"It was a wrong decision by the peloton but it’s clear that we didn’t do enough to avoid this outcome" - Volta ao Algarve organization on decision to cancel stage results

We've had Tadej Pogacar win at the UAE Tour and Maxim van Gils triump for the first time in a Red Bull jersey at the Vuelta a Andalucia today. But somehow both of these are secondary to the true story of the day which happened at the Volta ao Algarve. The race director has reacted to the shocking final kilometer incident.

As we've previously reported, in the final 300 meters the peloton swerved into the deviation that was meant for the team cars and race vehicles - due to bad signalling from the marshals. The peloton had indications of turning into a different direction on the roundabout, and so whose fault it is becomes a heated debate.

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Certainly, the organization of the Portuguese race refuses to take full blame. First and foremost however they have explained the decision to nullify the results, which gave Filippo Ganna as the deserving winner on the day. “The College of Commissaires interpreted the regulations and, given what happened, decided to cancel the stage because they considered that sporting truth did not prevail in the end," race director Sérgio Sousa said in a press release.

"All the technical information was clear that the riders should go left at the last roundabout," Sousa argues. The truth is there were indeed indications, but it is fully plausible that the amount of staff dedicated to this crucial spot in the course was not enough.

"The fact is that some of them took the right, in a lane parallel to the finish line. It was a wrong decision by the peloton but it’s clear that we didn’t do enough to avoid this outcome, which we very much regret". It's safe to say that many in the peloton were unhappy with the outcome, specially the riders and teams who rode for several hours in search of a stage win - on a day that officially, ultimately has no winner.

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"I didn't see any barriers on either side. It was all very confusing" - Explanation given from first rider to go the wrong way in chaotic Volta ao Algarve stage finish

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