Two abreast advice does TikTok; Shut lanes that aren't being used!; Police search Bahrain Victorious Tour de France hotel; Giro Donne TT fail; EF's crocs; Triathlete reunited with bike lost at Heathrow; Cav's at the Tour (kind of) + more on the live blog

It seems that Sgt Messenger’s TikTok video extolling the virtues of riding two abreast has wound up a few of the usual anti-cycling brigade.

Here’s what our readers had to make of some of those pro-single filers…

Yep, the comments on the TikTok video doing the rounds on Twitter are completely depressing.

It's the usual mish mash of anti-cycling bingo with some real gems appearing and this one is my favourite so far...

“That's bullshit. If I come around a blind bend [and] there are cyclist [sic] side by side there is no chance to avoid them if car going other way.”

Somehow it’s the cyclists’ fault that they are being overtaken on a blind bend.

So does that mean it's fine to plough in to people because you're going too fast round a blind bend, just so long as they're going single file?

Apart from cyclists this is exactly how dozens of horses are killed on our roads every year.

I've recently made the mistake of getting sucked into anti-cycling discussions on that Next Door app and I had someone make exactly that point. What would they do if there was a tractor or other slow moving traffic? Posts like that should lead to automatic confiscation of driving licences as the posters clearly are not safe to be on the road.

Police officer: If it is safe to overtake one cyclist, it is also safe to overtake two, if it is not safe to overtake two cyclists side by side, it is not safe to overtake two in single file or a lone cyclist.

Drivers on Twitter: Yeah, I understand that, I am perfect in every way....However...., if I want to squeeze dangerously and illegally through a small gap to save almost no time and put others’ lives at risk you are making that slightly more difficult... Please don't inconvenience me like that.

I saw that video shared on Facebook last night, it had 1.8k comments and pretty much every one of them was either disagreeing with the advice, "rOaD taX", or just generally shitting on cyclists.

My favourite one was something along the lines of "our roads aren't for cyclists anymore, they're too congested already". Completley beyond her comprehension that an average sized car takes up the same space as six cyclists or ten predestrians, and that the roads are congested because we're a nation of lazy, selfish pricks who would drive to our own fridges if we could.

Came across this via the RantyHighwayman:

"But if the cyclists are riding 2 abreast in a national speed limit, it is impossible to give them the 2m gap required by the Highway Code. Please offer further advice on overtaking in this situation."

Gets HC wrong as it does not mention 2m for cyclists. Thinks the road speed determines the gap.

And they are a driving instructor.

But cyclists haven't passed a test!

Comment of the day, however - and quite possibly comment of the year - goes to mdavidford for this astute analysis of tomorrow’s Teletubby-shaped time trial at the Tour de France:

I suppose including Tinky Winky makes up for Pau not featuring this year.

Boom. Mic drop.

It seems as if the 2022 Tour de France may prove the edition most affected by Covid-19, as Bryan Coquard and Daryl Impey were added to the growing list of riders forced to pull out of the race after positive tests.

Cofidis have lined up Pierre-Luc Périchon to replace Coquard – who was aiming for his first ever Tour stage – while the in-form Impey will be replaced on the Israel Premier Tech squad by Guy Niv.

Impey is the second Israel Premier Tech rider to pull out before tomorrow’s grand depart, after  Omer Goldstein came into close contact with a positive case, with Guillaume Boivin taking his place.

Tim Declercq, Matteo Trentin and Jumbo-Visma DS Merijn Zeeman have also tested positive for Covid in recent days, with Zeeman planning to work remotely before joining the race at a later date.

AG2R-Citroën’s Bob Jungels also produced a positive Covid test yesterday, but has been given the green light to start in Copenhagen under the UCI’s relaxed rules, after a PCR test taken today revealed that the Luxembourg rider was “not contagious”.

Not entirely sure sending someone racing the Tour de France while positive for Covid with a shrug of, "He's not contagious, what's the problem?" is a model of workplace health and safety thinking, even in a sporting context. https://t.co/IzXmrUMNAd

— Tim O'Connor (@timoconnorbl) June 30, 2022

Meanwhile, Wout van Aert has only increased speculation about the knee injury that kept the Belgian superstar out of the national championships and off his bike for a few days.

“I missed one hard training block, and I missed some training, but I had to listen to my body,” he said.

“I don’t feel any pain, but we have to be careful every day. It’s not ideal. I just hope on Friday on a short effort like this that all the training from the previous months has not completely disappeared. I go in with full motivation, mentally it’s not the easiest way to approach the Tour, but I want to give 100 percent like I always do.

“Everything related to pedalling is not really good. Standing on the pedals is less tension because the angle of my knee is less.

“The most friction I have is with the deep squat, on top of the kneecap when I had the impact on the handlebar on the wrong place.

“It’s more painful on the TT bike. On the other hand the most pain I will have is with the really long rides. The longer I have to pedal the more stress I have on the knee, so the short TT is not a disadvantage for me.”

Of course, when Van Aert has won five stages by this time next week, all this speculation about his knee will be a distant memory…

sHUt LAnES THat ArEn"T BeInG UsED pic.twitter.com/JIui1ZwQdx

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 30, 2022

Cue 5,000 replies – mostly from people who regularly post photographs of unoccupied cycle lanes – along the lines of: “But a ten second clip doesn’t tell the fully story…”

When's rush hour if it's not 5:55?

— danbam (@danbamb) June 30, 2022

But a still photo of an empty cycle lane can be proof of lack of use, can’t it?

— Paul Le Bihan (@plebihan100) June 30, 2022

Of course, but I was just parodying the cycle lane argument

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 30, 2022

And a classic anti-cycling bingo line here from this absolute 'legend':  

All the cars are probably backed up on another road that has 5 cyclists riding side by side.

— David Griffiths (@DavidGr74375396) June 30, 2022

Riding e-bikes, instead of patrolling in cars, has helped increase the visibility and engagement of police officers in Cornwall, as well helping cut the force’s carbon emissions.

Supt Ian Thompson, of Devon and Cornwall Police, says public feedback on a recent scheme which encourages officers to use e-bikes when on patrol has been “absolutely superb”.

Introduced after the Tour of Britain visited Penzance last September, the scheme is operated in conjunction with Cornwall Council and funded by the Department for Transport.

 police and police community support officers are now using e-bikes to engage with residents and curb anti-social behaviour across the county, Bodmin, Camborne, Hayle, Falmouth, Liskeard, Newquay, St Ives, Torpoint and Truro, as well as the Isles of Scilly.

“Riders are coming back and saying that they are enjoying using the bikes, and the engagement with the community is far stronger than it would be in a vehicle,” Supt Thompson told the BBC. 

“People are stopping them in the street to talk to them and they can get into areas they wouldn't get otherwise if they were in a vehicle."

Looks like Lotto Soudal’s Mieke Docx is due some good luck during today’s final stage of the Belgium Tour…

I thought a stone hit my helmed during the race, turned out it was a bird shit. 🥹💩 pic.twitter.com/Qa7eCbwZn4

— Mieke Docx (@MiekeDocx) June 29, 2022

We’ve been banging on for years that riding two abreast is the safest and most sensible way of cycling in a group on the road.

Now, thanks to Devon and Cornwall Police’s Sgt Owen Messenger, the message has been passed on to Gen Z, on the bewildering – at least to me – world of TikTok:

Here’s why people cycling two abreast is actually better for people driving motor vehicles.

It’s quite simple really. pic.twitter.com/PdlqJiJxlR

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) June 30, 2022

And yes, I did just use a copy of the video posted on Twitter. I'm old, okay? Where's Dan when you need him? 

What is ASO trying to tell us?

First stage of the #TDF2022 is literally shaped like Tinky Winky's face from Teletubbies pic.twitter.com/w4IHf8aLaK

— Cycling What Ifs ❓ (@cyclingwhatifs) June 29, 2022

After tomorrow’s TT and two pan-flat, exposed and potentially windy stages over the weekend in Denmark, this year’s almost constantly lumpy Tour route means that the sprinters will be in for a long few weeks before they’re ‘over the hills and far away’… (I’ll get my coat).

road.cc’s esteemed founder Tony Farrelly reckons the Copenhagen TT route looks more like Monkey… wearing one of his pyramid teabags on his head…

However, my all-time favourite piece of subliminal messaging from ASO has to be the 2009 Tour route, which seemed to depict a bear on its hind legs ready to attack:

2009 route looked like a bear dancing pic.twitter.com/e2xPB5oEh8

— FPL Cyclist (@itsFPLCyclist) June 29, 2022