This was the sort of pre-race moment that can throw a stage into chaos, rattle a rider's focus and leave a team holding its breath. But Brandon McNulty did the one thing that mattered most after being knocked off his bike by a car driver before the stage 16 individual time trial at the Tour de France: he got to the start and rolled down the ramp on time.
That alone tells you the incident, while ugly, did not become the disaster it might have been. On Tuesday, Mauro Gianetti said the crash was not serious and that McNulty had escaped relatively unscathed, even if it was plainly a horrible way to begin a day in Évian-les-Bains.
A bizarre interruption before a crucial test
McNulty was due to start the stage 16 time trial at 16:40:30 CEST, sitting 19th overall and more than 50 minutes behind Tadej Pogačar. That is already a tough enough position in a Tour de France that gives little away to anyone. The last thing any rider needs on the way to the start is a collision with a car.
Gianetti's explanation was blunt enough: McNulty was coming to the start with the bike, a car behind him was apparently unsettled for reasons that were not clear, it overtook him, then stopped, and McNulty crashed into it. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG team principal was careful not to overstate the damage, saying it was “nothing big” and that, apparently, all was well. Even so, he was honest enough to admit the obvious: “it was not nice.”
What matters is that he kept going
In cycling, the difference between a story and a crisis can be measured in minutes, and McNulty did enough to keep this episode from becoming the latter. He still made it to the start, still took his place in the order, and still launched into a stage where concentration matters as much as legs.
That does not make the incident trivial. A rider should not be knocked off his bike by a car driver on the way to the Tour de France start line, full stop. But it does soften the immediate concern around McNulty, who at least appeared able to continue after what Gianetti described as a crash that was being checked by the doctor.
The bigger point is simple. The Tour asks riders to deal with climbs, pressure, fatigue and time. It should not be asking them to dodge cars before they even begin. McNulty did his part by turning up on time anyway. The rest of it should never have happened in the first place.
