'Not what you want to see!' - Shock as riders forced to dodge van and amateur cyclists at Bloeizone Fryslan Tour

ByEurosport

Updated 03/03/2022 at 18:09 GMT

Letizia Paternoster and Britain's Alice Barnes were both met with less-than-ideal obstacles on the roads during their time trials at the Bloeizone Fryslan Tour on Thursday. In at times alarming scenes, Paternoster had to evade a reversing white van while Barnes was forced to weave past three different amateur cyclists sharing the same path.

There were some shocking moments during the opening time trial stage at the Bloeizone Fryslan Tour on Thursday as riders dodged a van and amateur cyclists.

Both Letizia Paternoster and Britain's Alice Barnes were surprised by less-than-ideal obstacles on the roads in what seemed farcical scenes at times on the 14.4km route.

Paternoster was forced to slow down suddenly when she was greeted by a big white van which was slowly reversing on one road it was blocking. You can see that incident in the video above.

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"This is certainly not what you want to see or experience during your time trial!" came the surprised reaction from Hannah Walker in the Eurosport commentary box.

Barnes, riding for Canyon/SRAM Racing, had to slalom her way past three amateur cyclists who were sharing the path with the race in bizarre fashion.

"This course is perfect for Alice Barnes ... I'm not sure why we are seeing other riders!"

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As you can see from the video below, it was an alarming few moments for Barnes as she had to weave past the riders who were also negotiating the bends of the narrow path.

Watch as GB's Barnes has to avoid amateur riders on road in time trial

Ellen van Dijk of Trek-Segafredo was the winner of the opening stage in Surhuisterveen in a time of 18:34 to beat Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma) by seven seconds and Marlen Reusser (SD Worx) by 25 seconds.

Barnes ended up in sixth place, 56 seconds adrift, while Paternoster finished in 36th place, 1:44 off the winning time.

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