Pinarello-Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock crashed on stage 10 of the Tour de France yesterday after the race organisers whitewashed the roads in a bid to stop them melting in the heat.
Team Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson and Chris Harper also crashed on the same corner while descending the Col de Puy Mary on Bastille Day.
Pidcock is famed for his descending and said after the stage that he wasn’t expecting the white spray on the roads.
“I don’t know what they do with the roads here,” he told TNT Sports after the stage. “They put this white shit all over it, and it’s really slippy.”
“I just fell in the middle of the corner and had to chase. In the end it didn’t affect me too much.”
The Briton said he was fine during the interview and added that he’d need to see what happened when the adrenaline wore off.
“I don’t think I’ve ever crashed in a Grand Tour before, so now it’s going to be a new experience sleeping and trying to recover,” he added.
Pidcock managed to chase back after the crash and finished the dramatic stage in ninth place and climbing into 10th overall.
Tadej Pogačar won the stage after he went solo with 15km to go. The win saw him extend his lead in the Tour de France general classification to more than three minutes. But it prompted booing from the fans.
“Thanks to all the fans that came today. It was an amazing atmosphere, even though there was some booing. To all the guys that were booing, you gave us more power,” Pogačar said.
Pogačar was followed by Remco Evenepoel in second place on the stage. Paul Seixas finished third and also addressed the conditions of the roads.
"I felt my front wheel slip in a corner without even understanding why. I think the tarmac was really melting because the descent was like an ice rink.
“Luckily, we were at the front at that point. We saw a few riders crash. It's really a shame to fall. At that moment, we didn't take any risks. We didn't try to do anything crazy on the descent,” he said.
This is just one measure that we’ve seen at this year’s race to combat temperatures at the Tour during the European heatwave.
Stage 9 was shortened after Méteo-France placed the department of Corrèze on red alert. Pogačar said that he would rearrange the entire cycling calendar in light of the increasing temperatures.
Stage 3 saw emergency measures implemented because of wildfires, with fans advised to avoid the race.
The UCI also relaxed its measures around feedzones to help the riders stay hydrated.
