2015 Paris - Roubaix, 12th April 1.UWT, 253.5 Km

[Echoes]

Van Petegem must be p*ssed now.

 

[SafeBet]

Wouldn't it be easier to just keep track of where the train is and then, if it's too close, just neutralise the race for those 10 minutes?
I mean, over here we have an app telling exactly where any local train is. And we're in Italy. Shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Jagartrott]

French railroad is going to court regarding this incident.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

I wonder if there will be any action re the level crossing. There has been in the past. Great win to Degenkolb, once the group his the velodrome it was game over, the others were racing for second. Kudos to GVA for his amazing consistency but of course he would swap all of those placings for one win in a monument. With Cancellara and Boonen off the scene Sagan and Vanmarcke have missed out again. They just don't have the form. What a season so far for Kristoff and Degenkolb.

Nope, no action. It's like this 'rule' which was introduced last year or 2 years ago(?) that riders must stay on the road and not use cycle paths. The next race half the peloton uses cycle paths. It's just impossible to immediately identify those guys and take them out of the race straight away. The situation in 2006 was a lot more clear so also really easy to act upon.

The biggest fault was made the first race after this rule was introduced. They should've started taking riders out of the race or DQ them afterwards based on tv footage directly.
In that first race you could notice that there were less riders jumping on walking/cycle paths, but some still did it. When those riders don't get punished then the next race everybody starts using the walking/cycle paths again.

If you have a new rule make sure you can follow it up, if not people won't take it serious.

It's very tricky to disqualify riders after the race, as some of them may have had a big impact on the race after the incident took place. Especially with rules like the cycle paths and level crossing. Where do you draw the line? Some riders use cycle paths to avoid crashes or sometimes they have no choice because the roads are so narrow. It's a pretty silly rule actually. More like a statement after Langeveld's terrible crash with a spectator iirc.

Same with the level crossing. The first guys already ignored a red light, so technically they should be taken out too, but you can't expect them to slam the brakes at 50km/h and cause a massacre.

 

[Gaul 58]

Stybar is head and shoulders above the rest in the wheel-sucker competition. Does his team boss pay him a bonus based on the number of kilometres he spends sitting on Geraint Thomas's wheel?.
The surprise was that when Thomas crashed yesterday with Stybar on his wheel, that Stybar didn't have the grace to wait for him to get back on.
I thought in RVV when Thomas was trying to get across to the leading two on the longish stretch of flat cobbles, but ran out of steam on his own, if Stybar had helped there and then, there would have been a break of four with two Etixx riders in it.... and more chance of one of them outwitting Kristoff in the final 10km.... if I'd been the Etixx boss that's what I'd have told him to do.

 

[hrotha]

"The road is so narrow" is definitely not a good reason to allow riders to get off the road. As for the level crossing, the rules don't say anything about the red light, only about the barriers.

 

[Flamin]

Re:

"The road is so narrow" is definitely not a good reason to allow riders to get off the road. As for the level crossing, the rules don't say anything about the red light, only about the barriers.

Yes it is if they go from a big wide road into some 1 car-wide small street at full speed.

Really? That's pretty ridiculous. Anyway, the point still stands. Slamming the brakes in such a big group is freakin dangerous. But what the BMC guy did was inexcusable obviously.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

I don't see why this tactics should be better. So they would go on stadium with Lampaert against GvA and Degenkolb. You call that better? I think it's the same at best. With Stybar bridging they had hope to be in numbers at least for a while which sounds better tactics than one you propose.

Without Stybar in the lead group, Lampaert could have sat on the back and not worked. If Degenkolb and GVA had then tried to pull to stay clear of the chasers, then Lampaert - after recovering for a few km doing no work - may have been able to attack from 1 or 2km out. If Degenkolb and GVA had stopped trying to pull, then the chasers would have reached them and Stybar would have made the lead group without having had to put in a big effort - then he could have attacked when the group joined (having sat on for a few km). Instead, he chose to attack and waste his energy to bridge across to a group contain a man he was never going to beat in a sprint - he should have held his nerve a bit more.

Tbh, it probably wouldn't have made much difference, because Degenkolb was too strong. But the only way they could beat him was to attack before the Velodrome. Stybar using up his last matches to bridge the gap was pointless.

 

[Jagartrott]

Near miss with train at RVV U23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG8ExPQwFFc

Wasn't there a junior TT champion that died from a collision with a train last year (at night)?
Something needs to be done.

 

[red_flanders]

Re:

The surprise was that when Thomas crashed yesterday with Stybar on his wheel, that Stybar didn't have the grace to wait for him to get back on.

You've got to be kidding.

 

[Shame]

Re: Re:

I wonder if there will be any action re the level crossing. There has been in the past. Great win to Degenkolb, once the group his the velodrome it was game over, the others were racing for second. Kudos to GVA for his amazing consistency but of course he would swap all of those placings for one win in a monument. With Cancellara and Boonen off the scene Sagan and Vanmarcke have missed out again. They just don't have the form. What a season so far for Kristoff and Degenkolb.

Nope, no action. It's like this 'rule' which was introduced last year or 2 years ago(?) that riders must stay on the road and not use cycle paths. The next race half the peloton uses cycle paths. It's just impossible to immediately identify those guys and take them out of the race straight away. The situation in 2006 was a lot more clear so also really easy to act upon.

While all twenty or so deserved penalties, the last three crossers should have been removed. Plain and simple.

 

[The_Captain]

The level crossing incident could have had serious consequences. If a rider had gone down after clipping the barriers and caused a pile up that would have had horrendous results.

Now the blame isn't solely the riders in this case. There is a valid point about being able to slow down and stop safely in the confines of a peleton of riders. But it's not like the race organisers don't know there is a level crossing there and I'm sure there can be communication with the rail operators to give signal when a train is coming. All it needs is someone a little bit further up the road to give the riders an advance warning to neutralise the race temporarily, and to stop and not cross, regardless of the state of the barriers.

That said the last few riders who stopped and then decided that it was still fine to cross having looked I imagine will be finding themselves in trouble. This is setting a terrible example and probably breaking the law too.

 

[Miburo]

Van Petegem must be p*ssed now.

not really, he was never gonna catch spartacus anyways.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

I wonder if there will be any action re the level crossing. There has been in the past. Great win to Degenkolb, once the group his the velodrome it was game over, the others were racing for second. Kudos to GVA for his amazing consistency but of course he would swap all of those placings for one win in a monument. With Cancellara and Boonen off the scene Sagan and Vanmarcke have missed out again. They just don't have the form. What a season so far for Kristoff and Degenkolb.

Nope, no action. It's like this 'rule' which was introduced last year or 2 years ago(?) that riders must stay on the road and not use cycle paths. The next race half the peloton uses cycle paths. It's just impossible to immediately identify those guys and take them out of the race straight away. The situation in 2006 was a lot more clear so also really easy to act upon.

The biggest fault was made the first race after this rule was introduced. They should've started taking riders out of the race or DQ them afterwards based on tv footage directly.
In that first race you could notice that there were less riders jumping on walking/cycle paths, but some still did it. When those riders don't get punished then the next race everybody starts using the walking/cycle paths again.

If you have a new rule make sure you can follow it up, if not people won't take it serious.

It's very tricky to disqualify riders after the race, as some of them may have had a big impact on the race after the incident took place. Especially with rules like the cycle paths and level crossing. Where do you draw the line? Some riders use cycle paths to avoid crashes or sometimes they have no choice because the roads are so narrow. It's a pretty silly rule actually. More like a statement after Langeveld's terrible crash with a spectator iirc.

Same with the level crossing. The first guys already ignored a red light, so technically they should be taken out too, but you can't expect them to slam the brakes at 50km/h and cause a massacre.

It is really no problem at all. It has happened for lesser reasons than safety in the past. What about 7 Tour de France desqualification.

It happened here in Paris Roubaix a few years back in the fight of the podium.

Some action should have been taken against some of the riders.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

The level crossing incident could have had serious consequences. If a rider had gone down after clipping the barriers and caused a pile up that would have had horrendous results.

Now the blame isn't solely the riders in this case. There is a valid point about being able to slow down and stop safely in the confines of a peleton of riders. But it's not like the race organisers don't know there is a level crossing there and I'm sure there can be communication with the rail operators to give signal when a train is coming. All it needs is someone a little bit further up the road to give the riders an advance warning to neutralise the race temporarily, and to stop and not cross, regardless of the state of the barriers.

That said the last few riders who stopped and then decided that it was still fine to cross having looked I imagine will be finding themselves in trouble. This is setting a terrible example and probably breaking the law too.

Yup, it's illegal in France to cross a level crossing when the barriers are down. Thank God nobody went down on the track

 

[Arnout]

Re: Re:

The level crossing incident could have had serious consequences. If a rider had gone down after clipping the barriers and caused a pile up that would have had horrendous results.

Now the blame isn't solely the riders in this case. There is a valid point about being able to slow down and stop safely in the confines of a peleton of riders. But it's not like the race organisers don't know there is a level crossing there and I'm sure there can be communication with the rail operators to give signal when a train is coming. All it needs is someone a little bit further up the road to give the riders an advance warning to neutralise the race temporarily, and to stop and not cross, regardless of the state of the barriers.

That said the last few riders who stopped and then decided that it was still fine to cross having looked I imagine will be finding themselves in trouble. This is setting a terrible example and probably breaking the law too.

Yup, it's illegal in France to cross a level crossing when the barriers are down. Thank God nobody went down on the track

I suspect the rule is that you have to stop when possible as soon as the lights starts flashing? That would be comparable to the rules concerning yellow traffic lights.

Of course it's hard to determine when it's still possible to stop. I do know that the front ench of the bunch was crossing when the barriers were going down, so presumably the warning signs started at least a few seconds before that.

Clearly what happened yesterday should be avoided at all cost. I know the chances of actually something happening were somewhat remote but I was disturbed when I saw it and I'm generally unfazed by dangerous situations.

Also, it's bringing cycling in very bad light. The comments on news articles running this story are predictable, damning cyclists for always ignoring rules and I can't blame them. Unsuprisingly reactions from inside the peloton are completely lacking.

The best solution would involve consulting with the railways, sending a designated police officer to any crossing beforehand (this can be one of the officers clearing roads) and also guaranteeing a neutralization like happened yesterday.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Re:

Near miss with train at RVV U23:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG8ExPQwFFc

I would call that a near hit rather than a near miss.

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

http://english.al/proverb/if-one-sheep- ... ll-follow/

 

[DBotero]

I'm disappointed that only the fans are outraged by that kamikaze move at the level crossing.Seems like the riders,teams,race organizers didn't really give a *** about it.Really can't believe it,safety comes last

 

[Arnout]

I'm disappointed that only the fans are outraged by that kamikaze move at the level crossing.Seems like the riders,teams,race organizers didn't really give a **** about it.Really can't believe it,safety comes last

They're a bunch of prima donnas, constantly pointing to the difficulty of the job as validation of their complaints and awesomeness. Forgetting that though cyclists make many hours compared to other athletes most of them won't reach the 40h a week for a salary significantly above average salary (for ProTour riders).

I mean, every single cyclist retweeted that cringy picture of a muddy Malori versus a crying Neymar. That's just not comparable, if only because Neymar took a hit seconds before and we don't know how long after the fall of Malori that picture was taken (and I'm the last person to feel sorry for football players, make no mistake). But as it was a validation of their bravery cyclists liked it.

 

[Netserk]

Lol, there's more to the work of a cyclist than simply pedalling his bike. I'm sure pretty much every cyclist work more than 40h a week.

 

[TheGreenMonkey]

Demare almost taken out by the barrier, and the last rider through under ten seconds before the train:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA-84SIFnSo#t=36

One thing I noticed in this video I had not noticed before. The riders who stopped for the train did a very dangerous thing, as soon as the train had past they started to cross again. It is always possible that there is a train coming the opposite way. They should have waited until the barriers when up. It is arguable that most of that group could have been DQ as well.

 

[Flamin]

.
It is really no problem at all. It has happened for lesser reasons than safety in the past. What about 7 Tour de France desqualification.

Lol.

It happened here in Paris Roubaix a few years back in the fight of the podium.

Some action should have been taken against some of the riders.

You can't compare this with 2006 at all. And who is "some"? Either you exclude everybody who did something wrong, or nobody. The 2nd option is clearly the best one, since you can't identify all those guys.

 

[thequestionmark]

The French railway company (SNCF) has complained about to the police because of the illegal railroad crossing.

http://m.20minutes.fr/sport/1585147-vid ... ge-niveaux

 

[Arnout]

Re:

Lol, there's more to the work of a cyclist than simply pedalling his bike. I'm sure pretty much every cyclist work more than 40h a week.

Like most people do. Not even including travel time, I know I'm expected to work 45-50 hours a week and follow extra training.

Look I know cycling requires dedication, talent and sacrifice and it's part of why I love the sport but I don't buy that cyclists are extraordinary people who do things no-one else does. But I guess this is part of a larger issue modern society and media has with athletes.