Three new crashes disrupted a cursed Tour de France on the roads of Brittany and these could be very expensive for one of the big favorites of the event. While the peloton was driving at a brisk pace about ten kilometers from Pontivy, the finish city of the 3rd stage, Primo Roglic (Jumbo Visma) made a mistake on the side of the road. The two-time Tour of Spain winner tore part of his wetsuit, injuring his upper left thigh. He was able to leave with a large scratch, skin raw, after almost a minute behind the peloton which continued to accelerate to prepare the ground for the sprinters. He finally lost 1'21 '' to the winner of the day, Tim Merlier.
A very palpable nervousness which led to a new collective fall on a narrow section. At the exit of a turn, a new collective slide trapped several runners who left in the background. Among these unfortunate ones on the mat, we found the French Arnaud Démare but also Tadej Pogacar, the winner of the 2021 edition. The leader of the UAE Team Emirates got up after a short time but lost 26 '' on the winner of the stage.
A few hundred meters from the finish, a last incident disrupted the final runaway with an impressive fall by Caleb Ewan carrying Peter Sagan at full speed on the asphalt. Three impressive falls, and especially the first two, which could provoke a controversy within the Tour de France caravan and the organization given the design of the very tricky route towards Pontivy and the enormous risks taken by the riders.
“Beyond my runners, I am the father of a family. There are a lot of families watching the Tour de France. Tonight, I don't want my kid to be a professional cyclist. We have to find solutions. We can't go on like this anymore. It's no longer cycling. We have to change. Maybe we have to do a lot of things because if we don't do it, we will have deaths. It's not worthy of our sport. It's not just the organizers' fault, it's everyone's fault, the organizers, the teams, the riders and especially the international bodies, ”said Marc Madiot, sporting director of the Groupama team. FDJ, interviewed on
France Télévisions.