“They’ve prioritised cyclists over small businesses”: Cycle lane running through Christmas market forces organiser to step down over “safety fears”; Scots urged to emulate Basque fans by waving saltires at home worlds + more on the live blog

No, don’t worry, you haven’t accidentally clicked on the wrong live blog, it’s still July (although the weather at the moment is certainly doing its best to convince you otherwise).

But in Oxford, attentions are already turning to the festive celebrations at the end of the year, as a row has broken out over a cycle lane running through the middle of the city’s Christmas market – which has prompted the market’s organiser to step down from her role over “safety fears”.

The cycle lane runs between the two public spaces where the market will take place on Broad Street, and will be separated from the tat and kangaroo meat-filled stalls. Visitors to the market will be able to move between each side through informal crossing areas, Oxford City Council has said.

Last year, the county council closed the bike lane and installed a diversion route for cyclists while the market was in place. However, it says that the alternative route will not be possible this coming Christmas.

Nicole Rahimi says with a heavy heart she has cancelled @Oxford Christmas Market indefinitely. @OxfordshireCC & @OxfordCity have insisted on reinstating the cycle lane which had been closed since 2013. This layout makes it impossible to continue the yearly well-loved market 😢 pic.twitter.com/FcUIpxf3sa

— OurCityOurChoice (@OurCityOurChoic) July 22, 2023

The news that Oxford’s Christmas market will also play host to a working bike lane has led Nicole Rahimi, who has managed the festivities for the past 14 years, to step down from her role, a decision she claims is down to “safety fears” for pedestrians and cyclists.

“I’m devastated for all the traders, charities, and local businesses. This marks the end of my business, which existed to put on this festive market every year,” she told the Oxford Mail.

“In the end I had to put cyclists and pedestrians’ safety first.”

The news has sparked the usual anti-cycling furore, with Eddie Reeves, leader of the county council’s Conservative group, describing the local authority’s decision not to close the bike lane as an example of “woke wonkery of the worst kind”.

Classic.

Reeves also argued that the “overwhelming majority of cyclists are decent and conscientious people” and would therefore be happy to “dismount or find alternative routes to avoid Broad Street during the Season of Goodwill”.

One of the market’s traders also told the Oxford Mail: “This is a tradition, and it is unforgivable the council will not make exceptions for the sake of cyclists.”

Rahimi, meanwhile, added that the local authority’s stance on the bike lane was “unreasonable” and that it “prioritised cyclists over small businesses”.

I mean look what happened the last time someone tried to cancel Christmas. Not a good move here at all. Working around cyclists is pretty sad tbh

— Brannagans magic hat (@heyit5sam) July 22, 2023

However, a spokesperson for the council said: “The conditions regarding the cycle lane were in place when Ms Rahimi first expressed her interest in holding the Christmas market.

“Although an alternative route via St Michael’s Street was provided last year during the Christmas Market, that option is not viable this year. This was made clear to Ms Rahimi last year.”

Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council, added: “Nicole Rahimi has had more than 12 months to prepare for this change, and she submitted a proposal to the City Council that included the cycle route through the market.

“Both the City and County councils had continued to engage Ms Rahimi, as she was the preferred provider, and we are keen to get moving with the planning for this year’s event as soon as possible.

“However, now she has withdrawn from the procurement process, we will now move forward to explore alternative options for this year’s market.”

> Bike parking nightmare before Christmas as cycle racks to be removed for festive market

The row over the Broad Street bike lane isn’t the first time that the Christmas market has clashed with the needs of cyclists in the city.

Last year, the council announced that – along with the bike lane being closed for the duration of the market – bike racks near the site would also be temporarily removed during the 18- day long festive event.

Some local riders expressed disappointment at the decision and suggested the council should be encouraging people to attend the market by bike, not deterring their visit by removing a place to lock their bicycle.

Ah, Christmas, eh? What a wonderful, stress-free time. I think I’ll stick to the summer for the moment, thank you very much…

To paraphrase commentator after commentator who, throughout the 2000s, attempted to steer the viewer back to the situation on the road after announcing yet another doping positive, now back to the racing!

💔 Heartbreak for @julieJvdv, triumph for @lorenawiebes, relive the nail biting last KM of stage 3!

💔 Que c'est cruel pour @julieJvdv ! @lorenawiebes triomphe au bout d'un dernier kilomètre qui nous aura tenu en haleine !#TDFF2023 | #WatchTheFemmes | @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/97ZTF9b8zb

— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 25, 2023

And what a race it was too, as some game-playing and brinkmanship in the peloton was almost thrown back in the faces of the sprinters’ teams, who had to pull off a dramatic chase in the final kilometres to catch lone escapee Julie van de Velde.

The Fenix-Deceuninck rider had been away on her own since the 60km to go mark and – with SD Worx refusing to work behind, despite possessing the undisputed best sprinter in the world in Lorena Wiebes – still held a 40 second lead with only five kilometres remaining.

However, with Charlotte Kool’s DSM blinking first in their stand-off with SD Worx, that final 650 metre finishing straight in Montignac-Lascaux proved a bridge too far for the plucky Van de Velde.

On that never-ending straight, yellow jersey Lotte Kopecky finally hit the front for SD Worx, breaking the heart of her fellow Belgian, who she swept past with just 300 metres to go, and teeing up European champion Wiebes for what was in the end a resounding first sprint win of the 2023 Tour.

Kopecky’s fearsome lead out was enough for her to finish third on the day, extending her lead on GC, while Marianne Vos, who briefly looked capable of challenging Wiebes’ sprint, came in second as the boxed-in Kool was forced to settle for seventh.

The women's peloton really needs to finally call the bluff one day

You can't simply tow the best sprinter in the pack to the line when they've done nothing to help, knowing full well you'll lose#TDFF2023 pic.twitter.com/pgXwuSSDRB

— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) July 25, 2023

Van de Velde, meanwhile, can at least content herself with the none-too-shabby consolation prize of the polka dot jersey, picked up during her 60km solo attack.

“Lotte did such a good job in the lead-out. I suffered in her wheel, but she brought me perfectly,” Wiebes, now on to the third Tour stage victory of her career, said after her win.

“The breakaway was of course still gone with one kilometre to go. We took the [final] corner good. All the time I stayed with Lotte. The plan was that she would go and deliver me good and that’s exactly what she did. I felt Marianne start the sprint on the right of me and then I was able to catch her.

“We always believed in it. We felt it wasn’t really up to us to start the chase because we still have some hard days to go, and we don’t want to let the other girls go full out. It’s a great start. We are really happy with this and we hope to continue in this way.”

Today’s dramatic finale certainly bodes well for the sprint stages ahead – though I’m not sure how long SD Worx – who, lest we forget, possess the race’s top sprinter, one of the two big GC contenders, and the yellow jersey – will get away with their excuse of not being able to work?

I swear, sometimes it seems like Adam Hansen has been busier in retirement than when he was racing 500 grand tours back-to-back in his pro days…

The CPA riders’ union president’s latest plan to overhaul professional cycling for the better comes in the wake of the various motorbike shenanigans at this year’s Tour de France, though Hansen reckons – beyond the headline hold-ups on the Joux Plane and La Loze – that motos “influence the races too much” in general, by inadvertently providing some handy assistance for draft-seeking riders attacking or chasing back on.

> Motorbikes that foiled Tadej Pogačar attack thrown off Tour de France for one day, as UAE Team Emirates blast “unacceptable” lack of distance from riders

That’s why you always see riders – usually someone like Michał Kwiatkowski – waving away the camera motorbikes from the front of the peloton, especially when they have a teammate in the breakaway not being aided by the moto-generated slipstream.

So, what’s the former Lotto rider’s solution? Lasers (no sharks though, unfortunately).

Yesterday I purchased a later distance sensor. I will start to develop a sensor that could be attached to motorbikes in races to govern the distance from them to the riders. Motorbikes influence the races too much. Too many teams and riders complain about this. Wish me luck!… pic.twitter.com/9M31bdUuej

— Adam Hansen (@HansenAdam) July 25, 2023

The Australian tweeted this morning: “Yesterday I purchased a later distance sensor. I will start to develop a sensor that could be attached to motorbikes in races to govern the distance from them to the riders.

“Motorbikes influence the races too much. Too many teams and riders complain about this. Wish me luck!”

Hansen later added that the sensors would be “required on every cyclist, also every motor” and that would also “want a light to display that a motor stays too close for too long and everyone to see this.”

https://t.co/iMDXvlyJ9U pic.twitter.com/JKWb6HE4It

— Anthony Pope (@Plastic_Peloton) July 25, 2023

Aside from the obvious Dr Evil references, others described the 42-year-old’s DIY sensor from the shed plan an as “interesting idea”.

“Should also be applied to support cars in ITTs,” wrote Anders. “Distance dependent on how many bicycles there are in the top rack.”

> UCI clamps down on narrow handlebars, pin-less number pockets and support car trickery

Las, meanwhile, suggested drones as an alternative to the increased congestion, especially on narrow mountain passes, caused by the Tour’s enormous motoring cavalcade.

“The use of drones have been very successful in the ski world, not affecting riders and getting amazing shots,” he said.

Hansen here, on the attack solo at the Vuelta, wishing that motorbike was in front of him…

However, Hansen was less convinced about the prospect of drones flying over the peloton, replying: “Drones are too dangerous in my opinion. The controlled automated ones from DJI are too slow and to control these at high speeds is almost impossible, they only have one camera so you watch where you go or the riders.

“Racing drones are ideal and very dynamic. But... [they have] blades that can cut you open and battery life is terrible. I have four drones, my DJI wouldn’t do it. My racing drone would cut someone open if it landed in a crowd.”

Yeah, I don’t fancy the ‘blades that can cut you open’ aspect of the drone thing either, if I’m honest.

Or how about more Austin Powers-style solutions?

Well, the motor should. The thing is, riders can ride where they want. It's the motors fault.

— Adam Hansen (@HansenAdam) July 25, 2023

What do you reckon? Are lasers telling motorbike riders to stay away during races the answer? Or should the way the Tour is organised, and its reliance on an endless stream of vehicles, be next on Hansen and the CPA’s agenda?

Did someone say “Netflix Effect”?

According to figures reported by L'Équipe, the exciting, relentless racing of this year’s Tour de France was reflected in the viewing figures in its home country, with a whopping 42.5 million viewers tuning into the race for at least a minute on France Télévisions, a million more than the 2022 edition.

In addition, 3.7 million viewers in France tuned in to Eurosport’s coverage (so got to see Adam Blythe on a motorbike, the lucky sods), while the average French person watched the Grande Boucle for five hours and 55 minutes, 14 minutes more than last year.

The audience for stages shown on France 2 also broke records, with 4.2 million viewers on average (up by 130,000) and a 44.1 percent audience share.

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The biggest audience for France Télévisions came, perhaps surprisingly, during last Tuesday’s time trial for the ages by Jonas Vingegaard, as the Dane’s race-winning effort was watched by 6.3 million viewers with a peak of 8.7 million – the second-highest number to tune in to a Tour stage in the past 20 years.

And for a time trial (a time trial!) too…

I can just hear all the Club 10 geeks laughing now: ‘Oh Monsieur Prudhomme isn’t a big fan of time trials, is he? Maybe this’ll make him reconsider and stick an out-and-back dual carriageway stage on next year’s route…’

> Lime hire scheme under fire as residents claim e-bikes "deliberately" left in "dangerous places"

Naturally, this story on locals complaining about yoofs leaving Lime e-bikes strewn across the road, “endangering people”, has prompted one Twitter (or X, or Tesco Express, whatever it’s called) user to dig out a classic of the Abandoned Vehicles Endangering People genre:

‘Only a matter of time before someone gets killed’ pic.twitter.com/SL49xNVABw

— Preston Johnny (@iloveboreens) July 25, 2023

Recycling waste from businesses in Brighton city centre is to be collected by e-cargo bikes, in a scheme by cargo bike delivery service Zedify and recycling company Recorra that aims to reduce carbon emissions in the area, our sister site ebiketips reports.

The bikes will be fitted with large boxes that will take the waste away to be made into paper which will then be redistributed to offices in the city.

Read more: > Brighton city centre recycling to be collected by e-cargo bikes

> The bikes ridden to Tour de France victory: Jonas Vingegaard’s Cervelo S5, R5 and P5