"It’s first a race, not a movie production set": CPA president Adam Hansen slams TV motos influencing race at Romandie

Motorbikes have once again been a topic of discussions last weekend at the Tour de Romandie. Several riders including 5th overall Luke Plapp or Valentin Paret-Peintre have voiced their frustration with how the (TV) motos influenced outcome of several stages, helping peloton close escaped groups, seemingly in favor of this year's star participant; Tadej Pogacar.

Those remarks and subsequent response from public, have not gone unnoticed by CPA president Adam Hansen. The Australian ex-pro said the frustration around motorbikes is justified, but insisted the anger of cycling fans is being aimed at the wrong people.

"For the fans bashing riders for riding behind the motos, that’s unfair," Hansen wrote on X, insisting that the riders themselves are not to blame for following the offered shelter from wind. "The riders are free to ride anywhere on the roads."

Hansen pointed out that riders should not be expected to invest extra effort to avoid a draft created by a motorbike ahead of them. In his view, the problem starts with the organisation of the convoy, not with the riders racing behind it. "For races that have motos too close or just everywhere, that’s not the riders’ fault," Hansen added. "It’s the organisation of the vehicles in front of the race that is handled badly, again not the riders’ fault. It’s first a race, not a movie production set."

Luke Plapp rode an excellent Tour de Romandie. The Australian finished top-5 in general classification of a WorldTour stage race for only a third time in his career, and for the first time on European soil. However the 25-year-old could not hide his displeasure with the handling from organizer's side.

"The motorbike came in front of our bunch and the speed was just unbelievable in the peloton," Plapp said on the Stanley St. Social podcast. "We were just lined out, sprinting out of every corner, and the time gaps just raced down."

Plapp added that the situation had become hard to ignore. "There were some stages where it was just a bit of a joke how fast we were going and how much the motorbikes influenced it," he said.

Hansen said riders themselves want more distance between the motorbikes and the peloton, and claimed the CPA has raised the topic repeatedly in meetings.

"Do the riders want the motos not influencing the race? Of course they do," he wrote. "We hear comments all the time and we always bring it up at each meeting."

He also linked the problem to the wider discussion around rider safety. According to Hansen, organisers have spoken about reducing speed in the peloton, but he believes there is a far simpler way to do that. "The fastest way to slow down the bunch is not to have the motos so close to the bunch," Hansen said.

"Please fans, it’s the motorbikes’ fault, not the riders," he concluded. "Respect the riders, their job is hard enough and then to read on social media that they get disrespected because they have a motorbike in front of them is not fair."