The riders of the Tour de France expressed their dissatisfaction with the multiplication of falls on Tuesday, by dismounting for one minute, 500 m after the start of the 4th stage between Redon and Fougères.
To discover
The general classification of the Tour de France
177 runners at a standstill
In a regrouped peloton, and in slow motion, the 177 riders still in the race, with in the first row the main leaders - Mathieu van der Poel in yellow, Julian Alaphilippe in green - first, and as usual, swallowed in slowed down the first nine fictitious kilometers of the stage, a traditional parade intended to greet the public at the start.
Arrived at the real start, the peloton, visibly not unanimous on the approach to follow, continued on its way, before finally stopping a few hundred meters further, on the initiative of sprinter Andre Greipel.
Foot on the ground but without getting off the bike, the riders stood still for one minute, before resuming the road.
A request for dialogue with all stakeholders in the race
According to Radio Tour, "the riders have come to a stop and are driving slowly to demand that a dialogue on safety be established with all cycling stakeholders, UCI, organizers, teams and riders".
Since the start of the Tour on Saturday, the race has been marked by violent and spectacular falls, with multiple causes: a spectator caused a fall while holding up a sign;
the rain-soaked pavement surprised runners;
the sometimes tortuous profile of the final, and the excessive speed of the peloton led on Monday to a game of massacre, where the sprinters as big favorites for the final victory were bruised in their flesh.
From km 37, a first red alert sounded when the winner of the 2018 Tour Geraint Thomas (Ineos) had tested asphalt, while Robert Gesink (Jumbo), lieutenant of Primoz Roglic, was forced to give up, victim of a head trauma and concussion.
In the narrow and winding descent towards Pontivy, where the first massive sprint of the 108th edition of the Tour was to take place, it was the Slovenian leader who in turn fell, following his American teammate Sepp Kuss.
Bis repeated in a downhill bend, less than 5 kilometers from the line: fall and slowdown for sprinters like Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) or ranking men like the outgoing winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE) or the Australian Jack Haig (Bahrain), forced to quit (concussion and fractured left collarbone).
Finally, Caleb Ewan slipped in the last corner and in the final sprint, dragging Peter Sagan into his crash.
Ewan (left collarbone fracture) also had to drop out and will be operated on Wednesday.
150.4 kilometers long, the last Breton stage of the 108th edition of the Grande Boucle does not include any listed ascent. Arrival in Fougères is scheduled between 4:50 p.m. and 5:10 p.m. During the last arrival of the Grande Boucle à Fougères in 2015, the Briton Mark Cavendish had dominated the sprint of the peloton in front of the German André Greipel and the Slovakian Peter Sagan, all present at the start of the 2021 edition.