Comment & Analysis: Former justice minister and Irish Times columnist Michael McDowell has a history of complaining about what he sees as populism. So, its no surprise he also complained when his side of the debate on the Dublin City Centre Traffic Plan was accused of populism.The headline in McDowells article is Lets not make the ill-conceived Dublin traffic plan the subject of a culture war. However, McDowell and some in the media who are on his side of the debate are the only ones trying to make the traffic plan a culture war issue.An army of bots and trolls has also been trying to do so, and a few independent councillors have hinted at it. But nobody near McDowells profile has.As Ive said before, I dont read many of Michael McDowells non-transport-related columns, but his transport-related columns do not live up to his reputation for being knowledgeable about the subjects he writes about.Back in December, McDowell asked whether we should consider the alternatives for the first time before the MetroLink juggernaut becomes an irreversible money pit. Given as IrishCycle.com covered last year comprehensive work on alternatives was undertaken and published, Im still left pondering my question from December: Was McDowell outright lying, or is he that ill-informed about a project he has campaigned against and written so many articles about? Then, in May, this website covered how McDowell was changing gears: From getting it wrong on sustainable transport to pushing a conspiracy theory of congestion by design. He said: Much of the current congestion is deliberately created by our transport engineers with their traffic-light sequencing, lane segregation and road closures.Some traffic lights have been set, and public space has been reallocated for the safety and priority of people outside of cars (including the people who park up and use public spaces). That idea it was done to frustrate car drivers is the stuff of conspiracy theories.This is exactly what happens when people try to make transport into a culture war issue: The spreading of mis/disinformation and conspiracy theories.Yesterday, McDowell wrote that the plan should have been the subject of a much wider consultation process, but the main public consultation process was one of the most widely covered consultations and had one of the highest response rates. As covered by IrishCycle.com: Lets be honest: People can disagree with Dublins traffic plan, but anybody who didnt hear about it was living under a rock.Repeating something repeatedly is a propaganda tactic. But thats the joy of calling for more consultation if youre against something, you can always hold the view that the consultation has not been wide or good enough.He outlines in two parts of his article how the plan should be introduced gradually when the measures are planned to be implemented across a number of years, not in one big bang.There is now a strong, almost ideological, objection voiced to restricting some of the proposed vehicle bans to the 7am to 7pm period, McDowell wrote in The Irish Times today, and then adds: Why? Dublin Bus claims that car users ignore those time limits unless they are 24-hour bans .Why? Well, first of all, he told us it was almost ideological in an attempt to dismiss why, and then he goes on to simplify or misunderstand why: Its not just an issue of enforcement. There are increasingly more 24-hour bus routes, and across the city, bus lanes are being made 24 hours to reflect that. It makes little sense for the area with the highest number of buses not to support those buses in the evenings.Restrictions that end at 7pm would undermine the citys public transport network when, for example, large events are held at the Point or other locations.It would also limit the opportunity to provide better public space and space for safe and attractive cycling.I was struck by some of the pro-ban rhetoric, he said before asking what populist means and if it means alarmist and unjustified. It sure does when people against the plan and the media start talking about city centre car bans when there is no car ban planned.Access to city centre car parks will still be possible after the plan is in place. Talking about bans without being clear that the ban is on limited sections of streets is the definition of alarmist, and with so much of that flying around, its no wonder that some people think the concerns are genuine.Even with the full knowledge that Dublin Bus and a wide range of groups support the transport plan, McDowell tries to paint the picture of the cyclist lobby as the main supporters.And why has nobody thought of the city centre car owners who need to do their shopping by car, McDowell asks?Good news! The proliferation of supermarkets inside the M50 (as has happened around the country) means that people living both in and around the city centre are not as dependent as they used to be to go into the core city centre to access a supermarket.This includes SuperValu Military Road, Dunnes Stores Point Square Shopping Centre, Tesco Superstore on the Navan Road and Lidl outlets on Cork Street, Grandgorman Lower, Cabra East, Drumcondra etc. 15 years ago, people in many areas only had the choice to go into the core or go out to the suburban shopping centres.Theres also a growing number of offerings such as Tesco Express (in too many places to mention), Fresh (now two in the south Docklands alone), and more central Lidl and Aldi stores, which also offer people supermarkets more local to where they live.But even with all of those options, which means nobody will be deprived of doing weekly shopping by car, people will still be able to drive into Jervis to shop at M&S or Tesco, or on the southside drive into St Stephens Green Shopping Centre for Dunnes.And car-based central Southsiders also do not need to worry! We havent forgotten about you youll still be able to access the car parks near M&S on Grafton Street, Fallon & Byrne, or wherever else you go (note to self: I might need to read some more Ross OCarroll-Kelly to get some better references in here).The point is: Theres no car ban its not useful to talk about very localised car restrictions in that way. McDowell then wrote: Given current ambitions and Government targets for use of electric vehicles, the emissions and pollution argument for measures that may seriously and permanently hollow out the life of the capital needs to be scrutinised very carefully; one might have thought that gradual change rather than major experiment is wiser.This is quite a stunning paragraph to write just after saying that people objecting to the plan were not being alarmist and unjustified in their arguments the phrase permanently hollow out the life of the capital is another example of alarmism.The majority of city centre residents dont own cars, and an even lower percentage commute by car (in other words, a large number leave their cars at home). The majority who visit the city centre for work, shopping, or leisure also do not drive in.So, even if there were some kind of a wide-scale car ban (and there still isnt), the city would not be permanently hollowed out. Cities that have far more car restrictions than Dublins are not hollowed out and, unlike some people think, Dublin City Centres population has been on the rise for decades. Even if electric cars emit zero air pollution and thats not the case because of tyre and brake emissions, which have significant impacts on human health and the environment cars are still highly inefficient at transporting people in heavily populated and busy city centre locations. After this, the article ping-pongs from McDowells dislike of BusConnects to his dislike of MetroLink to questioning the usefulness of cycling because wetter weather is predicted due to climate change (ie arguing against climate action now because of the effects of climate change with no awareness),As McDowell suggests, a surface Luas network is desirable. However, a metro line is a different kettle of fishit serves a different function of faster, high-capacity transport over a longer distance, while bus priority is needed in the short term.Again, as covered in December, McDowell is saying to build Luas routes everywhere instead of a metro line, but back when Luas was being debated in the Dail, he called for an underground system instead of Luas routes.His article makes different references to car-accessible suburban shopping centres are these shopping centres like Blanch, where the owners are building a load of apartments on a large chunk of car parking? Or Liffey Valley, where parking is now being charged for (free parking was always talked about as a draw for the out-of-town centres)? Or Dundrum, where the road network is being rearranged to favour sustainable transport and to support more housing in the area?True to form, after a few ad-hoc attacks on cycling, McDowell devotes the last few paragraphs of his article to saying its strange that compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) have not been used to connect, for example, Leeson Lane with Ely Place and Hume Street for cyclists use, avoiding the bottleneck at St Stephens Green.Except Leeson Lane ends in the bottleneck on Leeson Street, and Ely Places access toward Ballsbridge ends in the bottleneck at the Doheny & Nesbitt section of Baggot Street. There are some opportunities for cycling on smaller streets, but London quickly found the limitations of using this as a main method of providing a cycle network.Cycling has boomed in London since they built cycle paths on main roads as park of a network which also includes side streets.McDowells suggestion of using the backstreet for cycling sounds all too much like fellow Irish Times columnist John FitzGeralds suggestion that theres a magical network of back streets waiting to be untapped when there generally isnt.Former Dublin City Council manager Owen Keegan hit the nail on the head when he said Senator McDowell favours cycling only when cars are not affected.If the capital wants improved public space and a more attractive street network for pedestrians, cycling, buses or trams, CPOs wont help with most of the city centre. The Street Widening Commission (set up in 1849 and dissolved in 1851) isnt going to be revived, nor is the 1970s road widening programme.

We truly live lucky times in cycling, After three battles for the Tour de France win, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard keep delivering thrilling action every year in July and it's always somehow surprising. The two best climbers in the world went all-out today in the Massif Central in what was wit...

ForWout van Aert,the eleventh stage of theTour de Franceended at X-ray check-up where any fractures were ruled out. Why? Because the Belgian all-rounder hit the deck quite hard while preparing position for Jonas Vingegaard. And while Visma | Lease a Bike can celebrate a victory at the end of the...

UAE Team Emirates did everything in their might to put pressure on Jonas Vingegaard in a lead up to Puy Mary. And it seemed to work when Tadej Pogacar unleashed his horses on the steepest parts of the climb, as the Slovenian quickly opened a noticeable gap. And when the advantage passed half minute...

Wout van Aert took another tumble on stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, saying afterwards he was in pain for the remainder of the day after his fall. While he did not have any broken bones that would force him to abandon immediately, he was still less than certain he would be []The post Van Aert hopeful, but not certain, of staying in Tour after crash | Video appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

Ben Healy and his EF Education-EasyPost team mate, Richard Carapaz, were full of aggression on Wednesdays stage 11 at the Tour de France, proving active from the start and making the breakaway when it finally went clear after two hours of racing. However, though the group initially numbered six, and then swelled to 10, before []The post Ben Healys Tour | If Ive the legs I had today, Ill get another chance appeared first on Sticky Bottle.

Reason to celebrate at Visma | Lease a Bike on Wednesday. So far, we still weren't sure whether Jonas Vingegaard could defeat Tadej Pogacar, but on the stage to Le Lioran - he did it. This bring only cosmetic changes to the general classification, however the moral boost for the Dane, as well as the...

This year's Tour de France will be one to forget Fred Wright. After a rather miserable opening week, the Bahrain - Victorious rider seemed to be gradually finding his better legs again. But his eighth place from the stage 8 to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises will remain the highlight of Wright's Tour as t...

A day to calm frayed nerves after yesterdays mania but tension between the breakaway and the sprinters.Massif day: a raucous start to the stage with moves flying and almost 50km covered in the first hour, boocoo on hilly roads. It took longer still for the breakaway to form with Richard Carapaz among the most persistent until finally after 90km the move went clear, but sans Romain Bardet who had a mechanical. He didnt have long be wistful about missing the break though. UAE kept the gap tight and other teams joined in on the approach to the big climbs and the breakaway was crushed and the script ripped up, this was going to be a GC stage.A Tadej Pogaar attack was on the cards and at the rate he was using up team mates (UAE have no Plan B), you could tell it was coming on the Pas de Peyrol with over 30km to go. He launched and nobody could, or would, follow. Yet if he got 30 seconds Jonas Vingegaard took this back on the next climb, the Perthus.The pair would ride together to the finish and this must have been playing on Pogaars mind. Worse for him, Pogaar lost the sprint, rare. He seemed to have a low gear, and to borrow from Stendhal, as if his legs felt to him like cotton, he had no more strength.Theres a lot of tea leaf reading, how much to extrapolate? The word is Visma were hoping to make the difference in the third week. So coming out on top is a triumph. But the GC changed by one second in the Danes advantage: a morale boost. Ask the bookmakers and things have switched, Vingegaard is now the market pick.If Pogaar cant convert the steep climbs to his advantages he might be worried, its his speciality. But with the Giro in his legs hes surely bound to have less zip, was this really the place to try? Its all deliciously uncertain.Behind Primo Rogli crashed on the last bend dowhill but the three kilometre rule applies to all stages except summit finishes, as it has for ages. Plenty seemed surprised by this, but the same rule existed in 2016 on the same roads only nobody stacked it like Rogli. Still he and Remco Evenepoel lost 25 seconds, more time conceded but close. Evenepoel joins Vingegaard in being over a minute down, the Belgians gains in the grand cru time trial now conceded in double. Never say never for Rogli but his speciality has been steep climbs and time bonuses rather than arbitraging the rulebook.Earlier Romain Bardet rode through the Virage Bardet, something to record because if he is retiring perhaps his popularity is growing, or just it was worth paying tribute.One last note and we go back to the start. Pello Bilbao losing 40 minutes and Fred Wright outside of the time limit. Your blogger was in the village dpart and instead of slamming pt on toast noticed some Bahrain riders arrived in a separate vehicle, wearing wearing masks, and stayed away from the bus as if quarantined. Cofidis lost two riders. Fingers crossed.The Route: 203km and 2,100m of vertical gain. The start town of Aurillac is half-famous in France for being the coldest place in the country. When TV bulletins show tomorrows weather Aurillac seems to be have the lowest temperature. Yet often does not equal reality, its nowhere near the coldest, whether the average or the record. Instead things can heat up with the big road at the start, a wide route nationale artery.The goes through Rocamadour and then climbs away from the hilltop village for the marked climb. From here on its sunflower country. The intermediate sprint is in Gourdon where Eurosport pundit Jacky Durand won a stage almost a third of a century ago.The Finish: around town and across the Lot and back out for a big wide finish, easy on the logistics but less so for the charm.The Contenders: breakaway or sprint? 2,100m of V+ suggests a breakaway as its a hard day with some hilly roads but several teams have house sprinters who can still win or even thrive after this distance. But for many other riders and plenty of teams today could be worth trying the early break, its not a long shot.The finish is flat so Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the first pick, well see his team can control the day. Biniam Girmay (Intermarch-Wanty) would like an uphill finish but could be fresher by the end.If theres a breakaway it helps to be able to sprint well or barge clear late so Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Dorion Godon (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale), Alex Aranburu (Movistar), Marijn van dern Berg (EF), Michael Matthews (Jayco) are all contenders, so is Anthony Turgis (Total) and Luca Mozzato (Arka-B&B Hotels)Philipsen, GirmayGroenewegen, Cavendish, Stuyven, Matthews, Aranburu, Gaviria, MvdB, MvdB, TurgisWeather: sunshine and rain, 26C and the chance of a thunderstorm or three.TV: KM0 is at 12.50pm CEST and the finish is forecast for 5.30pm CEST. Tune in early to see the contest for the breakaway and if its sport or siesta.Postcard from Villeneuve-sur-LotJean-Thodore Joyeux or Carl Nabo as the local cycling celebrity? Joyeyux wins the coin toss. A hairdresser by trade from nearby Castillonns, he was a keen cyclist at the end of the 19th century. After results in what we could call the amateur ranks he hit on a commercial collaboration with Mtropole to undertake un tour de France to prove their bike was up to it. Mtropoles bike was the Acatne, a play on without a chain because it used a shaft drive to connect the cranks to the back wheel.Starting in Paris in May 1895 he rode clockwise around France, reportedly doing 19 stages and averaging 289km to complete a 5,500km lap of France for which he went into the French cycling record books. He finished in perfect health, not at all tired and ready to go again in the coming days. This can make Joyeux the original pioneer of the Tour de France, before of Henri Desgrange and his colleagues at LAuto newspaper who launched their Tour de France in 1903 and ahead of the inaugural winner Maurice Garin.Some reports say Joyeuxs ride didnt get the recognition it deserved because it was overshadowed by the Dreyfus affair. This was a huge political scandal that divided France, the splits it provoked were even a factor to the founding of the Tour de France. Such claims persist online but are hard to stand up, the Dreyfus news wasnt boiling in May 1895, there ought to have been room for a cycling endeavour in the newspapers too. Rather it seems Joyeux was on a solo jaunt and promoting a brand, so no race to write up and didnt have a house newspaper to publicise him either. He does feature in the press who praised the notion of doing 250km a day but it feels like they cant write up 19 versions of this for each stage.Continuing with the debunking other articles say Desgrange wrote in his LAuto column that the idea of organising the great cycling race as we know it comes from the record of Thodore Joyeux but who can find a mention in the archives; instead he seems to have said this in passing during a visit to nearby Agen in 1920.Still, to paraphrase Desgranges, it seems the Tour de France was a Joyeux idea. Or maybe not? As a Breton called Jean-Marie Le Corre also had the same idea in 1895 and presented it to the media to drum up interest. Joyeux might have read this and got going before Le Corre so if not the idea, the first tour of France on a bike in stages was down to Joyeux.Perhaps the lesson is you dont always have to be first with an invention, coming along later with improvements, a bolder story and better backing counts for plenty too.The post Tour de France Stage 12 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

Remco Evenepoel gavePrimoz Roglica little pushduring stage eleven of theTour de France.Evenepoelseemed to urge Roglic to ride extra hard at the front in order to catch back to the leading duo (Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard). Remco's actions caused some commotion after the stage. Analyst M...