Astana’s Lieuwe Westra caught speeding at 118mph

Dutchman was clocked at nearly 60kmph (37mph) over the speed limit when driving on a road near Akkrum in the Netherlands
Gregor Brown

Police caught team Astana rider Lieuwe Westra on radar driving 189 kilometres per hour (118mph) in the northern part of the Netherlands on Wednesday evening.

“It is what it is,” Westra told Dutch Leeuwarder Courant website. “I just drove too fast.”

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The Dutchman finished second in the Paris-Nice stage race in 2012 riding for Vacansoleil and joined Astana this year to help Vincenzo Nibali win the Tour de France.

He also won a stage in the 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné and in the Volta a Catalunya after attacking out of a breakaway.

Locals learnt about Westra, a usually resides in Monaco, speeding when the police posted on its Twitter feed information about the driver it caught on radar.

“#A32 #Akkrum 32-year-old driver from Monaco drove on average 189 km/h this evening. 130 allowed. ZSM-arrangement: € 960, – #videosurveillance” the tweet read.

The 32-year-old may keep driving with his licence, but he has to pay a fine of 960 euros. He  is currently in Japan with Nibali as part of Tour de France organiser’s Saitama Criterium.