The first stage of the Volta ao Algarve was canceled because most of the group took the wrong road at a roundabout 600 meters from the finish line. Filippo Ganna saw his just-conquered victory vanish, but after what happened yesterday, there are riders who think that the fault, more than the organizers, was the cyclists' themselves.

Among the most vocal in blaming the riders is Arnaud De Lie, the Lotto sprinter who could have won the first stage of the Portuguese race.

De Lie downplayed the missed opportunity at the finish line, when, like the vast majority of the group, he took the wrong direction about 700 meters from the finish. But unlike others who blamed the organization, the Belgian champion instead attributed the responsibility for what happened to the riders themselves.

"At the risk of saying what I think, the situation arose because the rider at the front followed the motorcycle in front of us while we were entering the final roundabout, where the deviation had been placed - said the Belgian, upset by the incident -. Even the point where the deviation was positioned was where it should have been. We had done a reconnaissance of the stage finale twice in recent days and knew we had to go left at the roundabout, but suddenly everyone moved to the right and at that point you have to follow the rest of the group, otherwise you could cause a crash of other riders".

Even at the team buses there were many discussions among the riders, because along the wrong road some saw people waving to signal danger and people crossing the street without knowing that the high-speed group was coming.

"What we do is not a video game - continued De Lie -, there are many ways offered by technology to explore the final part of a route, and I consider it part of our job to know these things. Cycling is already dangerous enough and we don't need to increase crash cases. Someone might confuse what happened in Bessèges with what happened today, but in my opinion the situations are very different".

Unlike many other riders, De Lie decided to defend the organizers, who in his opinion were very attentive to safety. "I noticed excellent organization throughout the day. When I saw we were on the wrong side of the road, I decided not to attack and when I saw the others continuing to fight to get into the first positions, I said to myself: ah yes, they are convinced they are on the right road. So I can say that for me yesterday was a good training day".