Thijs Zonneveld can't understand why French teams didn't pull out of Etoile de Besseges: "The bigger French teams should've certainly taken more responsibility in this"

Last week's Etoile de Besseges was the topic of discussions for all the wrong reasons. Of the 146 men at the start of the race last Wednesday, only 52 finished on Sunday with most abandoning over safety concerns. The third and fourth stages were stopped and shortened several times either for weather reasons or due to cars suddenly appearing on the course.

In principle, only French teams (except Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and few riders from Belgian teams (who left the choice to continue up to the riders themselves) finished the race. "As far as I'm concerned, you start to lose the right to say anything about safety, if you send your own riders over a course that the organization can't guarantee to be closed to cars," Thijs Zonneveld analyzes in the In het Wiel podcast.

According to Zonneveld, there was one correct decision to be made by the managers. Getting out was the only option. "If you saw what happened... Twice a car went straight into the peloton and a few times they were on the side of the road. I'm not entirely happy with the past few days, no."

Almost all the big foreign teams dropped out of the race. "But all the French teams just keep going... Those French teams are often the problem. These are recurring things, they are often the breakers of the strike. The bigger French teams should certainly have taken more responsibility in this, I think."

Zonneveld, who has been the sporting director of continental BEAT Cycling since this season, would've pulled his team out of the race himself. "The safety of the riders comes first. I would also really blame myself if we as a team say that we are going to continue riding and then someone gets hit by a car the next day. Then you can't look at yourself in the mirror anymore? Then no invitation a year later, you know."

Another thing Zonneveld is also not happy about: the absence of the UCI in this discussion. "It was very ugly that one half of the peloton steps down and the other half continues. And of course that the UCI also withdraws itself... They simply do not take a position. Riders get a yellow or red card if they do something wrong. And what are we going to do with this organization that lets cars drive on the course? Nothing. It is an idiotic signal that you give as a UCI. They are choosing the side of the organization again."