Bus driver sorry after 1st Stage farce
Source: AFP |
July 1, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE driver of the Orica-GreenEdge team bus that blocked the finish line to the opening stage of the 100th Tour de France on Saturday has apologized for the incident, which sparked a chaotic finish to the stage as riders arrived in Bastia.
Belgium's Jan Bakelants of the Radioshack Leopard team won the second stage yesterday to take the overall race leader's yellow jersey.
Bakelants broke away from the pack and resisted a fightback from the leading members of the peloton to win the 156-kilometer ride across Corsica from Bastia to Ajaccio.
The 27-year-old edged out Slovakia's Peter Sagan and Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski to replace Germany's Marcel Kittel in yellow.
Kittel sprinted to victory in stage one but was well off the pace yesterday during a stage that featured a series of tricky climbs.
On Saturday, the bus became stuck under a gantry right at the end of the stage, and organizers proposed moving the finish line forward by three kilometers before eventually clearing the vehicle.
That allowed them to revert to the original race plan, but not before confusion among the peloton led to a mass crash six kilometers from the end, with Alberto Contador and Tony Martin among the riders to go to ground.
Garikoitz Atxa, a Spanish former cyclist who was on his first day working as the Orica team's bus driver, was caught on camera with his head in his hands when the incident happened.
"I don't know whether I'm famous or infamous. I'm feeling terrible but it's all over and there was nobody injured in the finish," he told Eurosport television yesterday.
"This was my first day driving the bus so it's not a good start but I hope they have faith in me. I tried to sleep but I had a lot on my mind and I hope today will go ok.
"The team were kind and sympathetic and I'm grateful for all the nice things they said, and what else can I say but I'm sorry."
Orica sporting director Matt White sought to absolve Atxa of blame on Saturday night by insisting that he was simply following instructions.
However, they were later fined 2,000 Swiss Francs (US$2,116) by organizers for "not respecting the timetable put in place for auxiliary team vehicles arriving at the stage finish."
"What caused the problems was changing the finish," Mark Cavendish told reporters. "We heard on the radio with literally five kilometers to go that the sprint was in two kilometers, and then one kilometer later they were like 'No, it's at the original finish.' It's just carnage."
Belgium's Jan Bakelants of the Radioshack Leopard team won the second stage yesterday to take the overall race leader's yellow jersey.
Bakelants broke away from the pack and resisted a fightback from the leading members of the peloton to win the 156-kilometer ride across Corsica from Bastia to Ajaccio.
The 27-year-old edged out Slovakia's Peter Sagan and Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski to replace Germany's Marcel Kittel in yellow.
Kittel sprinted to victory in stage one but was well off the pace yesterday during a stage that featured a series of tricky climbs.
On Saturday, the bus became stuck under a gantry right at the end of the stage, and organizers proposed moving the finish line forward by three kilometers before eventually clearing the vehicle.
That allowed them to revert to the original race plan, but not before confusion among the peloton led to a mass crash six kilometers from the end, with Alberto Contador and Tony Martin among the riders to go to ground.
Garikoitz Atxa, a Spanish former cyclist who was on his first day working as the Orica team's bus driver, was caught on camera with his head in his hands when the incident happened.
"I don't know whether I'm famous or infamous. I'm feeling terrible but it's all over and there was nobody injured in the finish," he told Eurosport television yesterday.
"This was my first day driving the bus so it's not a good start but I hope they have faith in me. I tried to sleep but I had a lot on my mind and I hope today will go ok.
"The team were kind and sympathetic and I'm grateful for all the nice things they said, and what else can I say but I'm sorry."
Orica sporting director Matt White sought to absolve Atxa of blame on Saturday night by insisting that he was simply following instructions.
However, they were later fined 2,000 Swiss Francs (US$2,116) by organizers for "not respecting the timetable put in place for auxiliary team vehicles arriving at the stage finish."
"What caused the problems was changing the finish," Mark Cavendish told reporters. "We heard on the radio with literally five kilometers to go that the sprint was in two kilometers, and then one kilometer later they were like 'No, it's at the original finish.' It's just carnage."
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