Demi Vollering's crash at the Tour de France Femmes has sparked a heated debate about rider behaviour and respect in the women's peloton, with Visma-Lease a Bike directeur sportif Jos van Emden responding to FDJ-Suez team manager Stephen Delcourt's criticism.
The high speeds and huge stakes of the Tour de France Femmes has highlighted the impact and consequences of crashes on the sport. On Wednesday, Ellen van Dijk announced her retirement, saying that crashes had led to her losing her love for road racing.
"Because of the dangers of the sport, I cannot enjoy the road cycling as much as I would like to anymore. I feel that the peloton is not my place anymore, and it’s time for a new generation," van Dijk said.
Vollering suffered knee pain as well as glute and back pain, and was checked for concussion. She managed to survive stage 4, but doubts remain if she can fight for overall victory in the 2025 Tour. Delcourt blamed other riders and a lack of respect in the peloton for the crash, but that angered van Emden.
"Let me be absolutely clear: what he's saying is absolutely ridiculous," Van Emden said, according to Nieuwsblad.
"I have absolutely no respect for those comments. He apparently wants a peloton of eight riders, with Demi in it, to continue riding in a gilded cage. Yeah, hello, this is sport, right? Nothing happens that's impossible. He's simply influenced by Demi. By Demi's posturing."
"Demi really thinks she's in a gilded cage. Yes, she's the best cyclist. But that doesn't mean everyone should make way for her. You should just play a different sport. I'll leave it at that, but my point is clear."
Van Emden's blunt reaction led to a more nuanced response from Philip Roodhooft of Fenix-Deceuninck, who has Puck Pieterse as team leader.
Roodhooft experienced the impact of major crashes at the men's Tour de France, when Jasper Phlipsen crashed out on stage 3. Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard was blamed by some for the crash but video replays showed the crash was a consequence of a number of high-speed events.
"I want to counter that with a slightly more nuanced response than Jos van Emden," Roodhooft told Nieuwsblad.
"I understand the emotion. If I look at the men's Tour and how we lost Jasper Philipsen, we could have also burned Bryan Coquard at the stake. We didn't, and in retrospect, that would have been very wrong.
"As far as we're concerned, what happened on Monday was a racing incident. I can't imagine anyone deliberately cutting someone off. As far as we're concerned, this is part of cycling."
Before the start of stage 5, Delcourt, Van Emden and Visma-Lease a Bike head coach Jacco Verhaeren were seen talking in the team bus paddock for 15 minutes, apparently to bury the hatchet on their exchange.
"I can't say much about it, but I think it's good that we talked," Verhaeren told Nieuwsblad after acting as a moderator in the talks.
"Above all: we're on the same page when it comes to respect and safety in this sport. It was a good conversation."
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