Alexander Kristoff has said that race motorbikes should look to use off-course routes in order to pass riders during races. Speaking to Cyclingnews, the Norwegian said that the narrow roads in Belgium exacerbate an already difficult issue.
His comments come in the wake of Antoine Demoitié’s death after the Wanty-Groupe Gobert rider was hit by a race motorbike following a crash at Gent-Wevelgem. The team has refused to blame the driver involved but the incident has increased the calls for better safety regulations around in-race vehicles.
“It’s really sad news. He could do nothing about it; he was run down from behind by the motorbike. With the motorbikes in the pack it’s really dangerous with the small roads,” Kristoff told Cyclingnews just before the start of stage 1 of the Driedaagse De Panne, where a minute's silence was observed in tribute to Demoitié and Daan Myngheer, another young Belgian rider who lost his life on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Especially here in Belgium we have so many narrow roads that it is very difficult for motorbikes to pass but there are a lot of detours that they can take, and shortcuts, and they should try to use them more than staying in the pack. There are a lot of motorbikes in the pack and sometimes they pass and it’s really not possible to pass there in the middle of the pack on the small roads. Sometimes they are dangerous situations.”
Recovering from illness
Kristoff wasn’t at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday, as he sat out the race after falling ill over the weekend, and De Panne is his first race back. The opening stage will give him a chance to see how well he has recovered but defending the overall title he won last year - thanks to three wins from four stages - will be a tough ask.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1MyQeQO
No comments:
Post a Comment