A few days ago, the professional cyclists were riding the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas race in Spain.  A bunch of riders were sprinting for the finish line.  

“As the sprint intensified, Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) collided with the barriers.” 

Elisa was lying on the ground, and her teammate Lucinda Brand stopped to be with her before the medical staff arrived.  Balsamo suffered “a concussion, a fracture to her nasal bone and second metacarpal” bone of her hand.

“Today I followed my human instinct and not my racing instinct.  I stopped to check on my teammate after a nasty crash just meters from the finish.  I didn’t think twice about doing it and I don’t regret it.”

Good for you, Lucinda.  I bet we’ve all had physically painful moments where someone has stayed by our side … so we’re not alone.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the governing body of professional cycling.  They have a rule that addresses crashes near the finish line:

In the case of a duly noted incident in the last three kilometres of a road race stage, the rider or riders affected shall be credited with the time of the rider or riders in whose company they were riding at the moment of the incident.

“Incident” as in “crash”.

The riders in the crash, or those who were slowed or stopped by it, were all given the same time.  Lucinda showed up a few seconds later.  Officials said she was not “involved” in the crash. 

Lucinda left Elisa after the doctors arrived, and finished the race.  She was deemed to have finished three minutes after the rest of the riders.

Something is wrong here.  Officials in any realm of life must value kindness beyond their rule books. 

The human spirit must be honoured