Plusieurs coureurs ont émis des réserves sur les mesures de sécurité mises de l'avant lors de la Classique. Voici ce que nous avons trouvé dans les nouvelles du 18 mars de Cyclingnews.
By Steve Edwards in Redlands, CA
The seemingly dangerous stage 4 proved, thankfully, to be devoid of serious accidents. Perhaps it was because the course, though technical, was very well marked and staffed, leaving the crashes to be decided only by the riders. Unfortunately, the last few days' races were held on longer courses that were much more difficult to keep a close eye on, which lead to some very serious mishaps.
On day one, Biogen's Lisa Peck was injured in a completely irresponsible accident. About halfway up the time trial course she hit a rider that was coming down the course.
"The race marshal whistled, and the other marshal whistled back to acknowledge it," she said.
"I came around a corner and there were two guys on bikes riding down toward me. One was smack right in front of me and I collided with him head on and flipped over his wheel. I broke both wrists and my elbow, and he left."
She then got up and finished the race, even though she knew it was probably serious.
"I did, one handed. I didn't know how bad it was and was just hoping for the best, and thought maybe I could finish the race."
She spent 7 hours in emergency surgery and will be out 8 to 12 weeks, putting a damper in her plans to compete in the upcoming NORBA series.
When asked who she hit, she stated that at this time she would rather not say, but scuttlebutt around the race was that it was someone involved with a team.
"I heard they had already been warned once to get off the course. Obviously, they didn't mean to hit me, but they shouldn't have been there. They knew better. What really bothers me, though, is that they left. It would have been nice if they had stayed and been a little bit accountable. I'm upset, because it shouldn't have happened."
"But I would like to add that everyone here at Redlands is wonderful: the support, the medical, the official on the motor bike, and the Mavic guys."
On stage 3's very long road race there were many crashes, mainly in the feed zones. The first one happened very early in the stage and was another example of poor communication. Somehow, a race official, police escort, and group of riders got their signals crossed. Info was all second hand but it sounds as though the riders and police officer were both unsure which way the course went. They both went the wrong direction and one rider hit the vehicle at full speed, sending Jacob Rosenbarger of Team Choco-Andean Eco-Coffee flying over the cars and breaking either one or both of his legs.
Most of the other crashes were in feed zones, which many riders say should have been on steeper sections of the course. "The feed zones were pretty crazy," said one of the victims, Dutchman Bram de Waard of the Marco Polo Team. While he didn't sound bitter, his voice made it clear that it shouldn't have happened that way it did.
"I was sitting pretty close to the leaders", he shrugged, "but the feed zone was too fast and people were out on the course trying to get things to their riders. Many people were dropping the exchanges. There was a crash in front of me and I swerved to avoid it when someone crashed into my back wheel."
De Waard suffered some abrasions and a broken elbow. He was headed into emergency surgery just as soon as they could find a capable specialist to do the job. It had been a frustrating race already. He suffered a mechanical problem in the time trial and finished way back. After gaining 100 places in stage two, he was sitting comfortably with the leaders at the time of the accident. This was to be the second of four stage races he was slated to do on the trip and will force an unfortunate end to his first trip to the States.
While there is really no one to blame, crashes due to lack of organization seem to be on the rise. Lack of funding forces races to rely on almost any volunteer help they can get, regardless of experience. Also, annual road races suffer from increased traffic and congestion on many traditional stages, making them much tougher to staff.
"They were letting traffic go in between breaks", said one fan. "It was nuts!"
Alors que plusieurs pensaient que ça n'arrivait qu'aux Championnats canadiens...
une page mise en ligne le 17 mars 2002 par SVP
