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news
Riders ignore barriers at Paris-RoubaixFrench railway calls for prosecutions of Paris-Roubaix crossing-dodgers (+video)
Although race officials decided to take no action against the cyclists who rode through a closed level crossing in yesterday's Paris-Roubaix, French rail company SNCF says riders should be prosecuted for acting "against all safety rules".
The barriers at a crossing in Northern France came down as riders approached, but a large number went round or even under them. One rider from the Lotto team was even clipped by the barrier as it dropped.
Seconds later a TGV hurtled through the crossing.
SNCF is, unsurprisingly, not impressed.
"Millions of television viewers saw live this extremely serious and irresponsible action which could have been tragic," the rail company said in a statement.
"A few seconds later, a TGV ran on this line and could have hit the peloton.
"SNCF has decided to lodge a legal complaint and will leave it up to the investigation to determine who was responsible. We regret that such foolhardiness took place."
While the lead riders in the group might be able to claim they were too close to stop safely as the barriers, video of the incident clearly shows some riders ignoring a motorcycle policeman's instructions to wait.
Guy Dobbelaere, president of the race jury, said: "It wasn't possible for the leading riders to stop sufficiently safely.
"By neutralising the race for a few moments to not penalise those who stopped, we respected the spirit of the rule."
The rule in question reads "It shall be strictly forbidden to cross level crossings when the barrier is down.
"Apart from risking the penalty for such an offence as provided by law, offending riders shall be eliminated from the competition by the commissaires."
However, Dobbelaere said some of the riders could not be identified during the race.
"In theory, those who pass when the barrier is down are thrown out of the race.
"This time, that would have been unjust in respect of those riders who weren't identified."
Paris-Roubaix crosses railways multiple times, making the prospect of interactions with trains an ongoing headache for race organisers.
In 2006 the race's lead riders, Lief Hoste, Vladimir Gusev and Peter Van Petegem were disqualified for ducking under the barriers at a level crossing. The race was running ahead of schedule that year too, leading to what organisers called "an unpredictable accident de la course."
According to the Express there were 29 deaths at French level crossings in 2014. British level crossings have a rather better record, with 44 deaths over the last five years and just four in 2014.
French TGVs travel so fast that a driver may not even notice the train has hit someone. When a train hit a cyclist last year, the unfortunate rider's body was not found until it stopped at Mulhouse, close to the Swiss border, 40km away.
Network Rail's advice in its Level crossings for cyclists leaflet is:
• Consider dismounting – especially when you’re about to cross the tracks diagonally
• Follow signs and instructions
• Check both ways before crossing – if there is a train coming, don’t cross
• Remain stationary until all the warnings stop
• Check that your exit is clear before crossing
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
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67 comments
The red lights and warning sirens are going long before the barriers start coming down. The lead motorbikes could easily have stopped, as could the lead riders. The idea that they couldnt avoid the barriers because they were too close and too fast are based on when the barriers start dropping.
Everyone who crossed after the red light came on should be getting a warning. Anyone after the barrier starts lowering should be getting disqualified and a fine, and anyone who crossed after the policeman stopped should be getting a ban and charged.
As for 'it wasn't really dangerous','he had 12 seconds' that is stupid. And the next death of a cyclist jumping a barrier because he saw this clip should be on your conscience for condoning such stupid behaviour.
Trains don't slow for level crossings (do you have any idea of the stopping distance at 200mph? - here's a clue it's over a mile at 125mph) but this was probably near a station. High speed trains lose a lot of time if they have to slow down as it takes some time to get back up to speed.
The shocking thing about this is the leading motorcycles ignoring the warning lights on the approach to the crossing and I presume the race officials had only just gone through before the train.
Each of the professionals should have put their brakes on - they were so fortunate not to have fatalities.
Not relevant in this incident
Don Simon - just noticed your comment you need to revise your weight of trains to upwards of 500 tonnes - that's the weight of a 125 train in the UK and TGVs are heavier. Each wheel has only the size of a 5p pence in contact with the rail (less on corners). Yes, it's going to hurt at any speed. Near me the police chased a car that drove through a crossing with the barriers down - police car stopped at the barriers just as the train came through
Was that train travelling at 200mph or was it a 200mph train travelling at a significantly slower speed?
Really not surprised to see pros taking chances with their safety and with the rulebook. These guys give their lives over to bike racing and put their health and safety on the line regularly as part of their jobs. If they feel that jumping a level crossing could make the difference between winning and losing a major race like this can we really expect them to behave differently?
Marshalling was clearly poor here. When we are talking about racing at this level the organisers should be working with train companies to ensure that either a) the whole peloton can get through before the barriers drop or b) the whole peloton is held until the barriers rise. It seems like a big logistical task but at such a high-profile event it should be manageable.
If I was in the race I would have checked the train timetables the night before, then during the race I would either slow the peloton down or speed it up and engineer the race so that as we approached the crossing I was out in front and just after I crossed, the train came through thus cutting everyone else off. Then I would simply go on to win the race.
Do I win surley's competition?
See ... if they'd had disk brakes fitted then they'd have been able to stop.
a 200mph train on a 60-75mph railway
Wow. A new leader in the stupidest post competition.
There are full barriers in the UK for unmanned crossings (I'm sure of it)
200 mph? Are you kidding me?
It was a training ride.
IGMC.
has anyone located this particular crossing on google maps?
Given that cycling seems to attract a number of people who would otherwise be sipping weak lemon drink and noting down the number of the approaching train, this is the story that keeps on giving...
Crossings should have officials ready with tasers in hand for those pesky pro riders with an exagerated sense of adventure.
A different view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hf11p05gJA
Thanks, this was useful. I counted 12 seconds between the last chap (from BMC) getting across and the train crossing. Clearly not recommended behaviour but absent a slip/stumble he wasn't in any real danger. Perhaps we could all move on?
SNCF might do better to spend more on infrastructure at crossings like this one (I think they are responsible for them) - maybe a barrier across the entire road. And the ASO should put more marshals on at level crossings and come up with some clear rules about neutralisation so riders don't feel that they need to cross against the lights.
This is the key to the whole issue.
Heat of the moment; slight panic.... "that bunch of chancers is gonna steal a march if I hang around waiting for the train..."
Riders need to know that there is absolutely no advantage to be won/lost by such events. Mind you, policing/enforcing/judging the same is another matter.
This is the key to the whole issue.
Heat of the moment; slight panic.... "that bunch of chancers is gonna steal a march if I hang around waiting for the train..."
Riders need to know that there is absolutely no advantage to be won/lost by such events. Mind you, policing/enforcing/judging the same is another matter.
Barriers have been covering only half of the road since crossings became unmanned, for the very good reason that you don't want to trap someone that is right between the two barriers when the start closing. The barriers close really fast, and especially on lines that are more than two track wide, and crossings with heavy car traffic, this can be a non anecdotal eventuality.
As for the speed, of course the train wasn't doing 200mph. TGVs do 300 to 350km/h only on the dedicated high-speed lines (LGV), which of course have no level crossings, and are fully fenced, just like motorways. This is a normal track that TGVs can obviously use, at the same speed as other trains. On some tracks, this speed can still be up to 230-250km/h. If I remember correctly, any speed above 200km/h imposes removing all level crossings. I'd say the train here is travelling at 110-120km/h.
That's me being a terrible train geek though.
Part of the history of the sport.... trains during PR... and the race officials making whatever ruling suits them best.
I'm sure when I looked at the video that there were Police on foot on site too. One appeared to be on the blocked side on their RHS (LHS looking at them appraoching) and maybe two others on verge on opposite side of road. Hands were clearly raised and Red lights flashing.
The 200 mph TGV can be seen as a red herring since despite it was capable of 200 mph it clearly was in reduced speed mode. But did the riders know that? Anyone jumping across a track will find it very hard to judge the speed of an approaching train.
Even at low speeds the braking distance of a train must be huge.
Deneutralising the section? Hmm. Not sure that can be well controlled if, for example, there was a breakaway several minutes clear. The same as if a breakaway got there as the barriers came down. It will never be fair.
It seemed to be a very poorly marshalled point on a high profile race. Should they have been more prominent, better briefed and more active? I think so.
Looking forward : race brief should emphasise that the race will be neutralised if a level crossing comes down. Make sure that comms are in place for it to happen. If you watched the race you'll see they did neutralise it - all it really needs is for the riders to be 100% confident that if they are held up, it wont impact their place in the race.
Ok, I know it's the trendy thing to do: come to a forum topic late and offer an opposing view, just to be different, but... I think it's worth considering the heat of the moment. Paris - Roubaix, biggest one day race on the calendar. Heart pumping, adrenaline coursing. What do I do!?! What do I do!?! He went through so it'll be fine... I wonder how many of them today are asking themselves wtf they thought they were doing? Fine them, sure, but let's not be so righteous and perhaps offer some empathy.
I'm with you
Your near the front of one of, if not the biggest one day bike race in the world and the crossing alarm goes off, the guy at the front carries on, a couple more follow him, the barriers start to drop, the adrenalin is buzzing and you are about to see your chance of winning go hurtling up the road, at what point and which rider should have been the first to stop?
Not saying people shouldn't stop but surely some blame has to go to the organisers here who could have used race radio to warn that the crossing was ahead, very difficult to know where you are when in a large peloton and some riders probably had about 2 seconds from being aware to making a decision.
Because it must always be someone else's fault.
Some common sense at last
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