‘A car can be a weapon in the wrong hands’ - Team car hits rider during French national championships

The CPA rider’s association president Adam Hansen has highlighted the dangers of team cars speaking to their riders during races after a regional directeur sportif hit a rider during the Junior women’s national championships in France.  

Video of the incident quickly circulated on social media, sparking a reaction from Hansen and a debate about race safety. 

Amandine Muller (Grand Est) and Célia Gery (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) were on the attack when the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes team car came up to speak to Gery. The driver appeared distracted by the conversation, overlapped with Muller’s back wheel and then made contact. Fortunately, Muller fell to her left, away from the car and so avoided being hit. 

Gery crashed into Muller but neither was seriously injured, and both managed to continue racing. Gery eventually distanced Muller to win the national title and they celebrated together on the podium. 

The incident highlighted the dangers of team cars driving beside their riders to speak to them in races, and especially when the directeur sportif is also driving the team car.

In most major races, especially WorldTour races and Grand Tours, the directeur sportif no longer drives the car so they can fully focus on race strategy and communicating with their riders safely.    

“We are so grateful Amandine fell on the left side and not the right, as the car couldn't stop fast enough and it could have been fatal for her,” Hansen wrote on social media in reaction to the video of the incident.   

“We will watch this final outcome of the DS very closely. I hope whatever the outcome is, he realises a car can be a weapon in the wrong hands.” 

TDT - Unibet Cycling Team owner and directeur sportif Bas Tietema responded to Hansen’s comments, questioning the  value of the team car in races, suggesting “crazy s**t happens in the convoy.” 

He pointed out that he passed his UCI test to become a directeur sportif “without riding a single km in a car.”  

Tietema suggested a bigger neutral service that serves all teams and central race communications could be a way to eliminate the need for a team car for each team and also reduce emissions.