Green Cycle

<p>Should the Tour De France be doing more to promote the environmental and health benefits of cycling? Is there a missed opportunity here? </p> <p>Stuart and William discuss this and more as theY explore the following question sent in by listener Karlijn, Teignmouth, Devon:</p> <p>“The Tour De France in 2022 saw climate protesters disrupt some of the stages (3 actually, as far as I know). Is this a good battle to choose if the bicycle is a clean form of transport, or is there more to this targeting than meets the eye? A lot of sports like skiing who flip flop competitors all over the world could lower their footprint if they took a more logical route. I saw someone also try and glue themselves to the goal posts during a game at the 2022 women&#39;s football European Championships. The cameras never focus on the protestors though so this really must impact on the awareness and effectiveness of these protests? The go slow blockades on the UK motorways didn’t receive too much coverage either, so all the congestion and inconvenience caused maybe couldn’t be justified?” </p> <p>They go on to discuss the responsibility of the Tour de France to promote the health benefits of cycling more widely, and how it can use its platform to encourage more people to take up cycling as a means of transport. </p> <p>They also explore the importance of effective protest, and the risks of going too far. They also challenge the assumption that all environmentalists are radical activists. It’s not what’s done, it’s how it’s done. It’s not a case of whether protesting should or shouldn’t happen, it’s how it’s done. As part of a free world, we should all be free to protest. If you’ve got a voice you need to use it, but you need to be careful how you use it. There is an assumption that all people who are labeled as an environmentalist glue themselves to the road as a protest.</p> <p>In this episode Stuart and William were again joined by long time listener Hedley Thorne, who was invited to take his place in the ‘Listeners Chair’, where he