Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins suggested that riders unhappy with the dangerous conditions seen on the first stage in Nice should consider retirement and that the lack of respect within the peloton has been growing for several years. The second comment, uttered every few years by the sport's leading politicians as they get older and approach the end of their careers, came from Wiggins: "Riders are willing to take more risks to win, but it's a tough sport. Wiggins spoke on Eurosport's daily show after a day in which the peloton controlled and neutralized most of the stages. The stage took place in heavy rain and the tight, technical roads around Nice were incredibly slippery. It was like being on ice. Raphael Valls, Philippe Gilbert, and John Degenkolb suffered race-ending injuries, and there were a number of crashes on all stages. Robert Gesink (Jumbo Visma) had harsh words for the UCI on Saturday evening. In my opinion, the last crash was their fault." [It was only after Goessink's teammate Tony Martin moved to the front of the peloton and told his colleagues to slow down that calm set in. The warning was heeded by nearly the entire peloton, but the Astana team suffered an accident when team leader Miguel Angel Lopez hit a lamppost. He was relatively unscathed, but Pavel Sivakov and Julian Alaphilippe fell off the bike. After the race resumed, a major crash occurred in the last few kilometers of the race, and Thibaut Pinot was the victim of it.

"It was really ridiculous," said Alaphilippe. And the UCI let it go. We've seen enough dangerous situations over the past few weeks. This was a chance for the UCI to do the right thing for us. We could have put ourselves in as difficult a situation as we wanted for another 20 days, and the UCI did nothing."

Wiggins did not mention the governing body, but spoke about riders within the peloton and said athletes have begun to take more and more risks over the past few years.

"The road is just wide open, and it's the athletes who are making the races more dangerous. Mark Cavendish has spoken often about the lack of respect in the peloton over the last few years. Racing has become more competitive and riders are willing to take more risks to win. It's a tough sport, and if you don't like it, you can retire," Wiggins said. [Wiggins said. I mean, as you get older, you don't want to crash anymore. I don't want to go home to my kids and get all scratched up. It's a tough sport. Life is tough.