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Luke Rowe
Stuart Franklin / POOL / AFP
Ineos pilot Luke Rowe said Saturday that the decision to call for a truce in the treacherous rain-lashed early stage of the Tour de France it was the correct move and he called an opponent “stupid” for ignoring it.
The stage, which began and ended on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, was won by the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff.
However, it was marred by so many crashes that it became a lottery before an agreement was reached to slow down to avoid further damage.
“While you want to race and put on the best show, you can see how many crashes there were and that was with the three descents at a very careful speed,” said Rowe, who was ejected from the Tour last year for a hit.
In the absence of previous winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, Rowe of Cardiff, 30, might not be the key driver at Ineos.
However, he is an influential voice even if rivals don’t want to hear him.
Rowe claimed that Colombian cyclist Miguel Ángel López and his Astana team had not cooperated with the truce.
López collided with force against a traffic sign.
“As a result, they turned their leader on his back. They made themselves look pretty stupid,” Rowe said.
The Tour de France should have been held in June, but the two-month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic means more bad weather conditions are expected.
“Most of the teams had like four of their riders on the ground,” Rowe said.
“The problem is, it hasn’t rained for two, three months, then it rains and it was literally like ice.
“I think half the teams had about half of their team hit the ground today.”
Bicycle accidents have been the main events in recent weeks.
Belgian rookie Remco Evenepoel plunged head first into a ravine at the Tour of Lombardy, while sprinter Fabio Jakobsen said he felt “lucky to be alive” after a terrible accident on the Tour of Poland.
“We got this cycling organization together with a couple of guys on each team and we talked about that last night, how we can take care of each other when needed,” Rowe said.
His team leader and defending Tour champion, Egan Bernal, looked calm and relaxed after the stage.
“It was a really dangerous race, but I’m fine, it was quite stressful. There were a lot of crashes and you really had to focus,” said the 23-year-old.
Bora-Hansgrohe driver Peter Sagan, fifth on Saturday, said “the last mile was crazy.”
“Actually, the last five were totally headwind. Everyone was nervous. It was a huge mess. All sprints like that, headwind, are always a lottery,” said the former world champion.
Deceuninck’s Sam Bennett of Ireland, who was fourth, said the truce was the right decision.
“It was a dangerous day with the road so slippery,” he said.
“I was good on the climb, the problem was that we were slow and neutralized the descent. Others managed to get into the squad.
“But I think it was a good decision to do everything possible to be safe, even if when you have made an effort, you want the race to continue.”
