Paris-Roubaix: Screams of terror!

Not a bad race: I was interested to see that the Mavic neutral service bike had a live TV feed on the front, we got a very good view of a wheel change, which led to the obvious conclusion that all motos and cars should have live tv feed in them, which will provide irrefutable evidence of dangerous driving, and will no doubt reduce accidents and incidents, as people do tend to drive better when they know they are being filmed. LLB says all it needs is a mesh network, easily and cheaply available already, with possibly a mobile hub. Technically, a piece of cake. Come on UCI, get thinking!

It was also Wiggo's last road race for Sky, thank god: we have definitely been feeling that his heart has not been in it for a while now, and his presence in team Sky has created friction - I think we will all be better without him.

However, it all went pear-shaped at 83k to go, with some terrible marshalling at the railway crossing, where the main peloton were hammering up towards the crossing as the barriers started to close.

Of course, no-one stopped, and riders were squeezing under the barriers and zig-zagging across the tracks to get past it: at least two riders were actually hit by the closing barriers, and yet they continued to push their way forward.

LLB and I were screaming at the tv in horror - "Stop them! Stop them!" - as the marshall ineffectually waved his arms, totally failing to control the flood.

For heaven's sake! How difficult is it to have two marshalls with a solid pole at each railway crossing: even a rope would do it, although a brightly painted pole would be better. It could be hinged for ease of transport...

.. then when they are notified that the train is about to arrive, they step forward and physically block the track.

No arguments.

No pushing and shoving.

And race radio should be informing everyone, DS and rider alike, that the road will be closed, so they must stop racing, slow down, and prepare to stop.

Allowing this undignified scramble is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous: in the UK they would all have been prosecuted for breaking the law, although reading the cycling press, it seems that they are not even going to be penalised by the UCI for breaking a race rule, as well as breaking the law.

This is so wrong.

Riders get so caught up in the heat of battle that they are not always capable of rational thought - "Mate, you've ripped your buttocks open on national TV, perhaps you should retire from this race" is met with "*sobs* No. Give me new shorts. *sobs* Where is my bike? New bike, now. *gasps with pain as new shorts are gently pulled over his bleeding backside* Push me - no, you fool, not me, push the bike..."

It needs an official to make the decision, and there have to be rules.

If we had had a helicopter shot of that level crossing, we would have been able to see the high-speed train approaching, and it would have been even more frightening to watch. As it was, the last riders to risk their lives were barely across the tracks when the nose of the train came into shot.

And for what?

The race was neutralised on the other side of the road, the ones who squeezed through were made to wait for the ones who didn't, so what did they gain? Apart from a burst of adrenaline, nothing. It was a complete disgrace, and I was, and still am, livid that the organisers had not allowed for this. It's not as though it has never happened before, after all.

Luca Paolini, my "pet" Dark Lord, went on Twitter to complain about it, and even Fabs was moved to tweet  that it is against the law to do this, and that the race organisers would be within their rights to eliminate riders from the race.  Obviously, the organisers decided not to do so, it would have created quite a stink if they had tried, as rather a lot of riders were guilty.

But come on, there has to be a way to deal with this: we need proper marshalls, standing ready at the crossings, with authority to stop the race before the barriers start to descend.

Stopping the trains for the day is simply not realistic, not the main line high-speed link, so it is up to the organisers, and to the UCI, to make a ruling on this matter.

What do you think? Do you really want to see our boys risking their lives?  Do we want cycling to be "more visually exciting" by showing dead bodies splattered across the level crossing? Or do we want the UCI to issue firm rules about weather, about level crossings, about land-slips and so on?