Saturday's Trofeu Andratx-Pollença, the fourth stage of this year's Garden Hotels-Luxcom Challenge Ciclista Mallorca, was called off after around thirty kilometres because weather conditions were considered to have been dangerous.
The decision was taken by the riders. Through their representatives, they informed the Technical Jury of their intention to stop due to the bad weather and the dangerous route. There had been a number of falls.
Manuel Hernández, general manager of the organisers Unisport Consulting, called the decision "disrespectful" as they had not been consulted. "We respect the decision, but we do not agree with it, as it seemed disrespectful that the opinion of the organisers had not been taken into account. A lot of money has been invested in this race.
"I'm not saying that a stage should not be suspended because the safety of the riders comes first, but before making a decision many things must be assessed. If the organisation does not have the right to evaluate them, perhaps it should stop organising cycling and look for something else, who knows. If this were the Tour or La Vuelta, it would not have happened."
The final trophy, the Trofeu Palma, is on Sunday. No problems with this are envisaged.
3 comments
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Same thing happened last year. I remember the council using loaders and lorries to remove the snow from outside the Repsol garage at the top of Sa Batalla. 2 weeks later I was there in the exact same place wearing full summer kit on my bike. Maybe they should think about not holding the event at that time of the year. I know the calendar starts to get busy as the new season is under way but if the organisers wish to minimise the chances of their event being cancelled then change the dates.
What an amateur organisation. The riders will want to race above all else, so if they say, no, it’s dangerous, then that’s it. It shouldn’t have started. Did no one check the forecast? Bunch of idiots!
The riders have the ultimate mandate as to whether it is safe to continue racing or not, it is their lives that will be lost if they crash at 90km/h. Mallorcas road surfaces can get very dangerous in the wet, and it doesn't matter how much the organisers have spent.