Tour de France route designer defends team after criticism of Primoz Roglic crash: "Everyone was aware of it"

The Tour de France's organizers are coming under heavy fire after the crash that has marked stage 12 and led to the abandon of Primoz Roglic. A few have criticized the peloton's passage through the curb with 10 kilometers to go that caused the incident, but the Tour's route designer defends himself and his team and explains that all teams knew of the risk in this exact location.

"This point was known. The night before, we had shared a communiqué stating that this could be dangerous. All teams also reconned with their cars shortly before the race passes. Everyone was aware of it, but unfortunately you can't remove everything," Thierry Gouvenou told Sporza. This comes as a response to the many criticism sent in the way of the race organization last night and this morning, due to a crash that led to many injuries.

"This is one hundred percent the fault of the organization," Team Visma | Lease a Bike DS Merijn Zeeman said regarding the fall. "You can't go through such a passage with a Tour de France peloton. That's very irresponsible and shouldn't happen".

EF Education-EasyPost rider Marijn van den Berg question "how things like that are still possible" whilst Roglic's former teammate Mike Teunissen had equally harsh words to the organization: "As far as I'm concerned, it's scandalous. We can stand on our heads with 176 riders, but it won't change anything. It goes well 99 times, but now it's gone wrong again. It's no coincidence, the organization brings it on itself."

"If you were to remove that obstacle, the work would cost more than 100,000 euros. And that for a race that passes in 5 seconds. You have to remember that, don't you," Gouvenou argues. "We studied all the access roads towards Villeneuve-sur-Lot. There was a route with a lot of roundabouts, which wasn't the best solution either." Hence, this road was chosen for the finale, which saw Biniam Gimray take the stage win in the bunch sprint.

Gouvenou also talked about the extensive work to protect the peloton in the climbs with the increased use of ropes to keep the audience away from the space which the riders occupy during the race. "We are stretching a rope and in terms of distance we are now aiming for triple that. The public adapts and stays behind that tight rope. Last year we were overwhelmed by the madness. I hope it goes well now, but we have done what is necessary and we have learned from our mistakes. You cannot say that the Tour is badly organized."