Live blog: Video: Close pass driver stops and (wrongly) tells cyclist he must use cycle lane - huge row ensues; Van driver in Ireland fined for shockingly fast close pass; Alex Dowsett educates Twitter user on riding two abreast + more

Steady yourself with stiff cup of tea and a hobnob first, then dive in... https://t.co/vWnpsE4KJr

— Carl Eve (@CarlEveCrime) June 11, 2019

We can summarise the article in question by Plymouth Herald journalist Carl Eve as this: 'Some teenage lads organised a group ride through town, some of the locals were unhappy, they allegedly shouted some abuse at woman who honked her horn at them (read that article here), but that's a bit unfair and what they're doing ain't all that bad really". 

The writer has a point; however we're treated to - amongst other peculiar pieces of prose - comparisons between Viking invasions and lads on bikes, a fictional character Eve has named 'Brigadier Flatulent-Buttockclench' and a guide on how to deal with teenagers before arriving at that point. As the writer says in his tweet, you may want to dedicate a good 20 minutes of your time with a cup of tea and perhaps several biscuits to digest what is being said... 

A cyclist has posted a video to YouTube showing a very close pass by a motorist who subsequently drove alongside him then got out of his car and, as well as issuing threats, repeatedly insisted (wrongly) that the rider must use an adjacent shared-use path.

Well done to the cyclist for managing to remain calm - and to the other (very well-informed) rider who stopped to support his insistence that he had every right to be on the road, and that it was the driver who had broken the law by not giving sufficient room.

In a lengthy argument, the driver insists that the cyclist shouldn’t be in the middle of the road, that he should have lights on, and – when he is informed the cyclist is filming with a helmet camera – accuses him of “going around looking for trouble” so he can post videos to YouTube.

Warning - The video contains a lot of swearing.

#awkward pic.twitter.com/slpWc97QpE

— Alex fernihough (@A13ex_f) June 10, 2019

As Kil0ran says in the comments section, there is almost insufficient levels of popcorn in the world to get us through this Whyte vs Rich Energy saga - as a photo is now doing the rounds of Rich Energy Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean riding... a WHYTE mountain bike! Awkward...  

Enjoy the free PR while you can guys. Those with an IQ higher than their age realise you are Mickey Mouse. Oh how we will laugh in due course. We are actually investing money in F1 whilst you are investing zero. Total parasites who knew about us for 2 years before piping up #F1

— Rich Energy (@rich_energy) June 10, 2019

For some context to the above, energy drink brand and sponsor of the Haas F1 team Rich Energy burst onto the scene with a logo that looked remarkably similar to the distinctive antler logo used by Whyte Bikes - Whyte noticed, and so took Rich Energy to court a couple of months ago and won quite convincingly. The judge said: "I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that both Mr Kelly and Mr Storey (Rich Energy's CEO and web designer respectively) have lied about not being familiar with Whyte’s logo. I find it more likely than not that they were familiar with it, and that they directly and knowingly copied it."

Case closed? It appears not, as Rich Energy continue to use the logo and make childish swipes on social media. Whyte couldn't help but do some trolling of their own, placing their logo on a Mercedes F1 poster - to which Rich Energy's social media person clearly didn't get the joke, bizarrely saying in their Tweet above: we are actually investing money in F1 while you are investing zero". 

The brand are still getting something of a pasting in the comments, we've picked some of the best for you below. Anyone actually ever seen a can of Rich Energy in a shop, by the way?

A bike company not investing into F1. What a disaster! No idea how @WhyteBikes will survive this..

But seriously though, please stop this unprofessional social media circus @rich_energy it's just immature

— AbsolutePowerUnit (@JhinGin) June 10, 2019

pic.twitter.com/LEUH8taFqZ

— Peter Russell (@PeterKuninch) June 10, 2019

Hey @HaasF1Team does this company represent your views? Calling other established companies, and people, parasites?

— Matthew Leppard (@leppard_matt) June 10, 2019

Wow have you guys employed @realDonaldTrump as your PR advisor

— Jamie Burke (@JamieRBurke) June 10, 2019

This just makes me want to buy a @WhyteBikes and I don't even ride a bike.

I have never seen something so unprofessional from a professional company. You claim you are a big brand yet noone heard of you before you sponsored @HaasF1Team

Tweets like this destroy brands

— james ward-gwilliam (@jameswardg) June 10, 2019