"Please stop with the empty lanes thing": Jeremy Vine urges patience while cycling numbers rise; Cav watches Women's Tour; Pidcock has competition...Wout can run; Moose on the loose 2; Cherie Pridham's new team; 3D effect crossing + more on the live blog

For balance - here a picture of a road with no carists actively using it. So they won’t be needing that any more. Store you cars on your own land. pic.twitter.com/jqzyApOjTV

— Hj1967Joned (@Hj1967J) October 7, 2021

Let's have a bit of reaction to the main story of the day...

A few people on Facebook wondered if the empty oncoming lane in the photo needs to be ripped out too? Mat Scalpello went further and wondered if the pavement should go too.

Kevin Blackburn made the point that what's more important than photos are the numbers..."You can take photos at chosen times to prove anything - the important things are, where they have them, to look at the counters! More bikes than cars pass many points!"

Under the blog, hawkinspeter wrote: "Everywhere I go, I see empty cars left parked on the sides of roads. We might as well turn over all the road space to bikes if drivers aren't bothering to use them."

Rendel Harris added: "Although Vine is well-intentioned in this instance, the message isn't really correct: he appears to be saying yes I know the cycle lanes are empty at the moment but you wait until people get more confident, whereas in fact the Tower Hill cycle lane is very heavily used by people working in the City and beyond, of course it's quiet during the day because they're all at work. Hopefully they will get even busier as more people realise how safely they can get around London with these lanes, but they are already more than justifying their existence, it doesn't "take time", it's already happened."

EK Spinner said: "The way I see it, the bike lanes are empty because the cyclists have completed their journey efficiently already, while the drivers are still stuck in a jam."

🏆 @lorenawiebes (@TeamDSM) wins stage four of the @AJBell Women’s Tour in Southend-on-Sea!#WomensTour #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/qLP72tsHx3

— AJ Bell Women's Tour (@thewomenstour) October 7, 2021

After all the Cav excitement it fittingly came down to a big bunch kick in Southend-on-Sea. Team DSM's Lorena Wiebes won the sprint, the third stage win in a row for the Dutch. Yesterday's winner Demi Vollering was unchallenged and keeps her likely unassailable 1:09 advantage.

Chiara Consonni and Chloe Hosking rounded out the top three on the day. Alice Barnes took a third top-ten of the week, finishing eighth. On the menu tomorrow is another flat stage as the riders stay in Essex for the 95km run from Colchester to Clacton-on-Sea.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by VAN RYSEL (@van_rysel)

 Decathlon and Cofidis are back working together, 17 years after the French brand last made the the pro team's kit. Cofidis riders will wear the brand's Van Rysel kit in 2022 and 2023, a deal which came about thanks to the two parties' ability to collaborate from their close bases in Lille.

The team's general manager Cédric Vasseur said: "We are very happy with this new partnership; all the riders and staff are ready to mobilise alongside the brand which has the will to be a major player in its market. This collaboration makes all the more sense since we are two French companies, from the same Hauts de France region.

"This geographic proximity is a major asset of this new partnership and will help bring our two entities closer together. Van Rysel has a strong ability to develop and design the best products to allow it to shine in the most prestigious competitions on the calendar. It is therefore a winning partnership on all fronts that will contribute to the expansion and future success of the Cofidis Team."

Van Rysel director Nicolas Pierron said he hopes the partnership will help the brand use Cofidis' expertise to develop better products for Decathlon consumers too.

I am not riding home ‘cos my front bike light is dead. So instead I am on a train, gazing at the bike i have ridden for the last decade and a half. Is it too weird to say that I actually love it? Like I guess I’d love a dog if I had one. Is that OK? pic.twitter.com/iyD9xcg1ev

— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) October 6, 2021

Ned quickly caveated his love letter with a promise he'd look at the saddle angle. Always good to get in before the Twitter mechanics have a pop. In his own words, it's all about character, not performance. I don't think he'll have too many people here thinking loving it is weird...  

If you haven't already, be sure to catch up with our Drink At Your Desk episode with Ned below. 

Tomorrow a WorldTour race graces same tarmac as the Maldon 10 course.

Never would I thought I’d hear myself say those words.

— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) October 6, 2021

It should be a sprint in Southend-on-Sea today. Alex Dowsett's more interested in what time they clock for part of the Maldon 10 course. If you live in Shoeburyness, and you weren't at the roadside half an hour ago, you've probably missed them. Regardless, we'll keep you updated on stage four here on the live blog.

✒️New signing 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓮

Let's give a warm welcome to Cherie Pridham, who will become sports director at Lotto Soudal next year 🙌

Read more 👇https://t.co/aOjPFNiLm5

— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) October 7, 2021

 Cherie Pridham is staying in the WorldTour next year. The former Kuota-road.cc team manager, yes that was a thing, is joining Lotto-Soudal for 2022.

"If you can’t beat the Belgians, join them," she said on her move. "It was absolutely not on my radar to direct a Belgian team, but when the Lotto-Soudal project was presented to me, I was immediately charmed by it. I raced a lot in Belgium. I know how much cycling means for Belgian people. I am not afraid, I am ready to make a positive contribution to the team’s future."

Pridham became the men's WorldTour's first female sports director when she joined Israel Start-Up Nation at the start of the year and was in the team car for Mads Würtz Schmidt's win at Tirreno-Adriatico. We spoke to her on Drink at Your Desk Friday when she told us she'd never seen an athlete with the same mental strength as Chris Froome.

The cyclist and the moose. pic.twitter.com/lfDVA6nrpd

— AZP (@ZPFleming) October 6, 2021

Moose on the Loose was such a hit success they've released a sequel...

Firstly, how ridiculously big is that moose? Secondly, I reckon this cyclist got the best realistic outcome from this situation...Thirdly, will there be a trilogy?

Watch out for the bears too. I'm still thinking about that drone footage of a black bear chasing a mountain biker in Montana...

We've had ostriches before as well, although presumably not in the US.

What's the most hair-raising animal encounter you've had on a bike? Britain's going to seem pretty tame if we all say squirrels.