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news
Bretagne-Seche-Environment-team-car-rams-motoVideo: Road race road rage - Bretagne Seche Environment team car rams moto
It just goes to show, you never can tell when a motorist is going to lose their rag. However, we'd expect better than this from a team car in a professional road race.
This video was apparently taken by a spectator at the Loire-Atlantique classic on 16 March. The race was won by Edwig Cammaerts of Cofidis, but the Bretagne - Seche Environment team car was obviously in a hurry to see the action: here we see the car impatiently blowing his horn behind a moto that's also following the race before squeezing into a gap and taking a dig at the bike as it does so.
Clearly the consequences of driving in that manner can be very grave indeed. We all remember what happened to Jonny Hoogerland in the 2011 Tour de France:
The potential for injury here, it seems to us, is just as big. A sideswipe from the team car could send the moto into the other line of traffic, which could have very serious consequences. The media car that hit Juan Antonio Flecha, causing Hoogerland's injuries, was subsequently expelled from the Tour de France. We'd expect some kind of censure for this driver too, at the very least, and we've contacted the race organisers to see if they are aware of the incident.
Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.
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27 comments
'm sorry but the apologists who seem to think it's ok to "tap" any sort of two wheeler by way of "punishment" need to hand in their driving licences and have a good hard think about their attitudes. Do you go around "nudging" other cars who are "in your way"??
Unbelieveable attitudes from people who are presumably cyclists. There is NO excuse for assault with a deadly weapon (if you only prod me with a dagger is that ok? If you are lucky enough not to injure or kill me when "nudging" me with a ton of metal is that ok? If you think the answer is yes then you have no business in charge of a motor vehicle!)
It was nothing more or less than criminally dangerous and aggressive driving and the driver needs formally charged and their right to operate near races removed permanently. I ride decent sized motorcycles as well as bicycles and it would be sooo easy for that sort of stupidity to pitch the bike into roadside furniture or spectators/passers by, undoubtedly causing serious injury or death (think how heavy a loaded bike is if you don't believe me).
I trust the video has been passed to the local Police as well as the race organisers?
Right, I understand completely. My point is that it's a tense situation and if he was somehow provoked, deliberate or not, it contributed to him ramming the bike. I am not taking this POV to get a reaction - I am honestly just thinking why someone would happen to ram a bike with no reason other than trying to get passed without any other factors at play.
Because he is a f@$cking idiot!
Staggering - so fortunate not to knock him off and drive straight over the rider.
Any normal employer would dismiss for this, however I know of one employer who gave someone a final written warning for driving dangerously yet sacked someone with Asperger's Syndrome on the grounds that they would not fit in (the employer was CRUK and the person with Asperger's was me).
Would be interested to know if they do take action on this.
Why is this happening in a cycling event with people associated with cycling? Surely these aren't one offs? These drivers must believe that it's part of the game where normal driving rules don't apply during these events. What on Earth is their rationale & justification?
OMG.....bickering over a car nudging a moto and no-one was hurt.......did any of you watch the 2nd video!!!!!!!
Exactly. Nobody WAS injured. Yes there are implications for actions but it's also overreaction seeing the driver as an utter prick but having no idea what happened before to cause his reaction.
Yes, one of the big differences in the videos is that the TDF one led to Flecha and Hoogerland being knocked off their bikes and injured.
There's another big difference though. In the TDF one, the driver swerves to avoid a tree. Not great driving, you could argue it's reckless, but he wasn't trying to deliberately swerve into the cyclists' way.
Yowser, that is special. Would love to have watched any conversation if one did indeed take place.
Idiot driver. Anyone trying to pass on any responsibility to the motorcyclist is bonkers.
Unbelievable. This is a driver who makes his living based on people on two wheels. He needs to loose his licence and his job.
Reading some of he comments I wonder if some of the posters have ever been on a moto or even in a race situation. Everyone gets close but the effort is to stay apart and safe. It's not a bit funny on 260kg of moto, plus two people (about another 150kg or more, plus whatever is loaded in the panniers, radio kit, etc.
Controlling 400kg plus on two wheels when someone decides to offer a "reminder" that they are going past is not a laugh. So far as the very short video shows, the moto moved into road centre to give room for a pass, but the team driver was simply being a nitwit, willing to risk two lives for the sake of a few seconds. It's only a bike race!!
Having had exactly the same thing happen, there was a short and robust exchange of views post-race. The car driver in that case will not be repeating their actions.
His actions were not to save a few seconds. He specifically swerved into the moto. He did not 'hit it while attempting to pass'. It was clearly a malicious act.
Somebody needs a good hard f•••ing SLAP!!!!!!!!!!!
I think it might also be worth writing a line to Seche Environment to point this video out to them, just to show what kind of publicity their money generates.
True dat but if you watch carefully he swerves into car's path afterward if only very slightly. He also had a gap to fully move to the next lane and did not.
I'm not saying driver is blameless just that I think there is more to it that what you see on the video.
The driver also showed good skill by tapping the bike and it not falling over.
not trolling
That's *exactly* what I think when a car nearly takes me out. Great skills by the driver to get so close but not hit me...
Come on that touring motorbike is hardly the same as a bicycle as is a near miss and a tap are different things.
i'll just bump him lightly - that'll teach him a lesson
yeah that sounds fair to me
But the motorbike swerved into him too, likely knowing that he pissed him off earlier. Can't really say that's a smart move because you are playing chicken with an angry bull.
Are you watching a different video to me?
The bike does move across the lane, but previously it was directly in front of the car and it moved to the side (presumably to let the car through). The drive then got his nose along side and 'jinked' into the bike.
The bike only made one movement and it wasnt into the car.
Wow, that was vicious! He should be arrested.
Yikes, he gives the bike a proper nudge and everything. Good skills by the moto driver to keep the bike upright
Ridiculous, it's a bike race and not worth that sort of impatience. The FFC should take the managers licence away and whack him with a massive fine. Endangering life. I wonder if the moto pilot and his passenger had a little quiet word with the driver later on...
Someone's losing their job then... Oh well!
words fail me .......