Claudine Fangille, one of the race organizers of Étoile de Bessèges, explained the reason behind the neutralization of the race after a big crash that happened around 20 km to the finish. The main reason behind this decision is the lack of ambulances for the rest of the stage since the organization only had 3 and all were forced to leave the race with riders in them.
"The best decision was to return in neutralized. The riders were stopped for more than 10 minutes, so they cooled down. The three ambulances that evacuated the riders at the back were forced to leave the race. As a result, there was no longer any security if anything happened in the remaining kilometers. So the best decision was to go in neutralized", stated for L'Équipe one of the daughters of Roland Fangille, the creator of the Étoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard, who died in November 2020
The result of this neutralization is that there will be no stage winner and no classification. As for the general classification, it remains identical to what it was after the first stage won by
Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny). The Belgian rider will still be in orange on Friday at the start of the 3rd stage.
