Giro d'Italia 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 2: Stupinigi - Novara 179km

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Sky started that trend and it won't stop until we get a big crash because of it that takes out multiple top gc contenders...

UCI with all their *** safety rules should have made a rule that allows GC riders to drop off at the 3k mark without time loss.

 

[houtdffan]

UCI with all their *** safety rules should have made a rule that allows GC riders to drop off at the 3k mark without time loss.

There were far fewer crashes when the rule was no time loss only within the final 1k. Only big one I can remember was stage 1 of the 2003 TDF.

Didn't see these 3km flat out sprint trains. They usually didn't get started until only 1km to go, which resulted in much less time to crash

 

[Panda Claws]

UCI with all their *** safety rules should have made a rule that allows GC riders to drop off at the 3k mark without time loss.

But would the camera at the 3k mark be set-up properly?

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Keisse is right, GC guys (Bernal) should not be up there fighting for the front at 1km to go. Leave the chaos to the sprint teams

Brian Smith made a reasonable point just now, saying that they should take the stage time at 3km to go as the GC teams are paranoid about splits emerging and then let the sprint teams fight it out

 

[Ranagazoo]

Didn't they introduce the 3 second split rule for stages like this to stop these overprotective GC teams?

On another Ineos note I saw Dani Martinez taking big pulls towards the end, seems a waste of talent to make the Dauphine winner pulling for a fake sprint train

 

[Rackham]

Brian Smith made a reasonable point just now, saying that they should take the stage time at 3km to go as the GC teams are paranoid about splits emerging and then let the sprint teams fight it out

I bet quite a few sprinters would hope the GC standings & particularly the stage time (& cut time) are frozen before a climb finish, i.e. quite a few sprinters are themselves paranoid about missing the cut in the mountain stages.

I half jest because staying on the bike, having a team to protect the leader & surviving nervous, chaotic sprint stage finishes is part of the game. I think it would show favoritism to climbers & undermine the purity of sprinting (& its dangers) as an integral part of a cycling stage race.

 

[spalco]

I think it would show favoritism to climbers & undermine the purity of sprinting (& its dangers) as an integral part of a cycling stage race.

More than that it would undermine the integrity of racing in general to take times before the finish line, except under exceptional circumstances imo.

 

[Rackham]

More than that it would undermine the integrity of racing in general to take times before the finish line, except under exceptional circumstances imo.

It happened in the Vuelta last year on a stage with really bad weather & the final 3km were on a twisty, dangerous wet sprint road. So they froze the GC standings at the 3km point.

So that scenario should only be "exceptional circumstances". Because otherwise they'd remove all sporting purpose of stages like today's Giro stage altogether if they froze the times, i.e. a procession without risk for the GC all the way through would be unbearable.

 

[Panda Claws]

In competition things like that would be better solved with some sort of honor code. Unless the teams and cyclists themselves enforce that GC riders stay back there will always be an incentive to try an be at the front because you might get shafted if others do it and you don't. In essence it has to be seen as not done by the cyclists themselves and its difficult to build up such a culture. Think this was more of a thing in previous eras were the peloton had more implicit rules and leaders.

But as said, a hard rule could very well be deemed to undermine integrity and/or cyclists would still be incentivized to get the most out of what the new rule still allows.

Perhaps, if Evenepoel turns out to be a fantastic GC rider, we might see teams like QS contribute to such a culture but then again they might become a new Sky as well.

 

[jmdirt]

That Gaviria situation looks worse with every replay to me.

That's a tough one: IMO its best if the leadout guys drift out of the way instead of slowing in the middle of the road, but Gaviria had already committed to the barrier. I'm glad that he stay up!

 

[Netserk]

Not by choice. It was just unfortunate that Gaviria came that way because he was out of position earlier.

Disagree. Molano deliberately fell back where he knew sprinters would be coming; if he wanted to not being in the way, he should have gone to the other side of the road.

 

[Salvarani]

Disagree. Molano deliberately fell back where he knew sprinters would be coming; if he wanted to not being in the way, he should have gone to the other side of the road.

Yeah, steering into the middle where everyone else where going would have been very safe.

There wasnt any space and Gaviria took a gamble. That it was his teammate was just a coincidence. He dropped back very normally, like one does.

And if sprinters is supposed to come that close to the barrier kind of says it all.

 

[DaLong]

Yeah, steering into the middle where everyone else where going would have been very safe.

There wasnt any space and Gaviria took a gamble. That it was his teammate was just a coincidence. He dropped back very normally, like one does.

That’s the way I see it too, taking the barriers is always a risky chance.

 

[armchairclimber]

That’s the way I see it too, taking the barriers is always a risky chance.

Taking any line in a sprint seems to be dangerous. To my eyes Molano was at fault there.

 

[Bolder]

It looked to me that Molano expected Gav to go left so he drifted right toward the barrier when he pulled off. He probably should have just held his line. But then again the course curved slightly to the right, too...

 

[Netserk]

The three other leadout riders dropped back to their left, Molano had space to move wherever he wanted to, and as the road was turning right, you'd expect all sprinters to stay in the right side of the road.

 

[Salvarani]

How do you sprint past someone if everyone is on the right side, where is the space to sprint...

 

[Netserk]

When the shortest way to the finish line is at the right side of the road, there will always be sprinters launching their sprint to the rightmost part of the road. Some will go for the middle, but no one will go for the very leftmost part of the road.

 

[Salvarani]

Where was the space.

Only one rider got boxed in. Go figure out why.

 

[Netserk]

The space for Molano to drop back? Plenty of space. He could easily have gone to the very leftmost part of the road after ending his leadout.

 

[Salvarani]

No, because when he is looking back before dropping Merlier is launching his sprint on the left side of him right there.

Gaviria took a risk going that close to the barrier when there was no space.

 

[Salvarani]

And when you really looking at it he is just keeping his line. There is no space where Gaviria tryna go.

 

[Netserk]

Molano stops (or comes close to) pedalling before Merlier launches his sprint. He decided to drop back to his right before he looks over his shoulder.

As such, he is either willingly or unwillingly (but predictably, given the path of the road) obstructing others' sprint.

 

[Salvarani]

You go past on the outside!!

Thats what everyone was doing except one rider.

 

[DaLong]

Probably both right, he dropped back to a weird spot but Gaviria chose the wrong lane even if it’s in hindsight. Needless to say it doesn’t matter because Merlier wasn’t going to be caught especially from that far back...no one was really gaining on him.