Blanka Vas calls out organisers for 'unsafe' course design after Copenhagen Sprint crashes

The inaugural edition of the women’s Copenhagen Sprint saw two major crashes en route to the finish in the Danish capital, as several pieces of unmarked road furniture had riders on edge throughout the race.

A crash with 71km to go saw several riders hit the deck, as a narrowing through a central reservation caused a touch of wheels in the bunch. One of the riders involved in the incident was Blanka Vas, who chose to abandon the race after the incident.

Speaking to Domestique after the finish, the SD Worx-Protime rider explained her decision not to continue.

“I crashed on my head, but I think it was better to stop before the Tour de France Femmes, and I didn’t want to take any risks, because it was so dangerous with the road furniture and the bunch was nervous, so after the crash I decided to sit in the car.”

When asked if she thought the organisers could have done better with the course design, she said, “Yeah, it was unsafe. I think just with the road furniture, you could not really see and nobody was standing there, so you always saw it at the last minute.”

Clearly bruised by the crash, with some slight grazing on her left cheek, the 23-year-old Hungarian said that she underwent a concussion test immediately after the crash.

“The mechanic asked me some questions, they checked but everything was good. I have some pain in the leg muscle, but nothing serious.”

In the end, it was Vas's teammate Lorena Wiebes, who sprinted to victory in the inaugural edition of the Copenhagen Sprint, but even the European champion was critical of the course layout, with the Dutch sprinter criticising the race organisers and the UCI for what she described as dangerous course conditions.

Having won a stage of last year’s race, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is a big objective for Vas again this season. When asked if she would be alright for the race at the end of July, she simply smiled and said, “I hope so”. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift begins on 26 July in Vannes.