"Monkeys in a circus" - Mass exodus from Etoile de Besseges as protest for lack of safety; INEOS, Red Bull, Quick-Step and more leave French race
Cycling
Every single day so far at the Etoile de Bessèges there have been issues with traffic on course, but on stage 2 a moving car actually caused a crash. This morning at the start of stage 3 another moving car incident happened, and there has been a mass exodus from the race in protest.
It was another shocking situation this morning, when in a roundabout, a car again steered onto the peloton. There was no crash luckily but immediately the riders forced the race to stop and went to talk to commissaires. Despite very negative first signs, the race was resumed after some minutes of discussion.
However as we'd learn later, it wouldn't resume in it's normal format. It would resume with eight teams less in the peloton, as almost every single World Tour team decided to abandon the race in protest of the outrageous situation. Several of these teams have also issued statements on social media. Thomas de Gendt, one of the vocal voices on the matter, wrote: "Maybe now the organisers and UCI will start to listen. Otherwise we just stay monkeys in a circus".
The following teams have abandoned (alongside a message on social media):
INEOS Grenadiers - The safety of our riders and staff is of paramount importance. Following multiple incidents of public vehicles entering the race course our riders, together with other teams, have decided not to complete today’s stage at Etoile de Bessèges.
Soudal - Quick-Step - Our team is one of the several that have decided to retire from today’s Etoile de Bessèges stage due to several incidents over motor vehicles being allowed onto the race course. We find this unacceptable and decided not to rejoin the stage as we prioritise the safety of our rides and staff.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale - Following several incidents during the race involving motor vehicles, and due to unsafe safety conditions for all riders, the team has decided to retire from today's stage of Etoile de Besseges.
EF Education-EasyPost - Our team, along with several others, has decided to retire from the Étoile de Bessèges due to safety concerns, including the presence of moving vehicles on the race course. The safety of our riders and staff is our top priority.
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe - Due to the continuing unsafe conditions, especially the vehicles on the course, our team, along with others, has decided to withdraw from today's stage at Etoile de Bessèges. The safety of our riders and staff is our first priority.
Unibet Tietema Rockets - After discussions within our team, our riders, along with several others, felt that continuing today was not the right choice because of safety concerns. So Unibet Tietema Rockets unfortunately will not finish in today’s stage of Etoile de Bessèges… We remain committed to the race and look forward to returning.
Every single day at Etoile de Besseges… #EDB2025 pic.twitter.com/Qo5iXf6WfF
— Lukáš Ronald Lukács (@lucasaganronald) February 7, 2025
That is simply not acceptable. I'm glad these teams left the race. BTW, that's how these things are supposed to be decided, by the riders and teams, not by a massive international cycling body that thinks its job is to control-freak at everything everywhere. And, it's quite obvious, the UCI is utterly failing to do its job, or these incidents wouldn't be happening!
Just in
Play for FREE! Fantasy Tour of Flanders
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
The climbs of the 2025 Tour of Flanders
Popular news
Latest comments
- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025