Disaster For Costa! #shorts

Rui Costa didn't have the best of starts at the Tour de Romandie when his chainrings sheared clean off his bike whilst starting the Prologue! 👀

Useful Links:
GCN+ | Every. Unmissable. Moment

🎵 Music - licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵

📸 Photos - © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sprint Cycling Agency

Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Racing brings you the best of the world’s bike races to your screens, wherever you are: the finest live race commentary, in-depth analysis and behind the scenes access from your favourite events are all here. So get involved, join us, and get ready to be in the thick of the action.

Engage with on the channel and across social media – we’re here to answer every question you’ve got on cycling racing.

Watch our sister channels:

[harubaru]

The second bike they handed him out was the one he got on his 12th bithday from his mom.

[balazsdusek]

and then they just hand him a regular ass bike

[lloydhlavac]

Holy crap. I was an amateur racer for over 25 years, and been watching pro cycling even longer, and I have never seen that happen before!

[christiankeil]

My guess would be that the mechanic put the screws in and looked for the proper tool while he was chatted up by a beautiful lady and left for an espresso forgetting about tightening the screws.

[TK]

No testriding the bike at all before the start? That's crazy. Did the mechanic forget to put the bolts in the chain ring?? Never seen anything like that.

[elmoe]

He hit his knee on the handlebars, ouch!

[alex-thegreatmagnus]

"I forget something, what was? Surely nothing important"

The Mechanic 😂

[gregvassilakos]

Wrong chainring bolts the cause of Rui Costa's Tour de Romandie mechanical
By Tom Wieckowski
published April 28, 2023

Rotor reveals incorrect chainring bolts were used on Costa's chainset

Rui Costa's chainring failure at the Tour de Romandie prologue earlier in the week was down to the use of incorrect chainring bolts, not an equipment failure, Cyclingnews can report.

The information originated from an email from the Intermarché-Circus-Wanty team to Rotor on the mechanical issue.

Upon making his initial starting effort down the Prologue start ramp Costa ripped out all four of his chainring bolts. The broken bolts were later found on the start podium.

It transpired the wrong chainring bolts were accidentally used which caused the mechanical. Shorter single chainring bolts had been used instead of the longer bolts needed to run a double chainset. Meaning the big chainring was not fully supported. Team mechanics have been instructed to double-check all bikes to ensure they have the correct bolts.

It transpires that Costa was using a double chainset, but with the shorter chainring bolts designed for single chainrings fitted in error. The shorter bolts would have had minimal thread engagement which wouldn't have held up to Costa's starting effort, resulting in the bolt failure.

Cyclingnews has reached out to the team for comment but hasn't received a response at this time. We will update this story if we receive further clarification.

[alfredoalmeida]

Só quero bicicletas baratas 😅😅😅😅😅
Força Rui Costa
Abraço desde Aveiro 🇵🇹

[StoccTube]

I honestly think that in the spirit of cycling, he should have been offered a re-start.

[ChesusCrest]

Man has just gone for a sunday spin to the cafe afterwards 😂😂😂😂

[filamostech]

Oh no 😢, I am very glad to see he is ok.

[johnnyrocket]

My $900 Trek doesn't do that lol😆

[marcusambrester]

I've broken a chain in sprints, and folded a chainring in a hill sprint - but THAT was brutal.

[gregmarcus]

They are really pushing the limits of how light they can make it.

[santiagobenites]

What a crazy sound that made! Perhaps Rui Costa will try going in the breakaways now?

[stevebeaswimmin]

I snapped 1 bolt in the chain ring before, its common enough with a new chain and unequal torque on the bolts

[chasman]

Hey Coach. We went with Falcon parts this season. Can we switch back to Campy next year?

[WillPower]

Chain ring bolts that are too short I have seen this happen on BMX race bikes when using the wrong length bolts.

[jonathanwilson]

Oh man, would have loved to see the bike and those chainring bolts in person. I have seen some 1x set ups that require a 2x width female bolt and can imagine, although not at the pro tour level, someone installing the 1x bolts on that setup where it really only grabs 1-2 threads before torquing down and where the female bolt doesn't actually pass through both the chainring and the crank. With 1, 200W starting sprint, I could see that breaking, but not really anything else. Also, lol, they didn't have a spare TT for him?