The 2025 edition of The female return He had a somewhat rugged start. The team counterreloj that opened the race, with a tour of 8.1 kilometers in Barcelona, lived moments of bewilderment. A waterfall of errors, delays in the outputs and A severe sanction to Movistar Team They tarnished what was presupposed a festive day. It was not the fault of the organization of the career as such, but more of the UCI commissioners.
It all started when the telephone assembly, which had its departure shift at 1:21 p.m., did not pass the regulatory control of bicycles within the stipulated period. The regulations require submitting at least 15 minutes before in the second technical control, which is done just before taking out. The ICU soon applied the regulations and punished the team with a fine of 1,600 Swiss francs.
The American take the 8.1 kilometers with leaving and finish in the city.
This delay unleashed a domino effect. Uno-X Mobilitythat came out just after, he did it with a few seconds of delay. But it was Comma who lived the most surreal scene: one of his runners, Imogen Wolff, He ended up going down the caril lane instead of using the official platform, a clear symptom of the reigning chaos. There was no sanction for the cyclist that started from the detour.
From the Dutch team they soon explained its version. They claimed to have reached the control sufficiently, but denounced poor management. “Initially there was only one judge checking bikes, which caused a bottlene They explained in an official statement.
More complaints
Jacco VerhaerenVisma technical manager, it was overwhelming after the stage: “I went to talk to the ICU immediately. They admitted that the situation was not managed properly. The consequences were paid by us, but we were not guilty.”
Despite the problems, they did not lose their face to the chrono that finally took the Lildl-Trek: Visma He finished only 20 seconds of the best time, marked by the American. Movistar left 16 seconds and one-x, 23.
This was the classification.
The tension also moved to social networks. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Visma team reference and recent winner of the Paris-Roubaix, did not bit his tongue. In his Instagram stories he described what “an amateur situation.” “We prepared for weeks, we arrived on time to control, but they did not take us seriously when we noticed that we would not reach the ramp if the process was not shaken,” he wrote. Hours later, the message was eliminated.
Movistar pays broken dishes
From Movistar They tried to offer an explanation. Kelvin coversone of the team’s sports directors, recognized in networks that they did not meet the planned deadline, although he pointed out that the jury was still reviewing another team when his cyclists arrived. “Our last broker went up to the platform five seconds before the time. From there, everything was downhill,” he explained. From the Navarro team they consider it a sanction “Unfair” And that it seems that they are the ones who have “paid the duck.”
Lidl-Trek, celebrating.
What should be an inaugural party ended with frustration faces, formal complaints and cyclists crossing the most angry finish line than satisfied. At least, as a positive note of the day, was to see Van Dijkwho returned after being a mother, being the first leader of the race on Mother’s Day.
