"The riders make the race". How true this phrase is, we all know. We often hear it when the route of a grand tour or a classic is presented, and it's often a typical conclusion used to tone down controversy and discontent.

"The riders make the race". It's a phrase that always applies, even to yesterday's stage, even to that passage where the crash occurred. Everyone knew what they were getting into and decided... to race. In amateur phone footage, you can clearly see a rider climbing onto the sidewalk on the left side of the road due to high speed and a narrow section, veering towards the center of the road, not falling, but instinctively forcing a Bahrain rider - who sees a threatening shadow coming from the left - to brake, and the crash happens.

"The riders make the race". This time it's not us saying it, but the authoritative voice of Wout Van Aert. Here are his words to Sporza: "It was a circuit with many curves, but I must say that the riders themselves caused everything that happened. The teams of the classification riders are too nervous, they create stress for themselves, and that's why they end up on the ground. We must have the courage to say it. Sometimes all it would take is using common sense. Was the route tricky? I only partially agree, the one in Lecce was much more so, for example".

And further: "Perhaps there would have been options with greater safety, but above all we should have thought about keeping ourselves safe. And we didn't do that".