But why did Schachmann get so close to the car and then try and pass it on the left? I only saw a short clip but it was like his brain turned off, not seeing a vehicle on the course as a threat.
The driver pulled a rapid or turn into what looked like a parking area. Schachman was expecting her to stay on the road…a reasonable assumption.
Here is a spectator’s view of Evenepoel going over the bridge…holy crap.
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Yeah. This is the kind of shit we mere mortals have to deal with all the time… didn’t expect to see it on a closed of, world tour, race course though 
Apearently Schachmann broke his Collarbone 
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That’s what I was kind of alluding to. In real life on the road I’d never get that close to that car. I’d brake. And I’d definitely never try to pass it on the left.
I think Schachman’s brain was in race mode and he wasn’t thinking.
the crashes have nothing to do with the tires
Lombardia is just a race for climbers not for guys like van der poel
More to the point…HE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE THINKING ABOUT RANDOM CARS CUTTING IN FRONT OF HIM ON THE RACE COURSE.
This kind of life-threatening crap is completely unacceptable on any level but especially from WorldTour organizers. Hoping RCS gets their asses handed to them.
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Yes agreed, he shouldn’t have to but they ride thousands of miles per year on public roads. No organizer can block every single side road and driveway along the route. When some old lady pulls onto the road, use the brakes.
“Events on the UCI WorldTour calendar are of the highest level and require fully closed roads at all times.” – UCI
Blaming the rider, especially in this circumstance, is completely wrong.
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not that it really matters, but I’m honestly curious what the old lady was thinking, plowing through an ongoing race on closed roads.
juts imagine it was the entire peloton coming around that corner and not just poor old Max Schachmann
A couple years back there was a half marathon run going on and a car driver pulled into a road full of runners and started driving through them, kept going even when people were in the way and telling her to stop. She said it was was “becasue she had somewhere to be” in short she was fat and selfish.
Not casting aspertions on the driver here but there is otfen a common thread in incidents like this.
It is entirely reasonable that he thought it was a caravan vehicle…and as such, it would follow the race route. Riders pass official vehicles all the time on the left with no issues.
As noted the course is supposed to be completely closed, so no reason to think it was a civilian vehicle. Hell, I thought it was a race vehicle when I first saw the clip.
Official statements say that the lady lives right along the race course. She came out of her garage right into the road where the race was taking place and no officials could see her. I don’t know what the race organizers could have done about a random person who happens to live alongside the race course suddenly coming out of their private property.
She was fined less than €150. Things could have been much worse than a broken collar bone… I hope this accident makes all race organizers aware of this risk
Honestly I think we’re seeing a lot of nasty crashes lately
Figured that was what happened but had watched on my phone and wasn’t certain. But it sure looked like a lot of garages on that part of the course, and without a volunteer at literally every other garage I’m not sure how you can prevent accidents like that from happening. Even then an oblivious and flustered driver could keep backing out even with the volunteer pounding on the car.
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I think this is precisely what the riders are saying - that it is unacceptable any longer for death or serious injury to be a potential consequence of race organizers refusing to control external forces. It is antiquated to say that rider death/injury is just too hard to prevent. The entire conversation is remarkably similar to multiple other sports’ histories (football, baseball, NASCAR, Formula 1, etc) where organizers initially balked at safety precautions because they were expensive or difficult, measures that we now consider absolutely basic and unthinkable to compete without.
It is probably true that with the current culture, it might be impossible, which is why culture-shift is the topic, and not simply change in barrier structure or more volunteers. Intrinsic paradigm shifts are needed.
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