Road safety group slammed for “awful” drink driving campaign which claims people who don’t drive “are a burden for others”; Novak Djokovic: “I’m coming for you, Tadej Pogačar”; Vuelta pro celebrates too early in “rookie mistake” + more on the live blog

Lennert Van Eetvelt may still be young and learning his trade as a professional cyclist – but surely he knows by now that you never count your chickens, or raise your arms too early, when sprinting against Primož Roglič of all people on a mountain-top finish.

The 23-year-old Belgian, however, let youthful exuberance get the better of him within sight of the line on Pico Villuercas when, at the end of a blistering sprint 200m-long sprint, he lifted one hand off the bars to celebrate what would have been the biggest win of his short and impressive career so far – only for the wily old fox Roglič, a master of summit sprinting, to slip by on the outside.

WHAT A SPECTACULAR FNALE! 💥 Primoz Roglic wins Stage 4 in the heat and epic slopes at La Vuelta! 😮 pic.twitter.com/734f2S1IlR

— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 20, 2024

That’s got to sting.

The naivety of Van Eetvelt’s finish-line faux-pas – adding his name to cycling’s illustrious list of premature celebrators – ironically came after the Lotto-Dstny rider produced a remarkably mature, composed ride on the savage 20 per cent slopes of the Pico Villuercas, the first GC rendezvous of this year’s Vuelta.

> Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory — when cycling celebrations go wrong

After Roglič’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team controlled the peloton in the almost 40-degree heat of central Spain for much of the day, the Vuelta as predicted blew apart in the final, concrete-surfaced six kilometres of the Pico Villuercas.

While three-time Vuelta winner Roglič – something of an unknown quantity at this year’s race following another injury-stricken Tour de France – was quick to assert his authority as the bunch veered onto the steep, grippy road, it was Decathlon AG2R’s spindly Austrian climber Felix Gall who exploded the race to bits with a strong, sustained acceleration.

By the time the race turned left and onto much more reasonable, but still pretty steep, tarmac, only Gall, Roglič, and Van Eetvelt remained. A brief period of reflection following the torment saw Enric Mas, Matthew Riccitello (another promising young climber in the midst of a breakthrough season), and João Almeida regain contact, while Mikel Landa would latch on in the final kilometre.

The rest were scattered down the mountain – Antonio Tiberi the best of the rest at 18 seconds, defending champion Sepp Kuss at 28, Adam Yates all the way back at 1.29.

In the final 500m, a touch of Landismo by Soudal Quick-Step’s mercurial climber lit the blue touch paper.

Van Eetvelt – already a summit finish conqueror at the UAE Tour this year – didn’t hesitate, nor did Roglič. On the approach to the finish, curiously located right on a bend, the Belgian smartly took the inside line. He then, not so smartly, couldn’t contain his glee for the last 10m, as the latest example of Roglificiation ensued in the most cruel way yet.

“I don’t know what to say,” Eurosport pundit and Roglič’s former Visma teammate Nathan Van Hooydonck said after the finish about Van Eetvelt’s grand tour stage-denying mistake.

“He’s such a young, talented rider, and he raised his arm and thought, ‘oh no, I still have to throw my bike!’ It’s a rookie mistake – and not so smart. You always have to sprint to the finish line.”

‘Drat!’

Not that Roglič, who moves into the red leader’s jersey, will complain about his young rival’s case of overexuberance.

“The team worked harder than myself. Winning wasn’t the main objective of today, but when you see the guys working hard in this heat, I’m happy to finish it off,” the typically nonchalant Slovenian said after Vuelta stage win No. 13 of his career.

However, when asked if he went into the stage confident in his abilities, following the back injury that scuppered his Tour de France, and therefore ordered his Red Bull-Bora team to the front, a clearly bemused Roglič said: “No, not really – nobody asked me! If they asked me, I wouldn’t say for them to go so hard and control it for the victory, but I had no option.”

For poor Lennert Van Eetvelt, it seems Roglič had no choice but to mug the prematurely celebrating Belgian at the line, too.

Don’t worry Lenny, judging by your ride today, I’m sure your time will come at this Vuelta.

It’s good to know we’re not the only ones who sometimes fantasise about dropping Tour de France winners as we enjoy an extremely slow Sunday cycle – even one of the greatest tennis players of all time is guilty of a little mid-spin daydreaming too, it appears.

While out for a ride on his mountain bike at the weekend, Novak Djokovic – fresh from adding an Olympic singles gold medal to his record 24 Grand Slam titles – invoked his inner eight-year-old cycling superfan, accelerating away from his companions while shouting “Tadej Pogačar! Tour de France!”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Novak Djokovic (@djokernole)

See, these sporting megastars, they’re just like us.

“Back in training. Setting new goals. Next stop, Tour de France. (I’m coming for you, Tadej Pogačar)”, the 37-year-old wrote on Instagram, as he prepares to defend his US Open title over the next few weeks.

But Djokovic didn’t stop there, as the Olympic champion challenged Pogačar to a rather unique tennis/cycling crossover event.

“I have a challenge: You return my serve in tennis and I’ll try to follow you up the mountain in a 100m sprint,” Djokovic wrote, to which the Giro-Tour double winner replied: “Let’s do it”.

‘Come on Pogi, take it easy on me, I’m not Jonas…’

Now, that would be an interesting – albeit rather quick – watch. I heard Discovery has already made a bid for the broadcasting rights…

> "Today I came prepared": Novak Djokovic jokingly sports a bicycle helmet after being hit on the head with a metal bottle

Meanwhile, plenty of Djokovic’s fans were receptive of the idea of their man swapping his racket for a shiny new road bike and dominating, naturally, the sport’s biggest races.

“He completed tennis, now he will complete cycling,” wrote one fan on Instagram, while another said: “It’s over for the cyclists. Djoko is coming from all the trophies. Winner of Tour de France 2025.”

Well, if 2020 Olympic triathlon champion Kristian Blummenfelt reckons he can join the peloton in his 30s, and eventually win the Tour, why can’t another veteran gold medallist?

Well, I can think of about a thousand reasons why not, but it’s fun to speculate…

> Novak Djokovic banned from cycling around Wimbledon grounds

Also, this isn’t the first time that the current world number two has made his way onto the digital pages of road.cc for riding his bike.

Back in 2016, Djokovic was banned from cycling on the grounds of Wimbledon by the site’s owners for safety reasons, after he was nearly involved in a collision with a supply vehicle while training for the championships (won that year by Andy Murray, as Djokovic exited in the third round).

It was reported at the time that Djokovic uses bike rides around the complex as part of his training “because of its steep slopes” – although there was no indication he was attempting to ‘Everest’ Henman Hill, which was a pity for us I suppose.

He was reportedly told not to ride around the grounds for his own safety, as officials raised concerns that as well as potentially putting him out of the tournament, a crash could also lead to legal proceedings.

So maybe there’s another reason he shouldn’t try to follow Pogi too closely…

If this isn’t a contender for photo of the Vuelta, or even the entire cycling season, I don’t know what is, as Mikel Landa – clad in his T-Rex-themed T-shirt – is treated to some classic Spanish hospitality (crying child aside), after the Belgian squad’s bus broke down this morning, forcing the Basque climber and his teammates to get ready for stage four the old-fashioned way, on a pavement somewhere near the start line:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstepteam)

“Problems with the bus meant that we had to adapt quickly in order to get ready for stage four of the Vuelta,” Soudal – sorry, T-Rex – Quick-Step posted on social media this afternoon, alongside Wout Beel’s brilliant photos.

“On the bright side, we’ve made some new friends and experienced the beautiful Spanish hospitality.”

I’m also a big fan of the last photo included in the post, featuring James Knox pinning his race number on while perched on a drinks cool box, a proper throwback to the junior ranks that one.

Who said the life of a cyclist was glamourous?

Tom Pidcock will be hoping to cap off a perfect off-road summer by adding another rainbow jersey to his collection in Andorra next week, after being named as part of a strong British line-up for the UCI mountain bike world championships.

Pidcock, who took his maiden world title in the discipline in Glasgow last year before winning a scintillating second Olympic gold medal in July, will defend his rainbow jersey in the cross-country event alongside teammates Charlie Aldridge, who finished eighth in Paris, and national champion Cameron Orr.

The world championships form part of a packed schedule for Pidcock over the next few weeks, with the Ineos Grenadiers rider pencilled in to ride the Bretagne Classic just before heading to Par Arinsal in Andorra for the worlds, with the Tour of Britain following immediately after.

Meanwhile, Britain’s elite women’s line-up for Andorra consists of Evie Richards, who will look to reclaim her title from 2021 after finishing fifth in Paris, current national champion and 2017 world championships silver medallist Annie Last, and Scottish national champion Isla Short.

In the same week that the Road Safety Authority in Ireland has come under fire for seemingly promoting a car-centric view of travel, while attempting to dissuade people from drink and drug driver, new Garda statistics have been released which show that just five motorists have been fined in Ireland for driving in cycle lanes over the last four years.

According to the figures, released to the Green Party TD for Waterford Marc Ó Cathasaigh, fixed penalty notices of £60 were issued to five drivers for the offence between the start of 2020 and the end of 2023.

> Cycling campaigners paint fake “free parking” signs on pavement to protest against “anti-social” illegal parking in Dublin… but drivers continue to park over painted signs

According to Ó Cathasaigh, the lack of fines highlights that policing cycling lanes “just isn’t a priority”, resulting in a situation where drivers feel they can “infringe with impunity”.

“We need to do a hell of a lot better if we’re to create a genuinely safe environment for cyclists, particularly in our urban centres,” he told the Irish Times.

“The low level of FCPNs issued for these offences is a very clear indication that this just isn’t an enforcement priority.

“Cyclists are among our most vulnerable road users and their protected spaces need to be respected if we’re serious about creating an inclusive and inviting infrastructure for them to use. The lack of enforcement creates a culture whereby drivers feel that they can infringe with impunity and without any real prospect of recourse.”

> Irish politician compares cycle lanes to Berlin Wall in "jaw dropping" attack on bike lanes branded "the worst reactionary anti-cycle rant"

Meanwhile, Ciarán Ferrie, a spokesperson for cycling campaign group I Bike Dublin, said the lack of fines meted out to cycle lane-driving motorists was “shocking but not surprising”.

“The misuse of cycle lanes is something that most people in our large towns and cities experience on a daily basis and rarely, if ever, is there any evidence of enforcement,” said Ferrie, whose group has raised the issue with the Oireachtas Justice Committee, which recommended that the Garda take it more seriously – though Ferrie says he has seen little evidence of a change in the force’s attitudes towards blocked bike lanes.

The campaigner added that enforcement of the law around “the chronic abuse of existing cycling infrastructure is essential” if riding a bike is to be seen as a realistic alternative to driving.

Cycling UK has this morning praised the new Labour government’s apparent commitment to cycling, after transport secretary Louise Haigh pledged to invest “unprecedented levels of funding” in active travel, as well as developing a new road safety strategy.

As we reported earlier, Haigh explained in an interview with Laura Laker published in the Guardian how active travel would form an important part of the government’s approach to improving health and the environment, adding that “walking and cycling and moving more are essential to solving both of these in the immediate term and in the long term”.

“There’s lots of evidence to show that will reduce the number of GP appointments by hundreds of thousands, if not millions. We absolutely want to make sure that we invest at unprecedented levels,” Haigh said.

> Labour government to invest “unprecedented levels of funding” in cycling

In response to Haigh’s encouraging comments, Cycling UK’S director of external affairs Sarah McMonagle said in a statement today: “We are thrilled that the Transport Secretary has made a firm commitment to ‘unprecedented levels of funding’.

“By embracing a shift towards active travel, the government has begun to lay the foundations for a future where everyone has access to clean air, safer streets, and a more sustainable way of getting around.”

She continued: “For decades, Cycling UK has stressed the potential for cycling to not only improve public health, but address the climate crisis head-on, boost the economy, and help to ease the cost-of-living crisis for everyone. Research by the IPPR, supported by Cycling UK, revealed that at least 10 percent of the total transport budget should be dedicated to active travel within five years to ensure that these benefits are realised.

“We know from working with communities that public support is strong, and we have a clear roadmap to create happier, healthier, greener lives through cycling. We hope to see the government translate these positive words into firm spending commitments for active travel in the forthcoming Autumn Budget.”

That hope for words to turn into action has also been echoed by cyclists on social media, as 2 Wheeled Wolf responded to our story by writing: “As they say, ‘proof is in the pudding’. Too often we get the right words but not the actions to follow it.

“Good to hear what they say, but nothing more than words until we see them actioned on.”

What do you think? Are we about to witness a new dawn for cycling in the UK? Or is this just another case of empty promises?

> Best road bike saddles 2024 — here are the top bike seat picks for every budget

In case you missed it last night:

> Latest cycling event cancelled in Richmond Park, as organiser highlights “increased focus on security and logistics of cycling events in public spaces”