Australian rider Maeve Plouffe said she was “nearly hit” by a non-race car driver on Wednesday’s opening stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women.
The 27-year-old, who rides for British Continental team O’Shea Red Chilli Bikes, said the incident happened as she was chasing back to the peloton after she was dropped following a puncture.
She wrote on Instagram that she was less than two minutes adrift of the race convoy when non-race vehicles started “coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout”.
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Plouffe’s comments come less than a week after 19-year-old British rider Finlay Tarling was killed at the Volta a Portugal when he was struck by a non-race vehicle driver that had entered the course.
Tarling was one of three riders at the back of the race when the collision happened on a downhill bend. The circumstances of his death triggered widespread outcry, with the riders’ union, the CPA, saying they were “furious that even today it is still not possible to prevent such serious accidents”.
Plouffe did not finish stage one of the Tour of Britain Women, and has now had to withdraw from the race. Her post on Instagram stories read: “A badly timed puncture ended up becoming a 30+ minute chase. I fought and I fought really, really hard, but you can only do so much alone on a course like that.
“On a side note, while the race convoy was still in sight, and I was less than two minutes down, there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout.
“Later on, the moto escort was wonderful and I felt much safer. But considering the recent devastating events in our cycling community, it’s scary to see situations like this, when we know that this can have horrific consequences, especially so soon after suffering such a tragedy.”
Like most UCI-sanctioned road races, the Tour of Britain Women operates rolling road closures, whereby a police escort is meant to secure the route until all riders and race cars have passed through.
Despite this, there have been several instances of public car drivers entering courses in recent years, notably at the 2023 Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées and last year’s Étoile de Bessèges, at both of which teams pulled out due to safety concerns.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly ahead of stage one of the Tour of Britain Women, and therefore before the incident Plouffe cited, race director Alice Wood said rider safety was at the forefront of the organisers minds following Tarling’s death.
“The safety of the riders is what’s really important and we need to make sure that we’re keeping the back of the race safe as well,” Wood said.
“When I was racing it was something that I was always thinking about. I was dropped too many times, so I was one of those riders that was distanced… Unless we are the Tour de France, where you can shut down roads and have full road closure, you can’t cover every road, every junction, every farm track, every driveway. It’s really difficult to do.”
Cycling Weekly has contacted British Cycling, the organisers of the Tour of Britain Women, for a response to Plouffe’s comments.
The five-day Tour of Britain Women continues on Thursday with a 110km stage to Blackpool. Wednesday’s opening stage was won by Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime), who currently leads the race.
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