This week on the GCN Show, we investigate the surprising rise in cycling accidents in the Netherlands and ask if the world’s safest cycling nation is about to change its stance on helmets. We also explore how Olympic Champion Kristen Faulkner built her own AI system to optimize her performance and take a look at Tadej Pogačar’s brand-new Colnago TT bike.
Win a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT 3 GPS Headunit!
👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNWahooCompetition
Chapters: ⏱️
00:00 – Welcome to the GCN Show!
00:56 – Pogačar’s Attack & Racing News
02:44 – The Dutch Cycling Safety Debate
12:20 – New One-Day Classics Prints
14:26 – Pogačar’s New Bike & Gravel Tech
16:30 – Pro Cyclist Builds Her Own AI
20:07 – Important New Cycling Safety Bills and Racing News
25:02 – Hack/Bodge of the Week
32:00 – Caption Competition
36:01 – Comments of the Week
44:23 – Dan’s Chain Waxing Disaster
Win a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT 3 GPS Headunit!
👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNWahooCompetition
Useful Links:
Join this channel to get access to perks 👉
https://gcn.eu/JoinYTmemberships
Subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! 👉 https://gcn.eu/subscribe
Insurance: Viewers in the USA and UK can explore GCN Insurance products 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNinsurance
Sign Up To The GCN Newsletter 👉 https://gcn.eu/Newsletter
GCN Uploader 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnuploader
Visit the GCN Shop 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnshop
GCN WhatsApp Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNwhatsapp
GCN Instagram Broadcast Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/instagrambroadcast
Join the GCN Club on Zwift and ride with us! 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNClubRides
Dutch cycling has always been about freedom and simplicity, but rising accident rates are sparking a tough conversation. Should the government step in with helmet laws, or is the infrastructure still the answer?
Watch more on GCN…
📹 https://youtu.be/r31sfwJANQ8
📹 Watch our Editor’s Choice Playlist 👉 https://gcn.eu/editorschoice
📹 Or why not check out our Features Playlist 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnfeatures
🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
Make No Mistakes – Bonnie Grace
Afternoon Swing – Five Dime Fellas
#gcn #cycling #roadcycling #roadbike #bike #bikes #bikelife
📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images
The Global Cycling Network (GCN) is the largest online cycling channel in the world, bringing together a global community of road cyclists to celebrate everything that’s great about the world of cycling.
Our videos bring fans compelling daily content, including expert tutorials, techniques, training, racing, cutting-edge bike tech, unparalleled behind-the-scenes event coverage, humour, entertainment, and more.
Presented by ex-pro riders, GCN offers a uniquely qualified insight into the world of cycling, and most importantly, it’s fuelled by our passionate and enthusiastic fans – everyone who makes up the GCN community. We also bring the latest and greatest tech to your attention, showcase the best places in the world to ride and get exclusive access to events and races.
Welcome to the Global Cycling Network | Inside Cycling
Thanks to our sponsors:
Canyon Bikes: http://gcn.eu/-Canyon
Orbea Bikes: http://gcn.eu/Orbea
Pinarello Bikes: https://gcn.eu/Pinarello
Topeak Tools: http://gcn.eu/Topeak
CamelBak: https://gcn.eu/Camelbak
Pirelli Tyres: https://gcn.eu/Pirelli
Vision Wheels: http://gcn.eu/Vision
Wahoo Fitness: http://gcn.eu/Wahoo-Fitness
Park Tool: http://gcn.eu/-parktool
Selle Italia: https://gcn.eu/SelleItalia
Zwift: https://gcn.eu/Zwift
Gtechniq: https://gcn.eu/Gtechniq
Core Body Temperature: https://gcn.eu/corebodytemp
Precision Fuel & Hydration: https://gcn.eu/precisionhydration
Elitewheels: https://gcn.eu/Elitewheels
CeramicSpeed: https://gcn.eu/GCNCeramicSpeed
HJC Sports: https://gcn.eu/hjcsports
Shimano: https://gcn.eu/shimano
Cyclowax: https://gcn.eu/cyclowax
Watch our sister channels:
GCN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gcntech
GCN Racing – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnracing
Global Triathlon Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gtn
GCN Italia – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnitalia
GCN en Español – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenespanol
GCN auf Deutsch – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnaufdeutsch
GCN en Français – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenfrancais
GCN Training – https://www.youtube.com/@GCNTraining
Global Mountain Bike Network – https://youtube.com/@gmbn
GMBN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gmbntech
Electric Mountain Bike Network – https://www.youtube.com/@embn
44 Comments
Dutch cycling has always been about freedom and simplicity, but rising accident rates are sparking a tough conversation. Should the government step in with helmet laws, or is the infrastructure still the answer?
no one knew about my 4 hour rides says Si a whole bunch of times !!!!
Ah yes the e bike an invention that had no reason to exist… Only for the lazy. We used to have mopeds, scooters, small cc motorcycles that are far more useful than a planet wrecking ebike. If your moped wasn't fast enough you brought a bigger bike….. Also remember the bicycle has been around a very long time, old guys at cycle clubs ride huge distances, the regular old ladies who do there shopping on normal ladies bikes with baskets…… The ebike exists because people are lazy.
Waiting until the end to hear Lloyd wax poetically. 😆
Caption: "Well, if Remco has to throw something, better a bottle than a fit."
Xacto Knife – Model Knife used for hobbies. Similar to a scalpel.
There is no logical argument that ebikes are not more dangerous. You are ridiculously stupid, or sponsored/lobbied by ebikes, if you say ebikes are not more dangerous than a comparable real bike.
As one of the 16 viewers watching until the end of the show, I think that Cycling Nuggets deserves its very own segment intro. Many thanks for all of the content over the years.
BIG CATS
Happy to hear Dan put the chain through the wrong side of the tab on the derailleur. I do that every time I put my chain back on. Never learn.
injury rates increase is mainly because of that crappy fatbike boom. Chinese quality, mostly not legal so goes much faster than 25 km/h and its geometrics make so easy to lose control, especially young reckless cool kids with no experience rides them.
Well first time i watch a clipp of you. I can only say one thing never gonaa watch another one again. Fine your a sporting bike channel wich is fine, don't do a title that insults actuale real people that use a bike for real purpose except for what going fast and looking worse in lycra…. Have a nice life.
If people don’t want to wear head protection whilst riding their bike/s, then they are prime candidates for the Darwin awards. Vanity and ego aren’t the most positive of personality traits 😉
When I was a child, I learned to ride bikes without hi-viz and helmets, they didn't exist. I also rode in cars without seatbelts, they also didn't exist. I would feel quite vulnerable in any car without a seatbelt these days. Likewise, I won't ride a bike without a helmet, certainly not above 10kmh. There is no need for compulsion.
Due to electric powered bikes, elderly people stay biking to a higher age. But the older they get, the lesser they are able to handle the speed and weight. Simple.
My father in law at 88 just bought a new electric bike whilst not having driven a bike since 30years!
Helmet mandatory, just like seat belts in car….
the thing is ebikes have doubled the distance older cyclists ride, therefore increasing exposure risks at a higher rate.
The chart showing the number of older cyclists growing year by year may as well be the same population getting older and not being replaced by new births, rather than old people taking up cycling for the first time every successive year
As several people already mentioned, the proposed law changes are specifically aimed at teenagers who are riding cheap Chinese fat tired e-bikes (fatbikes), which can easily be adjusted to raise the top speed to 40-50kmph instead of the 25kmph legal limit. Not only is the speed higher, the kids are relatively inexperienced still, but they also make a sport from performing 'stunts' on their bikes or using the bikes with as many people on it as they can fit (tiny bike, 3-4 people on it).
Some stats: in 2024 young people on electric bikes were ending up in the emergency room with brain injuries six times more often compared to earlier years. In this age bracket, fatbike-related accidents increased from essentially zero in 2020 to 301 cases in 2024. In Amsterdam, more than half of fatbikes checked by police in the first five months of 2024 had been modified to go faster than the legal 25 km/h limit.
I'm against helmet laws, though this one is so specifically targeted that I'm on the fence about it myself. If fewer kids ride these bikes as a result, that's arguably the point. But it's a finger and a future government might take the rest of the hand and broaden the legislation. And it's of course questionable if the laws will achieve anything — they're already driving illegal bikes, so do they care about helmets? The police are understaffed as is. And it doesn't target the real causes: easily modified, often illegally imported fat bikes and just bad behavior from kids.
Love your content so much, thank you! As an American, I'm struck – and I mean struck – by what we might call your melding of two almost diametrically opposed identities of urban cycling for commuting and competitive cycling for sport. That's just me being American, I am sure. Have you ever addressed this split in the American consciousness about biking in any previous videos?
The numbers are cooked at the source of the source of the source in this country (The Netherlands). Pushing and pulling with numbers make sure elections are won by certain ideologies every single time. But when it comes to helmets on a bike things are simpler for most of us… NO WAY. I'M DUTCH.
Dutchy here. Loads of elderly on ebikes and, the most hated people on the road, teenagers on fatbikes. These now are getting banned from city centers. The teenagers often increase the speed of the fatbike up to 50-60 km/h or 30-35 mph. And then they add a throttle on the steering bar and they start to ride like idiots. Given the really poor quality of the bikes their brakes often don't work as well too. We need to start getting rid of those, that's just it.
Dutch statistics (CBS) show the increase in deadly bike incidents are not across the board, but limited to 70+. The increase is at par with the increase of the 70+ population.
So: if we define a safety issue by increasing risk, there is no safety issue. The risk of any biker in NL is the same as it was before. Only the year you turn 70, should you have a good look at these statistics.
In the Netherlands you 'bike' from the age of threefour. The bike helmet excist for about forty years now. The Dutch don't like helmets so they don't wear them unless your'e a kid, an elderly or on a mountain- or race bike. But now we have e-bikes, fat bikes and an awful lot of bonus citizens who are not used to bike from an young age. And among those bonus citizens there is this young Canadian who has found the Dutch media to complain and campaign on how dangerous the Dutch cycling culture is, whitout helmets. When you consider the amount of cyclists (tens of millions in traffic daily) and head injuries, than there will be more injuries caused by bears if all these people were cycling the Canadian woods.
Helmets ⛑️ should always be mandatory, mandatory cycling license course too some cyclist are real morons 😆
Motorbiker for many years and grew up cycling without a helmet. Now, I wouldn't go out without wearing my helmet while riding my ebike. I will say, young men on fat tyre scooter type ebikes is an issue 😡
Mandatory wearing of helmets is great so long as they are worn correctly, not like bonnet as they fail to do the job designed for it worn incorrectly.
@33:45 …. or tune a piano.
Come to London – we have red lights always jumped by millennials riding Lime hire e-bikes wearing headphones, and food-delivery courtiers in balaclavas riding illegally modded e-bikes. Makes genuine users of bicycle-as-transport ashamed, our Mayor rides round in an armour plated 4×4, and our socialist councils take money from tech companies to Bert their e-bike hire schemes with no thoughts about road safety or clear pavements for disabled people.
A helmet and a hi vis is going to stop somebody fucking around with their apple car play or sat nav or texting or getting behind the wheel drunk how exactly?
helmets should certainly not be mandatory! they should remain a recommendation
As much as we try to prevent accidental deaths, they will continue to happen regardless of whether these safety measures are mandated or not. I appreciate that some people have concern for these few unfortunate victims but at some point, we need to rbe resigned to the fact that we are merely mortal beings subject to life threatening trauma and disease daily. Live your life accordingly but mandating safety measures will never be universally accepted.
big cats
Bike helmets have saved my skull multiple times over my life, when I was a dumb kid riding like I was invincible, to when I was a dumb college kid riding home from bars buzzed at night. To me its a no-brainer to just put a helmet on, by its very nature you won't know when you're going to fall and which direction, you only get one brain. It doesn't take much to get a traumatic brain injury and I've heard about enough people who have had them that I won't even get on a bike without a helmet, I feel naked without it. It's insane to me that people still ride without one regularly.
Yellow is the new orange
Caption competition: Remco does a “Put your comments in the captions” impression
Also a Dutchie here and my very unpopular opinion is to just make wearing a damn helmet mandatory to every cyclist. Nothing but kudos from other parents who see this weird guy wearing a Giro Eclipse to school when picking up the kids on the cargo bike. FYI, it's my third Eclipse helmet, after kissing the asphalt on my road bike, twice.
6:08 Does anyone know what the make of this fixed front basket?
It's exactly what I"m looking for.
Cheers and thank you.
Heebie jeebies – well known in OZ.
Recently, Strava has defaulted to classifying all my rides as commutes (I’m retired) and I don’t always remember to change it. I smell a rat!
I rode my gravel bike for years without a helmet, until I got a ticket. I know it what Sai is saying, the idea that you must wear a Helmet makes the idea of cycling dangerous by default but indeed a helmet can also bring a false sense of security. I see people here in the US wearing motorcycle helmets, shin-guards, knee and elbow pads when riding their e-mountain bikes and downhill bikes, their speed is outrageous on multi-use gravel paths where pets, children, and older adults are hiking. More sensible riding (less speed) = less falls. The fact that more wrecks are happening (no car or other person involved) is most likely because of the introduction of ebikes. Speed=more crashes. A Simple direct correlation is not hard to see.
Since 2 years orso the Netherlands started to trie to get data on bike accident casualties, mainly because of the explosive rise of young teenagers, like 10-14 , or younger, and elderly people, among the victims. And they need the data to make new laws to create save roads for all people using them roads
In 2018 I got hit hit by a young woman who ran a stop sign and i was hurt quite bad, my Bell helmet was really smashed up. The emergency MD said that how broken up my helmet was that if I wasn't wearing it I would have been a organ donor.
Adults should decide on there own, but kids under 15 should be required to wear a helmet