Less than a week after Finlay Tarling was struck and killed by a non-race driver at the Volta a Portugal, Australian racer Maeve Plouffe put rider safety in the spotlight once again at the Tour of Britain Women.
19-year-old Tarling died during stage 8 in Portugal when he was hit by a driver who got on the race course after the peloton had passed through. Plouffe, meanwhile, found herself riding among non-race traffic at the rear of the race convoy during stage 1.
She took to Instagram to detail her experience, which ended with a DNF, and thankfully nothing worse.
"A badly timed puncture ended up becoming a 30+ minute chase. I fought and fought really, really hard, but you can only do so much," Plouffe wrote, outlining her battle to stay in touch with the peloton before telling of how she was almost hit while doing so.
"On a side note, while the race convoy was still in sight and I was less than two minutes down, there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout.
"Later on, the moto escort was wonderful and I felt much safer. But considering the recent devastating events in our cycling community, it's scary to see situations like this, when we know that this can have horrific consequences, especially so soon after suffering such a tragedy.
"Stay safe over the next stages."
The Tour of Britain Women, like the Volta a Portugal and many other races on the international calendar outside of the very biggest, are run with rolling road closures. This means that police motos shut off junctions in batches rather than entire race routes being closed off, as is the case at races such as the Tour de France Femmes.
Unlike that option, which is far more expensive for race organisers but greatly reduces the risk of such collisions, the system of rolling road closures can sometimes go horribly, even tragically, wrong. This week EF Education-EasyPost CEO Jonathan Vaughters said "I don't think [they] work that well" before noting that Tarling's death could've happened at many other races.
Plouffe was the latest rider caught in a dangerous situation on Wednesday, and there's little doubt that similar situations will occur again, as they have several times over the years.
Her team, O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes, told Cyclingnews that they wouldn't comment any further on Plouffe's Instagram statement, but noted that they "take the safety of riders and staff extremely seriously at all times" and "continue dialogue with both British Cycling and the CPA regarding the safety of our sport."
In a statement provided to Cyclingnews on Thursday, British Cycling, which runs the Tour of Britain Women, stated that they are taking Plouffe's experience during stage 1 "extremely seriously", noting that they take rider safety "as a priority". Stage 2 of the race passed without any similar incident.
"We note Maeve Plouffe's comments about her experience during yesterday's race, and we're taking these extremely seriously," said Jonathan Day, Events Director of British Cycling Ventures.
"Rider safety is paramount and will always be treated as a priority in our planning and how we operate any race. We're reviewing what happened with Maeve and her team, O'Shea Red Chilli Bikes, with the seriousness and empathy these comments demand.
"We recognise this comes at an especially difficult time for the cycling community, so we want to reassure all riders, teams and fans of the sport at this time of how serious we are treating these comments."
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