Italian sprinter stopped by the French Gendarmerie as he tries to reach Roubaix the fast way
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Andrea Guardini presents his Paris-Roubaix jersey to the police officer who rescued him from the autoroute.(Image credit: Andrea Guardini/Facebook)
Andrea Guardini's bike packed into the back of a police van.(Image credit: Andrea Guardini/Facebook)
A sheepish Andrea Guardini after his post-Paris-Roubaix adventure came to an end.(Image credit: Andrea Guardini/Facebook)
Andrea Guardini hitches a ride to the end of Paris-Roubaix.(Image credit: Andrea Guardini/Facebook)
UAE Abu Dhabi news boys Andrea Guardini and Filippo Ganna pre-stage(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Andrea Guardini’s Paris-Roubaix ended somewhat unusually in a French police station, after the Italian sprinter was stopped by police as he tried to ride to Roubaix on the high-speed autoroute instead of on normal roads.
Contrary to initial reports, Guardini was not arrested by police but was simply picked up to avoid any kind of accident on the motorway packed with Sunday traffic.
The Italian explained what happened on Facebook, revealing that after pulling out of Paris-Roubaix at the second feed station, his UAE Team Emirates squad had advised him to ride to the finish. He tried to find the best route to Roubaix but ended up on the E23 motorway, with someone filming him and posting a video on Twitter of him riding on the hard shoulder.
“I quit the race and when I got to the team car at the second feed. They told me to ‘cut across from the race and ride to the finish’. I took their word and would have quickly made it to Roubaix if I hadn’t found myself on the highway!
“Of course I was obliged to give the police a little present as a way of thanks and they now have my Paris-Roubaix race jersey.”
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
