The motorbike driver of one of the Tour de France photographers has been excluded from this year’s race due to an accident which happened 77 kilometres from the finish of Wednesday’s stage. Danish rider Nicki Sørensen was riding on the right hand side of the peloton when a race motorbike came alongside him, hooked his bike and carried it away. The Saxo Bank SunGard competitor fell off and ended up at the side of the road.
He received a new bike and was able to get back to the main bunch, but the incident highlighted the danger of having vehicles so close to the riders in races.
“I was riding safely in the side of the road as a motorbike knocked me off the bike. He was actually going so close that my bike was drawn after his motorbike for 200 meters. I fell heavily on the ground. Luckily, I'm fine and am able to ride again tomorrow,” said Sørensen.
Reports during the stage suggested that race officials immediately contacted the motorbike driver about the accident, and that he was in danger of being thrown off the race. According to l’Equipe, that has proven to be the case, and that he would no longer work on this year’s event. In a statement issued this evening, Tour officials said that drivers had to be extremely careful when near riders.
“We call on all accredited vehicles in the race to be vigilant, especially when it comes to overtake the riders,” they said.