The Pro Road Cycling Thread

[Shands]

I will catch it tonight. Though I would guess off of your post that something happened, wreck or otherwise that either slowed down the pink jersey or some of the GC contenders. The rules of sportsmanship from team to team isn't set in stone, much like when do you advance down the pitch versus when do you kick the ball out? But if BMC was ahead of the fray and it occurred behind them, there is nothing really bad form. If it was in their group or ahead and they rode through and then attacked, then that would go against the normal "rules." There have been occasions like in 2012 at the TDF when I thought that Sky milked the sportsmanship thing in their favor to prevent attacks from happening.

But that makes me interested to see what happens tonight. The last two days haven't been great to watch. I'm ready for some intrigue.

I'll not go into details Pokes as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. It's one of those occasions that will split opinion amongst fans 50/50 as a fair case can be made for either side of the debate. Technically I wouldn't say BMC broke any of the accepted rules of the road so in that sense they will feel vindicated, but each case is different and in these circumstances it didn't sit comfortably with me.

I agree with what Sean Kelly said, that they were right to continue. Having said that it certainley give us cycling fans something to talk about.

Spoiler

I know where Kelly is coming from, and normally I tend to lean towards the stance of ‘it’s racing, deal with what’s thrown at you, but I felt today was different in that it wasn’t what you would call a typical crash. The context of the last couple of stages is important I think. Apparently the roads in this part of Italy are like an ice rink as soon as they get any water on them, and we all saw what happened on the last lap of stage 4 when the riders were proved right in their initial protest and request for neutralisation of the stage. Yesterday’s descent was similar with several riders toppling. Looking at the crash today it didn’t seem to be a case of bad bike handling or one incident catching riders napping; there were three or four almost simultaneous but unconnected instances of riders just sliding out of control with nothing that they could do about it, and that is what caused the widespread wipe-out of the peloton. Sometimes you can correctly argue that if GC guys want to avoid crashes they need to be up the front, but in this case even the guys at the head of affairs went down or were affected. In fact Evans was the only one of all of them who escaped unscathed, that’s pure luck rather than judgment or good positioning. I don’t see what all the others could have done differently
.
You’ve got about 10 guys with pre-race GC ambitions in that second group who have lost 50 seconds, some of whom (Quintana being one) hit the deck, then you have behind them losing further chunks of time, Cunego, Scarponi, Cataldo, Niemiec, Moreno, Purito (though he may likely have to retire) Moser and Roche. Ultimately it’s probably going to make for a more exciting race in the mountains which is good for us, but I feel when that many team leaders are impacted, really through no fault of their own, it’s maybe not right to capitalise on it and I think BMC’s DS should have got on the radio and advised them to knock it off, at least for a minute or so anyway, whereas instead they seemed to be drilling it hard.

I can understand why others will think differently from me though.

 

[Pokes28]

Thanks for not spoiling it. The worst part of the time difference is that you guys are home and I have to wait until after work then going riding tonight, then dinner, then get to watch the Giro. This week is great but tough with both the Giro and California to try and keep up with both takes quite a long time.

 

[Shands]

Spoiler

Rodriguez abandons.

Spoiler

Maijka also a doubt to start tomorrow apparently. Uran went down as well but isn't too bad

No probs Pokes, happy watching later on.

 

[Rascal]

Missed today totally and will miss tomoz. Just saw on Team Sky twitter massive crash.

So not looking at the spoilers just yet lol

 

[Nervous Nedum]

I'll not go into details Pokes as I wouldn't want to spoil it for you. It's one of those occasions that will split opinion amongst fans 50/50 as a fair case can be made for either side of the debate. Technically I wouldn't say BMC broke any of the accepted rules of the road so in that sense they will feel vindicated, but each case is different and in these circumstances it didn't sit comfortably with me.

I agree with what Sean Kelly said, that they were right to continue. Having said that it certainley give us cycling fans something to talk about.

Spoiler

I know where Kelly is coming from, and normally I tend to lean towards the stance of ‘it’s racing, deal with what’s thrown at you, but I felt today was different in that it wasn’t what you would call a typical crash. The context of the last couple of stages is important I think. Apparently the roads in this part of Italy are like an ice rink as soon as they get any water on them, and we all saw what happened on the last lap of stage 4 when the riders were proved right in their initial protest and request for neutralisation of the stage. Yesterday’s descent was similar with several riders toppling. Looking at the crash today it didn’t seem to be a case of bad bike handling or one incident catching riders napping; there were three or four almost simultaneous but unconnected instances of riders just sliding out of control with nothing that they could do about it, and that is what caused the widespread wipe-out of the peloton. Sometimes you can correctly argue that if GC guys want to avoid crashes they need to be up the front, but in this case even the guys at the head of affairs went down or were affected. In fact Evans was the only one of all of them who escaped unscathed, that’s pure luck rather than judgment or good positioning. I don’t see what all the others could have done differently
.
You’ve got about 10 guys with pre-race GC ambitions in that second group who have lost 50 seconds, some of whom (Quintana being one) hit the deck, then you have behind them losing further chunks of time, Cunego, Scarponi, Cataldo, Niemiec, Moreno, Purito (though he may likely have to retire) Moser and Roche. Ultimately it’s probably going to make for a more exciting race in the mountains which is good for us, but I feel when that many team leaders are impacted, really through no fault of their own, it’s maybe not right to capitalise on it and I think BMC’s DS should have got on the radio and advised them to knock it off, at least for a minute or so anyway, whereas instead they seemed to be drilling it hard.

I can understand why others will think differently from me though.

Spoiler

According to BMC's DS, he was out on the road picking up his riders and it was only when he got back to the car that he realised he had three guys in the front group. I'm undecided on the whole thing- BMC were already on the front and driving the pace, trying to get to the bottom of the climb on the front. But, as you say given what's happened in the previous few days maybe they should have waited.

It certainly does make for an interesting talking point.

Thanks for not spoiling it. The worst part of the time difference is that you guys are home and I have to wait until after work then going riding tonight, then dinner, then get to watch the Giro. This week is great but tough with both the Giro and California to try and keep up with both takes quite a long time.

Spoiler

What have you made of the California coverage? The past couple of days, particularly the climb up to Mt. Diablo were infuriating. They really struggled to keep the pictures stable, regardless of whether it was from the motos or the helicopter. And the on-screen graphics are terrible, it just keeps repeating the same time gap even if it's wrong.

The racing itself hasn't been too bad, and it's always nice to see a break away succeed once in a while!

EDIT: Giro

Spoiler

Wow, the medical report from the stage

At km 246, crash involving several riders. The following athletes were taken to the hospital by ambulance to undergo x-ray investigations; here are the results of the examinations they underwent:
N° 183 Giampaolo Caruso (KAT): contusive trauma of the left femur and multiple abrasions.
N° 188 Angel Vicioso Arcos (KAT): displaced, comminuted fracture of the right femur, contusive trauma of the left hip.
N° 4 Janez Brajkovic (AST): displaced fracture of the left elbow.
N° 68 Davide Villella (CAN): contusive trauma of the left shoulder, abrasions of the right knee; he underwent a TC scan, which revealed a micro-fracture of the left shoulder.
After the end of the stage, the following riders underwent x-ray investigations; here are the results of the examinations they underwent:
N° 181 Joaquin Rodriguez Olivier (KAT): fracture of the first finger of the left hand, fracture of the eighth and ninth left ribs.
N° 154 Brett Lancaster (OGE): spiral fracture of the 4th metacarpus of the right hand.
N° 122 Andrey Amador Bikkazakova (MOV): trauma and spraining of the cervical spine.
N° 43 Rick Flens (BEL): contusive trauma of the left elbow, fracture of the base of the nail phalanx of the second right finger.
N° 31 Stefano Pirazzi (BAR): contusive trauma of the left elbow and hip.
The following riders were medicated after the race:
N° 14 Maxime Bouet (ALM), who sustained multiple bruises and abrasions to his right side and a lacerated wound of the right tibial region.
N° 191 Dario Cataldo (SKY) for multiple abrasions to his left pelvis.

 

[Pokes28]

Spoiler

So I'm caught up on the Giro (until today's is over) and one day behind on California. I really didn't have a problem with BMC moving forward. They had already increased the speed of the peloton and were driving it when the crashes happened behind them. It isn't as if they saw the carnage and then put their foot on the gas.

The primary problem for the other GC contenders that lost so much time wasn't that they were caught in the crash. Most of them were already cleared. It is that they lost a lot of their horsepower and snapped off the back of the 15 or so riders that were originally in the group. Then as time passed, they shed more people due to going well over 30 MPH up the hill at the end (mind boggling how fast they were going).

We know Matthews will keep the jersey today barring something silly. We also know that he'll struggle to keep it once they get into the real mountain stages. So that sets up Evans as having a HUGE lead. However, I would guess that the other teams will require them to pay for it by not working with them to maintain pace. Normally you would see Belkin, OPQ and Movistar have a few riders up front taking some turns. I imagine they will be ordered to sit back and drain BMC so that Evans has less protection over the next week to 10 days. That is about the only way they can bring back that kind of time. The other GC guys aren't necessarily better than Evans as a TT guy so they have to feel they will need to make up quite a bit more than what they are currently down.

One thing I wish I knew was at the end of the stage, Evans had a really upset look on his face. Was that because he couldn't hold onto 2nd place for the stage or because he didn't like what they did in regards to moving on? I doubt we find out, but he normally doesn't show anything like that.

 

[Pokes28]

I guess the question at this point is "is the race pretty much over even though there are two weeks left?"

Out of the GC contenders with a legit shot, the best time trialist is Evans. With two TTs left, a few flat stages that shouldn't change the GC, it would take something pretty special to change the outcome in my view.

 

[Nervous Nedum]

I guess the question at this point is "is the race pretty much over even though there are two weeks left?"

Out of the GC contenders with a legit shot, the best time trialist is Evans. With two TTs left, a few flat stages that shouldn't change the GC, it would take something pretty special to change the outcome in my view.

One of the TTs is a mountain time-trial, plus there is the last week which is ridiculously steep. He could lose a minute or two going up the Zoncolan alone, never mind all of the other stages that week. I don't think it's over quite yet (unlike my chances of winning the Fantasy league).

 

[Rascal]

Due to circumstances ive hardly seen any of the Giro but seen all the ToC and well done Brad. He looks focused again and the young sky team around him were exceptional.

Plus Cav won 2 stages

 

[chesterbells]

Due to circumstances ive hardly seen any of the Giro but seen all the ToC and well done Brad. He looks focused again and the young sky team around him were exceptional.

Plus Cav won 2 stages

Yep, same here; time wise the ToC is a good time to sit down to watch; stunning scenery helps too. Been dipping in & out of the Giro but tbh I've found it a bit 'flat' what with so many of the big names in the sport missing. I mean no offence, cos at his peak he was a contender, but it comes to something when Evans is looking like a clear favourite, when over the last 2 years he has been getting blown away by the top riders. Anyway, I'm just hoping Quintana & Uran can spice things up in the 3rd week.