Remco Evenepoel has said race motorbikes “should have more respect for the peloton” after he was forced to abandon the UAE Tour.
The 19-year-old came down 85 kilometres into stage four of the Middle East stage race and was taken to hospital for checks.
In an Instagram post, Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s Evenepoel suggested the crashed was caused by a race motorbike coming to a standstill.
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The junior road race and time trial world champion said: “S**t happens.
“Crashes are part of the game and so are motorbikes.
“I just want to say that that motorbikes should have a little bit more respect for the peloton, and where the riders are riding.
“If we ride on the right side of the road, then don’t come to a standstill on the right side, please.”
Evenepoel crashed in the first half of the 197-kilometre stage to Hatta Dam, and was taken to hospital for examination.
Precautionary X-rays revealed no fractures or breaks, but Evenepoel did suffer abrasions and some superficial injuries.
Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski, who saw the crash, told Cycling Weekly: “He seemed to be all right but there were a lot of those sharp stones on the side of the road.
“He was ahead of me by 10 positions, he crashed just alone. There was a swing to the left, everybody was on the right side of the road riding at 50 to 60k an hour.
“It wasn’t during the echelons. It was fast, pretty much every section was with tailwind. It was pretty high speed today. We saw a lot of dust, its hard to see what’s coming and it’s pretty invisible.”
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Stage winner Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) added: “I saw the crash with Remco, there was a switch in the bunch then I came past and he was in the dirt.
“I don’t know what caused it, he was already on the ground when I came past. There was flick in the bunch and a few seconds later I rode past and he was already on the ground. I’m not sure exactly what happened.”
Evenepoel finished finished 15th on the first summit finish of the race, Jebel Hafeet on stage four.
The Belgian has been testing his potential against world-class climbers, but the action was cut short by the crash.
