Shimano moto knocks Noemi Rüegg off bike at Tour de France Femmes as motorcyclist is fined

Rüegg was able to remount almost immediately after being hit by a Shimano neutral service motorbike near the summit of the Col de Durbize during Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

Race officials later sanctioned Bos for breaching the regulations governing vehicle movements in the race convoy. The Swiss rider appeared to escape the fall without injury and continued towards the finish in Belleville en Beaujolais.

Television footage showed Rüegg looking over her right shoulder as the Shimano motorbike approached from behind. The Swiss rider appeared to be checking the position of EF Education-Oatly team leader Cédrine Kerbaol, who had lost contact with the group of general classification contenders.

As Rüegg turned her attention back towards the road and placed her right hand on the handlebars, she drifted towards the left side of the road. The motorcyclist had already started to overtake her and clipped the rider as their paths crossed.

Rüegg was knocked off balance and came down on her left side, using an arm and a leg to soften the impact. The relatively low speed on the climb helped limit the consequences and she appeared to avoid any serious injury.

The incident unfolded during one of the most chaotic phases of the stage. The peloton had broken into several groups, while riders, team vehicles and race motorbikes were spread across a large section of the course.

Rüegg had been part of a 19 rider breakaway with teammate Magdeleine Vallieres before losing contact on the Col de Durbize. She was later caught by the group of overall contenders, where Demi Vollering’s pace had also put team leader Cédrine Kerbaol under pressure.

After remounting, Rüegg waited for Kerbaol and joined her on the descent. The Frenchwoman finished two minutes and 35 seconds behind stage winner Vollering and dropped from third to ninth overall.

Rüegg did not mention the collision in her comments published by the team after the finish. Instead, she reflected on the demanding racing and her attempt to help Kerbaol limit the damage in the general classification.

“It was a brutally hard day from the start. No rest,” Rüegg said. “We tried to be in the breakaway, so we followed a lot of moves.”

She described having two riders in the escape as a positive situation for the team before the race changed on the penultimate climb.

“Then the chaos started with the second to last climb,” she said. “I got dropped. Mags was up front, and then Cédrine was in a bit of trouble, so I waited for her, and we tried full gas to bring her back to the GC riders.”

Despite the time lost by Kerbaol, Rüegg remained focused on the remaining stages.

“In the end, I think we lost some time in the GC, but that’s how it is in the Tour,” she said. “We still have four days left. We’ll try to turn it around.”