(Reuters) – Two days before attempting to win a second consecutive Paris-Roubaix, Mathieu van der Poel estimated on Friday that the riders themselves represented the main danger in professional cycling marked by an increase in violent falls since the start of season.
The fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country was the scene on Thursday of a terrible fall in which double winner of the Tour de France Jonas Vingegaard broke his collarbone, several ribs and suffered a pulmonary contusion and a pneumothorax.
The fall occurred in a high-speed right turn while descending a pass. The leader of the race, Primoz Roglic, was forced to abandon like the 2022 world champion Remco Evenepoel, victim of a fractured collarbone and right shoulder blade.
“I believe the most dangerous element in cycling is the riders themselves,” Mathieu van der Poel told a news conference ahead of Sunday’s race.
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“We take risks and that’s the main problem, everyone wants to be at the front in the same place and that’s not possible.”
“We can change a lot of things to make it better, but it will never be completely secure,” he added.
The Dutchman won his third Tour of Flanders last Sunday and is the favorite for Paris-Roubaix, even more so in the absence of the Belgian Wout van Aert, victim of fractures to several ribs, his sternum and a collarbone during a heavy fall on March 27 in the A Travers la Flanders race.
Paris-Roubaix organizers have set up a chicane to slow down riders as they approach the famous cobbled section of the Trouée d’Arenberg, one of the most dangerous sections of the Hell of the North.
“Is this a joke?”, reacted Mathieu van der Poel to the publication of a video showing the development carried out.
“I find it good that they are trying something. But in my opinion, the chicane is not the right solution and doing it the week before the race is not the best option either,” he said. declared.
“Obviously it’s one of the most dangerous places of the season so it’s good that they’re thinking about change but for me change isn’t always the best thing to do.”
“As I said, the riders are the main problem, but I also join in the fun, if you want to win you have to be where everyone wants to be in the crucial moments.”
(Written by Trevor Stynes, French version Vincent Daheron)
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