“There’s always someone who thinks the roads belong to them”: Oblivious motorist forced to reverse off road after driving towards charging pro peloton at Étoile de Bessèges stage race, causing crash

Fighting for position in a charging peloton towards the end of a race, on narrow country roads, ahead of an expected bunch sprint proves tricky enough at the best of times, even for the most confident bike handlers in the pro ranks.

But at the Étoile de Bessèges this afternoon, things were made even more complicated by the startling presence of an oblivious motorist – who somehow found themselves on the course and driving straight towards a flying peloton of 150 pro cyclists, before having to hurriedly reverse off the road, causing a crash in the process which led to Belgian rider Maxim van Gils abandoning the race due to his injuries.

The bewildering incident took place with around 17km to go of today’s second stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, the annual French early season stage race, finishing in Marguerittes.

A Mini driver – who appears to have pulled out onto the course after the breakaway passed, around 50 seconds ahead of the peloton, and was driving in the opposite direction to the race – could be seen on the television footage hurriedly reversing off the road, as the riders were forced to slow down before ducking to the right to make their way around the motorist.

However, during this jostling, a touch of wheels prompted a crash on the right-hand side of the peloton, bringing down several riders, including South African champion Ryan Gibbons, eventual fourth-place finisher Jordi Meeus, and his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Van Gils, who it was later confirmed quit the race due to the injuries he sustained in the crash and was taken to hospital.

CHAUD !!!!#EDB2025 #lequipeVELO#AntenneVieux pic.twitter.com/UNoyIvIdST

— Robert Chipote (@Robert_Chipote) February 6, 2025

“Why, why, why? There’s always someone who thinks that the roads are owned only by them,” José Been, commentating on the race for Eurosport, said at the time of the crash.

“Fortunately, that crash didn’t look too scary and damaging, but imagine you’re travelling at 40, 45kph, and all of a sudden a car comes your way.”

“And they don’t expect 160 riders to be coming towards them either, that’s not ideal,” agreed her co-commentator Magnus Bäckstedt.

Mini driver incursions aside, in the sprint finish in Marguerittes, Uno-X’s Søren Wærenskjold timed his burst to perfection to take the win ahead of Arnaud Démare, as Kern Pharma’s Marc Brustenga hit the deck at high speed in another startling crash, following what appeared to be an unexplained tyre blowout.

But it was the course invader with 17km to go that’s dominated the post-race discussion, as fans on social media criticised the safety measures in place at the Étoile de Bessèges, which allowed such an incident to occur – especially on the same day the UCI held a press conference to discuss its latest initiatives to make the sport safer.

Of course, this isn’t the first time roving motorists and questionable safety measures have blighted cycling’s early season races.

> British sprinter accuses race organisers of “playing with our health”, as motorists make their way onto roundabouts used by peloton

In 2023, as part of a string of back-to-back incidents, motorists were able to make their way onto the same roundabouts used by the bunch on the finishing circuit of the Clásica de Almería – prompting British sprinter Dan McLay to brand the race organisation a “f***ing disgrace”.

“If you can’t close a road properly you can’t have a race on it. Just playing with our health,” the Arkéa–Samsic rider tweeted at the time, a month after lines of parked cars marred the finish of a Tour Down Under stage, dramatically reducing the width of the road in the closing kilometres.

Just a week later, after completing his time trial at the Volta ao Algarve, Tom Pidcock was forced to swiftly dodge a member of the public who had driven their car onto a roundabout located just a few hundred metres beyond the finishing line.

And later that year, the UCI decided to call off the final stage of the CIC-Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées – only the second edition of the three-day race – following two days of protests from a peloton concerned for its safety.

> “Cycling is wonderful, but it is a very fragile sport”: Controversial organiser says the Tour des Pyrénées “is over”, after stage race marred by safety “chaos”

On the first stage into Lourdes, won in a sprint by Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, members of the public were seen driving on the course, metres away from the riders at times, and parked cars and trucks littered the final kilometres while spectators wandered onto the roads.

A day later, the second stage to the Hautacam was then neutralised to the foot of the iconic summit finish after the peloton complained of race motorbike riders creating hazardous conditions.

“Considering the safety risks involved, we firmly believe that a bike race is not worth endangering the lives of the female cyclists,” Adam Hansen, the head of the riders’ union the CPA, said – prompting race director Pascal Brudon to unwisely brand the decision “the whims of spoiled children”, a comment for which he later apologised.