2016 Paris - Nice, March 6th - 13th, WT

[Lemonbaloon]

Why is noone talking about the massive drifting Bouhanni did, right after he went for it?

 

[jaylew]

Re:

Not his worst but Bouhanni has to realise he's a loose cannon. Even Kristoff backed off from that crazy stuff.

Nah, Kittel just didn't have the legs. I'm ok with the result - it was borderline. Relegate Bouhanni to 3rd but no DQ sounds about right.

 

[Tonton]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

 

[Carols]

Any pictures of Bouhanni tossing his bike when he gets the news?

 

[StephenC2020]

Re: Re:

If they wanted to complain about something being dangerous they should have mentioned Bouhanni being all over the road.

My crystal ball was correct apparently.

At least he probably won't do it tomorrow

 

[rehy90]

come on guys, how can you defend Bouhanni here...I like tough sprint finishes, but this was really dirty move...it would be ok if he shut the door before Matthews was next to him, but this was definitely not ok

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Oh well, my hatred for Matthews and Orica just got a massive boost today (even though it was already strong enough ).
Case closed.

Victim blaming?

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

Yep, he was boxed in and tried to get through anyway!

He closed the door from the other side of the road. He was only boxed in when he would have gone around if Bouhanni had kept his line.

Apparently a rider should desist from the sprint the moment some bloke, with the entire road open, moves in to one side and boxes him in. It's Matthews' fault for not stopping the moment Bouhanni dragged him dangerously close to the barriers.

 

[Supimilian]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Had Matthews backed off he would not have got his rightful win, encouraging more of these types of tactics.

 

[rainman]

Re: Re:

Not his worst but Bouhanni has to realise he's a loose cannon. Even Kristoff backed off from that crazy stuff.

Nah, Kittel just didn't have the legs. I'm ok with the result - it was borderline. Relegate Bouhanni to 3rd but no DQ sounds about right.

Yea was Kristoff I wondered about let, a big gap.

 

[Carols]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Exactly IMO. You can't go through a nonexistent hole, there wasn't enough room way before the contact. The guy in third should be the winner .

Oh well kudos to Bling!

 

[TMP402]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Had Matthews backed off he would not have got his rightful win, encouraging more of these types of tactics.

Very good point.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

come on guys, how can you defend Bouhanni here...I like tough sprint finishes, but this was really dirty move...it would be ok if he shut the door before Matthews was next to him, but this was definitely not ok

Didn't look dirty to me at all. Bouhanni was going from left to right as he was sprinting as sprinters often do and him going left corresponded with a spot where Bling went right a bit at the same time because the barrier came out a few cms.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Had Matthews backed off he would not have got his rightful win, encouraging more of these types of tactics.

In that case it would not have been his rightful win. If there is no space, there's no space. You can't ride right through another rider.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

He went almost all the way across the road to force Matthews into the barriers.

That isn't what happened at all, Bouhanni didn't really move that far off his line

What? He went from the middle of the road to 1 metre from the barriers in the space of 50-100 metres

 

[DBotero]

I think they did the right thing.Good for Matthews.Still waiting for Swift to get it right and win something.

 

[rehy90]

Re: Re:

come on guys, how can you defend Bouhanni here...I like tough sprint finishes, but this was really dirty move...it would be ok if he shut the door before Matthews was next to him, but this was definitely not ok

Didn't look dirty to me at all. Bouhanni was going from left to right as he was sprinting as sprinters often do and him going left corresponded with a spot where Bling went right a bit at the same time because the barrier came out a few cms.

not what i saw from helicopter...Bouhanni went to the left but he left enough space for matthews to overtake him...when he saw that matthews is faster, he tried to shut the door but it was too late to do that...

 

[Vasilis]

Seems like there was another gap in front of Bevin in 22nd position, so several riders like Contador and Porte lose some time to guys like Thomas and Dumoulin.

 

[Supimilian]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Had Matthews backed off he would not have got his rightful win, encouraging more of these types of tactics.

In that case it would not have been his rightful win. If there is no space, there's no space. You can't ride right through another rider.

There was space just until he was about to pass. Pure coincidence, of course

 

[BigMac]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Exactly IMO. You can't go through a nonexistent hole, there wasn't enough room way before the contact. The guy in third should be the winner .

Oh well kudos to Bling!

C'mon Carols, this is a very flawed logic. Why would Matthews back off when it was someone else who made the mess? Are we really to punish cyclists for being competitive against adversities and the on-road bullying?

Everybody here knows I'm not a fan of Matthews, quite on the contrary, but the guy did just what he had to do.

 

[Bushman]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

I agree with this, but the dangerous situation was in first instance only caused by Bouhanni not holding his line and intentionally trying to box Matthews in.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Exactly IMO. You can't go through a nonexistent hole, there wasn't enough room way before the contact. The guy in third should be the winner .

Oh well kudos to Bling!

The hole was existent until Bouhanni went for the barriers.

Everyone saying Matthews went for a hole that wasn't there are ignoring that the two were nearly side-by-side, until Bouhanni went to push Matthews. Then there wasn't a hole for Matthews to go, but the foul was already committed.

 

[Samamba]

So the 2 big sprint teams were nowhere to see. Kittel & Etixx just failed. The whole team is built around him so. Maybe Greipel has an excuse. Henderson & Sieberg are out so his last man was Wellens at 3k from the finish.

 

[Carols]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Exactly IMO. You can't go through a nonexistent hole, there wasn't enough room way before the contact. The guy in third should be the winner .

Oh well kudos to Bling!

C'mon Carols, this is a very flawed logic. Why would Matthews back off when it was someone else who made the mess? Are we really to punish cyclists for being competitive against adversities and the on-road bullying?

Everybody here knows I'm not a fan of Matthews, quite on the contrary, but the guy did just what he had to do.

I don't mind Bling at all, just feeling a bit contrary today I guess Yes they made the right decision and Bouhanni is known for being dangerous.

 

[Bushman]

Jalabert, who knows a thing or two about sprints (among other things ) was commenting live, giving the blame to Nacer, but also noting that Matthews kept going for a hole that was no longer there, thus being at fault to a smaller extend.

Had Matthews backed off he would not have got his rightful win, encouraging more of these types of tactics.

In that case it would not have been his rightful win. If there is no space, there's no space. You can't ride right through another rider.

But there was lots of space when the road straightened out and Matthews started his sprint from Bouhanni's wheel with 200 metres left. I agree that Matthews tried to push through where there wasnt enough space, but Bouhanni drifted several metres to the left into Matthews' path which is not okay