2023-07-29 03:37:08
Appearances should be distrusted. We are not dealing with the last Belgian story likely to flourish in the cabarets of Brussels! Such an imbroglio does indeed sometimes occur in the microcosm of cycling: professional riders can take the wrong road. Examples abound. The 5th and last stage of the Tour de Wallonie, disputed on Wednesday between Banneux and Aubel, will not overcome this fatality.
While the peloton was still 25 kilometers from the finish, the stage had to be interrupted because a large part of the riders took the wrong direction due to a switch error. A following motorcycle would have entered in the wrong direction on exiting the bend, dragging several riders into its error, including the one who was in the lead, Mauro Schmid (Soudal Quick-Step).
“We lost the runners”, even posted, on twitter, the Cofidis team with a television image of a section where no runner appeared.
After a few minutes of hesitation, the peloton recomposed, but almost everyone was left to dismount. Schmid regained the lead, but the rider Soudal was overtaken. The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team was, however, able to console themselves with the success at Aubel of the Italian Andrea Bagioli.
The final victory goes to his compatriot from Inéos-Grenadiers Filippo Ganna, winner of the time trial the day before in Mons. With 3 stages out of 5 plus the general classification, the Azzuri left their mark on the event placed this year just two weeks before the World Championships.
In April 2023, the first stage of the Tour de Romandie was marked by a similar mishap when, misguided, riders took the wrong road about fifteen kilometers from the finish. In the summer of 2022, the third stage of the Tour du Limousin, between Donzenac and Malemort, saw the Portuguese Rui Costa “get lost” as he spun in the lead two kilometers from the finish.
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