"They were going faster on the ground than us on the bike, it was incredible" - Valentin Madouas describes how the Dauphine roads turned into an ice rink

Valentin Madouas gave his testimony on the spectacular fall which brought large part of the peloton to the ground during the fifth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. While Madouas got away lightly, that was not the case for his Groupama - FDJ teammate Rémy Rochas, who had to leave the race in an ambulance.

"We saw everyone on the ground, it was impressive," Madouas said via team channels afterwards. The French champion also fell, like many others: "I fell in 25th position, I just got mowed down by a guy from behind who overtook me on the stomach. They were going faster on the ground than us on the bike, it was incredible."

Luckily, no serious consequences for Madouas and as he says, he owes it above all to luck. Madouas describes that the road had become a soapy board. "It was an ice rink... There were mechanics who got out of the cars, They slipped!" he laughs. "So yes it was very very slippery."

On the organization's decision to neutralize the stage, Valentin Madouas is in tune with the peloton. "Firstly, the riders did not want to resume the race, and secondly, it was impossible anyway because there was no ambulance following, all the ambulances had left," he recalled. There was no question in these conditions of taking the slightest risk: "When we see that fire trucks were still coming back up, half an hour later... It was not possible, we couldn't take the risk of having a second fall."