Ahead of Sunday's Tour of Flanders, Mathieu van der Poel is the sole favourite to win the second Monument of 2024. Het Nieuwsblad asked ex-pros Bert De Backer, Greg Van Avermaet and Johan Museeuw to search for weaknesses of the World champion and ways he can be possibly dethroned.Last week Pedersen...

Milano-Sanremo is the longest professional road race of the season and the first monument of the spring. A massive day in the cycling season, the best classics specialists and sprinters in the world take to the start.In this article you can find a wrap-up of all the information needed to know for th...

— Some bollards are being removed in areas of high CCTV coverage. Cork City Council should report criminal damage to bollards protecting cycle lanes to the Gardaí, just as the council did with the removal of paving bricks on footpaths, a local campaigner has said. In 2020, Cork City Council tweeted: “Cork City Council has reported criminal damage to the Gardai after paving at four different locations in the city centre were dug up over the weekend. An investigation is underway. In some instances, cut flowers and greenery were placed in the dug out sections.” Sam McCormack, a member of the Cork Cycling Campaign, said: “It’s hard to comprehend why they are focused on just replacing them over and over with the same result.” He said some of the bollards might be accidentally damaged but that there is a lot pointing towards intentional damage in at least some cases. McCormack posted on Twitter that at least some Cork City Council officials also believe that the cycle lane protectors have been deliberately damaged, but Cork City Council did not respond to requests for comments made by IrishCycle.com before this article was published. “Back in 2020, Cork City Council tweeted about reporting dug up paving to Gardai as criminal damage. And rightly so,” McCormack said on Twitter. In response to a complaint about missing bollards on Washington Street, he posted a response from a Cork City Council official, which said: “We have previously replaced a number of bollards on this street, but unfortunately, it is an ongoing requirement, both at this location and across the city. Some of the bollards seem to have been removed deliberately.” McCormack said that the money spent replacing the bollards repeatedly after they are damaged intentionally or otherwise would be better spent on hard protection on these lanes, either in the form of kerbing or solid bollards. “Money would be better spent investing in more secure forms of cycleway protection than just doing the same thing over and over and yielding the same result. This is costing the city more money in the long run too, considering the issue of some individual purposefully removing them is ongoing everytime the bollards are replaced,” he said. He said: “I appreciate the council replacing the bollards, of course, but it seems an awful waste of time and money to simply replace with the same ‘screw-type’ bollards which any member of the public can simply walk over to, twist and remove.” McCormack also said that metal bollards were recently installed to protect a bike share station on the same street where plastic bollards protecting cycle lanes are being damaged and pointed out that solid bollards would be harder to remove without tools. But it’s understood that there’s a safety issue in using solid bollards in cycle lanes, especially where cycle lanes are narrow. “It is also strange they haven’t reported these issues to Gardai. It is clearly criminal damage and theft. They have done so previously. It would be easy to monitor and catch those responsible as the street is filled with both public and private CCTV,” he said. McCormack added: “It took years to get Cork City Council to install protection on these lanes and how they are letting those responsible get away with it is really disappointing for everyone who relies on these cycleways to get to and from work, home and school safely.” IMAGES: Sam McCormack.

Mathieu van der Poel is the defending champion of Milano-Sanremo and a big contender for victory this Saturday. Tadej Pogacar will be his main competitor in the Italian classic but he is ready for the expected battle at the Poggio di Sanremo. "If I could change something, I would like a little more...

Rear suspension amplifies the fun off-road. Here's our pick of the best XC, trail, and enduro full-suspension mountain bikes. Adjustable trail bikes November 295It's the test you've all been waiting for, where the best full suspension mountain bike models fight it out for the coveted title of Trail Bike of the Year.

INEOS Grenadiers have fallen behind the likes of Team Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates in stage-races... They continue to give opportunities to their leaders who have some years ago thrived and led the team; to the Volta a Catalunya Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas lead the way. The British...

With Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel dominating the headlines pre-Milano-Sanremo 2024, Tom Pidcock is flying somewhat under the radar into the first monument of the season."I think I’ve been building well, I haven’t had any setbacks yet this year so I can take confidence from that," Pidcock s...

Although star duo Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel were absent from the Alpecin-Deceuninck lineup at the Volta NXT Classic, Timo Kielich and Henri Uhlig stepped up and continued the team's winning run this year. Coming into the finale, Kielich was alongside Pascal Eenkhoorn as the duo fough...

Silvan Dillier was in his heyday a strong classics rider who almost won Paris-Roubaix and led AG2R in the cobbled classics. He was signed to be part of Alpecin-Deceuninck's block for these races and the collaboration has been almost ideal for both. “A good culture has emerged within Alpecin-Deceunin...

Milano-Sanremo is the longest professional road race of the season and the first monument of the spring. A massive day in the cycling season, the best classics specialists and sprinters in the world take to the start. We take a look at it's profile. The biggest pro race in the calendar! Albeit havin...