Ronde van Vlaanderen 2026 ***Spoilers***

[TakeTheHighRoad]

I don't think the race officials picked it up during the race, but there were reports on here, during the race, that people on social meeja were jumping up and down and shouting.

I haven't seen footage of it but if the lights changed as they were near to the crossing moving at speed then fair enough. But if there were officials flagging and lights going (and horns maybe, some crossings have them) and they still carried on then that would be a different matter.

Doesn't really matter for this race, I don't think there was any great injustice or anything. And if riders get fines/driving bans then that's no big deal. It's not like they can't afford it. The important thing is that the officials use this incident to improve safety.

I think it's this. The lights changed as the riders were just getting to it, but as INRNG pointed out "just as nobody racing looks at traffic lights when approaching a junction, nobody will look at the level crossing so there’s a grey zone for stopping time, a few flashes can allow a few riders through"

It's much ado about nothing IMO, but in such a high profile race the Belgian authorities (for want of a better word) don't want to set a precedent that "it's OK for Pog to do it in de Ronde, but not for Vincent van de Vlaanderen to do it on the way to the shops"

Hence the symbolic "suspension" that has been suggested. If Pog is banned from cycling in Belgium for 8 days it has no impact on anything

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Now, I'm no expert on trains, so this is mainly guesswork but: Trains take a LOT longer to stop than cars or even lorries. There may be no suitable signal just before the crossing. How do you intervene with the signalling system to get a signal set to red? There will be existing safety protocols that have to be over-ridden and all sorts. So I'd imagine that stopping a train that is approaching a crossing is massively different to closing off roads. Just guesswork mind.

As @matticus said it seems that there is co-ordination with the railways to put a gap in the timetable, but if that doesn't work (looks like it didn't) and a train is on its way then there's only really one thing to do. Wait for it to pass.

I was on a TGV that hit an animal last year. The emergency stop was quite an experience, and took ages. Mind you a TGV goes a lot faster than a little local Belgian train.

We'll have to agree to differ. 🙂

Big sporting event arranged way in advance would hardly take too much planning and foresight. I mean, we've just sent another 4 people around the moon! Humans; amazing!

 

[M.R.M]

TCP's a difficult listen today. 45 minutes of: how should Remco manage his communication strategy?

Their own navals are completely in focus.

They are complete garbage. It's one of the worst cycling podcasts in existence.

 

[wakemalcolm]

They are complete garbage. It's one of the worst cycling podcasts in existence.

Top insight: I'll unsubscribe immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

 

[TakeTheHighRoad]

It was cringeworthy, and self referential, but also self aware. The very last point Daniel Friebe made was "at least we didn't talk about ourselves for 45 minutes"

What do you expect a cycling podcast to say if they think their business model is being threatened?

 

[matticus]

We'll have to agree to differ. 🙂

Big sporting event arranged way in advance would hardly take too much planning and foresight. I mean, we've just sent another 4 people around the moon! Humans; amazing!

They DID plan - that's what my post says (which Dogtrousers kindly acknowledged). What is much harder, is to stop a train at very short notice. The riders do not follow a strict schedule!

 

[wakemalcolm]

What do you expect a cycling podcast to say if they think their business model is being threatened?

It was a curious aberration from their usual quality and I'd question whether Brian enjoys the self awareness that I hear in Lionel and Daniel.

My local Tesco has had a Lidl open next door. They focus on reminding customers what they do well rather than wang on about Lidl having the wrong model.

 

[matticus]

What do you expect a cycling podcast to say if they think their business model is being threatened?

What does this mean?

 

[matticus]

TCP's a difficult listen today. 45 minutes of: how should Remco manage his communication strategy?

Their own navals are completely in focus.

ha ha! I'm an episode behind, but I think it's only fair to see how they actually advertised the content of the last two Eps.
(One of which was a conventional hour-ish race report on the Mens RVV - and I thought they did that well

What would listeners expect??

S14 Ep20: Sweet Little Lies
The Cycling Podcast returns in perhaps the most eagerly anticipated week of the season, to look back in more detail at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and ahead to Paris-Roubaix at the weekend. Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie are joined by former team manager and press chief Brian Nygaard as we reflect on the story that dominated the build-up to Flanders: Remco Evenepoel’s shock announcement that he would start for Redbull-BORA-hansgrohe after months of denials. Are the media entitled to feel upset at being misled, or is all ultimately fair in love and the war for eyeballs?
Apr 8
1hr 9m


S14 Ep18: Arrivée: Ronde van Vlaanderen (Men)
Join Daniel Friebe and Lionel Birnie for Arrivée, the post-race reaction to the second Monument of the spring campaign, the Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Apr 5
1hr 2m

*

Spoiler: For completeness, note I chopped out Ep19:

S14 Ep19: Arrivée: Ronde van Vlaanderen (Women)
Get those waffles out of your cupboard and dig in as Rose Manley and Lizzy Banks discuss the 2026 edition of the women’s Tour of Flanders. An all star cast of riders lined up to face the 15 cobbled sections and climbs of the Ronde Van Vlaanderen. Amongst them, record holding three time winner Lotte Kopecky who has been on sporadic form this season and two time champion Elisa Longo Borghini who...
Apr 5
42m