The CPA rider’s affiliation president Adam Hansen has highlighted the hazards of group vehicles chatting with their riders throughout races after a regional directeur sportif hit a rider through the Junior girls’s nationwide championships in France.
Video of the incident shortly circulated on social media, sparking a response from Hansen and a debate about race security.
Amandine Muller (Grand Est) and Célia Gery (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) have been on the assault when the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes group automotive got here as much as converse to Gery. The motive force appeared distracted by the dialog, overlapped with Muller’s again wheel after which made contact. Happily, Muller fell to her left, away from the automotive and so averted being hit.
Gery crashed into Muller however neither was critically injured, and each managed to proceed racing. Gery finally distanced Muller to win the nationwide title and so they celebrated collectively on the rostrum.
The incident highlighted the hazards of group vehicles driving beside their riders to talk to them in races, and particularly when the directeur sportif can be driving the group automotive.
In most main races, particularly WorldTour races and Grand Excursions, the directeur sportif now not drives the automotive to allow them to absolutely give attention to race technique and speaking with their riders safely.
“We’re so grateful Amandine fell on the left facet and never the correct, because the automotive could not cease quick sufficient and it may have been deadly for her,” Hansen wrote on social media in response to the video of the incident.
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“We’ll watch this closing consequence of the DS very intently. I hope regardless of the consequence is, he realises a automotive is usually a weapon within the mistaken arms.”
TDT – Unibet Biking Workforce proprietor and directeur sportif Bas Tietema responded to Hansen’s feedback, questioning the worth of the group automotive in races, suggesting “loopy s**t occurs within the convoy.”
He identified that he handed his UCI check to turn into a directeur sportif “with out driving a single km in a automotive.”
Tietema advised an even bigger impartial service that serves all groups and central race communications could possibly be a strategy to remove the necessity for a group automotive for every group and likewise cut back emissions.
Amandine Muller (Grand Est) et Célia Gery (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) ont été accidentellement heurtées par le véhicule de l’équipe Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, au 31ᵉ kilomètre de la course féminine U19 des championnats de cyclisme de l’avenir 2024https://t.co/tQH29yyWZk pic.twitter.com/7LHxwEACmOCould 12, 2024
