Walking away from the stage 8 finish of the Vuelta a España, a serious-looking Tinkoff-Saxo sports director Tristan Hoffman has confirmed that after talking to the race organisers about Peter Sagan’s crash, a race motorbike “took Peter down.”
With less than 10 kilometres to go from the finish of stage 8 during a hectic finale, it appears Sagan was struck by a race motorbike.
The Vuelta organisation later confirmed that the pilot of the motorbike responsible for the crash has been excluded from the rest of the race “for overtaking a group and provoking the crash of the rider Peter Sagan.” They also apologized for the incident.
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Sagan’s fury was clear after the crash as he lashing out at race vehicles. His shorts ripped to shreds, the Tinkoff-Saxo rider punched the medical car, gestured vehemently at the race motorbike, then appeared to kick his own bike. The next TV images showed the 25-year-old back on the bike but dropped from the front group.
“Unfortunately, it isn't the first time such an incident happens," Sagan said later in a team press release. "Even if motorbikes are forced to go through a group of riders, they should do it very carefully and not recklessly. In my opinion, motorbike drivers don't take the safety of the riders in consideration seriously. Fortunately, my injuries aren't very serious but can you imagine what would have happened if he had ran over me?"
The motorcycle involved belonged to the Shimano neutral support team - one whose reputation was sullied when a support car knocked Jesse Sergent (Trek) down when he was part of a breakaway in the Tour of Flanders. Sagan was blocked in the Tour de France by a camera motorbike when attempting to change bikes in the Tour de France, too, but highlighted the dangers of this incident.
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