Chaos and confusion as riders go wrong way during Volta ao Algarve cycling race
There was chaos and confusion at the end of the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve on Wednesday, as the majority of the peloton went the wrong way as they approached the finish line.
The leading group had been following TV cameras mounted to motorbikes and ended up taking a deviation away from the official final stretch, eventually crossing the finish line on the wrong side of the road.
Stewards could be seen pointing the peloton to the other side of the road, but it was too little, too late. A few riders did spot the mistake, though, and Italy’s Filippo Ganna raised his arms in celebration after crossing the finish line first.
Some riders who had gone the wrong way could be seen lifting their bikes over the spectator barrier in an attempt to finish on the right side of the road.
However, race organizers later decided to cancel the first stage which had taken riders on a 192.2km route because “sporting truth did not prevail in the end.”
“All the technical information was clear that the runners should go left at the last roundabout,” Algarve Sérgio Sousa, director of the Volta ao Algarve, said.
“The fact is that some of them took the right, in a lane parallel to the finish line. It was a wrong decision by the peloton, but it’s clear that we didn’t do enough to avoid this outcome, which we very much regret.”
Austrian cyclist Marco Haller called the fiasco “a joke.”
“You could see that on the last kilometer, the deviation wasn’t blocked by the officials and obviously when the riders are coming they are following the motorbikes, like they always do,” Haller told Eurosport after the stage.
“For me, it’s pretty ridiculous because we suffer for 190 kilometers to put ourselves in a perfect position. It’s basically everything for nothing. That’s a joke, it’s really something where there needs to be consequences for the officials, for the organizers.
“It cannot always be the riders who are blamed because we are in the heat of the moment, it’s a race situation, so it’s very frustrating.”
Organizers confirmed the clock will be reset to zero as the 177.6km second stage sets off on Thursday.
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