Telegraph admits publishing "erroneous" Strava data — corrects story claiming "death trap" cyclists are hitting "52mph" while chasing London segments; Giro d'Italia helmet row; Richmond Park Strava segment flagged as hazardous + more on the live blog

The Telegraph has removed figures from its story published on Friday claiming that "Lycra lout cyclists are creating death traps all over Britain", the piece justified with dodgy GPS data incorrectly suggesting cyclists were hitting speeds of 52 mph in London.

> Telegraph journalists told "check your research" after front page claims cyclists hit 52mph chasing London Strava segments... despite that being faster than Olympic track cyclists

The correction and amendment has been made online and comes after the newspaper published this on its front page last week...

The online version of the story is now titled: "How cyclists are turning UK roads into death traps". 

In a correction at the bottom of the article the newspaper admitted publishing "erroneous" data and claimed Strava data "cannot be checked or independently verified". Adding to the bizarre tale of one of the nation's biggest media organisations getting something so simple so spectacularly wrong, over the weekend it emerged that one of the journalists working on the story was a former BBC fact checker. No, really...

The Telegraph's correction states: "This article and its headline have been amended to remove speeds recorded on Strava which Strava has now deleted and which appear to have been erroneous. Data is uploaded to Strava by users, either automatically or manually, and cannot be checked or independently verified; the data is accepted on trust.  We are happy to clarify this point and correct the record."

The newspaper was ridiculed and heavily criticised for the piece, and there will be concerns the correction comes too late for the thousands of people who will have already read the headline online and in print.

Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman described the article as "hate speech" and said certain sections of the press' demonisation of cyclists as killers has "just got to stop".

I don’t normally get involved in calling out headlines but it’s just getting bonkers.

If this was directed at a gender, race or religion it would be rightly called out as the hate speech it is. Mums, dads, sons and daughters being labelled as killers. It’s just got to stop. pic.twitter.com/DWWBSNbQl8

— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) May 17, 2024

"Mums, dads, sons and daughters being labelled as killers. It's just got to stop," he said. "I don't normally get involved in calling out headlines but it's just getting bonkers. If this was directed at a gender, race or religion it would be rightly called out as the hate speech it is."

The Sky Sports News presenter Sanny Rudravajhala also expressed his anger at the article's inaccuracies, addressing the authors on X/Twitter: "Your whole piece centres on injuries and deaths from cyclists without anything to compare it with. Four deaths caused by cyclists for example versus say the 1,711 from cars in 2022?

"Or 143,326 injuries from car accidents versus the 462 from cyclists that you mention. And bloody hell, this quote, 'Strava enthusiasts claim dangerous cyclists are a small minority'. - I mean, clearly they are? Or are the majority of Strava cyclists dangerous?

"I just cannot imagine compromising my entire journalistic training to the point of providing no balance whatsoever bar one random rider vox in an entire piece. Please do better."

The glut of media coverage around "dangerous cycling" was sparked by a recent coroner's inquest into the tragic case of 81-year-old Hilda Griffiths, killed in a collision with a cyclist in Regent's Park back in 2022, with the inquest being told that the cyclist would face no charges. 

Last weekend, the Telegraph reported that another pedestrian was hit by a cyclist at the same spot where Ms Griffiths was fatally struck. Strava responded by urging cyclists to "prioritise everyone's safety", stating that "hazardous" segments could be flagged on its platform. 

In response, the government agreed to introduce tougher laws for "dangerous cyclists" who kill or injure. The amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, put forward by Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, would introduce the offence of 'causing death by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate cycling, and causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate cycling', with Transport Secretary Mark Harper saying the proposed legislation would ensure the "tiny minority" of reckless cyclists would face the "full weight of the law", while protecting "law-abiding cyclists".

> Alright smart-arse! Now you can turn your butt into a fitness tracker

It's a full on job when you work for a team whose website lists 48 sponsors and partners...

> Former cycling film actor accused of motor doping at French stage race dramatically flees and knocks down race director with his van

Lefevere or the UCI: pick your fighter... no, you can't say neither...

The two comments we've got over on Facebook sum up the way this sort of thing divides opinion...

Steve Soper: "Stupid doesn't really cover most of these so called officials."

Paul Wilson: "Imagine the guys who are in charge of the rules applying the rules. The horror. You can't have it both ways, if the weather is increasing the danger then all the more reason to enforce the safety rules."

We'll spare you the poll...

The main segment in south-west London's Richmond Park, a popular destination for cyclists in the English capital, has been flagged as hazardous after a week where Strava was thrust into the spotlight by much coverage around "dangerous cycling" in the national press.

The Royal Parks, the charity which also manages Richmond Park, asked Strava to remove a popular segment in Regent's Park due to a pedestrian being killed in a collision with a cyclist in two years ago.

In response, Strava told road.cc that it was urging cyclists to "prioritise everyone's safety" and "behaviours related to" the death of a pensioner — hit by a cyclist at speeds of 25-29mph as a group ride completed laps of Regent's Park — "violate" its community standards. The ride-sharing app also made it clear the feature to flag a segment as hazardous already exists.

On Friday, we reported that Telegraph journalists had been told to "check your research" after the paper put a story on its front page claiming that cyclists are hitting 52mph in pursuit of London Strava segments... despite that being faster than Olympic track cyclists, with Richmond Park named as one segment where cyclists were "creating death traps".

The story led Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman to criticise the media's portrayal of cyclists. "Mums, dads, sons and daughters being labelled as killers. It’s just got to stop," he said.

A grim day at the Giro yesterday as the riders tackled a shortened, but still freezing cold and sodden, day of riding through the mountains. Julian Alaphilippe was again one of the protagonists, up the road chasing stage victory before Tadej Pogačar's latest display of inevitable superiority.

Everyone will have a story from stage 16, few who completed it will forget it quickly, but one reaction angle coming post-stage was regarding the jury's attitude to Alaphilippe briefly removing his helmet mid-stage to remove his wet hat beneath. Patrick Lefevere took to Twitter (a quintet of words that'll strike fear into anyone, I know, but don't worry, nothing contemptible today) to point out his rider was fined 200 Swiss francs (£172) for the pleasure.

Rider taking off mandatory helmet during the race./ Rider
131 ALAPHILIPPE Julian, UCI ID 10007155752 (SOQ)
200 CHF fine
That how they treat riders who want to take off his wet cap under his helmet 🙏

— Patrick Lefevere (@PatLefevere) May 21, 2024

"That's how they treat a rider who wants to take off his wet cap under his helmet," he wrote.

You can certainly understand Lefevere's frustration (a sentence I never thought I'd write), given the extreme weather conditions perhaps the jury could have cut Alaphilippe some slack in not wanting a soaking hat on his head? I'm sure they'd argue it is just their job to enforce the rules as they are written.

The replies suggest the cycling-watching public are split on it:

"The UCI wants a big Christmas Party this year!! Often wondered if fines are their party fund?"

"The correct way to do it is to stop, take of his helmet and wet cap, put helmet back on and set off again."

"When he falls on the wet road and suffers a serious head injury, everyone screams that he should have obeyed the rules. Or would he have done everything right even in this case? The penalty is justified if he doesn't stop, there are already enough serious injuries this season!"

"UCI are clowns sadly"

I'm glad we've cleared that one up then. Alaphilippe was also the subject of post-stage comments from fellow breakaway rider Ewen Costiou of Arkéa - B&B Hotels who finished ninth, the young Frenchman thanking his compatriot for taking "a big turn just for me while he was dead". The TV pictures showed the peloton nearing as the two-time champion got on the front of the breakaway, pushing the pace and emptying the tank to earn them some welcome seconds before he subsequently dropped out the back of the telly completely empty.

"He's a huge champion, it's great to have done that, he didn't have to," Costiou said.

Tremendous ride yet again and another most combative rider award for @alafpolak1 🙌

Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/LCihtmgjjJ

— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) May 21, 2024

And finally, we can't let this opportunity pass without another look at the Frenchman's amusing quotes published on his team's website. I say 'amusing' because Soudal-QuickStep are the masters of seamless sponsor shout-outs. This is the team, after all, who (in 2022 during Alaphilippe's recovery from a crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège) reported their rider was now strong enough to "resume light training on a set of Tacx rollers".

It gave us a laugh imagining the team's doctor earnestly concluding: 'I'm sorry, Julian. Your body is not strong enough for Elite or Wahoo just yet. For people with your injuries, I always prescribe Tacx...'

Welcome to today's shoehorned sponsor shout-out...

"It was a crazy day," Alaphilppe said. "With the route change because of the weather, and the full gas tempo from the start all the way to the finish. The weather didn't make it easy, but Specialized's rain tyres have lots of grip in these conditions. I rode on my instinct and I can be happy with the way I gave my best.

"It was cold today, but I had my Castelli clothing to keep me warm and dry, which helped me stay in the lead so deep into the stage."

Fair play, superb name-dropping, plus the sponsors pay the bills to keep the team running... and we enjoy reading it and putting it on the blog. Long may it continue...