Family told to remove bike shed due to planning breach; New cycle paths branded "unsuitable" and "dangerous" by locals; Charity cyclist riding Britain's coastline; Cargo bike boom; African World Championships; Team car puncture + more on the live blog

We're delighted to announce @BriSmithy is joining us as our Pathway Director and will be helping us create the next generation of professional cyclists from Scotland https://t.co/oDIQA1Kdug #cycling #cyclingScotland #Powerofthebike #mongrelsatwork pic.twitter.com/76TIWbY5Ai

— The Cycling Academy (@TheCyclingAcad1) May 5, 2021

Cycling Industry News reports that Brian Smith will help bring through the next generation of Scottish cyclists in his new role as pathway director for The Cycling Academy. The new team based in Scotland has said its goal is to help develop Scotland's first WorldTour rider in 25 years.

While David Millar has ridden in cycling's top tier since, he was brought up in Hong Kong and The Cycling Academy wants to see Scottish cyclists coming through their home country's system making it to the top.

"At the start of this project, we realised there is a 25-year gap since Scotland produced a domestically developed WorldTour cyclist. Brian and David Millar are in fact the only World Tour Scottish riders since the glory days of Robert Millar in the 1980s. Brian built a world-class palmares including two British Championships, before getting involved in many aspects of the professional sport. On and off the bike I always considered Brian to be the epitome of professionalism in sport, so it’s a huge achievement to have him support the work we’re doing," team director James McCallum said.

🐺💗 https://t.co/1SAGIpFmyG

— Remco Evenepoel (@EvenepoelRemco) May 3, 2021

Remco Evenepoel is looking forward to pinning a race number on his jersey for the first time since August. The 21-year-old star of Belgian cycling will make his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia this weekend in Turin. Evenepoel has not raced since the Il Lombardia crash where he was thrown off a bridge into a ravine and he is not putting any pressure on himself to be challenging for the maglia rosa in his first race back.

"I’m happy to race again after such a long period, during which I worked hard to be ready for my first Grand Tour," he said. "Being my first race since last August means that we’ll need to see how my body will react. We will take it day by day and see how things go. The most important thing is that I am back with my teammates and staff again, which makes me very happy."

Should Evenepoel be a touch shy of his prodigious best, Deceuninck-Quick-Step have a decent second card to play in last year's fourth placed rider João Almeida. "Last year it was an incredible Giro," Almeida said. "The team put in a huge effort in what was an amazing but at the same time hard three weeks. We fought for a good result, and in the end, I finished fourth on the GC.

"I would like to be up there again, fight for a nice result and keep a good feeling, which is the most important thing. Hopefully, things will go well and we’ll score some nice results. This year, the mountain stages are going to play a more important role in the final outcome, which means consistency will be the key."

Brit James Knox will be part of the Quick-Step squad supporting their two leaders. Roll on Saturday...

🎆Cargo bike sales grew by 354% in France last year! I’d normally shout “incredible!” but this is indeed credible because this is a trend around Europe.

🇫🇷France has a plan for scaling up its cycle logistics - formidable! https://t.co/Jwg7tNJ0gH

— Philip Amaral (@AmaralPhilip) May 4, 2021

The French 'Plan for the Development of Cycling' is an interesting read this lunchtime. The government is putting a cyclology plan into action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transport of goods, with cargo bikes at the heart of the strategy.

Accelerated by the health crisis of the past year, the development of deliveries in cities led to the statistic that in Paris, transport of goods represents 15-20 per cent of traffic but generates 45 per cent of fine particles emitted. To address this, the government plans to promote use of cargo bikes by offering employers financial assistance and improved infrastructure.

The full document with the extensive plans can be read here...

Hi Sam - we're speaking to the team and will update this post when we receive a response. Thank you

— Stockport Council (@StockportMBC) May 5, 2021

Hopefully we will get some answers shortly from Stockport Council about this morning's main blog story. The consensus on the original post and in the comments here is that loose gravel is a terrible choice for accessible paths and completely unsuitable for cycling, wheelchair users or families with prams or young children on balance bikes. All round not very useful then.

Here are some of your thoughts:

"Loose gravel is an appalling surface for any path users. Self-binding gravel can be very nice, there's a wood near where I live that has a very pleasant path path that is some sort of self binding gravel path - it handles leaf litter extraordinarily well. The one place they've used asphalt is the one place you really don't want it... under a bunch of trees. Unless they spend a fortune keeping it clear, that will become treacherous in the autumn," jh2727 wrote.

eburtthebike commented: "Quite why a council would use such a blatantly obviously unsuitable surface is beyond me; does no-one on the council ride a bike, use a wheelchair or push a buggy? If such a glaring error can pass their conception, design and construction processes, there is something very wrong with them. Or was it a case of 'it's only pedestrians/cyclists, so we'll put the freshest, least experienced, least knowledgable graduate on it'. Worse, they don't appear to have consulted the people it was supposed to serve, and even Sustrans use crushed stone. Honestly, if this was Denmark or Holland they'd die laughing."

Hopefully, we will have some answers from Stockport Council for you this afternoon...

Are we doing this right @MercedesAMGF1 ?🤔

Follow @INEOSGrenadiers on TikTok for more: https://t.co/LidgN3XBQu pic.twitter.com/JULDVLY0PG

— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) May 5, 2021

Meeting today with HE President @PaulKagame and Minister of Sports @AuroreMimosa about the development of cycling in Rwanda and the potential hosting of the 2025 UCI Road World Championships.

Thanks a lot Mr. President for the attentiveness and support to our sport! pic.twitter.com/M7YO5fCwJz

— David Lappartient (@DLappartient) May 3, 2021

UCI president David Lappartient has confirmed that the 2025 UCI World Championships will be hosted by an African country for the first time in the sport's history. Lappartient confirmed the news from Rwanda, where Sporza reports he is currently attending the Tour du Rwanda. That trip may turn out to be something of a scouting mission as the country's capital Kigali is one of two cities being considered for the historic event—Tangier in Morocco is the other possible location.

"The UCI has decided that 2025 will be the year of Africa," Lappartient said. "For the first time since the creation of the UCI on April 14, 1900, the World Cup will be held in Africa. We have two official candidates: Kigali in Rwanda and Tangier in Morocco. On September 24, the UCI will decide who will organise the 2025 event."

The news has been somewhat overshadowed by the story that broke yesterday about the row between the UCI and WADA over the Chris Froome doping case. In a letter written in the days following the investigation against Froome being dropped, Lappartient told WADA president Sir Craig Reedie that it “appears to be placing full responsibility for the decision squarely on the UCI's shoulders.”

Only the path in your last image appears to be finished.

Unbound gravel is not an accessible surface, nor a surface suitable for cycling. https://t.co/L1lZMyK5iE

— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@MCRCycleSam) May 4, 2021

 Stockport Council proudly paraded the pictures of these new cycle paths that have been opened as part of their Town Centre Access Plan—an initiative to improve cycling and walking routes to the town centre. However, most of the paths between Bredbury Hall, Pear Mill, Woodbank Park and Cow Lane have been laid using unbound gravel which local riders have branded "unsuitable" and "dangerous".

Peaks & Puddles gave us a closer look at the loose surface...

So can you confirm, is fully open the same as fully finished or is there still a finer top layer to go on? Surely?!

[inserts local newspaper style photo] pic.twitter.com/aUKZJY1Zk2

— Peaks & Puddles 🚲 (@peaksandpuddles) May 4, 2021

 It has not just been seasoned cyclists who have complaints either. Matt Jackson pointed out the dangers of trying to teach his children to ride on it, while another commenter said it is terrible for wheelchair users.

Excellent to see the network progressing

The surface you've laid, as pointed out by others here, dangerous

My children have struggled to cycle on it...too loose...easy to fall off and become injured@cllrdavidm and @SMBC_chiefexec -- I trust you have this in hand

— Matt Jackson (@doc_matt_jacko) May 4, 2021

Town Centre Access for who? I notice you’ve answered the question about location but you’re ignoring the many questions about surface choice and accessibility...

— Dr Sam Hayes is job hunting (@DrSamHayes1) May 4, 2021