Pinarello-Q36.5 rider Marcel Camprubí has revealed damage to his bike after a crash caused by a vehicle on the course during Tuesday’s Tre Valli Varesine race in northern Italy.
Posting on his Instagram page, the Spanish road race champion showed the snapped forks of his Pinarello bike, with a caption reading: "Tre Valli Varesine - Sad that you have to risk your life to race, one month after a tragic accident.
"Cars in races," he added alongside a thumb-down emoji.
The incident first came to light when his teammate Tom Pidcock was interviewed after finishing second in the race, saying Caprubí and another Pinarello-Q36.5 rider, Thomas Gloag, had been hit by a police motorcycle driving in the opposite direction to the race.
Whether it was a motorbike or a car, as mentioned in Camprubí’s post, is not yet known, though Cyclingnews has reached out to the team and the race organisers.
However, Pidcock reposted Campruví’s Instagram story adding: "Thankfully [Marcel Camprubí] and [Thomas Gloag] are ok. But police motorbike driving head on into the peloton mid race should never happen. These accidents must stop."
(Image credit: Marcel Camprubí/Instagram)
The incident comes after a series of others where cars have found their way onto race courses in recent months. The most high profile of those caused the death of NSN Development Team rider Finlay Tarling at the Volta a Portugal, which is likely what Camrubí was referring to when he mentioned a 'tragic accident'.
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However, sadly, that is not the only such incident, with a number of others during the recent series of Italian autumn Classics. During Saturday’s Giro dell’Emilia a car was seen on the course on a fast descent late in the race, while a delivery van was seen pulling out behind the breakaway during Coppa Bernocchi on Monday.
The topic of rider safety has been prominent for some time, though particularly since Tarling’s death in mid-August. In outlining the recent stakeholder consultation on pro cycling reforms, UCI president David Lappartient said that safety "is not negotiable, and it will move forward at an even faster pace than the other parts of the reform".
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A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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