Not the organization, but his own lead-out is to blame, according to De Lie: "He must have never seen a cycling race"

The organization of the Volta ao Algarve faced harsh criticism after the bizarre incident in the first stage of the Portuguese race. Wout van Aert, Marco Haller, and Visma | Lease a Bike team manager Arthur van Dongen were all furious, but not everyone shares that opinion. Arnaud De Lie does not believe the organization is to blame.

The peloton was fully preparing for the sprint when, at a roundabout, they suddenly took the wrong exit. Only a handful of riders remained on the correct route, while the rest found themselves on the wrong side of the barriers, preventing them from contesting the sprint. Filippo Ganna crossed the line first, but after the race, the stage was annulled—meaning no winner for the opening stage of the Volta ao Algarve.

Arnaud De Lie was also on the wrong side of the barriers, but unlike most, he did not blame the organization. The Belgian champion was especially frustrated with the first rider who went the wrong way. “Everyone knows the finish is on the left, it’s been like that for years,” De Lie said afterward. “The first rider followed the motorcycles, but he must have never watched a cycling race, because we all know that motorcycles don’t cross the finish line,” said the Lotto sprinter. Ironically, it was his own lead-out man, Jarrad Drizners, who was the first to take the wrong turn.

Read more below the video!

Lead-Out Drizners: "A Dumb Mistake, But..."

The Australian later shared his side of the story with Sporza, admitting fault but also arguing that he wasn’t entirely to blame. “It was a dumb mistake, but there was no clear signage,” Drizners said. “If you watch the replay, you’ll see that I was already looking around in the middle of the roundabout. There were also no barriers until we were on the straight section. Everything happened so fast, and instinct took over. We did a recon yesterday, but it was really unclear, and that ended up costing everyone in the peloton.”

It was only after the roundabout that he realized something had gone wrong. “Suddenly, I noticed there were no barriers on either side. It was all very confusing. I think everyone in the peloton will confirm that it was highly unclear. Even in the team bus afterward, there was mostly confusion.” So he doesn’t feel entirely guilty. “Everyone makes mistakes. I just had the bad luck of being the first one to enter the roundabout. On to a better day tomorrow.”

Read more below the photo!

Ganna finished first, but wasn't crowned as winner

'Number three' Christian: "I wasn't planning to sprint at all"

Jan Christen took the correct route. The young Swiss rider from UAE Team Emirates - XRG finished in third place, just one second behind the unofficial winner, Ganna. "It was a very hectic finale," he said in the flash interview. "I had no intention of sprinting at all, but at one point, I saw Ganna in the lead and no one else. I tried to close the gap, but it was too big." He couldn’t tell why so many riders went the wrong way. "I don’t know why. I just saw Ganna ahead, and I went the same way."

Read also

Visma | Lease a Bike team manager lashes out at the UCI: "Very sad, a disgrace for the sport"

Portuguese Cycling Federation president steps in: Algarve stage 1 canceled after blunder, Ganna’s win gets overturned

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

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