With fewer than 40 days to go until the UCI Cycling World Championships gets underway in Scotland, the state of the roads which will play host to the elite men’s and women’s races continues to be a source of frustration and concern for local cyclists,
who have accused the local authorities of carrying out a “crude patch-up” on the crumbling infrastructure.
Earlier this year, pictures taken by a road.cc reader, showing numerous large potholes and patched sections of tarmac along the route of the road races – which form part of this year’s inaugural ‘combined’, multi-disciplinary world cycling
championships – prompted the cyclist to suggest that this year’s event “may be remembered for all the wrong reasons”.
Meanwhile, last month another Scottish cyclist expressed concerns about the state of the course after snapping his saddle thanks to the poor road surface on the Crow Road, in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire, which will feature during the early part of the
elite men’s, elite women’s, and U23 men’s road races, before the riders reach the finishing circuits in Glasgow.
The Daily Record has reported today (link is external) that, following these outcries, an “intensive” repair programme is now underway to ensure that the roads are up to scratch for the best riders in the world come early August.
However, these efforts have been condemned by local cyclists as a purely cosmetic job and a “crude patch-up”, with photos published by the newspaper showing that despite the laying of fresh tarmac on the Crow Road, the climb remains littered with
potholes.
One cyclist even claimed that members of staff involved with the Slovenian team – on a reconnaissance trip ahead of the race for one of the pre-race favourites, Tadej Pogačar – told him that they were the worst roads they’d ever seen for a world
championships course.
Lennoxtown-based Drew Wilson, who represented Scotland at three Commonwealth Games in the 1980s and 1990s, told the Daily Record that the late repairs were not enough to ensure that the course was up to scratch.
Wilson, who runs a repair shop and bike fitting service at the foot of the Crow Road, said: “This isn’t a proper fix, it’s a crude patch-up. It’s notable that Lennoxtown Main Street, which is on the course, is still a mess.
“What we are seeing is a weird tapestry of repaired tarmac, often on top of previous repairs, which will no doubt crumble again within a few years.
“Scotland is actually becoming a very attractive place to ride a bike because places like the Crow Road have spectacular, world class scenery.
“But for all the lip service, we have done little to create the kind of smooth, safe roads, or the cycle lanes they have in Europe, where cycling has exploded as a result.”
Wilson also said that the Team Slovenia staff members who visited his shop a few weeks ago told him “they’d never seen roads as bad as these for any world championships”.
“That’s a bit of an indictment on our roads and it’s an embarrassment to Scotland,” he said.
“I hope the TV cameras pick up all the good bits and I hope there’s no crashes that are caused by potholes.”
Another local cyclist, Stevie Anderson, said that the last-minute rush to cover potholes on the route underlines the generally dangerous nature of Scotland’s roads.
“For Scottish riders, the potholes are so bad they get talked about more than the weather,” the Glasgow Nightingale CC member said.
“Most cyclists are really looking forward to the event, which is great for Scotland, and it’s good that the Crow Road is getting a bit of a makeover.
“But there are thousands of cyclists attracted to that road and others nearby every week, so why are councils letting the roads crumble into such a dangerous state in the first place?
Responding to the concerns, a Glasgow City Council spokesperson said: “No specific funding has been set aside for road repairs ahead of our hosting of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
“If there is remedial carriage repair work to be carried out, or potholes identified on the route before the championships, they will be fixed as part of the council’s business as usual roads maintenance.”
Meanwhile, Stirling Council said: “All of the routes have been surveyed and we have already started to make the improvements required to our road network to ensure the safe running of the individual time trials and road races that pass through our area.
“The improvements form part of a £7.5million programme to improve the council’s roads infrastructure over the current financial year.”
However, East Dunbartonshire Council’s deputy chief executive Ann Davie said that the organisers of the upcoming world championships “have revisited the route and are satisfied with the road surface”.
The council’s appraisal is markedly different to that of Scottish cyclist Alan Myles, who snapped his saddle rail while riding on the Crow Road in May.
“It is in a very poor state and simply gets a hand-laid repair each time,” Myles told road.cc. “I normally ride round all of the mess, but thought I’d conduct an experiment this morning, so did a seated sprint over the repairs and the rail gave
way.
“The council re-laid the road just round the corner so it looks highly unlikely this bit will get done before the championships as they would have done it at the same time, because the road had to be closed for it.”
As well as the concerns over the poor road surface, the build-up to this summer’s UCI Cycling World Championships returning to UK soil – the first time the annual world championships of most cycling disciplines will be held simultaneously in one
location – has not been without concerns for the smooth running of the 11-day-long event.
Earlier this month, we reported that the championships could be hit by council strike action, with a union warning that the event could be “under threat of cancellation” unless a pay dispute with local authorities is resolved.
Releasing a statement warning that major events such as the world championships could be impacted in the case of strike action, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the five percent pay rise offer, rejected by its members, needs to be “
significantly improved” as the trade union is “actively preparing” to ballot its local government membership on strike action.
That same week, a group of residents in a Dumfries street, who complained that they were facing “unacceptable, impractical, and ridiculous” traffic restrictions during the para-cycling time trial events, secured a compromise from the council which
will allow them to access the road by car on the days of the races.
https://road.cc/content/news/cyclists-blast-crude-patch-worlds-courses-302097
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