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Cycling is a mass participation sport in this country , whilst most dont TT or even belong to a club millions cycle and it is growing .
When the tour came here two years ago it was the best supported stage on the whole 3 weeeks and tens of thousands lined the route on both days .
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ cannot give the coverage that perhaps it deserves but perhaps by taking up with Eurosport and working together as partners it could be brought to the mases .Anyone who has watched live or on tv will appreciate the spectacle but getting across to the masses will take some time

Always bemuses me that the Beeb have given some decent coverage to track cycling in recent years, but the TdF coverage on UK TV is pathetic: last thing at night on ITV4! Time for the Beeb to snap up the rights and put live coverage on the red button service, or at the very least a decent hour of highlights every evening.

Some coverage of other tours e.g. Giro, Vuelta, Switzerland would be a massive bonus too.

Current system is very unbalanced.

Lots of people cycle but I'd argue that the majority of these only enjoy a relaxed 20 minute jaunt out when it's sunny - i.e. family recreation. I commute to work by bike, along the lovely Kennet and Avon Canal, and pass only one other person cycling, as I am, into work. That astonishes me. My point being : cycling is popular in this country, but notch it up a level to commuting, to clubs and road racing and it's surely no more tha a niche sport ? (Try and find a road bike for a 10 year old child in this country and you'll see what I mean.) If more people enoyed that element cycling then would be viewed differently by the masses. That's why people try to knock you off your bike, or moan at me because I make them jump when I ding my bell approaching from behind ... or moan at me beacuse I didn't ding my bell when approacing from behing. You can't win ! Let's hope continued sucesss and TV exposure will elevate the cycling's image.

The majority of us Brits are in far too much of a hurry to even consider the benefits of a cycling culture let alone realise how much enjoyment can be had from cycling.

On the closure of roads issue, look how the isle of man residents cope with the tt races, people embrace the event, they realize its importance for the economy. That wouldn't happen in Britain, people are always looking for something to moan about in this country!

Why the beeb continues to focus singly on skinny wheeled road and track cycling when more than 60% of bikes sold in the UK are mountain bikes is beyond me. The off road network in the UK is excellent as are the facilities all over the UK for off road riding. MTBing also avoids all these expensive road closures that you talk about. The only event I can remember being covered was the World Championships in Fort William in 2007, yet there is a world cup round every year at that place that goes by without a mention on any medium!

I wouldn't mind if we were rubbish at it, however the weekend just gone, by taking a his 2nd win of the 3 World Cup rounds this season, Steve Peat became the most successful mens DH rider ever. Oh and 2nd on the day was another brit whose also the current World Champion, also the top 10 had no less than 4 brits in it. A brit also won the womens 4X. Luckily the world cups are covered by freecaster.tv, who manage to put on some pretty decent coverage considering they usually only have 4 or 5 cameras at the events. It would be so easy to cover mtbing, the courses are short and often lots of the course can be seen from the same location.

Come on give us the support we need for a sport we're good at!

It is not just that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ don't show enough road racing but on the rare occasion they do they are particularly bad at it. Poorly placed cameras and commentators that don't have a clue combine to ensure it is not the spectacle it should be.

This is not new. I remember when the only mention of the TdF was a brief moment on Grandstand after the race finished. This was accompanied by the least flattering photo the Beeb could find, e.g. Merckx sat on a car or LeMond taking a feeding bag in the pouring rain.

Road Racing does have more support and interest than the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ seem to believe but as long as they view cycling as nothing more that a working man's way of getting to work then nothing much will change.

I say this as someone who is very pro ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. Having spent a lot of my working life in other European countries I appreciate the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ for how good it is and is, by far, the best ambassador the UK has.

I commute every day, i race, i time trial and ride sportives all over the country, i love my sport with a passion and wouldn't want it to become more popular, I had a season ticket at a premier league football club for 15 years but gave up with overpaid footballers, overhyped matches and overpriced tickets, i would hate cycling to end up like football. But i can go to my local sports shop and choose between 40 different pairs of football boots for a 10 year old but try and find him a race bike it's an impossible task. Having ridden in France and Italy the attitude of motorists is completely different to those in the UK i don't think more coverage on TV of races will change people's opinion of the bike rider on the highway.

Somebody mention the potholes in our roads. This is clearly the main reason why people don't cycle in the UK. I've spent five years pursuing the local council over local roads and discovered they would spend their entire yearly budget in one week if they were any way serious about cycling either serious or leisure wise. I spend sixty percent of my ride looking down for lethal dips, scabbing and subsidence lesions in the tarmac and not at the traffi, most of which outweighs me.
Seriously one of the unnoticed scandals of our generation is that a majority of councils happily pay out more in compensation for car suspension than they do on maintenance.
The upshot of this is that few children are let out on our disgraceful highways to practice the extreme skills you need to survive even to get to school. Where on earth do you expect to find enough people to enjoy one of the best activities, in all it's forms, that they could ever do.

Expecting the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to spend any serious money on covering cycling when the national team has SKY splashed all over their skin suits is frankly naive! I watched with amusement the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage of the World Track Cup from Manchester last November & in particular their coverage of the mens team sprint, won by Team SKY HD! Strange that the team name wasn't mentioned. It would make sense that after ploughing millions into the sport SKY actually start televising some events? Murdochs not famous for his unreserved charitable donations to sport! I would be very surprised if SKY didn't cover the Tour de France from 2010 seeing as there'll be a Team GB squad in it suitably adourned with the main sponsors logo.

I commute to work and back every day by bike but i don't really consider myself a cyclist. Strange as that may sound I can justify it by saying that the reason I cycle, come rain, wind, snow or shine, is that whatever the weather, it's a million times better than using the Northern Line from Clapham to The City but I do almost no recreational cycling - which is what I consider cyclists to do!

I do love cycling my bike and my wife also cycle-commutes, but whilst the infrastructure for commuting (bike-lanes, routes etc) is getting better, the infrastructure for leisure cycling is terrible. We have one young son and another on the way and despite the plethora of good kiddie seats and trailers on the market we wouldn't dream of exposing our children to the dangers of our roads and the aggressive, abusive and dangerous attitude towards cyclists displayed by most UK motorists - motor-cyclists being the worst in my experience.

Also the attitude of most pedestrians towards cyclists is just as bad - try cycling down the Thames Path or across a common or park with cycle paths - and i'm not talking about bombing around at silly speeds, I mean leisurely pootling about, sticking to the paths and generally being responsible etc - and see how much grief you get from people out walking - especially dog-walkers - about your 'anti-social' activity.

Matt Slater is absolutely right that it's a cultural thing - I spend quite a bit of time in Germany for work and there cyclists and pedestrians share the space (on all pavements) with no apparent animosity. If you go walking in the woods (as I did south of Frankfurt last weekend) walkers and mountain-bikers co-exists on the same trails in perfect harmony. In Holland, many roads even have 2 pavements - one for pedestrians, one for cyclists. France and Italy, as previously mentioned, are cycling meccas. We, as a society, dislike, distrust and sneer at 'cyclists' in this country, so I'm not one, I just use a bicycle to commute!

Point of information to an otherwise excellent piece. Cycling deaths are not on the rise in the UK. The statistical method which links killed and seriously injured (ksi) together has caused the recent confusion. Thus the National Audit Office's recent claim that there has been an 11 per cent increase in ksi over the last four years is misleading. Broken down, you will see this increase accounts for seriously injured cyclists.
The numbers of cyclists killed each year has, overall, steadily declined since the 1990s when 256 cyclists were killed that year. The most recent figures are: 2002/130 killed; 2003/114; 2004/134; 2005/148; 2006/146; 2007/136.

#2: Sorry, but I dont necessarily agree.

I grew up in the 1980s watching C4's excellent daily coverage of the Tour de France. Nowadays, the coverage has moved to ITV4. You get a very good review and highlights show, usually lasting an hour and usually on at a respectable hour (7pm, repeated late at night).

Ok, it's not on prime-time terrestrial, but nowadays with Freeview and digital TV, daily coverage on something like ITV4 is hardly inaccessible.

Furthermore - Eurosport has PLENTY of road race coverage of all the major Tours (Vuelta, TdF - Giro d'Italia is on there at the moment) as well as others on the calender - Tour of Poland springs to mind.

Finally - ITV4 did show the Tours of Britain and Ireland last summer - I expect they'll do the same this year.

And as for Sky Sports - I agree with one of the other posters on here who suggested that Sky should increase its coverage of road racing, and probably will, in light of its sponsorship of UK cycling. Also - I noted a few early season races (Tours of Australia and California) were on Sky this year, so perhaps they are getting round to it slowly.

So - point of this rather rambling post - the coverage is out there if you look for it. And I'm only a casual fan!!

The reason that people in the UK resent cyclists is that they choose to cycle at times when the rest of the population is in a rush. There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait in traffic because people are having to overtake a cyclist. Also live coverage of the Tour de France would help the sport in the UK

#14 "The reason that people in the UK resent cyclists is that they choose to cycle at times when the rest of the population is in a rush."

They commute you mean, and at the same time as everyone else too!?! People don't choose to go out on their bikes when the roads are at their busiest for the fun of it! Instead of considering them a hinderance, think of them as one less car on the road, and that can only be a good thing.

#7 Great shout.

I am now in the hunt for a decent road cycle and I am looking to join a club.

I am also looking to join a Harriers group as I am a big fat Ox.

I agree with the comments about the lay public not being 'willing' to take the time out to understand the finery involved with group racing. Continental cycling has only got about an 80 year head start so i think in Britain we are not doing too badly. most of the problems start with how to accomodate cyclists and cycling in towns that have previously shunned them. these attitudes have to be transformed from a lawmaking standpoint before they will ever have any resonative effect upon the general public.
it will be many years before the urbanite in their huge 4X4 decides that the cyclist they are about to crush deserves to be on the road, but this is an attitude that has persisted for years and the desired progress will take time.
that said, however, i have found that cycling has become easier over the last couple of years as more drivers are mindful of our needs for space when we are on the road. larger service vehicles have shown the best improvement, in my opinion.

from a racing standoint, i would say that the government really does need to provede more for the premier calendar races. it is beyond disappointing for a cycling fan to travel to a race only to find that it cannot be held because of some ridiculous red-tape, but once again, this affects more aspects of our life than just cycling. the changes need required are more fundamental than just providing closed roads for roadies ro race on.

the really sad thing is that all this is taking place at a time when Britain has the strongest represtntation in professional road racing that it has ever had, from both genders. our heroes will never be truly 'British' heroes (apart from the olympians) because they spend more time on the continent than they do here. that is pretty ironic.

I Bet Cav will feel more at home in Italy than he will in Britain, eventually.

#7
that is pretty funny, considering the sport you compete in has its roots in commercialisation. have you ever looked at a cycling jersey? my team jersey has more names on it than i can remember. not that i am ranting at you at all, but just pointing out that our sport has had no 'golden amateur' era. virtually all of us amateurs who race do so because we are not good/willing (or able to obtain exposure) enough to become pros.

the beauty of cycling is that you do not need a ticket to enjoy it. just turn up with your picnic hamper and enjoy yourself. and this is up to the very highest level. cycling is a beautiful sport to follow, and chances are it will never end up like football from a fan's point of view.

#13 "The reason that people in the UK resent cyclists is that they choose to cycle at times when the rest of the population is in a rush."

And there we have the impatient, narrow-minded motorist summed up in one sentence. Why are you in such a rush anyway?

"There is nothing more frustrating than having to wait in traffic because people are having to overtake a cyclist."

I guess pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, roadworks, and every other vehicle on the road falls into this category too? I think you need to stop believing the car adverts, selling you a lifestyle myth of driving alone on an open road, and deal with your frustrations in a more proactive manner.

It's people like you that make the British roads such a death-trap. Still, the more cyclists you force into their cars, the longer the queue of traffic will become. Have you thought of that, Jonnyman?

#13 "The reason that people in the UK resent cyclists is that they choose to cycle at times when the rest of the population is in a rush."

1. Cyclists have as much right as any other vehicle to use public highways at any time. Roads are not for the exclusive use of cars and all road users need to show tolerance of other each other - whatever their choice of vehicle.

2. When you are in rush hour traffic (which I presume you're referring to), you are effectively in a moving queue. Putting your foot down and accelerating towards the next traffic jam or red light makes ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE to your total journey time, which will always be determined by the volume of cars (not bicycles) on the road. Sitting behind a bike for a few seconds does not make your journey longer - it just slightly delays your progress towards the next complete stop.

3. I commute through London traffic every day by bicycle. I probably have two or three near misses a week and I've been hit twice; but by and large I find drivers pretty tolerant of cyclists - provided we're predictable and signal our intentions clearly.If motorists resent cyclists, it's not becaue we hold them up but because we travel more quickly through the queues that hold them up.

4. People choose to cycle "at times when the rest of the population is in a rush" becaue they, too, are in a rush and a bicycle is obviously the quickest way to get from A to B in heavy traffic. You make it sound as though people decide on a whim to go a nice bike ride at a time that is most inconvenient to "proper" road users. This a fatuous assumption and yours is a fatuous comment.

Good article fella,

I have no idea if our cultural approach to the bike and the cyclist will ever change.

It feels like the sport is getting a raised profile at the moment, but out on the roads it's a very diffrent matter -

whilst cycling along in normal traffic on the inside of a single carriageway I can count on encountering a minor incident (getting pulled out on, getting left-hooked (being overtaken and then immediately cut up by someone turning left), getting squeezed badly at a pinch-point (eg. pedestrian island)....
.....ONCE every 1-2 hours. All of these minor incidents put my life and/or livelyhood at risk and so far I've not been injured.

This observation was backed up by Victoria Pendelton.....
....."I cycle to the velodrome most days and I have one narrow escape for every hour on the road. I just think, 'Holy shit, I could die on my bike out here.'

"To a cyclist, these bloody motorists might as well be running around with a loaded gun. When you have that sort of attitude towards cyclists how are we going to move our sport into the mainstream?"
as reported in the Guardian on 28 October 2008.


130 cyclists were killed by cars last year in UK.

Who's next?
And can we change our attitude to the bike, to make a normal A to B journey, non life threatening to me and our Olympic stars?

I'm sports mad, will watch pretty much anything but dont watch road cycling at all, doesn't interest me in any way. Yet, i lived with a road cyclist as a lodger for a year (shaved his legs and everything!) and he tried explaining the finer points...
My eventual view:
1) its a passtime, not a sport. I't simply didn't seem to be something that was competitive. In the UK we seem used to competitive sports yet road cycling includes 100+ riders? a the winner will come from a group of hom many in reality? get rid of the rest, keep the few who are competitive and maybe it'd be entertaining or interesting?
2) Its too individualistic. First, team sports seem more attractive in general but the key point is that people in the UK like to feel as association with those taking part. Our football teams etc. are 'local' to their fans and that's why people associate themselves to them. In many other sports, the fact a competitor is "British" creates a similar asociation...its easy to suport a British Lewis Hamilton as he battles with a German/Spaniard/Brazilian for example, and the same with Andy Murray...yet in road cycling, how can you associate with a guy who isnt even in the race to win, but a 'cog' within the huge field to help someone else to win? As I said above, just doesn't seem like a competitive sport to me...
3) the sport has a terrible image full stop. i follow lots of sports, if i was to pick one that on image alone means the guy i'm watching win has most likely cheated to get there, then its road cycling. do i really want to watch something where cheating appears to be endemic? answer is no...

#21 thi is because it is the only sport that actively admits and investigates cheating and drug use. It acceptable for a footballer to take pain killing drugs and play on, but for a cyclist this would be seen as doping.

21= I can tell you road racing is not a past time , its probably one of the hardest sports in the world .
being in the saddle for 6 hrs on terrain that would make a mountain goat pass out is a lot harder that chaing a ball for 90 mins .Pain in every part of your body , climbing a few thousand metres to the summit of say Alpe Duez or the Tourmalet then flying down at speeds over 45m ph is not to be snifed at skill , bravery , endurance , stamina I could go .
Take a look at the Giro this weekend if you get a chance on Eurosport to see real men , not overhyped overpaid show ponies

Excellent article Matt - really good stuff.
As you know, some of us have been banging our heads against a brick wall with this issue for decades - trying to gain respect for the sport we love. I'm still not convinced that coverage of the sport is limited by demand. You know as well as I do that in reality it's a two way equation, if the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ wants to make something popular it can do so with ease - we see the proof of this year after year, whether it be darts or some new nonsense like celebrity gardener rat-pickling.
I said last year that as Mark Cavendish became a superstar in Europe we would see the true measure of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's new found interest in cycling - would it just be track based medal winning, or could it bring itself to embrace the real heart and soul of the sport, ie: Pro Road Racing? When Mark won this year's Milan-San Remo, that was a truly historic moment in British cycling history - and I believe for British sport. Needless to say it received very little mention by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ - the British papers were a bit better, but still not anything on a par with their European counterparts. Even Lance Armstrong was stunned by this. To get to my point - the next day though I lost count of the amount of people I met who knew of his victory but couldn't understand why it got no mention. I'm not talking about cycling fans here - I'm talking about neighbours, family, even folks in my local post office.
I fully understand how hugely popular sports like football and F1 are in the UK, but I really don't believe that the British public wouldn't be interested in seeing a 23 year old British lad beating 200 other pro riders over 180 miles along the Italian Riviera. What's not to like? Even if the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ doesn't want to show the race live - at least it could get mentioned on the news.
Truthfully, fans like myself are helpless - we just have to accept the status quo. But surely you are in a position to exert at least some influence? Until the heart of the British media and establishment gives the sport at least some respect, we'll never see it translated into actual respect towards cyclists on our busy British roads.

Nice article Matt.

#21 Cycling gets a bad name for itself because the authorities care if competitors are doping, unlike in other sports. I absolutely love road cycling, and very soon after I became exposed to the sport following the Tour de France's visit to London it passed the likes of cricket and football as my favourite sport. We can only hope that somehow there becomes more 'exposure'.

Good points Matt.

Taking your specific point about cycling coverage on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, I think what's frustrating is the editorial inconsistencies. Taking Mark Cavendish's Milan San-Remo win as an example: there was no mention of this at all in any of the sports bulletins on Radio 4's Today programme the following Monday. The biggest thing to happen in British road cycling for years was completely missed.

I actually complained about this, and was told there 'wasn't enough time' to cover it. Yet enough time was found the very next day to give Lance Armstrong's broken collarbone a mention!

I naively presumed that, after some high profile complaints about the lack of coverage of Cav's MSR win in the UK (/blogs/pm/2009/03/on_your_bike.shtml, Lance himself on Twitter saying the lack of coverage was 'pitiful') things might change, but, nope. No mention at all of Mark Cavendish being the first British rider to win the pink jersey in the Giro d'Italia.

Given that Cavendish is now targeting the Tour de France and - hopefully - attempting to win the green jersey, any chance Matt you can 'ave a word' and make sure his exploits in the Tour get some proper mentions?!

There's an article in the current Cycling Scotland magazine arguing this year could be cycling's 1981.

1981 was the first London marathon, the year jogging/recreational running in Britain achieved a 'tipping point' and became a mainstream activity. Previously it had been an 'outsider activity'. Why would people run for fun? and in such silly outfits? Let's harass and mock them for being different!

Its possible. At my work three years ago, two cycled out of 500. Now, thanks to the Cycle to Work Scheme, in my department a majority cycle at least once a week - and the others are starting to feel left out. On my commute I used to see three other cyclists at most, now its at least 10 on a sunny day. The motorists on this road have got better too - they are now used to seeing cyclists and are more considerate.

The Etape Caledonia sabotage (two punctures) could be part of this tipping point. I expected a certain amount of 'serves you right', but instead the perpetrator created national sympathetic coverage of road cycling - quite an achievement!

Road cycling has a big problem in its attitude towards doping, although some progress is being made. There are also cultural problems, road racing need explaining (a bit like cricket).

What is inexplicable is the lack of attention paid to Britain's successful mountain bikers. Steve Peat has won 2 out of 3 World Cup races this year, and his 7th succcessive Lisbon Downtown. Yet the media has ignored him. We also have both the men's and women's World Downhill Champions. Downhill and Fourcross both make good TV (better than track pursuit), so why is this?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

It seems to me one of the major problems on the road is the total lack of knowledge as to how the "road" works. One solution might be to have a 10 year mandatory test. That would get rid of the useless, careless, aggresive, lazy and every other sort of defficient driver on the road. It would maintain a certain standard of road user and increase revenew, which could be used to repair and maintain the roads. Passing a test once 50 years ago should not entitle you to use a car for just about ever. I sat a motorcycle test a few years ago after driving a car for years and it certainly raised my awareness of what was going on around me, as a driver and a rider.

Matt, two things come to mind on your article and comments:
on coverage, your argument would stand up if we hadn't had to suffer years of wall to wall horse racing from Auntie. If your argument of popularity follows, then if the betting component is ignored how does so much horse jumping and 3 day eventing consistently get covered?

On a more serious note your point about the consequences of bad driving is to me the nub of what could start to shift attitudes. The argument you did not see someone/thing should be automatic 'lack of due care' when flying around in a ton or two of metal and the consequence should be custodial. When eventually this nations legislature/government gets into its head that the punishments for speed are one thing but if you hit someone and it is seen to be avidable you could end up in prison then we may see a shift of driving. My understanding from talk to people from there is that this is the approach elsewhere in europe. It makes sense to me, we should respect other humans and do everything we can not to kill or maim our fellow man, so when we shoot around in cars we should be thinking all the time about the dangers.
I also totally agree, for such a dangerous activity as driving the training should be repeated every 7 - 10 years minimum.
Its a crazy world that worries about a few avoidable deaths per year on public transport whilst we are allowed to slaughter thousands in our private vehicles for which we might get a few points or even lose our right to drive over.

I'd love to see a "proper" Tour of Britain. one that goes right round the country, possibly with Mountain stages through Wales and Scotland. It would need to get the big names, and to grow in prestiges, which would be an escalating cycle. I don't think it would ever be up thhere with the Grand Tours, but it would certainly be an inmproved spectacle.

hi, just thought I'd share my views on the subject as a Brit living in Australia.

Down here road cycling as a recreational sport is tremendously popular - every saturday and sunday morning large groups of overweight men (all ages) in too-tight lycra can be seen cycling down the most ugly of routes (usually pretty inconsideratly too). These are roads that are full of potholes (worse than UK), busy with fast moving traffic and offer little in the way of visual pleasure, so these must be committed sportsmen and women!

As far as I can tell the sport doesen't get too much coverage on the box (unless and Aussie is doing well or beating a Brit).

What does happen though (and frequently) is that roads are closed for sporting events. Be it cycling, running, walking, triathlons etc - most weekends, within an hours drive, there will be something of that nature. This in an area of similar population/density as the West Midlands.

Myself, I'm a commuter (12 years) and mountain biker, and I can agree with the comments above that point out the popularity of off road cycling in the UK when compared to road cycling. I continue to commute, despite an even greater lack of awareness of cyclists from the Aussie motorist (knocked off twice in 1 year) and have invested in a road bike for triathlon use. When I'm back in the UK I might even consider taking it out to some our lovely countryside in ideal cycling temperatures, but while I'm still in boring sub- tropical SE Queensland it's only coming out for commuting and triathlon use.

Having spoken to many non-cyclists, one of the things that really annoys them is the way cyclists fly through red lights, often not even stopping for pedestrians to cross. From my experience I'd estimate the vast majority of cyclists go through red lights, and make me feel like some sort of goody-two shoes for not doing so.

If we want to be treated as proper road-users then we need to act like lawful road-users and not just pick and choose the laws that suit.

The key to the future success of road racing in Britain is NOT the ToB, but the city centre criterium series. Only when, as in Holland, all Britons can see at least one criterium day in their hometown each year, will its appeal become clear to all. If you want to make this happen, join your local club now, unseat the old time trial crews from their official positions and, lobby your town councils until they cave in!

;)

#29 I would not agree that road cycling, as a sport, has a problem in its attitude to doping, I would say that it has the most progressive and proactive attitude of any sport when it comes to tackling doping. Cycling was one of the first sports (if not the first sport) to adopt the whereabouts system on a widespread basis. It has been at the forefront of introducing blood passports. Cyclists are among the most heavily tested athletes out there.

Historically, cycling has had a big problem with doping because it was one of the first commercial sports and riders would habitually take all sorts of cocktails long before doping was prohibited. That mentality continued through to the 90s in particular, with the arrival of EPO and institutional doping regimes that we carried out by whole teams. But these days, the institutional doping has gone, the riders are rejecting doping and it is only the bad apples that continue. But the sport is taking extensive steps to find them and punish them. The fact that dopers are caught shows that the sport has a good attitude, rather than a bad one.

The same cannot be said of tennis, football, baseball and a whole host of other sports which DO have bad attitudes to doping and don't appear to want to take it seriously. Seb Blatter is standing in the way of the whereabouts system being introduced to football. Baseball has recently suspended a high profile player for 4 months for doping. That is not the mark of sports that are serious about recognising that doping happens in their sport or are serious about stopping it.

Just for comparison, In Australia the TdF is shown almost in full, live, and free-to-air on SBS, and in New Zealand most stages are shown live on Sky. Of course, the time difference makes that easy to do as coverage starts around 10pm/midnight when the stations need a cheap time-filler, and you get to work the next day absolutely buggered from lack of sleep, but it sure beats the coverage over here.

I commute every day by bike, and it's actually faster riding then catching the hell that is the Northern Line, but between the drivers, the pedestrians, the potholes, the dodgy estates (2 stabbing deaths literally on my route in the last year alone), and worst of all my fellow cyclists, I sometimes wonder if I have a death wish...

Oh, and as for getting coverage on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, I have two words: Red Button. How often do I push it and see nothing but a logo, or some endlessly looping sports headlines, or some dumb self-promo material for a new show on CBeebies? There's hours of time to fill in there and it's not like it clashes with something major like Wimbledon, or that the Beeb needs it for the Ashes.

Odysseus, beyond recent coverage of the tdf (which to some extent is cyclical - I remember good coverage in the UK too, not so long ago), can you explain the popularity of road cycling in Australia? Could be that this too is merely the fashions of cycling, maybe in ten years time brits will be buying road bikes and Aussies hard tails.
As for commuting=death wish, well yeah! Of course. But I thought I'd be safer down under, where traffic levels are a bit lower, roads a bit wider etc. What I'm finding (and this is only based on QLD, not Aus as a whole , and certainly not NZ) is that motorists are dumber, and therefore more dangerous. This applies when I'm driving too. I'd rather face a potential one knife-wielding freak in a thousand in London than 10 idiot drivers in 100 in Brisbane.

Weekend of cycling and racing in Malvern, Worcestershire.... today veterans 50 mile road race, no grumpy car drivers and most slowed to have a look!

Sunday is the Fringe Sir Edward Elgar Hill Climb which goes up the [ closed ] main street of Great Malvern which is open to anyone to have a go and is being run by V C Sevale, the local club. Previous years have been fun and this year with the good weather forecast the event might see a really good turnout of members of the public reclaiming the high street and having a race against their fellow citizens. Great fun ...

The majority of motorists will not give more consideration to cyclists until the majority of cyclists abide by the law. I cycle daily and am annoyed to see so many cyclists go through red lights and the habitual motorists of course. Last week I was knocked off my bike by a motorist who opened his car door without using his mirrors to look first. Firstly he claimed he did not hit me, then he admitted it, then he apologised. Apology accepted but why lie in the first place?
I am also surprised by how many cyclists do not wear helmets and even more surprised that the government does not make it mandatory. Do these cyclists have a death wish? How many have to die of head injuries before they get it? Do these same cyclists avoid wearing a seat belt whilst in a car? I'd like to see more people abandon their cars and take up cycling but only on the condition they cycle responsibly.

One of the big issues I see is the pathetic level of traffic policing, cameras have replaced cars and officers so drivers run little risk of ever being caught no matter how badly they drive. Just as an example the number of cars with illegal window tints that obviosuly don't get stopped is astonishing.
As for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ coverage, well I think it could make more of an effort, the level of reporting on road success is pitiful.

@42
I share your frustration at those cyclists who refuse to abide by the law because I feel this type of behaviour puts us all at greater risk. With that said, the fairly minor crimes by some cyclists are trivial in comparison to the dangerous behaviour of a large proportion of motorists. The only reason I dont have an accident every time Im out is because Ive developed the cyclists sixth sense and I can brake before I get pulled out on or cut up.

I was hit from behind by a van last year in an accident that could quite easily have killed me and since then Ive developed my own set of rules to try and keep myself safe. I should add these are fit for country roads as the majority of my cycling is in the peak district.

1. Its worth slowing down and waving an HGV past at the first opportunity, they appreciate the gesture and Ive found they overtake much less recklessly than car drivers. It's worth rewarding their patience.

2. When the road is narrow and I feel it is unsafe to be passed I dont hug the verge, I make sure Im at least a metre from the verge so that idiots cant squeeze me for room. I figure I travel at the same speed as a tractor, let them overtake me as if I were a tractor.

3. Be very careful when attempting a right turn, its always your right of way but sometimes its worth slowing down and letting cars past than risking your own safety. I got hit when attempting a right turn.


Ultimately we have to manage our own safety because the idiots in their safe metal boxes will put our lives at risk for the sake of a few seconds.

Great post and excellent comments. I wasn't into cycling sport at all, but I was into watching professional sport (which my father was), mostly on TV, although I have been to a lot of football and speedway over the years. I suppose I was vaguely interested in track cycling, but that was about it, and couldn't see the point of road racing at all! However, once I started taking riding a bike up as an adult, I then progressed to cycling sport, watched the 2007 Tourde France and... was hooked! Why, probably because I found that I just liked watching people ride bikes, it's as simple as that, but there probably is some kind of fascination about seeing 180 men on bikes, all bunched close together. I still class myself as a casual fan, although I have watched the Tour of Ireland and Tour of Britain over the last 2 years. I also try and follow women's road racing, and it is a pity that they don't get the same media coverage that the men get. I've also progressed to looking more on-line on cycling sport news. So, my point is that one can get into a new sport, where previously you couldn't see what it was all about. I use to be into F1, but don't follow it at all now, but realise that all sports have their nuances that followers are into, but 'outsiders' can't see the point of.

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I'm sorry but they aren't going to help things by holding an event on the same day as the Manchester 100. What a stupid thing to do, it's not like this ride is miles away down south, it is literally on the door step of the Manchester 100 in Stoke On Trent. Surely they must have looked at major events in the surrounding area not to clash. Especially with the Manchester 100 being a major event to raise money for Christies Cancer Research.

It is a terrible shame, because I would have been well up for doing this, but the Manchester 100 has been in the pipeline for myself and many others who have already bought into the entry.

Cycling needs more support to help with events. It is great that we have people in the TLI running excellent events every week with escort cars, marshalls and ambulances. From what I've seen the general public have been fantastic and very understanding when following the peloton on country roads.

Always great to see the support of Matt Slater, far better than the expression of the daft and often biggoted views like the stir caused by Alan Swann, the chief Sports Reported of Peterboroughs local paper deriding the appearance of the Tour Series last week.

Re #45 comment; I had a similar experience to you. I took up riding as an adult, mainly for fitness & commuting to work. One day I decided to try and start a cycling team at work to enter some participation Cyclo Sportif events that I had heard about (here in Perth, Australia). Two years later we have 35 members in our team & everybody is totally hooked! We compete about every six weeks in an annual calendar of events that usually attracts around 1000 riders at each ride. Awesome fun & beers definitely earned afterwards! I have read much in the press about the cost of marshalling events in the UK, with police fees & insurance etc. Here in Perth the 'Cyclo Sportif Club' approach has worked beautifully - every member pays an annual membership fee of $AU75. This covers your personal insurance for the year. We have volunteer marshalls that are reimbursed their costs also from the annual membership. Each event has a $45 entry fee. This covers your entry & includes a slap-up, sit down hot meal for 1000 or so people after the event. The format started here in Perth and has become so popular that plans are now being made for a national Cyclo Sportif series. Check this out for ideas >

People resent cyclists because the majority of them don't obey the rules of the road. They don't have insurance, they go through red lights, ride on the pavements even though there are cycle lanes where I live. We have a large pavements in Brighton and Hove and instead of using the cycle lanes they decide to ride on promenade which is for pedestrians only!! You can't miss the signs saying no cycling!! Then during the evenings and winter months when it gets dark they don't even bother to put lights on their bikes. If an accident happens it is then down to the car driver to prove it wasn't his fault even though the cyclist went through a red light. I had a lot of near misses because cyclists are just as impatient as motorists. I know motorists have their own blinkered views but cyclists are the same.

As long as the sun comes up in the morning ( or in the case of UK it goes from Dark to light ) the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ will never see cycling as a real sport. They in their wisdom see snooker, darts and syncronised diving as far more important events to show than cycling. You only have to look at the screw up they have made of Moto GP to figure out that the powers that be want to dominate all sporting TV coverage and will only make a token gesture at realling giving the public a real choice of what to watch

I am a commuter and leisure cyclist (mountain bike) but also own a car, therefore I am always aware of how to treat cyclists on the road and vice versa. I think this might be where the problem is - having also lived in Germany it's brilliant how cars, pedestrians and bikes co-exist. I think this is because most people who drive also have a bike, and also shock horror! walk too. People in this country tend to have the attitude that you must be on a bike because you don't have a car, not out of choice. Also in Germany they currently do not have shops open (except cafes) on Sundays or other holidays and so going out for a walk or bike ride is a NORMAL day out, unlike here where people seem to lack so much imagination they just head for the nearest shopping centre in their cars.
I also think we need cycling to be part of school life, I work in a rural school and when I come in on my bike it does spark some interest from the children (usually dropped off by their parents, many of who don't look very fit despite the number of hills and walks nearby!) It shouldn't be a novelty. It's frustrating cycling to see places such as disused railway tracks, paths alongside roads which pedestrians very rarely use etc. which could be made into bike tracks.
It would also be really nice to see some more females out there on their bikes too, but from the many I know most couldn't bear the thought of getting a bit sweaty or being seen without make up!! Come on girls, get out there and experience the challenges of cycling, after all the bike was one of the main inventions last century which helped our 'emancipation!' Despite the potential dangers and ignorance of other road users we have to keep cycling (safely)- just keep telling yourself you have the moral high ground ;-)

My father has always been of the opinion that it shouldn't be permitted for someone to have a driving licence until they have proved themselves as a competent cyclist. I certainly found cycling in Cambridge - where there is a more bike-aware driving community - less terrifying than in London. Whenever I've been through a period of regular cycling I also find it makes me a better driver too just by virtue of increased road sense.

But watching cycle racing is completely different to taking part, and it's totally fascinating whatever one's normal transport mode. I can't pretend to understand a lot of the tactics, but I can't resist watching the TdF. 180 fit nutters racing through ravishing countryside at inhuman speed; what's not to like? I just wish there was more coverage of other races on free-to-air stations that I knew about.