<\/p>\n
Instead, he acknowledged that congestion on Spain\u2019s winter training roads has reached a point where professional preparation regularly has to be adapted. \u201cI was in Calpe for almost three weeks,\u201d Thomas said in conversation with RMC Sport. \u201cThere are days when you can\u2019t really train properly, and you\u2019re forced to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n
That reality, he explained, becomes most obvious on the most popular routes. \u201cThere were days when we went to the Coll de Rates, and we had series to do, and it was impossible,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cYou spend your time overtaking people. When you\u2019re overtaking two or three abreast, you\u2019re in the middle of an effort, there are cars coming down, other cyclists descending in the opposite direction, you just say to yourself, \u2018no, it\u2019s fine, we\u2019ll do that on the next climb.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Patience, responsibility, and limits<\/p>\n
Thomas did not deny that the situation can be irritating for professionals trying to follow a training plan, but he repeatedly returned to the need for restraint on both sides. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a bit annoying,\u201d he said, \u201cbut you just have to be patient and act responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crucially, he resisted the view that amateurs riding alongside professionals was a problem in itself. \u201cIt\u2019s not a scourge,\u201d Thomas said, while conceding that \u201cthere are situations where it\u2019s really excessive.\u201d What happened to Vingegaard, he added, was \u201cunfortunate,\u201d but not something that should automatically trigger calls to shut fans out of training environments altogether.<\/p>\n
That tone stands in contrast to some of the sharper reactions to Vingegaard\u2019s crash, including concerns that amateur riders following professionals can create dangerous situations at speed. Thomas instead framed the issue as one of scale and density, rather than intent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also the magic of cycling\u201d<\/p>\n
Where Thomas differed most clearly from earlier voices was in his defence of cycling\u2019s openness. He argued that being able to encounter the sport\u2019s biggest names in ordinary training settings remains one of its defining features.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also the magic of cycling,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cYou can train with or be overtaken by Van der Poel, Remco, Pogacar in training. Can you imagine? It\u2019s like playing football and being on the same pitch as Mbapp\u00e9,\u201d he added with a laugh.<\/p>\n
That accessibility, Thomas suggested, explains why many amateurs travel to Spain not solely to train but to experience proximity to the professional peloton. \u201cIt\u2019s normal to understand people who are really happy and take the opportunity,\u201d he said, describing riders who head to training hubs specifically \u201cto see the pros and be around them,\u201d sometimes more than to train themselves.<\/p>\n
A debate shaped by popularity<\/p>\n
Thomas did, however, acknowledge that the current trajectory may have consequences if congestion continues to increase. \u201cIf this continues in the long term, there will be teams who stop doing training camps there and find other locations,\u201d he said, before adding that the region remains uniquely suited to cycling.<\/p>\n
Placed alongside earlier comments from riders such as Paul Penhoet, who stressed that professionals are \u201cworking\u201d and need that to be respected, Thomas\u2019 remarks broaden the discussion rather than contradict it. Together, they outline the tension at the heart of the Vingegaard incident: a sport whose popularity and accessibility are growing faster than the infrastructure and etiquette needed to manage them.<\/p>\n
In that sense, Vingegaard\u2019s crash has become less about blame and more about balance. As Thomas\u2019 comments underline, cycling\u2019s openness is both its charm and its challenge, one that the peloton is now being forced to confront more openly than ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Instead, he acknowledged that congestion on Spain\u2019s winter training roads has reached a point where professional preparation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447790,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,231909,167124,784,6495,85,165035],"class_list":{"0":"post-447789","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-benjamin-thomas","11":"tag-cofidis","12":"tag-cycling","13":"tag-jonas-vingegaard","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-team-visma-lease-a-bike"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}