CYCLING

Crash-marred finish costs Avanti a chance at stage one win in Korea

By Aaron S Lee

Avanti Racing Team sprinters were on a the wrong side of a collision in the closing metres of the opening stage at Tour de Korea.

GUMI, South Korea—The day went from weird to worse when a car-crazy start turned into a crash-marred finish on the first stage of Tour de Korea on Sunday, June 7.

Less than a quarter of the way through the 189.1-kilometre opening stage, traffic inadvertently flooded the course and had to be cleared thus causing the three-man break to be stopped by race officials and caught by the peloton.

After a 10-minute stoppage, the break was allowed to reclaim their six and a half minute lead before Orica-GreenEdge and Drapac Pro Cycling decided to pick up the pace and reel them to set up a bunch sprint finish in Gumi.

In the final 200 metres, the two dominant Australian teams locked horns – and wheels – causing a melee, which brought down GreenEdge riders Mitch Docker (AUS) and pre-race favourite Caleb Ewan (AUS), along with Drapac’s Graeme Brown (AUS). Dutchman Wouter Wippert (Drapac) was able to skirt the collision and cruise into the finish uncontested for the win.

Avanti Racing Team riders were not so lucky, with all three hitting the pavement after being caught behind the crash. Australian Neil van der Ploeg and New Zealanders Anthony Giacoppo and Patrick Bevin all went down, with the 24-year-old Bevin getting the worse of the lot.

“It’s day one and there’s a lot of fresh riders, so crazy stuff started to happen in the finish and in front of all three of our sprinters,” Avanti sports director Andrew Christie-Johnston told NZ Bike after the race. “We got caught behind the crash, simple as that.

“I was too far back in the team car to see what happened, but it sounded like Drapac had a coming together with Orica-GreenEdge and Orica come off second best.

“We went from being in a reasonable position to having no chance at the sprint at all.”
Avanti will now regroup for the 174.4km stage 2 from Gumi to Muji with a battered and bruised Bevin expected on the start.

“Paddy has a sore knee and is worse for wear of the three that went down,” said Christie-Johnston of the reigning two-time Oceania road champion. “We just need to go look at his knee and watch swelling. Everyone else is okay, but Caleb didn’t look so good and neither did Docker.”

The three Avanti sprinters were lining up to deliver van der Ploeg into the bunch kick when the accident occurred with little time for Bevin and his teammates to react.

“The guys went down in front and we were about five wheels behind so I was on the anchors and it wiped off most of my speed,” Bevin told NZ Bike while icing his injured knee on the team bus post race.  “I got cleaned out from behind which sent me over the top of a couple of Orica-GreenEdge riders on the ground.”

While disappointed on day, there’s no crying over spilled milk for the North Island native.
“It was a hard day,” said Bevin. “You kind of feel for a team like Orica-GreenEdge with all the pressure here it’s a pretty average situation to be in but they’re a WorldTour team and have to absorb that and take it, but it’s a shame to see their guys on the ground after they’ve ridden all day.

“You never want to see crashes like that and these bunch finishes are pretty notorious for that.

“For me, I’m fine, just caught the top of my kneecap,” he concluded. “There’s no skin off as I landed on someone.

“It’s just one of those things and we can now get the first day out of the way and it will only get better from here.”


Patrick Bevin 


Avanti Racing Team Stage 1


Caleb Ewan post Stage 1 crash

Aaron S. Lee is a cycling and triathlon columnist for Eurosport and a guest contributor to NZ Bike Magazine.  Image credit: KSPO