With the controversies surrounding in-race motorbikes resurfacing once again, rider union boss Adam Hansen has urged cycling fans not to ‘bash’ or ‘disrespect’ the riders.
The theme of motorbikes influencing the outcomes of races has been a persistent one over the years, with these vehicles often riding just ahead of the breakaway or peloton most often to capture television footage.
The issue has risen back up the agenda after last week’s Tour de Romandie, where Valentin Paret-Peintre indicated that the motorbikes were giving the peloton a slipstream advantage over the breakaway.
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His comments were later backed up by Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), who said “it was just ridiculous the difference they were making” on a recent episode of the Stanley St. Social podcast.
Hansen, the president of the Association of Professional Cyclists (CPA), addressed the issue in a social media post after several riders had apparently been targeted for criticism online for taking advantage of those slipstream benefits.
“For the fans bashing riders for riding behind the Motos, that’s unfair. The riders are free to ride anywhere on the roads,” Hansen said.
“For races that have Motos too close or just everywhere, that’s not the riders fault. It’s the organization of the vehicles in front of the race that is handled badly, again not the riders fault. It’s first a race, not a movie production set.
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“Again, all riders want more distance between Motos and the front bunch, riders should not have to navigate to make sure they are not directly in the draft of a moto. Please fans, it’s the motorbikes fault, not the riders. Respect the riders, their job is hard enough and then to read on social media that they get disrespected because they have a motorbike in front of them is not fair.”
There is no specified distance that TV motorbikes must keep from the riders according to the UCI’s guidelines, which states they should film from a 3/4 angle and that “they must never interfere with the progress of the race nor allow riders to benefit from their slipstream”.
Hansen went on to end his statement on a light-hearted note.
“Maybe the CPA might create a fund raiser for the production crew to buy a zoom for their cameras on these motorbikes. As it’s unfair how much they influence the race speed, the results and on the other riders.”
As for Plapp, he acknowledged that riders “play the game” when they do see a motorbike in front of them, but was forthright in his views on what happened at Romandie.
“The motorbike came in front of our bunch and the speed was just unbelievable in the peloton,” he said. “We were just lined out, sprinting out of every corner, and the time gaps just raced down. There were some stages where it was just a bit of a joke how fast we were going and how much the motorbikes influenced it.”