Dylan Groenewegen now faces the prospect of disciplinary action from both the UCI and his own team, Jumbo Visma, after the horrific bunch sprint crash at the Tour de Pologne today.
In the gallop to the finish line at the end of the
opening stage, Groenewegen moved to his right and then also appeared to lean on
Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) as he tried to overtake.
Jakobsen was trying to come through a narrow gap between Groenewegen
on his left and the crowd control barriers on his right.
However, he was sent crashing into the barriers, breaking
through them such as the force of the impact, and into railway lines running parallel
to the home straight.
He appeared to hit an official who was standing behind
the barriers as well as the scaffolding holding the gantry over the finish line
in place.
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The crash sent the barrier and advertising hoardings,
along with Jakobsen’s bike, flying back out into the road and into the riders
at the front of the bunch.
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Though Groenewegen and Jakobsen crossed the line 1st and
2nd, they both crashed, as did Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ), Damien Touze
(Cofidis), Eduard Prades (Movistar) and Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates)
among others.
The UCI has already stated unambiguously that Groenewegen was to blame, adding he would be sanctioned.
The Dutch sprinter's team also raised the prospect of taking action, apologising for what had happened and explained it would consult internally before decided on its next actions.
“The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) strongly
condemns the dangerous behaviour of rider Dylan Groenewegen, who sent Fabio Jakobsen
into the barriers a few metres from the finish, causing a collective crash at
the end of the first stage of the Tour of Poland,” the UCI said, adding Groenewegen
had already been disqualified.
“The UCI, which considers the behaviour unacceptable,
immediately referred the matter to the disciplinary commission to request the
imposition of sanctions commensurate with the seriousness of the facts. Our federation
is wholeheartedly with the affected riders.”
Team Jumbo Visma issued a short statement, saying: “Our thoughts go out to Fabio Jakobsen and other people
involved in today’s terrible crash in the Tour of Poland. Crashes like these
should not happen.
“We offer our sincere apologies
and we will discuss internally what has happened before we may make any further
statement.”
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