Team Driver Suspended After Running Over Course Marshall—On Purpose
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
In solidly “what the actual f---” news, a Lotto-DSTNY driver has been suspended by the UCI for—seriously—purposefully running over a course marshal during the GP Rik Van Looy in Belgium on Sunday. The driver, 55-year-old Carl Roes, is the sports director of the Lotto Dstny Development Team. He has since apologized for his behavior, but it’s hard to imagine that the apology is going to be enough.
The footage, captured by RTV and posted on YouTube, is honestly shocking. You can see the Lotto-DSTNY car trying to enter the course, and when the driver is blocked by the marshal, he slowly accelerates, knocking the man over and preceding to join the line of team vehicles on course.
Belgian news outlet HLN reported that Roes apologized, saying, “I made a major error of judgment and gave priority to sporting interests instead of regulations and safety. This is completely wrong and unacceptable. I would therefore like to offer my sincere apologies to the signalman, the organization and to my team.”
The reason for his actions apparently stemmed from one of the riders on the team needing a bike change, and being left without water bottles on the new bike in the second-to-last lap of the race. Roes explained that he cut the course, racing to get bottles to the rider, and when the course marshal tried to prevent him from re-entering the course, he knocked him over with the side mirror on the car.
The video shows the incident playing out, and the brief pause the car makes after Roes presumably realized he had hit the man. However, rather than stopping instantly, he simply continued driving.
The team suspended him after the incident, prompting Roes to tender his resignation from the team and from cycling as a whole. He told HLN, “I am very affected by this incident. That is why I have decided to completely withdraw from the sport that I have enjoyed with great passion after 40 years.”
The police were also informed of the incident and while at this time, no charges have been announced, there is a chance that Roes could be prosecuted for a hit and run on the course marshal.
You Might Also Like
