Stage 1 of the Pune Grand Tour witnessed a major accident involving at least 30 riders an hour after the race began on January 20. The race was “neutralized,” or temporarily paused, near the village of Kolvan, about a quarter of the way through the 91km route, after the incident.
The cyclists injured in the accident were treated by accompanying ambulances, after which the race resumed from their respective positions. Riders and coaches said crashes were an inherent part of competitive cycling.
Three riders withdrew from the race following the accident: Enzo Fuentes Caparoli of Team Pro Cycling Stats, Marti Riera Casanovas of Pro Cycling Stats and Abdul Halil Mohd Izzat of the Malaysian National Team. At least two riders from the Indian National Team and two from the Indian National Development Team were injured in the incident.
Patrice Robustelli, sporting director of the Thailand-based Grant Thornton cycling team, said two of his riders were injured and two bicycle wheels were damaged in the accident. he said He indian express“The race was very nice and the crowd was really amazing… Today’s crash is part of the race. The road is a little narrow with a lot of riders at very high speed. A little movement and you fall. We have two of our riders fallen and two broken wheels. But it has nothing to do with the organizer. It’s part of bike racing.”
Eugene Cross of the UK-based Schils Doltcini team suffered some scratches in the crash. “I have no idea how the accident happened. There were just people hitting me. I was quite far ahead, I almost made it through. But people started hitting me on the side and I fell, and a cyclist landed on top of me. And then my bike got tangled in one of the video camera cables. I was destined to fall,” he said. Cross added that the narrow roads and the drivers’ eagerness to perform well in the first race of the year may have contributed to the incident.
In a statement, Edward Park, president of the UCI Stewards Panel for the Pune Grand Tour, said: “There was a crash in the middle of the peloton. This is quite common in road cycling races with a large peloton and changing race dynamics, a high-risk and high-speed environment. As a protocol, the race was neutralized for 23 minutes. The cyclists involved in the incident were immediately treated with first aid by the medical staff in the convoy, and were allowed to change bikes. There were no serious injuries and no one required hospitalization.”