Riders’ union hold protest in early kilometres of the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné

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Remco Evenepoel, the young Belgian rider who flipped terrifyingly over a bridge wall and into a ravine during the Tour of Lombardy on Saturday, has responded well to treatment and is being flown back to Belgium shortly. His team Deceuninck-QuickStep released a statement on Sunday afternoon saying the 20 year-old, who suffered a fractured pelvis and a right lung contusion in the incident, would be flown home “in a supine position” as soon as possible. However, questions continue to be asked about safety levels in cycling generally. Evenepoel’s accident in Lombardy was followed swiftly by another bizarre incident in which a private car brought down Maximilian Schachmann, the Bora-hansgrohe rider, in the final stages of the race. The UCI is investigating how a car came to be on the race course at such a key moment. Riders’ union the CPA organised a protest in the early kilometres of Sunday's final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in France, highlighting recent crashes and asking for "round table talks" to discuss changes to the way the sport is run. A separate crash at the Dauphine on Saturday, where poor road surface conditions have been a feature, left Tour de France contenders Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) badly injured and in danger of missing the biggest race on the calendar which begins in Nice on Aug 29. The peloton decided to neutralise the early stages of the fifth and final Dauphine stage, the CPA describing the protest as a first sign of intent as they begin to take a stronger position on safety. Two weeks ago, Fabio Jakobsen, also of Deceuninck-QuickStep, had to be placed in an induced coma following an horrific high-speed crash in a mass downhill sprint in Poland. “The riders want to send a clear signal of protest to both the organisers and to the UCI referring to the serious crashes and accidents that have occurred in the recent races, asking for greater attention to their safety,” read the statement from the CPA. “The CPA asks the UCI and all stakeholders of cycling to set up a round table to start the revision of the regulations to get a clear feedback in terms of prevention and sanctions towards the race organisers. The purpose of this is to protect the physical integrity of the riders and to allow them to carry out their work in greater safety.” There was at least some good news regarding Evenepoel’s condition, with his team saying he had passed “a quiet night” in Como hospital. “Due to the nature of the injury, Remco has to be transported by plane to Belgium in a supine position,” Deceuninck-QuickStep said. “The team is doing everything possible to bring him back home as soon as possible, hopefully in the next twenty-four hours, in the most efficient and safe way.” Colombia's Daniel Martinez [EF Pro Cycling] eventually claimed overall victory in Dauphine after leader Primoz Roglic [Jumbo-Visma] pulled out of the race ahead of Sunday's final stage. Roglic hurt himself in a separate crash on Saturday. France’s Thibaut Pinot [FDJ] had looked set to profit from Roglic’s withdrawal, but Martinez attacked with 15km remaining of the 153km final stage starting and finishing in Megeve, winning by 29 seconds. Roglic, who has looked the form general classification rider since professional cycling resumed post-lockdown, is expected to recover in time for the Tour. "He fell hard on his hip and we just want to see how he responds to that. It's better to be safe than sorry," said his team manager Richard Plugge. It was a bruising race in general, with Team Ineos’ 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal also having to abandon with a bad back, although the Colombian was later seen training suggesting his withdrawal was purely precautionary.

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