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"Vine you p****!": Jeremy Vine recognised by angry delivery driver; Anyone got the route? Bizarre Romandie standstill; 1 in 10 UK drivers experience road rage EVERY TIME they drive; UAE confident Tadej back for the Tour + more on the live blog

Two live blogs to go until the weekend, Dan Alexander is on duty for Thursday's...

SUMMARY

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27 April 2023, 14:40
"Vine you p****!": Jeremy Vine recognised by angry delivery driver

Jeremy's got a fan...

Vine said he had "no idea" why the outburst, adding that he had never seen the courier, hands full with Amazon parcels, before. The video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times though, Vine telling the Mail...

"I can't be sure the guy was Amazon but he walked to a front door behind me and waited with the parcels for someone to answer. It's lovely to be acknowledged in the street but this is not quite the personal service Amazon promise. I'm hoping they'll get in touch and explain if he's one of theirs. The weird thing was, the insult came without any explanation and I've never seen the guy before, so I have no idea why he got his boxers in a twist. Just another day commuting in London."

 Amazon has not yet commented on the footage.

They have however become live blog regulars, although not necessarily for the best reasons, after an Amazon-branded van was seen blocking an Edinburgh bike lane for 15 minutes.

Amazon van driver Leith Walk cycle lane (Edward Tissiman/Twitter)

The cyclist who spotted the blockage waited for the driver to return, was told to "deal with it" before we contacted Amazon and were told they would investigate... but Amazon Logistics engages independent delivery providers to provide delivery services, meaning it's "important to note" that Amazon does not own the vehicles nor employ the drivers, so it would be "wrong to say Amazon driver". Make sense?

Oh, and then it happened again...

Amazon bike lane 2 (Edward Tissiman/Twitter)

> The sequel nobody asked for — bike lane Amazon van is back

27 April 2023, 15:54
Ethan Hayter wins stage two of Tour de Romandie, takes race lead

Two road stages, two wins for the British riders. Yesterday it was Ethan Vernon, today Ethan Hayter... (yes, I did just check to see if there was a third Ethan in the race due tomorrow's stage)...

And just as dominant as Vernon's win yesterday. Continuing the surprising names in the places theme (after Romain Bardet was fourth yesterday), Juan Ayuso and Bardet again (!), second and third. Maybe the Frenchman's found his calling after a winter of bulking up? 

Hayter takes the GC lead too thanks to his consistency so far, Tobias Foss the first of the GC challengers, is in second place, six seconds back.

27 April 2023, 13:33
Further safety measures at Oxford roundabout where cyclist was killed
The Plain Roundabout Oxford, July 2022 (via Google Street View)

Yesterday we reported that Oxford City Council had signed up for further safety measures, requiring developers of construction sites to plan their HGV journeys to avoid busy or high risk areas, such as around schools at home time. 

Well, Oxfordshire County Council has today announced further safety restrictions to be implemented at The Plain, a notorious roundabout where a cyclist, Dr Ling Felce, was killed by an unlicensed HGV driver under the influence of cocaine last year.

The roundabout is used by around 12,000 cyclists each day and underwent initial safety works at the end of last year, with amendments to road markings and traffic signs and the installation of light bike lane segregation, road studs and bollards.

The Plain roundabout, Oxford

> Improvements to notorious roundabout will benefit both cyclists and motorists, campaigners say

Today, the county council has announced loading restrictions at the roundabout, meaning there will be a peak hour loading ban, between 7-10am and 4.30-7pm, to "improve safety, particularly for the most vulnerable road users".

Councillor Andrew Gant said: "We know that any measures to improve safety and visibility at this busy roundabout will be welcomed by the thousands of people who use it every day."

27 April 2023, 14:27
What is an all-road bike? Is this new bike breed really an N+1 killer?
27 April 2023, 14:11
Shimano's first quarter sales not up to forecast, despite already lower projections
27 April 2023, 07:46
Anyone got the route? Bizarre scenes as Tour de Romandie standstill after group takes wrong turn

About as relatable as pro cycling gets, a scene repeated up and down the country every weekend as another group ride curses leaving the navigation to *insert unreliable rider* again...

This was apparently the gruppetto of yesterday's stage who took a wrong turn and would have emerged at the wrong point of the finishing circuit so were quite understandably stopped by the race marshals. Still, good to see even at WorldTour level the usual faces you'd see in the 'group ride gets lost' scenario...

Astana rider: Arms outstretched, nattering away, almost certainly making an entirely predictable joke about 'who left them in charge again?'

Tour de Romandie confusion (GCN+/Eurosport)

Israel rider 195 Giacomo Nizzolo: On the ball, very keen, has the route on his device even thought its not his ride, notices the mistake, communicates effectively. Underrated member of the group ride.

Team Arkéa Samsic rider 161 Kévin Vauquelin: Tired, fed up, started cramping an hour ago and just wants to be home. Annoyed at the extra mileage.

Elia Viviani: Too old for this nonsense. Makes mental note to stay in bed next week and head out solo.

Tour de Romandie confusion (GCN+/Eurosport)

DSM rider: Couldn't care less, he really needed a piss so the stop's very welcome...

Tour de Romandie confusion (GCN+/Eurosport)
27 April 2023, 13:29
Ned Boulting enjoys London's latest low-traffic neighbourhood
27 April 2023, 11:53
Jacob Rees-Mogg calls "optical illusion" cycle lane a "failed experiment" after 59 injuries in a year
Jacob Rees-Mogg and Keynsham High Street cycle lane

> Jacob Rees-Mogg calls "optical illusion" cycle lane a "failed experiment" after 59 injuries in a year

"Talking of failed experiments"...

"If so, similar consideration is also deserving in other decisions, wouldn't you agree?"...

"Oh.. so you do recognise the concept of failure. Now, conquer self reflection and you might just have a realisation"...

Just a few of Jacob's replies on Twitter... no idea what they're referencing...

27 April 2023, 11:27
C̶h̶a̶t̶G̶P̶T̶ ChatDSM: AI Giro d'Italia team announcements

The second team to confirm its Giro line-up after Jumbo-Visma's stacked support crew for Primož Roglič, including Sepp Kuss and TT world champ Tobias Foss. Shame DSM didn't let ChatGPT actually pick the riders, that would have been fun... 'Sorry, Romain, plans change... computer says Giro'

27 April 2023, 11:24
Drum & Bass on The Bike goes international (again)... if you happen to be in Berlin this weekend

From Bristol to Berlin...

Drum and Bass on the Bike (Image credit: Hamish Belding/Twitter)

> Cyclists take over Bristol for "mind-blowing" Drum & Bass on the Bike ride 

27 April 2023, 09:36
One in ten UK drivers experience road rage EVERY TIME they drive
Swindon road rage assault (screenshot via Ady Short vid)

Research from business comparison site iCompario suggests that one in ten UK drivers experience road rage every time they drive... not occasionally, not when they are stressed... every time.

Of course these sorts of surveys aren't always the most, how shall we say it? Reliable? Accurate? Comprehensive? Maybe that's too harsh, in short they are carried out by surveying 2,000 people, in this case 2,000 UK drivers to get an idea of what the numbers could be.

And yep, of the 2,000 UK drivers, 65 per cent said they experience road rage at least once a month, while one in ten (10 per cent) said they experience it every time they get behind the wheel. Taking the first figure and applying the percentage to the number of full driving licence holders it suggests 27 million people in the UK experience road rage once a month or more frequently.

On the 'factors most likely to give drivers road rage' fortunately/unfortunately (depending on your outlook) cyclists weren't included. 35 per cent said witnessing other drivers using a mobile phone caused them road rage, while fast drivers (31 per cent), middle lane hogging (28 per cent), slow drivers (30 per cent) and tailgaters (49 per cent) were the other factors.

In a final section we certainly didn't expect to be reading iCompario spoke to a doctoral researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh who suggested drivers should listen to music as close to 60bpm as possible to "have a calming effect on the body, reducing heart rate and muscle tension".

Yes, there's a playlist... Beyonce, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Bruno Mars, Paolo Nutini, Bon Iver, Radiohead, Lana Del Ray, Celeste, Oasis, Tame Impala, Whitney Houston, Sam Smith... 'Siri, define hit-and-miss'...

Anyway, make of this blog post what you will, don't all angrily dive into the comments at once...

27 April 2023, 08:48
"There is enough time": UAE Team Emirates confident Pogačar back for Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar, La Fleche Wallone 2023

UAE Team Emirates' sporting manager Joxean Fernández Matxin is confident Tadej Pogačar will have recovered sufficiently to join his teammates at their pre-Tour de France altitude camp.

Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Matxin explained the team's star rider will take three weeks of rest, skipping the planned wind tunnel testing and recon of key stages, instead hoping to be fit in time to join the team in the Sierra Nevada from mid-May to early June.

> Tadej Pogačar forced to abandon Liège-Bastogne-Liège after early crash, suffers fractures

The surgeon who operated on Pogačar's wrist said: "Pogačar is a top athlete, with an incredible medical environment. He has the best cards in terms of recovery. In the best case scenario, he will be ready in time for the Tour. The scaphoid is a special bone, so we have to wait for the scan. But all expectations are that it should work out."

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

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50 comments

Avatar
IanMK replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
10 likes

It's ridiculous. In the original photo I can see a perfectly good zebra crossing with NO kerb. If specific facilities are provided for pedestrians to cross the road it should be law that they have to use them. Just a bunch of entitled snowflakes that should have to be insured to be allowed out of their homes, they don't even pay pavement tax.

EDIT: apologies I inexpicably slipped in to my drivist persona,  it won't happen again cheeky

Avatar
HoldingOn replied to IanMK | 1 year ago
7 likes

IanMK wrote:

Just a bunch of entitled snowflakes that should have to be insured to be allowed out of their homes, they don't even pay pavement tax.

Actually, they abolished pavement tax in the 70s, so no one pays it. You pay tax according to your emissions....

Avatar
brooksby replied to HoldingOn | 1 year ago
4 likes

HoldingOn wrote:

IanMK wrote:

Just a bunch of entitled snowflakes that should have to be insured to be allowed out of their homes, they don't even pay pavement tax.

Actually, they abolished pavement tax in the 70s, so no one pays it. You pay tax according to your emissions....

Better avoid the lentil stew...  3

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

Hirsute wrote:

I'm confused - are they tripping over the kerb or tripping over the painted white line they think is a kerb ?

the kerb I think. It is not clear why a kerb between the pavement and the cycle lane is so much more problematic than a kerb between a road and a pavement, but talk of expecting a flat surface and finding space sounds like stepping off the kerb, only to be surprised to find that it is a kerb.

Avatar
bikes replied to wycombewheeler | 1 year ago
0 likes

Agreed. Having a low kerb (that looks a bit like a line) combined with the white line on the other side being a flat transition, people must be reading it as 'all flat'. Not sure of the best way of making the kerb more obvious?

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
4 likes

I can see a dolphin. Or maybe it is a squirrel?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to SimoninSpalding | 1 year ago
2 likes

SimoninSpalding wrote:

I can see a dolphin. Or maybe it is a squirrel?

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
5 likes

That's clearly a coconut riding a duck.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to SimoninSpalding | 1 year ago
4 likes

SimoninSpalding wrote:

That's clearly a coconut riding a duck.

Avatar
brooksby replied to | 1 year ago
8 likes

ChuckSneed wrote:

I don't know why you insist on cyber stalking me all the time

It's funny - we've had a couple of people on here before who dived straight in by insisting Rendel was "cyber stalking" them every time he replied to them.

Avatar
perce replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
6 likes

Could they be related?

Avatar
Clem Fandango replied to perce | 1 year ago
4 likes

I agree

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SimoninSpalding replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
8 likes

I seem to remember at one point we were all cyber bullies too, and they changed their username to reflect that view...

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to SimoninSpalding | 1 year ago
6 likes

What's even stranger is that there are a small number of accounts which come on here regularly to decry the site as an echo chamber (well... yeah?).  And most of those same accounts then later mysteriously vanish!  Often in the middle of an ill-tempered thread or immediately after posting slanderous / racist / anti-semitic / non-UCI-compliant* comment.

I think they're on to something.

* Is this right?

Avatar
Hirsute replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
5 likes

He's just pissed off as support removed his libellous posts.

Wonder if he has been banned too ?

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
6 likes

Posts on other subjects are still up: generally if one of these vociferous silly sausages goes quiet it indicates a suspension, if the full banhammer's applied their posts vanish. In this case, given their general standard of posting, it may simply be that they don't get out of school until 3.30, longer if in detention, so can't post until later.

Avatar
Hirsute replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

Surely pre-school !

Avatar
StillTrying replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
4 likes
Hirsute wrote:

He's just pissed off as support removed his libellous posts.

Wonder if he has been banned too ?

As a newbie - though long time reader of the road forum posts - I wonder if Mr Need's accusatory post regarding 'alleged' steroid taking by a certain professional rider - was a deemed a touch too far.

Avatar
Hirsute replied to StillTrying | 1 year ago
3 likes

I complained directly and I can't imagine I was the only one.

As posted earlier, they have previously made libellous comments and ignored warnings from posters not to do this.

Avatar
StillTrying replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like
Hirsute wrote:

I complained directly and I can't imagine I was the only one.

As posted earlier, they have previously made libellous comments and ignored warnings from posters not to do this.

In my naiveté, I hadn't considered complaining directly. Learn something new every day.

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