Pieter Serry crash: 'We are very good drivers' insists BikeExchange DS Matt White at Giro d'Italia

ByBen Snowball

Updated 14/05/2021 at 12:44 GMT

"It’s very tight driving and we are very good drivers. This is our job. We’re doing this 10 months a year and it was an unfortunate accident but the main thing is that Pieter Serry is fine," said White ahead of Stage 7 at the Giro. Gene Bates was kicked out of the race after causing the incident on Thursday's rain-soaked stage to Ascoli Piceno.

Team BikeExchange directeur sportif Matt White insists there is no “bad blood” between them and Deceuninck–Quickstep after their team car wiped out Pieter Serry on Stage 6.

In the most shocking moment of the Giro so far, Serry was sent sprawling to the tarmac after being clipped by a Team BikeExchange car with 12 kilometres remaining. Serry was furious, but unscathed, and finished the stage in Ascoli Piceno.

It later emerged that White’s co-directeur sportif Gene Bates was behind the wheel. Bates was booted out of the Giro by a UCI jury, while White was hit with a 2,000 CHF (£1570) fine.

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White: 'We are very good drivers' despite Serry crash

“We take responsibility for the action that we made,” said White.

“It was an unfortunate accident and the best thing is Pieter Serry didn’t get injured.

“Gene Bates, our sports director, rang him personally and they had a good discussion and there’s no bad blood between the two teams.”

'Awful' - Reaction to team car hitting Serry at Giro

White was disappointed with the decision to kick Bates out of the Giro and dismissed suggestions that those in the cycling convoy were reckless drivers.

“It’s very tight driving and we are very good drivers. This is our job,” he said.

We’re doing this 10 months a year and it was an unfortunate accident but the main thing is that Pieter Serry is fine.

“The unfortunate thing for us is we’ve lost our sports director for the rest of the race. I personally think it’s a very harsh penalty for an accident where no one was injured.”

Team BikeExchange leader Simon Yates moved into the top 10 in the general classification on Stage 6, but lost more ground on main rivals Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck–Quickstep) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

Yates is 49 seconds off the maglia rosa, currently held by Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ).

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