Serge Beucherie «We will know tomorrow who has already lost Paris-Nice»

The seven seconds that Sylvain Chavanel conceded on Monday in the final moments of the second stage of the Paris-Nice, along with talk about Gianni Meersman’s (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) liberal use of the draft behind his team car, formed the foundation of the conversation during the third stage that ended on the motorsport circuit of Magny Cours.

Serge Beucherie, manager sportif of IAM Cycling, revisited the regulations put in place by the UCI.

“Since the beginning of the season, riders no longer can use sidewalks and cycle paths in the course of a race.  This regulation was put into place with a view to everyone’s safety and the riders have everything to gain from complying.  What is needed is for the Commissioners to enforce the rule.  In principle the riders should not be penalized when using the gutter. 

As regards the case surrounding Meersman, using the shelter of a car is tolerated within reasonable limits.  All the team managers have used this method, but for it to be blatantly taken advantage of, then it tarnishes the image of cycling and is unacceptable.  Fortunately the jury commissioners recognized the error and imposed a time penalty on the rider and the directeur sportif. 

For our issue, we asked the jury commissioners to reconsider the seven seconds lost by Sylvain Chavanel caused by a crash in the final turn before the sprint.  We are disappointed not to have been successful in our claim.  In fact, the regulations state that everyone will receive the same time of the group they are in if a rider is obstructed by a crash and must dismount as a result.  But since Sylvain was forced to break, negating any chance he had to take part in the sprint, but did not need to put his foot down, his predicament fell outside the rules, where he would have had to come to a complete stop, clicking out of his pedals and putting a foot down. That did not occur.”

Soon after John Degenkolb’s (Giant Shimano) stage three victory which gave him also the overall lead, Serge Beucherie predicted a suspenseful end to the Paris-Nice.

“The guys worked hard all day and remained attentive to avoid any sudden breaks in the pack.  Sylvain Chavanel expressed satisfaction because he knows he is still in the running to win the general classification.  And now we face the Belleville stage, one which incites fear in the riders.  Though we will not know who will win Paris-Nice tomorrow, we surely will know who has lost.”