The finish of the third Tour de France stage from Amorebieta-Etxano to Bayonne caused trouble in the field of riders on Monday. The accusation against the organizer: The route on the last kilometer was far too dangerous.
Quick-Step driver Fabio Jakobsen, among others, made this accusation after the field had been led through a tight S-curve in the last 1000 meters, in which a serious fall almost occurred, when stage winner Jasper Philipsen took the path of Wout van Aert cruised.
“The first thing van Aert said to me at the finish was that he was happy to have stayed on the bike and I can understand him,” Jakobsen told “cyclingnews”. The Dutchman asked the tour organizers to reconsider such final kilometers.
“Not the nicest finish of the tour”
“We’ve all seen in the past what can happen when a driver changes sides of the road. If you install a chicane, the drivers want to take the shortest route. It was definitely not the nicest finish of the Tour,” complained the Quick driver. Step driver, who pleaded in no uncertain terms for a safer approach to the finish line.
“We can have long kilometers, but don’t use any descents and don’t use right-left curves in the last 500 meters. That can’t be that difficult. But apparently it is,” Jakobsen was annoyed.
Van Aert touches viewers
After crossing the finish line, van Aert, who was influenced by Philipsen’s line, also complained about the route and the slight collision with the stage winner.
“I tried to overtake him on the right, but then I lost my momentum because I first touched him and then some spectators. I couldn’t sprint in the last 50 meters,” said the superstar, who answered the question asking whether Philipsen’s behavior was fair, cryptically replied, “That’s hard to say.”
Jumbo Visma sports director criticizes the routing
Jumbo Visma sports director Arthur Van Dongen was also anything but satisfied with the last meters of the stages. He complained: “The UCI rules say that the last 200 meters should be in a straight line. That wasn’t the case. And then it’s only normal for things like that to happen.”
Van Dongen didn’t want to judge whether Philipsen’s sprint was fair. “It’s not our job to judge what’s right or wrong. That’s for the jury to decide,” he said.