Shortly after the finish of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in Ghent, Belgium, several director sportifs were furious and hunting down the UCI commissaires on site. Before and during the race, the UCI commissaires reminded the riders about the rule that obliges riders to stay away from sidewalks and bike paths.
On Saturday, they specifically targeted the Mater pavé section in a decisive zone of the race. The message from the UCI-commissaires caused chaos. Some groups used the bike path and other riders were forced to get off and ride the cobbles for two kilometres.
ADVERTISEMENT
The organisers had a dream podium featuring Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing), world champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) and popular Sep Vanmarcke (Cannondale-Drapac). Would they disqualify this trio and call Trek-Segafredo's Fabio Felline as winner?
A pavé section of two kilometres after 148 kilometres of racing was targeted. The zone featured after three key climbs in the race, the cobbled Taaienberg and Eikenberg and then the Wolvenberg. Then there’s a lot of pavé awaiting the riders with the Ruiterstraat first. At kilometre 148 come the Karel Martelstraat and Holleweg street, a section often referred to as the cobbles of Mater. A smoothly paved sidewalk flanks the section, 50 kilometres from the finish in Ghent.
The first groups rode on the sidewalk. A little later, the sidewalk was blocked by a motorbike from the UCI commissaires, as photographer Tim De Waele spotted.
— Edward Theuns (@EdwardTheuns) February 25, 2017
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/2lYEiiO
No comments:
Post a Comment