“Boplan? Our own resources are at least as good. Moreover, you then need 6 to 7 extra trucks, which is bad for the ecological footprint.”
After yesterday’s finish, course builder Thierry Gouvenou defended the safety choices of the Tour organization tooth and nail. At Boplan themselves they cannot believe their ears.
“The UCI has compared 10 different fences and ours is the only one to have achieved maximum points on all tests,” says Xavier Ramon, Boplan’s manager.
The argument of the ecological footprint sweeps Ramon off the table. “6 to 7 trucks extra? This is a project involving four trucks. All together. I can’t imagine that all current fences fit in 1 truck.”
“It is of course the case that our fences are thicker. That has to be done to absorb the impact. If it could be done better, we would have done it longer. But apparently they think CO₂ emissions are more important than safety at the Tour. Maybe they would do something else can cancel?”
However, Boplan and Tour Organizer ASO have already worked together in the past. “There was contact a few times. Once at Paris-Roubaix, about 3 years ago and a year later also at the Bos van Wallers.”
“The outcome was positive 2 times. But they have not followed up on it. I do not understand why there are doubts about this. It is an open goal, but nobody heads in the ball.”
Isn’t it that the French prefer to work with their own material in their Tour de France. “The Tour is cross-border, isn’t it? They have to think bigger. If that were the case, then that’s a shame. Safety is not something you can discuss.”
