2012 Tour de France - stage 3: Orchies - Boulogne-sur-Mer (197km)

[Panda Claws]

Time for lame Sagan memes

 

[woodie]

Come on guys, road cycling is battling with your bike against the terrain, the weather, your adversaries.

But no, staying on the bike is not required. It doesn't make sense on any level.

It's more like crashing is part of racing and no one wants to see someone lose a race because of a silly crash in the finale kms over which they have almost no control, no one except you that is.

 

[mcassidy3]

Look back at the heli replay. Wiggins is nearly the last rider in the group, he has ample opportunity to pass the guys on the right side, but chooses to unclip and greet his pathetic teammates who just crashed into each other.

Let the anger out.......

Clearly a hater of Wiggo and Sky

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

No, its exactly how the rule is meant to be interpreted, and since when do we see riders cheer because of crashes?

I'm not sure that the rule was intended to provide a lucky break for guys who were in the process of losing a few seconds on an explosive finish. And the Sky pair certainly hammed it up.

That said, those are the rules as they stand. Wiggins taking advantage of being slowed down isn't really any different to a football player doing a dramatic dive after a real but minor foul.

 

[roundabout]

Come on guys, road cycling is battling with your bike against the terrain, the weather, your adversaries.

But no, staying on the bike is not required. It doesn't make sense on any level.

Even with the 3km rule in place there was some dangerous riding in the last km. Without it it would be even worse.

 

[Bala Verde]

Right.
Menchov was there. Had a mechanical after le barrier.
Will get the same time.
Can't decide which Vacan rider caused it, since they all ended up on the ground or in the crowd.

Greipel caused the crash. He did a vandercut inside.

 

[TheEnoculator]

That almost guarantees it wasn't Menchov though.

You know, when they apply rules like this, they should bring back bonus seconds for sure. At least give some advantage to guys managing the basic act of staying on a bike.

What are you talking about? Have you been in a bunch finish with 30 others guys going at 50km/h and you are only inches away from each other? It only takes one person to take out a whole chunk of the peleton and most of the time it's unavoidable.

Besides, bonus seconds weren't in place to reward guys who could stay on the bike.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Greipel had no business here.

 

[Arnout]

Let the anger out.......

Clearly a hater of Wiggo and Sky

It's more like crashing is part of racing and no one wants to see someone lose a race because of a silly crash in the finale kms over which they have almost no control, no one except you that is.

Why would I be a hater? I'll admit I'm not a fan, but to have a certain view one is automatically a hater it seems. It isn't about the riders, it's just about the mindset. I've seen 200 riders do damage control for 200km and when damage control fails they're still saved.

To avoid this, they should race faster, so they shred the useless guys, so there is enough room. They didn't, so they should deal with it.

 

[Amused]

Feel a bit sorry for EBH. He had dropped Van Garderen by 7-8 seconds when the crash happened, and woulkd have taken the white jersey for sure if not for that crash.

 

[asdfgh101]

Freire with a pointless lean, but did anyone else notice the Sky rider purposely getting caught up in the crash?

With regards to the sama time as the bunch rule what would have happened if a GC rider had won the stage with a 2 or 3 second gap?

Velits was my dark horse today, i wonder what his climbing form is like.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

Interesting...the TDF official website is now showing that Wiggins lost 47 seconds, finishing 52nd. I'll be taking that with a boulder of salt, assuming that's pre-jury figures, but it's interesting to see...

 

[UlleGigo]

Not sure need to see it again

No need to watch a replay. There'll be plenty of opportunity to watch Wiggins getting dropped. You'll see it again on La Planche des Belles Filles in a few days in fact.

 

[Arnout]

What are you talking about? Have you been in a bunch finish with 30 others guys going at 50km/h and you are only inches away from each other? It only takes one person to take out a whole chunk of the peleton and most of the time it's unavoidable.

Besides, bonus seconds weren't in place to reward guys who could stay on the bike.

Plenty of time to clean up the peloton, they chose not to.

Agreed, bonus seconds weren't in place for that reason, but it just ****es me off that at the moment only the guys at the back benefit from time changes.

 

[Pharazon]

Interesting...the TDF official website is now showing that Wiggins lost 47 seconds, finishing 52nd. I'll be taking that with a boulder of salt, assuming that's pre-jury figures, but it's interesting to see...

but it's also showing only 57 finishers

 

[Arnout]

Freire with a pointless lean, but did anyone else notice the Sky rider purposely getting caught up in the crash?

That's the whole issue I'm talking about. It's just not the way to go with cycling if cycling is going to give in to these kind of tricks.

 

[Panda Claws]

Samuel Sanchez finished 8th, his form seems to be rising.

Also, now we know for sure who's the best on these finishes between Edvald and Peter.

 

[goggalor]

Sagan is just amazing. Some said his California and Swiss victories were due to lack of competition, well now he has 2 out of 4 Tour stages in the bag. Wiggo was lucky lucky lucky to get m.t. as EBH, he was waaaaayy back when the crash happened. Again.

 

[cineteq]

Interesting...the TDF official website is now showing that Wiggins lost 47 seconds, finishing 52nd. I'll be taking that with a boulder of salt, assuming that's pre-jury figures, but it's interesting to see...

Glad to see that the guys who made the effort to stay in the front were rewarded.

 

[SetonHallPirate]

but it's also showing only 57 finishers

Right...but that is a recent (in the last two minutes) change. It had been showing everybody in that group with a one-second gap behind Sagan...

 

[Arnout]

Even with the 3km rule in place there was some dangerous riding in the last km. Without it it would be even worse.

And so? It's bike racing. Just like dangerous corners inside the last km belong in cycling, crashing does as well.

 

[asdfgh101]

That's the whole issue I'm talking about. It's just not the way to go with cycling if cycling is going to give in to these kind of tricks.

Confirmation that it was Wiggins?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Interesting new development
Sakozy

regular official visitor to Le Tour (not not this year of course)
is today under investigation:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18693321

(for non cycling matters)

 

[LaFleur]

Taaramäe was right up the top before the crash and finished as one of the last caught up in the crash, I hope that he didn't go down. His arm still hurts so this could be very bad

 

[Maxiton]

What happened to Menchov today?