2019 Giro d'Italia, stage 5: Frascati - Terracina 140km

[Valv.Piti]

Jan Ullrich will win this Giro Perfect weather for him :lol:

Imagine 10 kg overweigt Ullrich dragging his corpse through this race.

 

[Laplaz]

Ackermann really impressive. Chapeau also to Selig, which imho is one of the best lead-out men currently.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

So we got an answer to the 3 km rule / neutralised finish question. Bole helpfully had a mechanical a couple of kms before the neutralised finish and is the only rider not to be credited with the same time. This was one of just 6 stages in this race where the 3 km rule was scheduled to be in play but it appears that the rule doesn't apply when there is a neutralised finish. Fortunately no GC riders had an issue.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re:

So we got an answer to the 3 km rule / neutralised finish question. Bole helpfully had a mechanical a couple of kms before the neutralised finish and is the only rider not to be credited with the same time. This was one of just 6 stages in this race where the 3 km rule was scheduled to be in play but it appears that the rule doesn't apply when there is a neutralised finish. Fortunately no GC riders had an issue.

I wonder how it would have been handled if it was someone whose GC time was relevant.

 

[Rvizzle]

Ayrton Senna will win this bike race

 

[Dazed and Confused]

So a bit of rain neutralize the finale.
This never ending process of making pro cycling softer makes me turn off the telly.

Whats next? Nappies?

 

[Amazinmets87]

Re:

So a bit of rain neutralize the finale.
This never ending process of making pro cycling softer makes me turn off the telly.

Whats next? Nappies?

It's not unique to cycling. All sports are Charmin soft these days.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Impressive sprint from Moschetti. Looked like bad positioning and truly not having anyone to ride for him cost him the chance of finishing on the podium.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Re: Re:

So a bit of rain neutralize the finale.
This never ending process of making pro cycling softer makes me turn off the telly.

Whats next? Nappies?

It's not unique to cycling. All sports are Charmin soft these days.

If you want sports to be a competition of abuse, you can have it. I want a sport world oriented around the virtues of those sports.

So if the intervention is in response to a new trend, something not intended in the design of the sport, then it is a valid change.

American football is seeing more injuries because stronger players are hitting harder (and better science is revealing the true nature of play). That's not being soft, that's making adjustments as the times adjust. Triathlons/open water swimming has had to adjust/reroute/cancel it's races according to environmental/health impacts that were not possible before. That's not being soft, that's adjusting to changing times.

It could be argued that crashes have always been a part of cycling, so the organizers shouldn't be bending over backwards to make adjustments. (Although another argument is that the changing playing field, and depth/breadth of talent are changes that should be accounted for.)

 

[Breh]

Re: Re:

Dazed and Confused"]So a bit of rain neutralize the finale.
This never ending process of making pro cycling softer makes me turn off the telly.

Whats next? Nappies?

Thanks for your input Roger De Vlaeminck

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ayrton Senna will win this bike race

Any excuse for this.

 

[Robert5091]

Re:

I just did a street view walk around. As long as they have barriers in place and they've repaired some of the roads since the images were taken that final circuit looks no more dangerous than any other (I still think that the GC contenders should have their time taken earlier and be allowed to get out of the way).

Your wish was granted - sensible move by the organizers.

Ackermann wins a very wet sprint against Gaviria and everyone runs to get dry and warm.

 

[del1962]

On the sprint, this was not a normal sprint, where sprinters are coming of a fast pace but a test of acceleration from a relatively slow speed, so I don't think we can make too many judgements on how future sprints will go

Also I expect the weather also effected it.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

So a bit of rain neutralize the finale.
This never ending process of making pro cycling softer makes me turn off the telly.

Whats next? Nappies?

It's not unique to cycling. All sports are Charmin soft these days.

If you want sports to be a competition of abuse, you can have it. I want a sport world oriented around the virtues of those sports.

So if the intervention is in response to a new trend, something not intended in the design of the sport, then it is a valid change.

American football is seeing more injuries because stronger players are hitting harder (and better science is revealing the true nature of play). That's not being soft, that's making adjustments as the times adjust. Triathlons/open water swimming has had to adjust/reroute/cancel it's races according to environmental/health impacts that were not possible before. That's not being soft, that's adjusting to changing times.

It could be argued that crashes have always been a part of cycling, so the organizers shouldn't be bending over backwards to make adjustments. (Although another argument is that the changing playing field, and depth/breadth of talent are changes that should be accounted for.)

This sport (cycling) has never been as soft as it is now. Its ridiculous.

 

[RedheadDane]

Could it be possible - for situations like today - to encourage GC riders (and their teams) to do the GC battle behind the sprinters?
So the time will be taken at the finish, and the riders who are good in the rain will be able to use that to their advantage, but the fight won't happen mixed in with the sprinters.
In other words; do riders like Nibali, Yates, etc. need to be in top-10 position (with their teams) with 1 K to go? If all the guys who finish ahead are sprinters who're several minutes behind in GC, what would it matter if there was a split, and they gained a few seconds?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Vervaeke said he'll have to work on his Italian, because they didn't understand what he was saying. He wanted to keep the pace down, untill the climb. They wanted to go full gas from the start.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Re:

on most stages

Could it be possible - for situations like today - to encourage GC riders (and their teams) to do the GC battle behind the sprinters?
So the time will be taken at the finish, and the riders who are good in the rain will be able to use that to their advantage, but the fight won't happen mixed in with the sprinters.
In other words; do riders like Nibali, Yates, etc. need to be in top-10 position (with their teams) with 1 K to go? If all the guys who finish ahead are sprinters who're several minutes behind in GC, what would it matter if there was a split, and they gained a few seconds?

Not sure what you mean by the GC riders doing their battle behind the sprinters: stages won by sprinters are usually pretty much GC neutral, apart from issues unrelated to the sprint. The 3km and 3 second rules ought to achieve this, ought to make sure that "Nibali, Yates etc" can be farther back with 1 k to go.I suspect that the latter has not really lodged itself in the collective mind of the peloton.

 

[RedheadDane]

It seems to me that an issue that often occurs is the GC teams pushing towards the front, because they don't want to lose time.

 

[del1962]

I don't think they are using 3 second rule of flat sprint stages, which they can do

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

It seems to me that an issue that often occurs is the GC teams pushing towards the front, because they don't want to lose time.

Or because they want to avoid crashes. No one wants to be caught behind and lose time, as you said. So then both sprint teams and GC teams fighting for position at the front and that makes the race more stressful and also more prone to crashes.