UCI will thoroughly investigate the events of Etoile de Bessèges with hefty fine, close supervision and more sanctions in the play

The 55th edition of the Etoile de Bessèges witnessed a dominant victory of Kévin Vauquelin but above all, a plenty of incidents that will certainly have some teams contemplating whether to visit the Gard department again for the 2026 edition.

And as if the tarnished reputation of the French 2.1 race wouldn't be enough, the UCI is also planning to take a closer look at the events of past week which included car(s) charging into the peloton, several route changes and only a bit more than third of riders finishing the race. With few exceptions, only home country teams' riders.

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Many have already spoken out about the outrageous organisational level of Etoile de Bessèges, but UCI has been sitting idly through most of the chaos, perhaps in a light slumber after the long cyclocross season and remained silent depite the strike of riders present on scene, discretely giving a 'yes' to the organizer to, in any case, continue the race.

It's only now that UCI finally issued a firm official statement that an investigation:

"Measures are being taken to prevent a recurrence of the problems that occurred during these stages, even though some teams have chosen to withdraw from the race. The UCI will thoroughly investigate the problems with the road closures and take the necessary action. We will do this bearing in mind the sanctions set out in article 2.12.011."

According to Het Nieuwsblad, the Etoile de Bessèges can expect a hefty fine in any case. In addition, the competition can be placed under supervision and might be forced to hire senior organisers with more experience as well as greater support cast to mantain control over all potentially dangerous checkpoints on the course. Ultimately, we might see more stages reduced to circuits, as is already happening in the Netherlands where the lack of police forces is becoming the knife on many organisers' neck.

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Marc Madiot refuses to attack Etoile de Besseges organizers for car controversy - "The car that was incriminated on Thursday had been stopped twice by the police. It nevertheless took off"

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