Chaotic scenes from a crash on stage 2 at Étoile de Bessèges have emerged that show the driver of a vehicle sparked a crash in the peloton.
The driver was on the course facing the race with the oncoming peloton in sight and had to reverse the car backwards off the course onto a side street to get out of the way.
However, the incident caused an abrupt deceleration in the peloton, sparking a crash that brought down several riders, including Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Van Gils was forced to abandon the race and has been taken to hospital, according to a report by journalist Daniel Benson.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe has not yet released a medical update regarding Van Gils condition. In the interview with Benson, the team's sports director, Heinrich Haussler, described the incident, which happened on a narrow road 17 kilometres from the finish in Marguerittes.
“The whole peloton brakes, and the boys were just coming back from a mechanical, and they were at the back of the peloton. They just rode into the peloton, and Maxim crashed into the ditch," Haussler said.
“In this race, there are cars everywhere, parked on the side of the road, and traffic. It’s dangerous. I’ll ask the other directors what went on because sometimes, in the heat of the moment, guys overreact or something.”
Luca Guercilena, general manager of Lidl-Trek, told Tuttobici that the incident could have been much worse and blamed the sports organisations and governing bodies for "negligence".
"If today at the Etoile de Besseges some riders had died, we would be here mourning! But even if there had been just one injury due to the serious negligence of a professional organization that cannot and must not go unnoticed," Guercilena said.
"The top management of our sport asks teams for million-dollar insurance, and then we find ourselves facing races where roads are not closed! Not to mention that if someone gets hurt, the team always pays, just hoping no one dies...".
The fact that a car managed to get onto the course at the Etoile de Bessèges and caused the pile-up and Van Gils' abandon highlights the need for urgency when it comes to rider safety at the races.
The incident at Etoile de Bessèges happened just after the UCI held a press conference updating the media on SafeR initiatives intended to improve safety.
The sport governing body, teams, riders and race organisers appeared to show a united front during the latest presentation of the SafeR project, insisting race and rider safety is slowly improving in professional cycling.
"We're all fighting for the best for the sport. We have different angles and points of view but we all want the races and the riders to be safe and crash less," President of the CPA, Adam Hansen, said.
