Organizers of the Tour de Bretagne known as off the racing on Sunday’s stage 6 after an enormous crash on Sunday.
The peloton was on a stretch of mud-covered street within the UCI 2.2-rated stage race in northwestern France when a rider close to the entrance of the pack went down, main to an enormous pileup. The crash noticed dozens of riders hit the deck.
Organizers initially neutralised the race after which determined to take care of the neutralised state of affairs by way of the end in Plancoët.
Social media video taken on the race exhibits the peloton racing alongside at excessive velocity downhill earlier than a number of riders slid out on the mud, leaving dozens extra with nowhere to go.
Riders who had been capable of proceed went on to finish a procession lap of the closing circuit. Some weren’t so fortunate, although, together with Jasper Dejaegher of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty U23 squad Circus-ReUz-Technord, who suffered a fractured wrist (opens in new tab) within the pileup.
In complete, 4 riders had been taken to native hospitals, and with all of the race ambulances in use, the stage could not proceed.
With that, the Tour de Bretagne GC stays unchanged after stage 6, with Simon Pellaud (Tudor Professional Biking) sitting atop the leaderboard. Racing on the Tour de Bretagne will resume on Monday for the seventh and closing stage from Piré-Chancé to Châteaugiron.
DirectVelo (opens in new tab) spoke to race director Christophe Fossani after the incident, with the Frenchman calling it “a case of unhealthy luck”.
“No, I do not remorse it. It was a pleasant little street. I solely remorse that there have been 10 metres of mud. Ten metres! It was a pleasant, dry little street,” he mentioned.
“I reported the hazard on Radio Tour. The police had signalled the hazard and put up a yellow flag to warn everybody. All the pieces was reported. However with out radios, it is tougher. It is a case of unhealthy luck. Sadly, it was one of many first riders within the peloton who fell. If it had been one of many final riders within the peloton, the story would have been totally different.
“I acquired in contact with the prefecture shortly, sure. They informed me that we made an excellent determination. It is a determination that you do not tackle the spur of the second. You sit down, give it some thought, talk about it with the primary gamers within the race and agree on a plan.
“In fact, I’m dissatisfied for everybody, for the spectators, for the town. However it’s nonetheless heart-warming to see the riders applauded as they cross the road. It’s going to stay one of many details of the Tour de Bretagne.
“It is a reality of racing, we might do with out it, that is for certain, nevertheless it occurs within the greatest races on the planet… There have been decisions to be made, it was essential… However sure, after all, whenever you see how many individuals had been there as we speak, it is a disgrace. It was the queen stage of the Tour de Bretagne, however that is how it’s.”
Stage 6 of Tour de Bretagne is cancelled after 90% of the peloton crashed at 60km/h on muddy roads. pic.twitter.com/TYDfJCUotVApril 30, 2023
