2023-07-19 12:42:36
This is the last stage in the Alps where Tadej Pogacar will try to overthrow the Tour de France after being largely dominated on Tuesday during the time trial. But this seventeenth day of racing between Saint-Gervais and Courchevel is also considered risky for the riders of the peloton, because of the descent which separates the summit of the Col de la Loze, the last ascent outside the category, and the arrival deemed in the famous winter sports resort.
The organizers have therefore decided to install protective inflatable mattresses in a bend to avoid a potentially dramatic exit from the road, like the one that caused the death of rider Gino Mäder during the last Tour de Suisse. A device, already used during the World Ski Championships organized in February in Courchevel and Méribel, praised by the former cyclist who officiates as a consultant on this Grande Boucle, Nicholas Roche.
“Well done on the Tour for adding that in a few places”, he underlines this Wednesday morning on Twitter, filming the mattresses at the end of the course. The president of the professional riders’ union, the Australian Adam Hansen, had explained on the same social network that he had asked the organizers of the event to add protections in this descent.
“The coating is perfect. However, it is a technical descent. Much more than that of the fourteenth stage, ”he had estimated. On Saturday, Amaury Sport Organisation, in charge of the Grande Boucle, had already reinforced safety and signage for the descent of the Joux Plane pass without installing the inflatable mattresses.
These are designed to cushion the impact of a runner who misses the turn, without making him bounce towards the asphalt. “We climb this Col de la Loze at 2,300 meters above sea level, and the difficulty of the day in terms of safety is the descent which is dangerous, it turns a lot, the runners are at 90 km / h sometimes, explains André Bancala, coordinator of the team of the Assembly of the Departments of France and road man of the event. It was therefore decided to install inflatable mattresses, on an exceptional basis, in a particularly dangerous bend. »
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