Zak Dempster: At a certain point, it's life and death
Ineos Grenadiers DS gives his reaction after several teams pull out of Etoile de Bessèges due to safety concerns as another car is driven onto the course
Information is still relatively scarce, but at this time, we can confirm that seven teams have pulled out of stage 3 at Etoile de Bessèges due to safety concerns following another vehicle being driven onto the course.
Unlike on stage 2, where a similar incident ended with a crash in the bunch and Maxim Van Gils forced out through injury, there were no reported crashes this time.
It was only a close call, but after such a fraught race, and assurances from the organisers that the situation would improve, today's incident was all that was needed before teams made the call to end their participation.
According to several teams we spoke to on the ground, there was an agreement between teams and the relevant parties that if another incident happened on stage 3, then there would be consequences, with several teams threatening to pull out of the stage, and effectively the race.
Not long into Friday’s stage, race radio crackled through with the information that everyone had been dreading, with news that a car had once more been driven onto the course at a roundabout.
At that point, the peloton stopped, with the CPA representatives in the bunch holding long negotiations with the organisers and race jury.