Can we say “blue balls” here? Apologies for making you read it twice if we can’t.
The UCI 2.2 Dookola Mazowsza was the first real race back after the entire sport, and the world, came to an abrupt halt earlier this year. But stage one also came to its own abrupt halt, called off with 30km remaining.
Thankfully (?!), Covid-19 was not the cause. A non-race motorcycle entered the course at an intersection, crashing before the peloton arrived.
Police and firefighters rushed to the scene, and the riders came to a halt, looked confused, then headed back to their hotels at a casual pace that would still leave us breathing out of our ears.
Canceling a race is extremely rare, reserved only for exceptional circumstances. In this case, there was no way to divert the route, so the tough decision to neutralize and then cancel the stage was taken by the race organizers and police.
But it’s not entirely over: The race continues with a time-trial tomorrow, and continues for two more days after that. This has to be the most publicity the Dookola Mazowsza has ever gotten, right?