Arkéa-Samsic rider appeared to snap two pairs of handlebars in just over 20 kilometres at the cobbled race
The handlebars of the Bianchi Oltre RC(Image credit: Bianchi)
Sprinter Hugo Hofstetter had his chances of a strong performance at the GP Denain scuppered on Thursday after the Frenchman suffered two pairs of snapped handlebars within the final 50km of the cobbled race.
A multi-rider pileup on one of the race's narrow roads at around 48km to go saw multiple riders go down in the peloton, including the Arkéa-Samsic rider.
Among them, Hofstetter was quick to his feet on the right-hand side of the road and remounted his bike with shorts muddied and critically the left-hand side of his Bianchi Oltre RC's handlebars dangling after snapping above the shifter clamp as the bars start to curve toward the shifters.
The failure looked very similar to the mechanical Mathieu Van der Poel suffered at Le Saym in 2021. Where the Dutchman, like Hofstetter, was forced to ride on with broken handlebars.
Hofstetter's first handlebar failure was on the left hand side (Image credit: Eurosport/GCN)
After valiantly pushing on with his handlebars dangling for several kilometres, Hofstetter would eventually get a fresh Bianchi from his team car. However, back in the thick of the action on the 10th cobbled sector of the race at Monchaux-sur-Ecaillon saw Hofstetter in trouble once more.
This time, at 25km to go, Hofstetter could be seen riding at the rear of the peloton with the right-hand side of his handlebars snapped off and dangling. It seemed that the harsh vibrations or perhaps a heavy impact while riding the cobbles had snapped his spare bike's handlebars in a very similar way.
Hofstetter, who last year won Tro-Bro Léon, was visibly angry and annoyed after having his chances of getting to the head of the race scuppered by an identical mechanical.
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The Bianchi Oltre RC was launched in October last year and was billed as a new 'hyperbike' by the legendary Italian brand. The bike featured F1-influenced 'air deflectors' designed to channel airflow more effectively around the bike.
Prices started at £11,200 or $13,500 for the top flight model which is raced by Arkéa-Samsic, who made the switch from Canyon bikes for 2023.
It later transpired the air deflectors could not be used in UCI races as they were not included as part of the homologation process for the bike and as such could not be used in UCI-sanctioned events. It appeared Bianchi never intended for the deflectors to be used in UCI-sanctioned events after they presented the bike initially without them.
Cyclingnews will keep an eye out for a response from Bianchi on the handlebar failures at today's race.
Hofstetter was visibly angry when the handlebars on his spare bike also broke (Image credit: Eurosport/GCN)
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
