Etoile de Besseges update | Stage 4 cut due to snow; 1 more team abandons; More criticism of organizers from riders

Surreal days this week in France as the Etoile de Bessèges sees stage 4 start with a peloton half the size of what it began with, with the second consecutive stage cut (now due to bad weather reasons), and with a lot negative commentary over what's happened in recent days. Entering the queen stage, one less team is also taking to the start.

The environment of the race is perfectly encapsulated by a post shared by the Lotto team this morning, who is starting stage 4 with two riders only - one of them being race leader Arnaud De Lie. Their teammates abandoned the race yesterday, reasons being unclear why some riders stayed, although De Lie hinted that difficulty finding his teammates in the neutralized peloton last morning could be the reason. This morning Equipo Kern Pharma, with stage and GC favourite Urko Berrade, has also decided not to start the stage.

But the few riders who do remain also will not do the entire planned stage, as the risk of snow in some areas, combined with the ongoing rain and cold temperatures, have forced the organizers to cut a 21-kilometer long section of the race. The summit finish at Mont Bouquet remains, for now, with Dylan Teuns and Kévin Vauquelin being the two main contenders for victory.

A few more high-level figures have shared their opinion on the controversies that have happened over the week:

Benjamin Thomas (L´Équipe): “I was in the front positions of the group. Compared to yesterday, the car was proceeding very slowly and in the same direction as the race. At a certain point, it turned left and cut off the group. Some were forced to brake, which can be very dangerous on wet roads. The breakaway had just started and there was no police cover between the leading riders and the group. We stopped because the agreement we had with the organizers after the first accident to have more safety had not been respected. Some riders did not want to continue. I told myself that in the end it was a racing accident that should not happen but that I was sure that if we had restarted it would not happen again. I would have restarted, but there were three of us and Dries [de Bondt] and Oier [Lazkano] did not want to restart. I then also spoke to my team who told me to restart, and then I thought about the organizers. If we do not race, the Etoile de Bessèges will disappear“.

“There must be greater awareness on the part of the organizers regarding safety. Things like yesterday and today cannot happen anymore, something must change. I don’t know if we need closed circuits, or tapes and barriers to close off minor intersections where there are no people. At least people would know there’s a rush, otherwise they go out to buy bread and then it happens like today. We’ve been lucky there haven’t been any serious accidents.”

Jordi Meeus (Het Nieuwsblad): "Cars that were half parked on the road. Even trucks, after blind bends. It had to improve. Most teams were on the same page: we would start to give the organization another chance, but as soon as an unsafe situation arose, we would stop. Everyone agreed with that. Including the organization and the UCI. "We stopped and discussed it with the organisation. They said that there simply weren't enough cars and motorcyclists to really solve the problems."

"I don't really understand that (why not all teams left the race, ed.), no. It ended relatively well now, but what if a car comes onto the course on a descent? Then everyone says: 'If only we had stopped.' I find it strange. In the morning everyone was unanimous: 'We'll give it another chance, until something happens again.' But when it does, we as riders have to choose. Our team manager had asked a UCI commissaire beforehand: 'Would you let your child race in these conditions?' He said he wouldn't, but in the end no decision was made."

Sep Vanmarcke (Het Nieuwsblad): "I know how the roads are closed off or not closed off. A 'swan' (a police on a motorbike, ed,) rides ahead of the race and 'when passing' signals to incoming traffic that they should stop. Not every driver knows the race. Once the leading group has passed, many think they have a clear path. Then you get what we have seen two days in a row now: cars driving towards the peloton. Don't blame the driver."

"I am annoyed by the way the organisation and the UCI have handled the situation in Bessèges. I understand that there was already an agreement for the third stage, after consultation in the whatsapp group of the riders' union CPA. Conclusion there: if a new incident occurs, it's over.' The UCI also agreed to this."