A very high level of teams, stars of the discipline and… a great controversy. For its first stage, a 14 kilometer individual time trial around Surhuisterveen, a village on the outskirts of Groningen in the Netherlands, the EasyTos Bloeizone Fryslan Tour made headlines. First for its more than mediocre organization.
Throughout this time trial, the road was not reserved for the riders. Result: cars on the road, bicycles in the wrong direction or minivans in the process of parking have narrowly missed creating some dramatic accidents.
The race, broadcast on television by Eurosport, almost looks like a farce.
But the best is yet to come. Sponsored by the site for online sales of charm products, the race offered the winner of the day, the double world champion Ellen Van Dijk, some special “goodies”: lubricants, satin masks, sex toys and other goodies. . Which did not fail to make Van Dijk laugh on Twitter: “The prices in women’s cycling are getting better and better. Feel free to leave me suggestions on how to use them in the comments.”
Strangely, all this made the World Association of Female Cyclists (CPA) laugh much less, which reacted at the end of the afternoon. “We cannot find the words to describe the incidents that happened during this UCI race (note: at the highest level). We are extremely disappointed and relieved that at least no one is injured. The time trial took place in the middle of road traffic and the prizes given at the end of the race gave this day an even more surreal touch”.
Race direction she justified herself in a press release, explaining that the race took place on roads “secured” by 89 controllers. “The cars and cyclists left their homes, ignoring the instructions of the controllers, continues the press release. A time trial requires the road to be completely closed to traffic for 5 hours. The solution in the future may be to stop doing time trials, because this kind of mishap is inevitable. »
