Tadej Pogačar unleashes Strava KOM revenge hunt after noticing Lombardia 2021 win was flagged; A humdinger to add to the puzzling cycle lane collection; How to train like a Tour de France champ — step one, get a dog; LTN vandalism + more on the live blog

Can whoever it is flagging Tadej Pogačar's rides on Strava please stop it? The man's got an Il Lombardia hat-trick attempt to rest up for, he doesn't need to be smashing KOM recovery missions 48 hours out from race day.

First they came for his Tour of Flanders win (no, really, the wall-to-wall TV coverage and thousands of roadside fans weren't enough legitimacy apparently), now it's his 2021 Lombardia file...

> Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava... gets flagged

Only one thing for it... better get them back, fuelled by the rage and injustice of a flagrant flagger...

Fair enough, there's something pretty cool about being able to say 'flag as much as you want, I'll just go get them back in training'. Yep, that's seven KOMs successfully returned to their rightful owner, mainly on the climb out of Gazzaniga.

Not just reclaimed, reclaimed and put out of reach, 40 SECONDS faster than the 2021 Il Lombardia peloton over the full 9km at 7 per cent sector. The final kilometre at 9 per cent plus? Yeah, I'll just smash up that at 20km/h...

Don't poke the bear...

Green Party London Assembly member Siân Berry has spoken out about the "astonishing length of time to work on [Sadiq Khan's active travel] plans that haven't got beyond paper".

The comments refer to the Liveable Neighbourhoods initiative, announced in 2017, approved in 18 locations across London and which include increased pedestrian space, cycle lanes and safer crossings.

However, My London reports that more than half have been "indefinitely paused since the pandemic". Only two, Coppermill Village in Waltham Forest and Brixton town centre have started construction, Transport for London no longer inviting new bids for funding through the programme.

The mayor's office told Ms Berry that TfL "continues to engage" with boroughs over the projects, however Berry replied "it is no good to anyone if schemes to make London greener get stuck on the drawing board".

"We urgently need a rapid, well-funded and comprehensive scheme to transform London into a network of green, people-friendly streets," she said.

In the latest of the Italian autumn one-day races, Andrea Bagioli earned Soudal Quick-Step another win, number 55 of the season and the second since the talk of a merger with Jumbo-Visma first surfaced.

Bagio - you amazing fighter 🤗#GranPiemonte #TheWolfpack pic.twitter.com/UnAXXjv4CO

— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) October 5, 2023

On Tuesday, Ilan Van Wilder won Tre Valli Varesine, afterwards not holding back in his TV interview, telling the world, "We don't agree with this shit".

"It's difficult weeks for us, so this victory is really for my teammates and for our staff, to show that we don't agree with all this shit," he said. "We want to continue as Soudal Quick-Step. We are strong enough and I hope it will be like this." 

With Jumbo-Visma's boss Richard Plugge reportedly going to be in charge of the new, Amazon co-sponsored outfit, speculation has grown that Soudal Quick-Step staff and riders will be hit hardest by the merger, many unlikely to get a place on the new team.

It's believed as few as six riders, including Remco Evenepoel, would be in Plugge's plans (Wout van Aert is reportedly keen on Belgian national team teammate Yves Lampaert also joining), plus title sponsor Soudal and Specialized bikes. 

In short, not much left for those not deemed important enough for the merged team. The Italian puncheur is off to Lidl-Trek next season, but we'll see if Bagioli uses his winning platform to air another message from the resistance...

This was the scene at one low-traffic neighbourhood in Edinburgh, vandals having chucked paint over a planter and sign preventing through traffic. Safer Greener Silverknows, a group promoting a "safer, healthier and more pleasant community for everyone" said the "mindless"  vandalism had potentially occurred thanks to "yobs emboldened by the pro-car, anti-active travel rhetoric" we've heard this week...

> Cycling charity accuses Conservatives of "ill-fated attempt to win" votes with pro-motoring policies "undermining" active travel success

Tempted to take your training indoors now the evenings are getting darker? We've got a road.cc Zwift club that you can join, if you haven't already had your fix during the rest of the day!

We've got some ride plans for over the winter to keep us all motivated... oh, and there might be road.cc socks up for grabs too!

Join the road.cc Zwift club here!

This one slipped through the net earlier in the week but was simply too good (or should that be bad) not to give a live blog shout out... a quite exceptional addition to the collection of Britain's most brainless bike lanes...

Trying to plan a cycling route, and faced with crap like this. What, just ride smack into the kerb ffs? Even a shared path would be a bonus here. pic.twitter.com/urM1x2rsAx

— Paul Marshall (@paulm844) October 1, 2023

At least they were kind enough to install a sign telling you it was the end of the cycle route, as if you wouldn't notice when you abruptly slam into the kerb. And again, don't worry about the fact you're going to have to stop, if you don't crash, and either go out into the busy road or lug your bike onto the verge, we painted the tarmac green for you!

Don't worry, it gets even better...

And if you get doored, well so be it. pic.twitter.com/HJKRSFanYG

— Paul Marshall (@paulm844) October 2, 2023

This is York Road in Jarrow, in the North East, and Paul updated everyone that he unsurprisingly opted against going all the way to be "catapulted into a traffic hell roundabout". 

"I've seen worse," he added. "It should ideally stop further back or lead to a shared path. The kerb particularly bothers me as it would be easy to assume there'll be a dropped kerb, then realise last minute that there's not; especially if you're heading right, suddenly got to cross two lanes."

Thankfully, a rider from Australia was on hand to make us feel marginally less bad about our infrastructure...

This is a worldwide phenomenon, I found this in Melbourne Australia back in April.
The shared path was a lovely piece of infrastructure that wasn’t really required in the quiet residential area but it would have been nice across this very busy roundabout. pic.twitter.com/EfxfHXNwU9

— Bikery (@Bikery1966) October 2, 2023