Rider lies on the ground for minutes in Poland, Plugge furious about lack of earpieces: "This can't go on like this"

The third stage of the Tour of Poland was marked by nervousness and chaos. The climbs and narrow roads caused a lot of turmoil and trouble in the peloton. Therefore, it was not unexpected that things went wrong in the stage won by Thibau Nys. The lack of earpieces played a significant role in this.

With just over fifty kilometers to go, a nasty crash occurred. Pepijn Reinderink (Soudal Quick-Step) was involved, but our compatriot was not the main victim. Nicolas Debeaumarché (Cofidis) ended up in a ditch and remained there for a long time. According to witnesses, it took more than a minute before anyone even came near to help the poor Frenchman. Cofidis later announced that Debeaumarché suffered a vertebral fracture.

Many blame the lack of assistance on the ban on earpieces in the Tour of Poland. As a result, teams are primarily dependent on race radio. Unfortunately, the fallen Debeaumarché was overlooked by the race radio. While Reinderink was mentioned on the radio, there was silence regarding the Cofidis rider. On X, an enraged Richard Plugge expressed his frustration about the incident. "The UCI can no longer continue without earpieces. It makes the race a complete joke. Just like at the Olympic Games, where a rider couldn’t call the car about mechanical issues. Hopefully, no one was too seriously injured," concluded the team manager of Visma | Lease a Bike.

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Plugge refers to the situation involving Søren Wærenskjold. The Norwegian found himself stranded on the roadside during the road race in Paris after smashing his front fork in a crash. The caravan, including the car of the Norwegian national team, passed by without noticing the unfortunate Wærenskjold. They overlooked him and drove past. Wærenskjold, realizing his race was over in an instant, furiously threw his bike.

Lefevere previously critical, Froome actually supports UCI plan

It's not just Plugge who has recently expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of earpieces. Patrick Lefevere also reacted irritably to the UCI's plan to race more often without radio communication. "My unfiltered opinion on that: a completely ridiculous idea. Translate that to a normal workplace: an employer is not allowed to speak to their staff while they are doing their job," fumed the Belgian.

In addition to the critics, there are also supporters of the idea to race without earpieces. Chris Froome suggested that it might actually be safer if earpieces were banned. "Team managers have an enormous amount of information," said the four-time Tour winner. "All that information is shared with us as riders, so you know exactly when a turn or bridge is coming up, but that just makes you ride even faster. The last hundred kilometers of a race are constantly hectic. Usually, all that tension is for nothing."