2015 Vuelta stage 1: Puerto Banús > Marbella 7.4km TTT

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Re:

hrotha said:
I still think this talk about dirt roads is misleading. Dirt roads are still roads; loose sand is an entirely different matter.

If you watch the video there is clearly a solid path under the very light sandy covering, looks like concrete to me. They are not riding on just loose sand. You can't, I've tried. It looks very similar to a dusty, dry, dirt road.
 
Re: Re:

King Boonen said:
hrotha said:
I still think this talk about dirt roads is misleading. Dirt roads are still roads; loose sand is an entirely different matter.

If you watch the video there is clearly a solid path under the very light sandy covering, looks like concrete to me. They are not riding on just loose sand. You can't, I've tried. It looks very similar to a dusty, dry, dirt road.
I know, but it depends on how deep the sand goes. From what I've seen, it varies from "very superficial, no different to most dirt roads" to "well that might be a bit too deep huh".
 
The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late. If it had come out last week then there would have been more time for the teams and organisers to sit down together and find a suitable solution.

And what about team vehicles? Some of those sections seem rather too narrow for cars.
I suppose on the dirt road section they could use something like this:

8026725-mini-steamroller.jpg


which would also sove the problem of the surface getting messed up, but then they wouldn't have anywhere to keep the bikes, not to mention I don't think it can go quite as fast as the riders.
 
Re: Re:

hrotha said:
I know, but it depends on how deep the sand goes. From what I've seen, it varies from "very superficial, no different to most dirt roads" to "well that might be a bit too deep huh".

Exactly, and a heterogeneous crap surface is always more dangerous than a homogeneous crap surface.

I'll wait till Sunday, I don't like openinig ceremonies and beach parades.
 
I don't understand where this loose-sand-on-a-hard-surface talk is coming from. Looking at this Picture it looks more like a road consisting of just dirt which will be completely messed up once the riders start going over it, unless they roll out the steam-rollers.

cm12qy_wgaanxtr_670.jpg
 
Re:

RedheadDane said:
The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late. If it had come out last week then there would have been more time for the teams and organisers to sit down together and find a suitable solution.

And what about team vehicles? Some of those sections seem rather too narrow for cars.
I suppose on the dirt road section they could use something like this:

8026725-mini-steamroller.jpg


which would also sove the problem of the surface getting messed up, but then they wouldn't have anywhere to keep the bikes, not to mention I don't think it can go quite as fast as the riders.

The race was made public in January. The stage map was in the Vuelta web site at that time. I had a look at it on Google Street View. Seems that riders and teams don't care about race recon if it is not the Tour.
 
Re:

RedheadDane said:
I don't understand where this loose-sand-on-a-hard-surface talk is coming from. Looking at this Picture it looks more like a road consisting of just dirt which will be completely messed up once the riders start going over it, unless they roll out the steam-rollers.

cm12qy_wgaanxtr_670.jpg
That talk probably comes from numerous other pictures in which the road doesn't look nearly as bad and quite solid, actually.
 
Re: Re:

SafeBet said:
RedheadDane said:
The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.
By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

By the teams and riders.
Sure, the route was official, on a profile and a map, but did the organiser publicate actual pictures? Of course it's also the teams' own responsibility to recon the routes, and I guess if anything positive is going to come from this then it's reminding the teams that they need to recon routes a bit earlier than two days before the race.
 
Re: Re:

SafeBet said:
RedheadDane said:
The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.
By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.
The definitive official route was only published this week though. Anyone would have assumed whatever they saw before now would be subject to change to make it more suitable for road bikes.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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Re:

SafeBet said:
So it's official: this will count only for the team classification. No gaps among riders.
what's the point then? lol most teams will now completely softpedal :eek:
 
Re: Re:

hrotha said:
The definitive official route was only published this week though. Anyone would have assumed whatever they saw before now would be subject to change to make it more suitable for road bikes.
Doesn't sound very professional. They have a rider association which is there, among other things, to manage security issues in bike races. And yet every time we see riders complaining on Twitter a couple of days before the race. If they really care about security they should start doing something about it.
 
DBotero said:
I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beach parade.

+1

If a team tried to race on that course all out then I think we would lose some GC guys. I also think its rich that some comments on here are saying 'just do it'. If the riders are not happy with the safety aspect then that is good enough for me. They afterall are taking the risks not some couch surfer who wants thrills and hasn't ridden the course
 
Re: Re:

RedheadDane said:
SafeBet said:
RedheadDane said:
The biggest problem with this whole route mess is that was discovered so relatively late.
By whom?
The route was official a very long time ago.

By the teams and riders.
Sure, the route was official, on a profile and a map, but did the organiser publicate actual pictures? Of course it's also the teams' own responsibility to recon the routes, and I guess if anything positive is going to come from this then it's reminding the teams that they need to recon routes a bit earlier than two days before the race.

No, no pictures, just like they won't go take pictures of every bump and pot-hole out on the course and tell the riders to avoid them.


I'm all for rider safety taking forefront, but this complaining is a joke.
 
HelloDolly said:
DBotero said:
I'm happy they neutralized this stage.Vuelta has a great roster this year,no need to risk losing some of the guys in a useless beach parade.

+1

If a team tried to race on that course all out then I think we would lose some GC guys. I also think its rich that some comments on here are saying 'just do it'. If the riders are not happy with the safety aspect then that is good enough for me. They afterall are taking the risks not some couch surfer who wants thrills and hasn't ridden the course

The problem is that some riders probably are happy to ride on it. Just a vocal minority have forced it to be neutralized. I can't imagine that riders who can handle their bike, like Sagan, Nibali or Valverde are losing any sleep over riding through a short section with a bit of sand.

It's a far less dangerous situation than a mountain descent or on cobbles for example, where even if you're not a good descender or cobbles rider, you have to push your limits to stay with the group or risk getting dropped by the peloton.

If a rider with poor bike handling skills doesn't feel comfortable here, they could just drop off the back and ride the last 300m at a gentle pace by themselves. They'd lose a handful of seconds, but that's a fair price to pay for their lack of handling skills - which, after all, is a part of the sport.