Spain’s Costa Blanca has been jampacked with professional cyclists this week, as the biggest teams in the world flock to the nice roads and moderate temperatures of Alicante for their annual pre-Christmas winter training camps. And, when it comes to catching these pros flouting the rules of the roads, the local police are having a field day.
Last week, Decathlon CMA CGM’s Norwegian rider Johannes Staune-Mittet was issued a €200 fine (or €100 if he paid it quickly) for cycling with a pair of Apple AirPods while training near Calpe.
And yesterday, ten Groupama-FDJ pros were pulled over by police and handed the same penalty just down the road – this time for allegedly all riding through a red light.
In a since-deleted post on Strava, Groupama rider Ewen Costiou published a photo appearing to show a police officer standing at the rear of his vehicle, after seemingly stopping the group of pro cyclists in Llíber, a small village around 10 miles from Calpe.
23-year-old Costiou, who joined the top French squad from the now defunct Arkéa-B&B Hotels outfit this winter, was taking part in a 136km training ride with teammates David Gaudu, Rémi Cavagna, Tom Donnenwirth, Rudy Molard, and others when they were stopped by the officer.
“€100 a head, he really enjoyed himself,” Costiou joked on his Strava post.
“So, you don’t respect the Highway Code?” his teammate Gaudu replied in the comments. That comment, along with Costiou’s original caption and photo of the scene, have since been removed.
Nevertheless, the Groupama-FDJ riders’ accounts of their ride on Strava all feature a reference to a slower than normal passage through Llíber, the riders taking 35 minutes to navigate a flat, three-mile segment through the village, at an average speed of 5mph, presumably thanks to the officer’s unexpected intervention.
While Costiou and his teammates did not provide any details as to why they were fined, French Instagram account Cycling.mag has claimed that the riders were stopped for running a red light on Llíber’s narrow main road, which allows for alternating one-way traffic through the village.
Groupama-FDJ were contacted by road.cc for comment last night, but are yet to respond.
> Pro cyclist fined €100 by Spanish police for riding with earphones
Whatever the reason for their run-in with the local police, this winter could prove a decent revenue raiser for the Spanish authorities, given their apparent propensity to dishing out fines to rule-flouting pro cyclists taking part in training camps.
As noted above, last Monday, Decathlon’s promising stage racer Johannes Staune-Mittet shared a short clip on Strava of a penalty notice issued to him by the Spanish police for riding his bike near Calpe “while using headphones or earphones connected to devices that receive or play sound”.
Failing to abide by this rule, which applies to both motorists and cyclists, could result in a €200 fine, according to Spain’s Reglamento General de Circulacion, though by paying early Staune-Mittet was able to avoid this higher penalty, instead coughing up €100.
“Guess it is better to buy a pair of those ugly out-of-ear headphones than to get fined for AirPods every day,” the 23-year-old joked in his Strava caption.
13 thoughts on ““So, you don’t respect the Highway Code?” 10 Groupama-FDJ pro cyclists fined €100 for ‘riding through red light’ during Spanish training camp, according to reports”
They’re idiots. Yes the
They’re idiots. Yes the lights in Lliber take ages, but it’s literally a single road through a narrow village with no room for cars to pass each other. I’ve ridden through it dozens of times, every other rider stops – why would they think they’re different? Suspect the old bill have been asked to sit there and nick people because of idiots just like this.
Zebulebu wrote:
Is it wide enough for a car to pass a cyclist coming the other way? Most traffic lights are there to control cars and larger vehicles, different circumstances mean that it would be safe on a bike, a bit like they have on some one-way streets
mikewood wrote:
Looking at the road on Streetview I’d say that’s a pretty solid “no”:
First thing that occurs to me
First thing that occurs to me is “what is motor through-traffic doing there?”
(In fairness, if it sees regular visits from pelotons I’d probably question those also – would certainly startle those trying to enjoy a coffee outside their villa or walk the kids somewhere…)
That road actually looks
That road actually looks wider than many of the bi-directional single track roads that are all over the UK. Roads on which many motorists think it’s fine to pass an oncoming cyclist at 30mph+.
David Gaudu wrote:
Well not when you’re in Spain, no – you’d follow the Código de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial (Traffic and Road Safety Code) and the Reglamento General de Circulación (General Traffic Regulations) instead.
mdavidford wrote:
Well not when you’re in Spain, no – you’d follow the Código de Tráfico y Seguridad Vial (Traffic and Road Safety Code) and the Reglamento General de Circulación (General Traffic Regulations) instead.— David Gaudu
I imagine it doesn’t go well there if you try to follow the British Highway Code. Rule 160 would be deeply unwise to follow.
Once moving you should
Police in Spain have
Police in Spain have sharpened up a lot in recent years. Lots more cameras, radar traps, drones, and Traffico/Guardia Civil operating checks on license, ITV and other stuff.
Tried street view and it looks *really* narrow in places, no space for a bike and a car to pass.
Yeah – and specifically in
Yeah – and specifically in this area the police and Guardia Civil have been instructed to be hot on traffic enforcement around cycling in general (both cyclists and drivers) after the death of a bike tourist a few months back. They never uses to enforce the law about riding with headphones, for instance, but are stricter on it now. Having ridden there 2 or 3 times a year for about ten years now, it’s true that the behaviour of large groups of riders especially has got worse in that period – though the local drivers are generally still light years better than British drivers in general, they’re starting to get pissed off with group behaviour inland, and there are so many British hire car drivers that the coast road from Altea to Xàbia through Moraira is aggro city now.
This traffic light is a cash
This traffic light is a cash cow for Llíber*. The fine costs 100 euros if paid on spot, and 200 euros if paid later. Why do foreign pro and amateur cyclists think they can run a traffic light in the first place?
*Early this year 16 riders of a Calpe-based Strava group were caught red-handed. No cash, blimey! After a call to one of the non-riding wives, 32 crispy banknotes of 50 euros each were remitted to the local Police. ¡Muy bien, caballeros!
A few years ago I went over
A few years ago I went over to Belgium for a day out, to ride around and watch the E3-Harelbeke.
I saw the start, had time to visit the Tour of Flanders museum in Oudenaarde, rode up the Oude Kwaremont and grabbed a couple of beers and saw the race come past, then jumped back on my bike to try and catch the finish.
I managed to get lost and missed it, but in the process ended up on the race route and got mopped up by the laughing group. They kindly let me sit on the back all the way to the finish, including crossing the finish line with them, about 15 minutes down (pretty cool).
I was however, quite shocked to find that they had no regard at all for any red lights at junctions which had now been reopened but still had coppers manning them. There was a big shouting match between copper and riders, but they basically just rode right through and all the traffic stopped to watch them doing it ?. I just kept my head down ?.
Blimey…I (just about)
Blimey…I (just about) remember riding through Llibér a few times on the Graham Baxter training camps in the 90s. Can’t remember if there were any lights there 30 years ago, but I do remember that Graham made us respect local traffic laws ?
Respect the rules, it’s that
Respect the rules, it’s that simple so it’s a fair cop. (But that’s a good life isn’t it? Get paid to ride a quality bike every day in a nice, warm environment)