Tour de France: World cycling boss responds to criticism from Van der Poel over crashes

The Dutchman had criticized the increased number of teams at the start of the 2025 edition, which increased the risk of crashes. UCI President David Lappartient responded.

Before the big start in Lille last Saturday, yellow jersey rider Mathieu van der Poel lamented the presence of twenty-three teams (184 riders) in the 2023 edition and the invitation granted to an additional team this year. This expansion of the peloton increases, according to the Alpecin rider, the risk of crashes. "It's normal because we're all fighting for the same positions and there isn't always room for everyone," explained the three-time Paris-Roubaix winner before taking a dig at international authorities, particularly the UCI, which gave the green light to this invitation: "But I think expanding the peloton further is a mistake. The first thing to do would be to limit the number of riders."

A criticism to which David Lappartient, when questioned, responded by explaining that he himself had reservations on the subject while numerous falls marked the first week. "We, ourselves, had a certain number of reservations at the UCI to have an additional team. It turns out that it was the wish of the teams, the riders and the organizers. So, we had a discussion within the professional cycling council and finally all this was validated" , reacted the French leader to the Figaro.

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"I'm quite in favor of possibly having two more teams, but with seven riders. If we had 175 riders, we wouldn't be any worse off. The races would be less controlled, more dynamic. We had 176 riders. And it's true that more riders potentially equals more difficulties. That's a certainty," added the big boss of world cycling.

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