Boris Johnson's cycling revolution "a gross deception", says leading anti-obesity campaigner; "Don't ride safely, ride like a bit of a tw*t",says James May; Vigil for Deliveroo rider killed in hit-and-run; LTN conflicts continue + more on the live blog

Dr Aseem Malhotra told iNews that the government is targeting the wrong things by telling the public simply to exercise to lose weight and continuing to "appease" the food industry. He says the focus should be on food if the UK's growing waistlines are to be curtailed. 

“I would tell Boris: you can’t outcycle a bad diet and we’ve got another 18 months at least before a potential coronavirus vaccine arrives, which we don’t yet know how effective it will be", says Dr Malhotra. 

“Our best defence to protect people’s health is improving metabolic health by changing diet. But there’s no money to be made from that, so there’s no focus on it.”

He also claims that you'd have to cycle "an unlimited amount" to lose weight, and shedding the pounds is all about diet: "One of the things people don’t realise is that exercise increases appetite. Even people who run marathons never lose any weight.

“Think of exercise as good for your physical and mental health, your bone structure, muscle mass, for your metabolic heath in general – but not for weight loss. The best way to lose fat is by changing diet.

“Boris needs to stop appeasing the food industry and stop these gimmicks where he’s focusing on exercising. Instead, he should be putting all his efforts saying this is a diet problem. 

"Yes, let’s get people more active, which is important for general health, but the really big elephant in the room is the fact that more than half of our diet is ultra-processed food. The Government should be taxing ultra-processed food and use that money to subsidise healthy food so everyone benefits from it.”

Do you agree with Dr Malhotra's comments, or have you managed to successfully outcycle a bad diet? Your thoughts below as per usual! 

From car-centric to cycle-centric:

It didn't happen overnight, it didn't come easy but Amsterdam in recent decades did a great effort and became more beautiful, more lively and safer.

Currently the Haarlemmerdijk is open for cyclists only.#bikeAMS #cycling #livablecities pic.twitter.com/S6tNm3Khu0

— Thomas Schlijper (@schlijper) September 2, 2020

With animosity continuing to build over Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes in the capital, it's interesting to look back at images from Amsterdam before their cycling revolution began. Like London now, people were not happy about it then either, but eventually things changed for the better. 

Driving in London is becoming stressful. Half the backroads have been blocked off, half the main roads have been reduced to one lane to accommodate cyclists and then half the other roads are full of temp lights that change back to red after 3 seconds. It’s beyond annoying

— 🇯🇲ShengYeng Sabz🇯🇲 #BLM✊🏾 (@Sabrina_tweets) September 1, 2020

It’s stressful. They don’t want us to drive yet they’re saying we should also avoid public transport unless it’s essential..

— Kamba (@DJ_Kamba) September 3, 2020

Yes. It's mad. The road out my house is being cut in half and blocked off so you have to go a long way round. This doesn't mean i don't have to use the damn car, it means I'm gonna use it more for the xtra distance! 😡
So many roads as well. The cyclist lanes are a joke as well

— Mouneer El (@MounireljJ) September 2, 2020

Just on my way home and decided to take a short cut I know through Hither Green,
All the back roads are now blocked by planters putting traffic on the main roads at a standstill.
Lewisham Council are just as bat shit crazy as Islington,Camden,Wandsworth etc#gettheroadsopenagain

— Des Powell (@dpowell248) September 3, 2020

Comments such as those above show that Londoners aren't going to change their driving habits overnight, with pressure groups such as OneWandsworth and OneOval springing up to protest against what they perceive as 'road closures', suggesting that LTNs are causing problems such as increased pollution and hindering the progress of emergency vehicles. It might be the case that congestion appears to have increased in some roads where LTNs have been implemented, but it's perhaps inevitable when some are not prepared to reduce their car dependency.

Let's surf TfL's traffic cameras around the Oval #LowTrafficNeighbourhood where, according to some locals, the surrounding roads are gridlocked since the #LTN was installed.
Oh. pic.twitter.com/kYuFXURD6J

— always last (@lastnotlost) September 3, 2020

Plus, many of the schemes appear to be working just fine. Will Londoners be dragged kicking and screaming out of their cars, or are the LTN experiments destined to fail? Let us know your thoughts in the comments as always. 

🏆 🇰🇿 @AlexeyLutsenko3 claims the win! 🏆

🏆 🇰🇿 @AlexeyLutsenko3 s’impose en solitaire ! 🏆#TDF2020 #TDFUnited pic.twitter.com/ZAyEyJkkqY

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 3, 2020

The Kazakh dominated the stage in his biggest professional win to date - full story here. 

With 10km to go @AlexeyLutsenko3 leads solo with an advantage of 28 seconds!💪 GO! GO! GO! #AstanaProTeam #TDF2020
📷@GettySport pic.twitter.com/Ubg293iU8J

— Astana Pro Team (@AstanaTeam) September 3, 2020

🏁 5km to go for 🇰🇿 @AlexeyLutsenko3!

🏁 Plus que 5km pour 🇰🇿 @AlexeyLutsenko3 !#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/IiDJqj56P9

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 3, 2020

The 27-year-old Astana rider looks like he's away, more than three minutes up on the peloton and now over 30 seconds clear of Jesús Herrada in second with less than 5km to go - will Lutsenko avoid disaster to take a solo victory? 

The former Top Gear and current The Grand Tour presenter is considerably more bike-friendly than a certain colleague of his, and demonstrates further his love for the bicycle in this "boring bike maintenance" video for Drivetribe. It's not actually that boring if you're a fan of tinkering, as May explains to us rim brake aficionados how he believes setting your brake pads up so the front hits the rim first is preferable: "The leading edge of the block meets the rim first", he says. 

"...and then as the rubber compresses and the brake flexes very slightly, the rest of the pad comes into contact. That gives you very nicely progressive, modulated braking and much better feel. 

"Bicycles of course are all about feel. Nothing communicates with its user quite as feverishly as a bicycle does." 

He then shows us how to set your brakes up as he suggested, with the help of a British Airways Executive Gold membership card. May's grand finale is this gem of a line: "Don't ride safely, ride like a bit of a twat - it's more fun." 

@LA_Griffiths @myworcester @BikeWorcester Please could you tell me where I need to take my complaint to regarding taxi ranking at Foregate St Station? You'll see from the video, taken by me on my bike, cars are forced to cross into the bus/cycle lane on the other side of the road pic.twitter.com/cDOgGSmk5J

— Andy Foster (@Wusster) August 29, 2020

The footage shows cars coming in the opposite direction, and dangerously close, to Andy Foster, which he says is being caused by illegal taxi ranking on the opposite side. According to Worcester News, taxi drivers who park outside of designated ranks causing them to overspill could be fined up to £500 in the city centre; but a lack of enforcement is allowing the situation to continue. 

Cycling advocacy group Bike Worcester described the area as "an accident waiting to happen", adding: "The taxi rank system needs a review. It’s clearly not working."

Mr Foster said yesterday that after his complaint, Worcester Regulatory Services have promised "an increase in the number of enforcement visits to this area, at various times of the day."

There's no tow truck and no fee, but Cycling UK's new service to improve the confidence of new cyclists will get more people back on the road, according to the cycling charity. The pilot Pumped Up service launched in Manchester and Birmingham today, with volunteers in the 'Pumped Up Crews' helping new cyclists feel more supported on the roads. 

The crew members can help with bike knowledge, maintenance and directions, and will be wearing bright t-shirts with the Pumped Up logo to make them easily identifiable. Cycling UK added: "The volunteer crews are in response to the huge increase in new cyclists since lockdown and aim to help the extra 1.3 million people who bought a bike since March feel more confident and happy on the roads."

The voucher scheme hasn't been without its teething problems according to numerous reports, so we'd like to hear from people who have experienced the scheme for themselves... so if you've had a bike repaired using a voucher, you want a voucher but didn't get one or you're a repairer signed up to it, do hit us up on info [at] road.cc to tell us more. 

zwift.com/uk