BORA - hansgrohe rider Max Schachmann, two-time winner at Paris-Nice (2020+2021), team time-trial world champion and multiple German champion, has almost put a difficult time behind him. His regular training with the team is now going quite well again and he is enjoying racing again.After his outsta...

After a blistering sprint, Michael Matthews thought he'd secured himself a second monument podium of the season at the recent Tour of Flanders. Moments later however, that joy was controversially taken away as he was relegated by the race jury down to 11th. The reason for the Australian's relegation...

The Nokere Koerse will take place on the 13th of March 2024 and is part of the spring block of Belgian semi-classics. It's is one of the most traditional races for the period and features a profile that is suited to the classics specialists and sprinters. We take a look at the startlist. The final s...

Once again, the focus for Jonas Vingegaard in 2024 will be the Tour de France. With arguably his toughest competition coming up this year with numerous potential winners set to take part, the Dane has wasted no time in sending a message.After a dominant performance at Gran Camino to start the season...

Councillors at Dublin City Council’s full monthly council meeting tonight have agreed to note the Dublin City Transport Plan and ask officials to meet with Disabled Persons Organisations. The plan looks to increase space and priority for pedestrians, cycling, and public transport and looks to reduce car use in the city centre, which is in line with targets set by councillors. A senior official said car access would be maintained, and the number of disabled parking spaces would be maintained or increased. Cllr Declan Meenagh (Labour), who is visually impaired, said that he and most others use public transport or taxis in the city centre. He said he got to the council meeting on a Luas tram and would go home on a bus. As a motion to defer the plan was to be voted on, instead, Cllr Meenagh suggested that the council agree that officials would meet with Disabled Persons Organisations within a month. Councillors and a senior official agreed to this. Disabled Persons Organisations (DPOs) are groups led by people with disabilities, as opposed to some disability groups that are service providers. Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), DPOs should be given special consideration in policy and other changes. Cllr Damian O’Farrell (independent) had moved to defer the plan, citing concerns from the Voice of Vision Impairment, which is a DPO. Cllr O’Farrell aggressively interrupted the meeting a number of times. Lord Mayor, Cllr Daithi De Roiste, tried to stop him from interrupting; he said that he accepted that Cllr O’Farrell is a councillor but that there were 64 other councillors also wanting to speak. READ MORE: Dublin City Centre Transport Plan: What’s included? Cllr Michael Pidgeon (Green) said that there should be more respect shown and councillors should be aware that there’s an issue where officials cannot push back against councillors as hard as councillors push officials. Cllr Catherine Stocker (Social Democrats) said she wanted to support the plan but would be supporting Cllr O’Farrell’s motion because the Voice of Vision Impairment said they haven’t been consulted enough. Cllr Daithí Doolan (SF) said he did not want to delay the plan but asked questions on the request from the Voice of Vision Impairment, who want blue badge holders to be able to be able to cross bus gates. Cllr de Róiste said he also has concerns about engagement with DPOs and asked the council’s law agent for their view on consultation with DPOs. The law agent said the obligation under the law is to engage; it’s not prescribed. She understands that the officials and councillors have been engaging with DPOs, and it’s ongoing. Brendan O’Brien, head of traffic and transport at the council, said that disabled parking badges — known as blue badges — are only for parking. He said that there’s no legal mechanism to allow blue badge holders to bypass any other restrictions. This is an issue of national legislation. O’Brien outlined how the restrictions are in small areas, and the measures are still four months away from any implementation, which allows for more engagement. Cllr Dermot Lacey (Labour) said that he’s glad officials have caught up with his idea of having the street in front of Customs House traffic-free. O’Brien said it’s down to traffic reduction. The measures in this plan, such as the bus gates on the quays, will allow such traffic-free areas. O’Brien outlined how the plan was developed based on what councillors agreed in the Development Plan. This was a point echoed by Cllr Claire Byrne (Greens), who said that cllrs have already voted for traffic reduction in the Development Plan and the Climate Action Plan, and Cllr Darragh Moriarty (Labour) repeated this point and highlighted how many times O’Brien said that the plan was based on what councillors wanted. Regarding concerns about motorists diverting into residential areas, O’Brien said that the idea was that there would be a reduction in traffic, not that it would all be diverted. The public consultation had nearly 3,600 respondents. O’Brien said that’s compared to the Development Plan — which affects the whole of the Dublin City Council area — which gained just over 4,000 submissions, and the Dublin City Climate Action Plan, which only received 88 submissions. O’Brien said that officials are trying to work with Gunness and had met them today — the 80 truck movements from Gunness account for about 90% of HGV movements on the quays. Around 1/3 of the trucks are going to Belfast via Dorset Street. Officials will continue to meet with them and try to find a solution.

Alpecin-Deceuninck reaffirmed their position as the team of the Classics so far on Sunday, as they took the victory at Paris-Roubaix with Mathieu van der Poel riding to victory and Jasper Philipsen taking the runner-up spot in the sprint behind. This marked back-to-back 1-2 victories at the Hell of...

Taking the first win of his Team Visma | Lease a Bike career, Matteo Jorgenson shone brightly at Paris-Nice 2024. Now, a couple of days later the American has reflected on his triumph. “Winning is huge, it can’t really be understated how big this race is,” the 24-year-old says delightedly in convers...

On the 16th of March, world champion Mathieu van der Poel makes his hotly-anticipated return to road racing at Milano-Sanremo. Although the first race of a season is always a question mark, Alpecin-Deceuninck are confident in their star. "With what we know today, we are satisfied with Mathieu's leve...

More than 48 minutes after Mathieu van der Poel took the victory at Paris-Roubaix, Cyrus Monk crossed the line in the Roubaix velodrome to become the final finisher of the race. Despite being outside the time limit on the day, Monk was still able to complete the full 260km route, battling his way th...

Sean Kelly, the one-time ‘king of the classics’ and Vuelta overall winner, knows about rapid early career development after winning big in his teenage years. He was national junior road race champion in both his junior seasons. He won the Shay Elliott Memorial aged 17 years in 1974, passing up the chance of continuing to […] The post Sean Kelly on how things have rapidly changed for Irish juniors, U16 riders appeared first on Sticky Bottle.