As the first runners crossed the finish line of the second stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, located at the Col de la Porte (1326m), in the Chartreuse massif, near Grenoble, the sky fell on the head of part of the peloton.
A violent storm of rain, then hail hit the race. The road quickly became an “ice rink”, forcing some athletes to get off their bikes. Videos posted on Twitter by the Israel Start-Up Nation team attest to this:
“Several runners – including ours – were hit by a hell of a hailstorm – more than anything we have experienced. It was total chaos and mayhem… The runners looking for shelter, violently hit by small ice ping-pong balls ”
But the most impressive images are perhaps those which show backs bruised by hailstones, like the Belgian Tim Declercq or the French Maxime Chevalier, whose B & B Hotels Vital Concept team posted on his Twitter account. a photo of the back after this “attack by a hailstorm platoon”:
Note that it was the Slovenian Primoz Roglic who won the stage, ahead of the Frenchman Thibaut Pinot.
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