Thomas Siniecki, Media365: published on Tuesday January 21, 2025 at 8:14 p.m.
Not sure that this is the idea of the century, or even of the year, from the UCI. The runners themselves are not unanimous.
Rest assured, the successors of Erik Zabel, Mario Cipollini and Mark Cavendish will always be able to raise their arms after a sprint success, in order to celebrate like their glorious elders. It is not for Jasper Philipsen or Biniam Girmay (or Arnaud Démare and Bryan Coquard, even if they no longer really win) that the problem will arise from this season, but rather for their teammates who will no longer have the right to look into the distance and celebrate the victory of their sprinter. Any partner who, in the peloton behind the sprint, decelerates or lifts his hands from the handlebars will now be punished with a fine ranging from approximately 100 to 500 euros, and above all reclassifications or even loss of points in the distinctive classifications.
-Démare: “There are many things more dangerous than that”
Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) approves, joined by our colleagues from Ouest-France: “It is very dangerous in the event of a truly massive sprint. Beyond the celebration, there are also those who move away without paying too much attention. It still happens that many riders purposely block others. For me, it's more of a spirit of not harming others. It's the game, but it's still too unhealthy in my eyes. “
On the other hand, Arnaud Démare (Arkea – Bamp;B Hotels) does not quite understand: “We have never had a crash with this kind of celebration, which occurs almost in the second peloton, far from the massive sprint at high speed. For having known him, I have great photos with my teammates raising their arms behind, it was also a way of paying tribute to the shadow runners. There are many things more dangerous than that.” Like the real fights at the heart of the sprints, which notably resulted in this horrible accident between Dylan Groenewegen and Jasper Philipsen on the Tour of Poland in 2020. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) is not convinced either: “It's not not worse, but I don't know if that's what really makes you fall. When you win, the sprint is already done There would be other things to prohibit, like limiting the gears. would be a little better.”
