British Cycling calls for regulation of sportives after Yorkshire route clash (+ video)

British Cycling - regulation? Don't make me laugh!

British Cycling have actively encouraged two major sportives to be run on a significant part of the Tour de France route both of which aspire to have up to 1-2k cyclists on each event the weekend after the Tour! Madness!!

All they are concerned with is sportive organisers registering so they can take a fee for each person signing up and also so public register on BCs website.

The vultures are circling, there is no need to "regulate" these events, there is a need however to regulate motorists........oh wait.......

I can understand BC's concerns, although I'd also suggest it would be great for them if they took control of Sportives.

Sportives are on borrowed time if you ask me. The level of organisation and safety requirements are shockingly low when compared to that of an average road race.

That should be utterly fine as its not a race... however the brutal reality is that for far too big a minority of sportive riders it is a race... its very much a race. If you listen to conversations on the club runs and cafe, its more often than not called a race.

Hell, the general public call it a race.

It is a bloody race... that somehow gets away with it by adding an extra few hundred riders on at the back who just poodle around.

With that in mind, you can't just let these guys out there running rampage without something going very wrong... and when it does, the repercussions will be felt across the sport.

I think its a great example of the attitude of the stereotypical sportive rider that they didn't stop for the road closure... in fact one made a point and put himself and others at significant risk to actively resist respecting the legal road closure.

I'd love to speak to that stripey man and ask him just what he felt he was doing, and why he felt that he did not have to respect the closure... Would he have been as ballsy if it was an ambulance travelling towards him for instance?

Now... is it that sportives attracts A-holes, or is it more a state of mind created by the perception of what a sportive rider is buying into when entering an event? I think the latter

I can get why a sportive rider might think 'why should I have to wait for them, why is their event more important than mine?'... the answer being that one has an active rolling road closure and one hasn't, but I don't think that would really resonate.

'regulation' sounds like a scary word, but has the potential for good if done in the right way (that's a big 'if')

Better centralised organisation of sportives would be a start. Then something to ensure proper adherence to the codes that are already out there.

People have been saying for a while that something needs to be done -and not just Surrey county council.

If the public see these events as being chaotic and disruptive then sooner or later regulation will come in - and not in a good way

White and green and no helmet. This guy is crazy (1:45 minutes)!

British Cycling are using a single brief incident to go for a power grab over non competitive cycling.

I suppose you can't blame them: They have to generate income and a cut of all those sportive entry fees would come in handy for the next UCI election and they call themselves 'British Cycling' when actually they only deal with a very small part of cycling in Britain so must feel quite marginalised and keen to extend their jurisdiction

I don't think regulation is justified by a two minute youtube clip however nor would it do anything but drive people away from cycling by adding yet more costs and red tape

No-one and I'll repeat that no-one comes out of this well with the obvious exception of the racers. Their riding skills are the only reason that there was not a very serious collision.

The organisers of both events must take the maximum blame as both events would have posted routes. All it would have taken would have been a simple web search. British Cycling stating that even though the sportive was listed on their web site it was not registered means that British Cycling had no way of identifying a potential clash is a bit pathetic. The Cyclothon organisers not informing riders that there was a race in the area is also a bit pathetic.

The marshal out of shot needs to be trained how to speak to members of the public. The problem seams to have been not what the riders were asked to do but how they were asked. I certainly would not have reacted well to being spoken to like that. He very quickly lost control of the situation.

Other questions. If the marshal in the distance and his actions are anything to go by...
1) Why do the marshal's tabards not say "Race Marshal" on them? This would give additional authority to his request.
2) How much warning did he give the riders. As this event was using minimum road closure how late did he leave it to put out his board?

One final question, why are the escort vehicles not more prominently marked as race vehicles?

None of this in any way excises the behaviour of the riders who then rode straight at the racers. The wazzock in the stripes should be tarred & feathered!

I think that we need to see some other footage before we start screaming for legislation or banning sportives.

Sportives have brought a lot of people into cycling. Yes some people treat them like races but mostly your competing against yourself. Sportives are a great way to push yourself without the pressure of racing.

Just as a side note. Why does Sportives come up as a misspelling?

And now for some comments from under the bridge!

Christ, there are some real selfish, arrogant, ignorant tools riding bikes.

I despair.

'Both events were listed on the British Cycling website'

Rolls eyes.

Is this just a knee jerk reaction from British Cycling to cover some embarrassment on their part that this overlap of events occurred.

The New Forest NIMBY's also want tight regulation of sportifs and group rides.

This could quickly get out of hand and you could find your local club run is subject to the same rules and regs, which would be ridiculous but could happen.

I'm really not a fan of Sportives - I've done a few an won't do anymore. I raced Road, TT and MTB for a number of years and never found the regulation of the events I rode a pain. Most of the regulation is there to make the event run smooth and safely.

Sportives on the other hand are often treated as unoffical races by many that take part in them. The simple fact that they are timed and riders given that time will encourage many to ride and behave like racers. They do need regulation and they need better policing by marshals and event organisers.

People with attitude like the morons in this video need to be banned from taking part in all cycling events nationally for a period of time. They only serve to bring the sport into disrepute - this time with other bloody cyclists

Rich N

If the sportive riders hadn't behaved like dicks there wouldn't be a problem to discuss. Little Englanders asserting their "rights"; bankers!

Quote:

Hey that's what this world needs; a little more regulation. The answer is already there for the love of God, they were both on the same British Cycling website!!!

yep, that and a total disregard for common sense.

Obviously for a closed rode race there is a process and race marshals and traffic police have an authority to control all road traffic after the race is approved. The sportive riders and the (shocking) Yorkshireman on the soundtrack were plainly in the wrong. But I'm curious. Under what law would you regulate Sportives? It's not a race, riders have the right to travel where they wish on the road just as drivers do. If a critical mass ride is legal so is a Sportive...

British Cycling is pretty much about racing but many (most?) cyclists are clearly more about participation and recreational cycling. I think we should be careful before asking for extra control of cyclists as road users, if there's a bill passed you can depend that it will have some extra unwelcome curtailment of cyclist freedoms. There's a lot of anti-cycling MPs who would love to seek amendments to a bill and to debate the matter in the house...

Eh?

That is random. How were people riding past the road block. What were the marshals doing wrong? Is the have a go hero sportive rider cliche so true?

They shouldn't have routed them against each other but it shouldn't mattered if the sportive riders had respected the road closure.

The guy arguing with the marshal is a complete and utter idiot. I really feel for the marshal having to deal with a nutcase like that.

I am NOT a fan of Sportives, I think people tend to turn them into a race,there is also the I paid my money so I don't need to obey the highway code attitude (by a minority), but what really does worry me is how will any regulation distinguish between Audax and Sportive?

I would hate to see Audax being impacted by the current passing fad of cycling and Sportives.

Ha ha ha! That video is brilliant, the audio at least.

Were the sheep real or put in for comic effect?

Guy deliberatlely riding toward the group, what a fucking cock. Almost as bad as the guy arguing with the marshall "They went through a road closed sign" -"Ahh you've always got an excuse". It's not an excuse it's a road closed sign you dick.

Drivers v cyclists, cyclists v pedestrians, horse riders v cyclists/cars, the Daily Mail v everything so why not cyclists against cyclists?

Give me strength...

Hey that's what this world needs; a little more regulation. The answer is already there for the love of God, they were both on the same British Cycling website!!!

Race organiser in the comments states the race had a formal temporary TRO allowing the rolling road closure.

Sorry for my language...BUT

OH FUCK NO....

Do NOT let British Cycling do the regulation. Yes there needs to be some sort of code that sportives all have to be run by, but it should NOT be done by British Cycling, CTC or any other "big" organisation like that.

The reason being. Sportives are where people like myself with "different" bikes can ride along side normal upright riders without separation and being put on short courses and being segregated because we ride different bikes. British Cycling and the CTC both try and do this.