"Riders crashed because of this" - Adam Hansen harsh on Faun-Ardeche's unbelivable error at the finish
Cycling
Adam Hansen, the head of the CPA, spoke out yesterday on social media about what he sees as another mistake by an organization that leads to a dangerous end to the race. He sends the ball to the UCI to change some rules.
Yesterday, as had happened in the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve, several riders made a mistake in the final turn before the finish line of the Faun-Ardèche Classic. A motorcycle headed off route as planned, but was followed by several riders, exactly as happened in Portugal. This was an enfuriating situation for most, and Romain Grégoire took full advantage of it to take the win.
This kind of situation is not only incredibly unfair for the riders who lose their chance of a result (right at the final seconds of an hours-long race) but it can also become very dangerous. In the Algarve the peloton outright sprinted on an open road, a situation of such danger that is hard to describe. For Hansen, it is clear that they are getting it wrong at the end of races and he calls for cars not to enter until the last kilometer as one of the possible solutions:
"Another race and another wrong turn. Today there was a green signal telling the bike (which again was too close to the riders) to turn off the road. Last time in the Algarve, there was a red and a yellow signal (Confusing for someone trying to follow the Marshall's instructions).
HANSEN'S PROPOSALS:
.No motos close to the bunch
.Standardized of signs
.No vehicles in the final kilometer
"It's really upsetting for a rider turning up, racing a full day, and right in the very end. This happens. Riders crashed because of this, and a few were put onto a road with cars coming in the opposite direction... A little double checking could avoid this".
Read also
Before the race, organizers must give knowledge in every stages last kilometres to the finished. There must NO vehicles nor roundabouts in the last 1.5kilometers
Hey Adam...point a finder at the riders! They had already been through this twice already. Lemmings following lemmings I guess!
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- It was definitely exciting but not the greatest race in my opinion. Mechanicals had a lot to do with the result and the race was basically decided by a crash. It was a weird start with not that much drive and fight to form the breakaway and team tactics and moves were pretty weak or non-existent at all.heinz13-04-2025
- So, in the end Martin got real time on the line and actually drop a place in the GC. the spirit of the 3km rule is to save riders that are afected by crashes or mechanicals when these events are not their fault. Some cases where the rider is to "blame" are, for pragmatical reasons, i guess, also covered by the rule. But when you are on the attack in a rolling terrain and you crash, alone, it doesn't make much sense to apply the rule, even if you are in the last km. It's completely different from the situation where there's a big crash in the bunch in the last kms and you get stuck behind fallen riders, for example.heinz13-04-2025
- Those motorbike riders were pretty good at taking that corner, probably fooled him into thinking it couldn’t be so difficult, notice how in comparison, MVDP looks like his bike had ABS. Tadej was close to staying on the bike but he kept hold of his front brake trying to come to a complete standstill, had he eased the pressure to let the wheel roll on a little he’d not have gone over.Mistermaumau13-04-2025
- Always classy towards his rivalsMistermaumau13-04-2025
- I’m surprised how well he reacted, not sure many others would have noticed something coming from that angle. Worse than the fact it actually hit his face (the throwing speed wasn’t that high but the impact of him arriving against it at almost 50km/h makes incredibly hard) is what it could have done if it had landed badly and made him crash and you see it almost slipped under his back wheel. I have seen a peleton spread over the floor from a loose bottle.Mistermaumau13-04-2025
- Agreed. World champ and defending P-R champ shouldn’t be Wiebes super-domestique.mobk13-04-2025
- Shameful, hope they feel the full force of the lawcxfan2513-04-2025
- Have the Gendarmes identified and arrested this scumbag!!slappers6613-04-2025
- That was a fantastic Paris Roubaix to watch! Mathieu and Tadej were very evenly matched, and in the end it came down to bike handling skills , and not too many can handle a bike quite like Mathieu can. Of course, he probably has every corner and every cobbled section of that route completely memorized by now! Big respect to Tadej for that massive effort, and for digging very deep when it surely looked as if he were bonking.
santiagobenites13-04-2025 - You was awesome Tadej, as usual... a super megachampion, unique! the Tour de France champion, second in his Paris-Roubaix debut... TaEDDy Pogacar!
maria2024202413-04-2025