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Burst paddling pool caused Jumbo-Visma’s Vuelta team time trial crash, says sports director (+ videos)Jumbo-Visma Vuelta Stage 1 crash (via YouTube)

Burst paddling pool caused Jumbo-Visma’s Vuelta team time trial crash, says sports director (+ videos)

Child had been playing in pool half a kilometre away with water flowing downhill
by Simon_MacMichael
Sun, Aug 25, 2019 07:59
7

The crash which dented Jumbo-Visma’s hopes of a strong performance in yesterday’s opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana was due to an inflatable paddling pool a child was playing in half a kilometre away bursting, according to the team’s sports director.

Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswik, the Dutch team’s co-leaders for the race, both lost 40 seconds as a result of the crash, which happened when several riders skidded on surface water just after a tight bend.

Riders from UAE Team Emirates also came down on the same corner as a result of the wet road surface.

Yesterday evening Jumbo-Visma sports director Addy Engels said it was a “far from ideal” way to begin a Grand Tour.

“We have lost precious time,” he said. “We will have to assess the damage and see how we will deal with it in the coming days and weeks. We certainly had not taken this scenario into account.

“We were a favourite and it would have been close if we hadn't crashed. Now we are 40 seconds behind. Whether the injuries aren't too bad or not, there is always damage.”

Engels said he had sought an explanation from organisers Unipublic, adding that the water had not been there when the team carried out its reconnaissance ride earlier in the day.

“They went to the house where the water came from,” he said. “That is 500 metres from the course, on a steep slope that goes straight onto the roundabout.

“There was a child playing in an inflatable plastic swimming pool that broke.

“As a result, according to the organisation, all of that water flooded down onto the road all of a sudden."

Astana put in the fastest time of the day, with Miguel Angel Lopez taking the race lead.

La Vuelta 2019
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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jaysa | 5 years ago
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That seems a little harsh? The Vittoria Corsa G+ tubs on one of my bikes are golden in the dry, pretty good in the wet.

Just relieved no-one was injured given the impact speed ...

I lost it on a TT bike in the rain on a sharp bend having forgotten about white lines, slid across the road into a ditch full of water, got back up covered in filth, then had to reassure a driver who'd stopped, who was actually trembling. Could have been my appearance thinking about it ...

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
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Eurosport have onboard footage from Team UAE - the water is indeed a fair few yards before the corner. Not a particularly big patch either. I guess it just goes to show how much on the limit they are. Not a great advert for whatever tyres they're running.

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srchar replied to kil0ran | 5 years ago
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kil0ran wrote:

Eurosport have onboard footage from Team UAE - the water is indeed a fair few yards before the corner. Not a particularly big patch either. I guess it just goes to show how much on the limit they are. Not a great advert for whatever tyres they're running.

...Vittorias, in case anyone was wondering. Unsurprising, given that I binned a pair many years ago for being crap in the wet.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 5 years ago
2 likes

I suspect the wet tyres then going on the white road markings on the corner being as the first rider to see slip out is on the white line for UAE.

They also know how fast they can go around that course in the dry so was pushing for that so the sudden wetness would also have meant they were pushing harder then the wet tyres would allow. 

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levermonkey | 5 years ago
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Odd!?

Is it just me but the water appears to be quite a distance from where the crash happened? The footage from the team car seams to show the riders going down on dry road.

Unless the water has got mixed with oil somehow I'm not sure how to explain that one. 

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Organon | 5 years ago
0 likes

These things just happen...

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jova54 | 5 years ago
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A new entry to the  cycling lexicon of reasons, along with the perfectly road wheels GB were using at 2012 Olympics.

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