Bianchi has issued an announcement rebutting criticism made by Florian Sénéchal about its bikes, as an alternative shifting the blame again onto the staff’s mechanics, claiming they “disregarded” Bianchi’s directions for assembling the handlebars.
Sénéchal was fast to complain to the media within the Roubaix Velodrome after the race, saying “We have a technical drawback with our bike” after he was compelled into 4 separate bike swaps in the course of the race.
According to the Frenchman, the primary got here at round 150km to go and was a results of both his fork or stem “beginning to give out.” He instructed CyclismActu that there have been “carbon noises and it was turning into cardboard.” Still recovering from a damaged collarbone sustained at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February, the Frenchman admits he “obtained scared, and stopped to alter bikes.”
He added that this was simply the primary of 4 incidents, earlier than saying “I feel that we’ve got a technical drawback with our bike and we’ll need to look into it. It’s annoying to all the time have issues.”
In its response, Bianchi expressed “shock and concern” at listening to of the Frenchman’s feedback, earlier than turning on the Arkea B&B Hotels mechanics, suggesting they’d not adopted their directions.
“Following discussions between Bianchi and the technical employees of the staff, it emerged that the particular directions offered by Bianchi for assembling the handlebars of bikes have been disregarded in some instances, inflicting disparities within the dealing with of the bicycles in competitors.”
It’s unclear whether or not the Arkea B&B Hotels employees and mechanics settle for this model of occasions. Cyclingnews has reached out to the staff for readability.
This got here alongside reassurances that the Bianchi bikes have handed the mandatory ISO 4210-5 check protocols, which it says “certifies their suitability to be used in whole security.”
Bianchi highlighted the staff’s success only a week prior when Luca Mozzato rode its Oltre RC to 2nd place on the Tour of Flanders. It additionally referenced out-of-season testing finished by each it and the staff utilizing the Bianchi bikes in preparation for the calls for of Paris-Roubaix:
“With particular reference to the calls for of racing on cobblestones – and particularly Paris-Roubaix, some of the demanding races for bicycles and their parts – the Arkea B&B Hotels organisation carried out a number of exams that validated using each the Bianchi Specialissima RC and Oltre RC fashions.”
Notably, the disparaging feedback seem to not have left a bitter style, because the assertion concluded by saying “Bianchi reiterates its help for Team Arkea B&B Hotels with renewed positivity, trying ahead to the upcoming vital occasions of the season with the purpose of taking extra victories and consolidating the highest ten place within the UCI WorldTour rankings.”
