The first stage of the Tour de France 2020 was marred by the countless crashes on the roads around Nice, which were very slippery after a few heavy showers during the ride. The reactions after the finish spoke volumes, although the riders refuse to blame the organization. They are also happy with the unanimity within the peloton. “It would have been better to stop the timing even earlier, but apparently that was not possible,” said Wout van Aert.
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Wout van Aert: “I didn’t dare to sprint”
It was really crazy. I don’t think it had rained here for a long time. I fell myself without a problem ”, Wout van Aert reassured everyone immediately after the finish. “I’m glad there was some solidarity in the peloton after that. I was too afraid of the sprint, so I did not get involved.
Van Aert’s teammate Tony Martin was the one who drove the peloton. “He has so much experience and is someone who has the right to do that,” said Van Aert. “It was the only wise decision. It would have been better to stop time even earlier, but apparently that couldn’t. In some places you could see oil stains, in others the road was white with suds. When I fell, I saw it coming from afar. I tried not to brake, but at some point I had to. I started shifting at 9 miles per hour, so I have nothing. I don’t know about my teammate George Bennett, but it didn’t look good. ”
Our fellow countryman did not blame the organization for the falls. “This has nothing to do with safety, it is a pure setback that it is just raining today,” said Van Aert. “We have that in Spain too. I would say the guys who want to sprint go ahead. But the timing for the others could have stopped earlier. ”
Foto: Photo News
Tiesj Benoot: “It was really incredible”
“I’ve never seen it so smooth. I think it hasn’t rained here for a while ”, Benoot joined his colleague Van Aert. “Those descents were really dirty: there was soap suds and oil on the road. I even stopped specifically to let my tires off. That first wet descent we really took it easy and I saw Kwiatkowski and Alaphilippe still fall. And those are two riders who can ride the bike. And at the moment that Cees Bol punctured, at the start of the final lap, I saw five or six falls. It was unbelievable. ”
“I was lucky again in the massive crash at the finish. A few riders hooked up for me. I saw them fall left and right, but I stayed upright ”, sketched Benoot. “It was tense cycling today. Whether the organization should have deployed some kind of safety car? I also understand that it is difficult for the organization to estimate how smooth it is, but it might have been good to do that, yes. But I also think it’s good that the riders have now done it themselves, especially given the events of the last weeks. ”
–Tim Declercq: “First time that the peloton was so united”
“I’ve never experienced this before. We knew it had been dry here for weeks and that it would be a slippery slope if it rained, but this was much worse than we thought. worst case scenario could imagine ”, said El Tractor Tim Declercq. “In the last fall, three kilometers from the finish, they fell in front, behind and next to me, but luckily I stayed straight.”
“It was the first time in my life that I have experienced this, that the peloton was united,” said Declercq. “Of course it was also necessary after fifty falls. It was mainly the classification teams that worked hard for it, but all teams agreed. Once on the flat in the last 25 kilometers we could then start racing again. Our sprinter Sam Bennett has fallen, as has half of the peloton. It was very hectic. ”
Greg Van Avermaet: “Dangerous to life”
“I didn’t fall, it was dangerous and super smooth”, said Greg Van Avermaet. “It was best to neutralize the course until the end, which Jumbo-Visma did. That was good because it was too dangerous. It hasn’t rained that much and it was very slippery. I have myself a few times chance had. This was better for everyone. ”
Peter Sagan: “A big mess”
“It was crazy. We had a headwind the last five kilometers all the time, it was very nervous ”, said three-time world champion Peter Sagan, who finished fifth in Nice. “A big mess. In such a sprint with a headwind it is a lottery. You just need luck. ”
–Foto: Photo News
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