The industrial action taken by Spanish air trafic controllers has not only stranded thousands of holidaymakers, but is also preventing many of the World’s top cyclocross riders from reaching tomorrow’s World Cup race. The race will be in Igorre, in the north western corner of Spain and, ironically, many of the riders are already in the country; with no flights though, many will be unable to get across to the area of the country that they will need to be in.
Some riders, at least, are on the Spanish mainland and so are able to make alternative arrangements. Telenet-Fidea has been having a team training camp in the south of the country and has hired a car to transport its riders north.
“They left on Saturday morning at 8am and they expect to arrive in Igorre at 5pm," team manager Hans Van Kasteren told Sporza. “There are four of them in one car: team manager Danny De Bie, Bart Wellens, Rob Peeters and Kevin Pauwels.”
BKCP-Powerplus, like Telenet-Fidea, has also decided to take control of its own destiny, with Niels Albert and Dieter Vanthourenhout both travelling by car from the resort of Benecassim on the west coast, not far from Valencia. Vathourenhout has reportedly told Sporza that the two of them expect to arrive at around 2pm.
Others though are not so lucky. According to Wielerflits.nl, Dutchman Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank) is on the island of Mallorca and has given up on getting to the race. Sven Nys is also there, but has reportedly not yet lost hope of a flight becoming available.
"Ordinarily, Sven’s plane would take off on Saturday at midday," Nys’ wife Isabelle told Sporza. “The flight has been delayed until 8pm, but it’s not yet certain that it won’t be cancelled. Otherwise Sunday morning will be his last chance.”
With Mallorca an island in the Mediterranean Nys obviously has no chance of driving, as many of his rivals have done. There are other options available, but these have reportedly been dismissed.
“Sven had thought about a boat and car to get to Igorre,” Isabelle Nys explained, “but he abandoned that plan. He does not be washed out at the start.”
“I have experience with such situations,” she added, “and it is best to remain calm and wait.”
Meanwhile back in Belgium, Klaas Vantournout (Sunweb-Revor) is one of the few big favourites who was not enjoying some winter sun. Unfortunately though, Vantournout is in no better a situation than the others; his flight has also been cancelled and so he must also sit and wait.
This is the second time this year that disrpution to air travel has prevented riders from getting to races. The giant ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano in the spring grounded planes all over Europe, preventing many riders from flying from southern Europe to the Ardennes classics in Belgium. At that time many were forced into a drive of several hours, either by car or in the team bus, or miss the race entirely.