"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
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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