"Laughable," concludes Wout van Aert amid the chaos: "This just should not happen!"

Safety in cycling in 2025, the bingo card. After the strike in Besseges and the hurdle in Provence, now an entire peloton was on the wrong side of the road in the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve. A peloton full of laughing riders crossed the finish line in Lagos, but that quickly gave way to chagrin. Several riders shared their immediate reactions with IDLProCycling.com

Casper van Uden is essentially the best Dutch sprinter in the race, but even he never really got into his gear. The guy from Schiedam is the epitome of kindness and, in that regard, doesn’t have the typical characteristics of an adrenaline-fueled sprinter, yet even he couldn’t hide a smile. “What went wrong? Us,” came the offhand remark from the man from Picnic PostNL.

In the press room – where part of the organization is also housed – chaos reigned. As soon as it reached the Portuguese, even they started throwing English words around. “Shit, shit,” was heard, followed by a series of gestures for which we in Southern Europe no longer need to provide a drawing. Later in the evening, an official statement is expected from the Volta ao Algarve, but for some the damage seems already done.

Read more below the video!

Team managers are astonished in the Algarve: "Do you have all your riders?"

Enter the riders. Nils Politt of UAE Emirates-XRG, who normally flashes his teeth with a hearty laugh after a strong effort, came over the finish laughing uncontrollably. A few other sprinters, such as Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Jordi Meeus of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, were lamenting a missed opportunity. Wout van Aert and Tiesj Benoot shook their heads, while the team managers behind them were mostly just relieved that everyone—at first glance—remained unharmed. "Do you have all your riders?" Tom Steels of Soudal Quick-Step even asked Visma | Lease a Bike team manager Arthur van Dongen, just to be sure.

Make no mistake: in those lycra kits, which in the final kilometer of a race are being driven at sixty kilometers per hour in the wrong direction, there are millions in salaries at stake, but above all, fathers, children, and real people. "It’s a miracle that everyone came out unscathed," several riders remarked afterwards. On the side where the riders were cycling, there were indeed spectators—row upon row of spectators with children, even dogs. One misstep—like the one we once saw with Sebastian Langeveld in the Tour of Flanders—and the damage would have been incalculable.

Meanwhile, at INEOS Grenadiers, for a brief moment it was party time. The British team gathered around "winner" Filippo Ganna, who ultimately—by order of the president of the Portuguese cycling federation—was not declared the winner. To make matters even more painful: Ganna, who himself did not wish to say much afterwards, was not allowed to step onto the podium as the winner, but was instead sent to the doping control that a day's winner is supposed to undergo.

Read more below the photo!

Van Aert cynical: "This just should not happen, well done'

A few buses down the road, Van Aert recounted his story to the busy Visma | Lease a Bike bus. "Whether I also went the wrong way too? Yes, I followed the guys ahead of me, you know. This undoubtedly will be a human error. Someone must have been misinformed at that last roundabout. It's almost laughable. At first, I thought: how is this possible?" the Belgian said.

"I assumed there was still another chicane somewhere that we didn't know about, so I pressed on a bit longer. But 300 meters from the finish, suddenly everyone started signaling that we needed to be careful. So I had to watch out," he added, clearly taking issue with the organizers. "The road at that roundabout should always have been closed. Barriers, no confusion... This just should not be possible. I was wondering if there would even be a winner. Well done," he said sarcastically.

Read also

Van Aert, Tratnik and De Lie, but no Van der Poel, Pedersen, or Pogacar: This is the preliminary start list for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

'Winner' Ganna won't say anything, but others are furious after fiasco in Tour of the Algarve: 'It's ridiculous, really a joke'

Fourth last year in the Tour of Flanders, but now back as domestique: "Pogačar isn't afraid of Van der Poel or Van Aert"

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get every week the latest news about CYCLING in your inbox!

Subscribe