Wright.

European and British TT champion Tarling, meanwhile, will be one of GB’s big medal hopes in the time trial, where he’ll be joined by his Ineos colleague and newly crowned national road race champion Ethan Hayter.

On the track, Dan Bigham – the aero brains behind Denmark’s silver medal winning display in Tokyo – will be making his Olympic team pursuit debut on the boards (and in British colours, too), where he’ll be joined by Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon, and Ollie Wood.

World sprint champion Emma Finucane also headlines a strong women’s sprint outfit containing Sophie Capwell and Katy Marchant, while Jack Carlin, Ed Lowe, and Hamish Turnbull make up the men’s team.

 (Will Palmer/SWpix.com)

Ella Maclean-Howell and Evie Richards form the women’s mountain bike line-up, while the other six squads, part of the biggest cycling delegation Britain has ever sent to an Olympic Games, will be named over the next two weeks.

“I am delighted for each and every one of the riders we have announced today to represent Team GB in Paris and have no doubt that they will make the nation proud over the 18 days of cycling competition in Paris,” GB’s cycling performance director Stephen Park said.

“This group includes four previous Olympic medallists, with Tom Pidcock, Ethan Hayter, Katy Marchant, and Jack Carlin all looking to get themselves on the podium once again, while on the other side of the coin I’m proud once again of our work to support and nurture the best of British talent through our performance pathway, and to see 10 debutants announced as part of the squad today.

“We’re blessed with an incredibly talented, passionate and hungry squad of riders, and we are now fully focused on supporting their final preparations so that they can be at their very best come Paris.”

Yet more Tour team news, as Ben O’Connor, the tempestuous Netflix star, confirmed he will miss this year’s race to provide extra care and support for his new daughter, who was born two weeks ago.

After a frustrating, under par Tour last year (captured in all its maddening glory on ‘Unchained), O’Connor has finished in the top five of every stage race he’s entered in 2024, culminating in fourth overall at the Giro d’Italia last month.

But with baby Josephine arriving in the interim, O’Connor has opted out of following in the wheel tracks of Tadej Pogačar and Geraint Thomas by attempting the Giro-Tour double, and will instead sit out a race he has taken part in every year since joining Decathlon-AG2R in 2021, when he won a stage and finished fourth on GC.

“No Tour de France this year for me!” O’Connor wrote in an Instagram story. “Our family has just had baby Josephine into our [lives], and we are still in Barcelona to help support her with extra care.

“This, along with the fact I haven’t been home for longer than one week since the Giro d’Italia, and having also had an intense start to the year, it’s a clear choice to make. I’ll see you all there next year.”

Of course, next year will almost certainly see O’Connor line up at the Tour in the colours of Jayco-AlUla, a development which, if you’re to believe Unchained’s dramatised approach to the sport, will be a welcome one for AG2R’s management…

🇫🇷 @LeTour
📅 29.06 - 21.07

🇦🇹 Felix Gall
🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be
🇫🇷 @BrunoArmirail
🇫🇷 @PaulLapeira
🇫🇷 @DorianGodon
🇫🇷 @NansPeters
🇧🇪 @OliverNaesen
🇫🇷 @NicoProdhomme #DECATHLONAG2RLAMONDIALETEAM pic.twitter.com/QSFP8PFruj

— DECATHLON AG2R LA MONDIALE TEAM (@decathlonAG2RLM) June 24, 2024

Meanwhile, in O’Connor’s absence, Decathlon will be hoping for success in the mountains with Austrian climber Felix Gall, while in the sprints all eyes will be on the Sam Bennett, the Irish sprinter roaring back to form this season after a few injury and internal team politics-laden years, and making his first appearance at the Tour since 2020, when he won two stages and the green jersey.

Now, another Tour like that would go down very nicely, Sam…

For more on our smelliest cycling versus farmer story yet, read on: > “Have a bit of this”: Cyclist camping overnight in field sprayed with slurry from tractor by “annoyed” farmer who wanted to teach a “lesson” to trespassing campers

Now, this is the Monday lunchtime cycling content we all want to see:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series (@uci_mtbworldseries)

Not only is Pidcock cementing his claim as cycling’s most rounded all-rounder, he’s also aiming for Adam Yates’ current position as the canine lover’s favourite. Over to you, Adam…

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by ᵀᴼᴹ ᴾᴵᴰᶜᴼᶜᴷ (@tompidcock)

The Tour squad announcements are coming thick and fast today, with the Ineos Grenadiers joining Astana in naming their eight-rider line-up for cycling’s biggest race (which, I remind you, is just five days away. Eek).

But while Astana’s squad has one goal and one goal only – to secure win no. 35 for a certain Sir Cavendish – the Ineos have instead continued their slightly directionless trend of recent years by opting for a front-loaded, three or four-pronged approach (including two former Tour winners), in a bid to reignite a team that dominated cycling’s biggest race throughout the 2010s, but which has struggled for success in recent years.

(A.S.O./Gaëtan Flamme)

2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal, whose steady rise back to the top of the sport following his horrific training crash last year has featured a string of top overall placings in the big week-long stage races this year, will spearhead the British team’s GC challenge alongside Carlos Rodríguez, a fifth place finisher at last year’s Tour, whose impressive 2024 has included the overall at the Tour de Romandie and stage wins at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Meanwhile, 2018 Tour champion Geraint Thomas is set to take part in his 13th and what could very well be his final ever Grande Boucle, off the back of a third-place finish at the Giro d’Italia, over ten minutes down on a rampant Tadej Pogačar.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Meanwhile, despite long being tipped as a possible GC contender, Amstel Gold winner Tom Pidcock appears to be targeting stage wins and a possible early stint in yellow during the tough opening stages in Italy. The 24-year-old – who was in flying form on his mountain bike at the weekend – will be joined by fellow Brit Ben Turner, starting his second Tour.

Ineos’ leadership quartet will be supported by the experience of Jonathan Castroviejo, Laurens De Plus, and Michal Kwiatkowski.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“Can’t quite believe I am starting my 13th Tour de France, let’s hope it’s a lucky one!” Thomas said in a statement today.

 “I didn’t know how I would feel after the Giro and getting back to training as I have never done the Giro-Tour double before, but it’s been a solid block and the legs are feeling pretty good.

 “It's going to be a super competitive and hard race, but we’ve got a super strong team with plenty of experience and Carlos is clearly on the up this season. Personally, I am looking forward to racing with a bit less pressure and more freedom to mix it up and try to get really stuck in.”

As I said earlier, this whole ‘cyclist covered in slurry’ story has garnered quite the reaction over the weekend.

And after digging into the rather balanced thoughts of the farming community, what do Right to Roam campaigners – those who believe in the freedom to wander in open countryside – think?  

Over on Twitter, environmental lecturer and Right to Roam campaigner Lewis Winks said: “Consider this – you’re on a bike tour, alone but free. Exhausted after many miles on the road, scouting spots to sleep before continuing the next day. After an hour you opt for a discreet field edge.

“You wake up early and begin packing up, then this happens. Truly unjustifiable.”

This dude was bike touring - camping in a discreet spot, rising early, packing up in the golden opening of the day.

And he was assaulted by someone who calls themselves a custodian of the land. pic.twitter.com/Iyc6QLnkQG

— Lewis Winks (@curiousways) June 22, 2024

In a thread exploring the matter in detail, Winks continued: “Lots of support for the cyclist assaulted with slurry, but many take the farmer’s side. Ignoring the more deranged replies, most are: Landowner is defending his land; Cyclist should have planned better; People cause damage/litter etc.

“Let’s unpick these a little. Firstly, trespass is a civil offence – despite the best efforts of the dying Tory government. It’s a matter between the landowner and the trespasser, provided there are no aggravating circumstances. Common assault, however, is a criminal offence.”

Winks then shared the Met Police’s stance on “camping without permission”, which recommends that landowners “talk to the people occupying your land and ask them to leave, if you feel safe to do that”, and reminds them that “you could find yourself guilty of several criminal offences if you forcibly attempt to remove them or their property.”

The civil offence of trespass is not a matter for the police. Here's the Met police explaining, for those at the back, that dialogue is the best course of action. pic.twitter.com/azmd6TYlxC

— Lewis Winks (@curiousways) June 22, 2024

“Dialogue is the best course of action,” says Winks. “The rights of landowners are vast and sacrosanct in the UK – and far outweigh their legal responsibilities to people or nature. Including their own land which too often is also subject to abuse. Crying trespass distracts from the imbalance between rights and responsibilities.

“The rights of people – particularly those wishing to access land – on the other hand, are wildly lacking. Yet, we have a bedrock of historic and customary rights which have not entirely been swept away by property law. The civil attitude to trespass is in part an admission of this. Just west of where this incident took place is Dartmoor, where historic customs were written into bylaws in 1985, protecting wild camping; placing into stark contrast the farmer’s response.

“Secondly, on the notion of planning ‘better’,” he continued, “I’d wager that the majority of those with this view have never undertaken a long-distance expedition. If they had they'd realise that part of what it means ‘to plan’ is to prepare for the unexpected, to expect to change plans.

“I’d also bet that most of these detractors have not experienced wild camping and the feeling of freeing oneself from constraints of expensive, rigid, and scarce campsites in the UK. Elsewhere, such as in France, there are much better – more dependable networks of municipal campsites, but here it’s a nightmare trying to plan a trip based on private campgrounds which require booking ahead – and they’re often expensive and shite.

“Plus, of course, the sheer joy of waking up on your own with the golden light of a solstice sunrise, kettle on the boil, and on the road before the town wakes up, carefully leaving no trace of you being there. As for ‘you should have asked for permission’... just try finding out who owns the land in England while at a desk, let alone while on the road.

“And – to those who say ‘what about litter’. Our crisis is one of disconnection, it’s a lack of access to nature (not the opposite) which is unravelling our ability to know the land.”

Secondly, on the notion of planning 'better'...

I'd wager that the majority of those with this view have never undertaken a long-distance expedition.

If they had they'd realise that part of what it means 'to plan' is to prepare for the unexpected, to expect to change plans. pic.twitter.com/cVx69jVBR9

— Lewis Winks (@curiousways) June 22, 2024

Winks concluded: “This dude was bike touring – camping in a discreet spot, rising early, packing up in the golden opening of the day.

“And he was assaulted by someone who calls themselves a custodian of the land.”

Quite…

You may have noticed that the live blog, and the whole of road.cc in fact, had gone missing for a while there this morning.

And no, we just weren’t all having an extended coffee break (though we certainly took advantage of the hiatus to sneak in an extra latte), it was more a case of the Monday morning technical gremlins wreaking havoc across our sites.

But everything’s up again and working fine (fingers crossed!), so our normal slurry-covered service can now resume…