The youngest rider at the Tour de France, Johannes Kulset was penalised for slipstreaming behind a team car during stage 16 of the race but was just happy to have survived the stage after late crashes and a near collision between two Uno-X Mobility team cars could have ended his race.
His directeur sportifs were unfazed by the whole thing when describing the near collision, insisting they handled it well and made sure Kulset didn't hit a team car.
The 20-year-old Norwegian was hit with a 200 Swiss Franc fine, was docked 15 UCI ranking points and penalised 30 seconds but that was the least of his worries.
30km from the finish, Kulset crashed after hitting a spectator’s outstretched arm. Teammate Søren Wærenskjold just avoided hitting him on the exit of a corner as he chased back to the peloton, then Kulset fell again after his chain fell off.
He initially sat on the bumper of the Visma-Lease a Bike team car, sparking a fine for their DS Frans Maassen. Soon he was slipstreaming his own team car when the near collision happened.
The first Uno-X car took one way around a roundabout, even though the route went the other way. Kulset was glued to the tail of the first car and followed it around the roundabout. He was then stunned to suddenly see the second Uno-X Mobility team car come the other way in the flow of team cars. Both the team car and Kulset slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision. They were followed by a race doctor's car, who also seemed to have missed the exit on the roundabout.
“I just saw the other car go the other way. And I was like, ‘What is going on there?’” Kulset told the Escape Collective.
“I was thinking, ‘That’s a stupid guy. He’s going the wrong direction’… if the roundabout was smaller then they could have had a front collision, but luckily, it was a big roundabout so it went well.”
Norwegian television revealed that directeur sportif Stig Kristiansen was in the car Kulset followed, while Van Oudenhove drove the other Uno-X Mobility team car.
Kristiansen failed to take the right exit from the roundabout and opted not to brake because Kulset was on his tail.
“If I’d slowed down, it would quickly have got ugly,” he told TV2.
“We’re used to this, I’m also a former cyclist, so I know how things work. It's as safe as can be but hectic.”
Van Oudenhove praised his colleague for how he resolved the situation after taking the roundabout incorrectly.
“I think it was handled very professionally because if he hits the brakes, the rider would have ridden into him. Situations like this happen quite often," he said. "It was a big roundabout so the best he could do was drive on. I got past him and so it went well.”
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