'It was just ridiculous' — Plapp, Paret-Peintre and Rodríguez speak out as Romandie moto ride suspended

Tadej Pogačar won the Tour de Romandie, as expected. But his victory was not the biggest talking point. During and after the race, the conversation kept returning to the motorbikes — and the role they were said to have played in how the racing unfolded. It has since emerged that those concerns were well-founded: one of the moto operators has been suspended for violations during the race, and it was not his first offence.

Valentin Paret-Peintre's comments after stage 4 caused quite a stir. The Frenchman had been part of the day's breakaway alongside Primož Roglič, but was caught by a surging Pogačar on the final climb. Pogačar won the stage, while Paret-Peintre finished 32nd.

According to the Soudal Quick-Step rider, the motorbikes were largely to blame. "We rode really hard. There was good cooperation and we did everything we could in the break. But we couldn't keep enough of a gap. It's disappointing. I hope the motos with the peloton weren't too close, because that was the case the last two days," he said after the stage — a concern that had apparently been building across the week. "If the organisation wants Tadej Pogačar to win, that's their choice."

It appeared, then, that this was no isolated incident. Carlos Rodríguez crashed on that same stage and watched his overall ambitions go up in smoke. The Netcompany INEOS Spaniard came down on the descent and pointed to a motorbike in front of him as the cause. "Not ideal to descend at full gas and have a moto brake in front of you in the race line. It seems I haven't suffered anything serious," he said.

Luke Plapp also threw his weight behind Paret-Peintre. "It was just ridiculous, sort of the difference they were making this week. I mean, when the break established itself, the UAE boys would control, keep the break pretty in check. You had one or two UAE boys chase in a break, and they were managing to keep it pretty similar," the 25-year-old said on the Stanley St. Social podcast. Then came the turning point, says the Jayco AlUla Australian.

"And then the motorbikes came in front of our bunch, and the speed was just unbelievable in the peloton. We were just lined out, sprinting out of every corner, and the time gaps just raced down. It was probably the most effect I've ever seen motorbikes have on a bike race. There were some stages where it was just a bit of a joke how fast we were going and how much the motorbikes influenced it."

And those concerns were not just rider frustration. One of the moto operators, Albert Hürlimann, has been suspended following his conduct at Romandie. He committed two violations during the race and received a seven-day ban. It is far from his first infringement. He was already shown a yellow card during stage 1 of the 2025 Tour de Romandie, and repeated the offence two months later on the opening stage of the 2025 Tour de Suisse.