Alvise Zanasca from Bahumer Racing crashed David Santos,the Aventon Factory rider, in Red Hook Criterium London No.3 Heat 2. After the heat, David Santos and Aventon Factory Team manager Sean Burke claimed that David, who was leading the pack in the final turns, was pushed away from his line going into the corner leading him to crash into the barriers. Fortunately, David did not have any severe damage. Despite this luck, David did see an almost sure heat win going down the drain together with a good starting position for the final. RHC on-board footage (see below) clearly shows that Zanasca tried to push himself through a gap which was non-existent and by doing so did not take David’s position into account pushing him from his line into the barriers. After reviewing this footage, RHC race director David Trimble came with a statement. We also have statements from the two main characters involved, David Santos and Alvise Zanasca, and Aventon Factory Team manager Sean Burke.
Video: Provided by Red Hook Crit Edit: Tito Capovilla Slowmotion Edit: Koen van Erp
David Trimble:
“While I don’t think the move was malicious it did show extremely poor judgment. This gives testament to the fact that everyone needs to respect each other on the track. If you make a stupid move and hurt someone you are not only going be penalized you will also have to live with your actions. We are also working to increase our ability to review incidents like this as they happen. Riders will be under increased scrutiny as we gain the tools to better review and replay incidents in real time.”
Video of the crash (including slowmotion material)
David Santos on the matter (before seeing the footage):
“Alvise had no line. I was on the front on the last lap. He forced himself between me and the barrier and hit me, which force me hard to the outside, ultimately causing me to lose control and crash. I know he didn’t intend for me to crash, but the fact of the matter is that he shouldn’t have forced himself into someone’s inside when you are on a turn, during the last lap of a race. If he wanted to pass, he should have done it clean and on the straight.”
Alvise Zanasca on the matter (before seeing the footage):
“At the corner above the hill I saw David slowed down and I decide to go inside. I warned David of my presence but unfortunately we touched and he lost control of the bike. It is really not nice to see someone fall. 100% no intention. I have already apologized to David for the incident”
Sean Burke, Aventon Factory Team manager (after seeing the footage):
In bike racing, there is a high degree of trust in the riders around you. While there is inherent risk, the riders all owe it to each other to avoid unnecessary risks, especially when there is very little reward. It simply isn’t worth hurting someone to win a bike race, especially now a qualifier. The move by Zanasca was clearly out of line, and I’m glad santos wasn’t badly injured.
We as FGC hope that riders take each other better into account on the track and that this behaviour will be reduced to a minimum as the safety of a bike race relies heavily on the behaviour of the riders in the field.
