"We have had other editions of Paris-Nice in which riders rode in ten centimetres of snow" - Paris-Nice director defends' races actions over race neutralization
CyclingThursday, 13 March 2025 at 13:10
The riders have set off for stage 5 of Paris-Nice and have left behind a day of monumental difficulties weather wise. The French race does usually have it's stints of bad weather, but when a hailstorm began falling on the peloton's shoulders the race was stopped. There were positives, there were negatives, but the race organizers believe the right decisions were made.
“A new UCI protocol, which was installed last winter, obliged us to intervene in these dangerous circumstances," race director Thierry Gouvenou said in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. Preventively, the race was neutralized when conditions worsened on the road before any accident took place, a positive sign.
Then however the race resumed whilst neutralized, but not everyone got the message. Gouvenou shares that the team were told to get back on the bikes through race radio, but either riders did not have their earphones on or DS' did not hear the information whilst out of the car helping out the riders with clothes. "Those question marks? Strange. The information was distributed via Radio Tour. Riders have ‘earpieces’, don’t they? And otherwise there are always the team leaders (the DS', ed.).”
There was the possibility of neutralizing and then cancelling the stage in that initial location 45 kilometers away from the finish, but logistically he deemed it to be unviable. “Impossible. There were no team buses. How should riders have protected themselves or warmed up there, in that place? With 143 riders, there are 143 different opinions, of course.”
“The fact is: we have had other editions of Paris-Nice in which riders rode in ten centimetres of snow. Conditions that we were now far removed from. The weather improved. That made it responsible to continue riding in our opinion.” Sure rnough the peloton then did make it to the finish, but with a rider abandoning from hypothermia, more questions came about of whether they really should've continued the race under such circumstances.
The weather is not as brutal, but Gouvenou is aware that the chance continues to exist for another episode such as this Wednesday's. "We will keep a close eye on the situation. And we will certainly watch over the safety of the riders.”
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🚩 Et c’est parti ! L’étape 5 de #ParisNice est lancée sous les encouragements chaleureux du public de Saint-Just-en-Chevalet
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 13, 2025
🚩 Here they go! Stage 5 is underway! pic.twitter.com/OC2Jyb67Nq
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- He's shone pretty bright in one week stage racesmobk30-05-2025
- Also, sorry but the whole concept behind this kind of cycling IS fighting battles the body doesn’t want, anyone who says that’s not so has never seriously trained for an endurance sport event.Mistermaumau30-05-2025
- Silly comment. Jonas isn't "dull". What would actually be dull would be a GT with no real competition. Thank goodness Jonas is around to give Tadej a run for his money.mobk30-05-2025
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Another brain dead take from the org. While they stayed cozy in their warm cars
If you consider ALL the details, things were not as bad as we’ve come to expect from organisers, especially lately, however much can still be improved, especially communication wise. I guess saying the race is neutralised is maybe not enough to be clear in the “heat” of the action, perhaps adding a warning to stay tuned and not remove earpieces, to know if and when the race might resume would help. Weather is completely random so it can go both ways when things reach a limit and BOTH sides should always be prepared for that. As for harshness of conditions, 10cm of snow is less dangerous and difficult than sleet or iced roads, riding on without stopping is easier than restarting after cooling off, everyone is different, Hinault was kind of a European average built man with his 173/68 at the time, Jonas could play an extra in a concentration camp scene, all respect for him and all the others for finishing, some people’s moaning (from their comfy sofa) made it sound like he abandoned before complaining.