Trek-Segafredo bus gets wedged on tight bend while trying to drive down narrow road at Giro d’Italia

Riders rescued by staff in team cars after starting to set off on foot
Henry Robertshaw

Traffic chaos engulfed a small corner of Sardinia on Saturday after the Trek-Segafredo bus got stuck on a narrow ride while navigating to the team hotel.

The team had enjoyed a relatively successful stage two, with Jasper Stuyven placing third behind André Greipel and Roberto Ferrari, and were no doubt looking forward to a relaxing evening of massages.

But what they didn’t factor in was team bus sat-nav, which seemed not to have been programmed for an 18 ton, 46-foot-long bus, and made the 15km drive from Tortolì to the team hotel a lot more eventful than it should have been.

Rather than taking the main road, the sat-nav sent bus driver Danny In ‘t Ven the scenic route, along a single track road that even saw team manager Luca Guercilena forced into shepherding duty as he ushered a flock of sheep off the road.

But bigger problems were caused by a tight right-hand bend, flanked on both sides by metal crash barriers, which brought the team to a halt just a mile from the hotel.

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Eager to complete the transfer as quickly as possible, the riders started to get off the bus to complete the journey on foot, before being met by team staff to whisk them off in cars.

Meanwhile poor Danny In ‘t Ven was forced to reverse up the road as the traffic queued up behind the bus pulled to the side to let it through, allowing In ‘t Ven to eventually make it to the hotel only 20 minutes later.

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This is far from the first time that a team bus has got stuck in an awkward position, with IAM Cycling’s bus getting stuck in a dip in the road at the 2016 Tour de Suisse, while who could forget the Orica-GreenEdge bus which got wedged under the finish gantry on stage one of the 2013 Tour de France.

Trek’s driver will be hoping that this will be the last time he will be in the headlines as he enjoys a rest day ahead of tomorrow’s summit finish to Mount Etna.