Still struggling to put words to the events of yesterday,
the distress of these faces and these bruised bodies
following this fall. I'm thinking of Julian, but also
of all those heavily affected guys who had to see their
lives go by, when at more than 70km/h the whistle of
the peloton gave way to chaos, the sound of exploding
equipment and human cries that arise . I am very touched by
your messages, but I honestly think that anyone in
this situation would absolutely have done the
same - there is no competition in the face of the risk
of physical integrity. Beyond the direct consequences,
it leads me to think about our common responsibilities
to avoid this kind of accident which could have
been tragic, to the respect that we must grant each
other as runners. I saw it all, I was right behind Tom
Pidcock and Jérémy Cabot when they collided. The
responsibility we have when we take risks to get a place
at the front of the peloton can have serious consequences
for the 100 guys behind us. I don't blame anyone, let
alone hold the truth. Simply, we give ourselves body
and soul for a sport, a passion for running which can
in a flash turn tragic and hinder the beauty of sport.
All my best wishes for recovery to the runners
affected.
If you watch it again, someone on the right hand side (the left on tv) is right on the edge of the tarmac, drops off onto the grass and loses it. It wasn't an Ineos rider but hard to see who it was exactly.
Translation courtesy of Google Lens:
@rhb