A Tough Situation for the Giro

[dirkprovin]

If Leopard Trek chose to withdraw from the remainder of the Giro, that would be understandable under the circumstances. With regards to tomorrows stage, I would support the previous precedent for such tragic occurances .... that of neutralising the stage with all prizemoney to go to Weylandt's family.

Am not going to buy into the issue of the Crostis as I am insufficiently familiar with it. Organisers may indeed reassess this part of the route; unless I can see clear evidence to the contrary I'll go with their judgement.

Have read some interesting comments re safety. Regarding helmets design, maybe there is more that can be done. Regarding descents however; I do most politely differ from the previous poster who took aim at the UCI. HOW, precisely, can they police such things ? Terrain & topography are not matters that can be standardised. Weather conditions undoubtedly play a part in safety concerns & whether certain terrain/passes should be traversed but again, this can really only be assessed by those "on the ground".

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

The Crostis descent will need to be reconsidered. I like watching crazy hard stages as much as anyone, but putting people's lives in danger with that kind of descent is really unnecessary.

oh god pls. this crash had nothing to do with being narrow. crostis is saver actually because there won't be big group downhils and there will be nets.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

If the Crostis was safe enough when they designed the course, it still is today. If it would be two or three days from now, I could see them cancelling a descent, but although this may sound incredibly harsh, two weeks from now Wouter's terrible accident will be on the back of people's mind during the race.

The security of the riders is incredibly important, but this was a 'regular' high speed descent, unless you want to ban all descents you can't rule out all risks (procycling would still be really dangerous). Of course its possible that the Crostis descent is too dangerous, I wouldn't mind if the Giro-organisers look at it again, but I would't base much on a photo taken at an angle, that's possibly not even from the descent itself.

this 100% .

 

[Libertine Seguros]

On the one hand, that photo of Monte Crostis is right near the top where the road is at its worst; the descending gradient isn't as bad there. Further down, where it is steeper, the road is in better condition.

On the other hand, just because it is no more dangerous today than it was yesterday is no reason not to have a rethink after the safety issue becomes a key factor. The safety is more of a key issue today than it was yesterday, for the simple reason that everybody has been reminded, in the worst possible way, of how dangerous the profession can be. We have a tendency to think everything will turn out alright, because we see riders crash and get injured regularly, but they always live to fight another day. We sometimes forget when we're laughing at some riders' poor bike handling that they aren't bulletproof. And it makes total sense to reconsider some of the racing decisions that have been made - decisions that were made in the interest of racing excitement first, may now be reconsidered with rider safety as the most important factor.

There's a good chance the Crostis descent could have been traversed safely by all. But if something DOES happen, in the light of today's events, everybody will - rightly - say "why did you have them race this? Did Wouter Weylandt's death not teach you anything?" In the light of what happened afterward, I'm sure the organisers of Imola '94 wish they'd cancelled the race or installed the mooted temporary chicanes to make the track slower and safer after Ratzenberger's death. And I'm also sure Angelo Zomegnan and his team really don't want anything like this to happen again.

 

[FabulousCandelabra]

Why is the Giro always so EFFING DANGEROUS that riders have to protest because they feel like the director doesn't give two cents about their lives?????? The giro stage that was a circuit race (in Milan??) that had tons of tram lines and parked cars everywhere comes to mind.... THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE UP CALL!!! a big eff you to Zomegnan.

 

[UpTheRoad]

oh god pls. this crash had nothing to do with being narrow. crostis is saver actually because there won't be big group downhils and there will be nets.

Perhaps the best thing to make it safer would be to have no time-limit for this stage. I would presume that the ones in groups who may take risks are in the autobus hoping to make it to the finish without being eliminated. They can usually descend well to make up some time that they have lost.

A real problem for the GC contenders would be in the unlikely event that Contador has a decent gap at the top of Crostis and the others have to chase hard before Zoncolan. Nibali, I could see taking a few risks. Menchov, I can see thanking the organizers for providing the nets.

 

[therhodeo]

This is a tragic incident but what made today's descent that much more dangerous than ones you see in races like this all the time??

 

[flicker]

Never saw anything like this photo.

As for the race, I have to agree with posters who were talking neutralized stage and donating prize money to his family.

I don't know. If this were a six day race and an incident like todays passing to angels happened, would say cancel the entire race.
This is the Giro though, the tradition goes on. I watched the descent before the crash, luckily I did not see Wouter's accident. It was such a fast descent one could see the riders were on the edge of losing it for at least 5 minutes. What are the guys doing, 65-75 MPH? No way cancelling or altering stages. If the riders and their DSs choose to withdrawl, or use caution this is their choice.
Most here love the Giro, and this is one of the worst thing that could happen. It is part of the drama though.
When Pedro Hirrllo, flew off a bridge a few years back the organizers did not even know ithe had gone airborne, his teamates saw his bike without Pedro, lying on the road. Cycling an insane brutal sport. When Tom Simpson died in Le Tour the race went on.
Coppi, Bartalli, Binda, etc. rode the same roads and even more dangerous ones.
Todays riders are pros, let them carry on.
RIP to the man who passed on and his family.

 

[Wergeland]

The Giro stages have always been dangerous and twisty...

I've ALWAYS been disappointed by the lack of frontal protection on bike helmets. The rear section of helmets is quite large but there's nothing over your forehead. I always though it would be better & more comfortable to have the helmet extend farther over your head, it might also help block out the sun.

Anyways racing deaths are extremely rare. Very unlucky. Most fatalities or serious injuries come from cars & trucks.

Not that is matters, but it was not the front of the head that took the most damage. You could see from the way he was lying that everything was not ok with the side/back of the head.

Norhaud (Sky) said that he passed Weylandt quite slowly and said that right there he just felt like getting off his bike and quit cycling.

He also said that what he saw from the side was much worse than what we saw on tv (his face.)

Again. This is so tragic.

 

[Arnout]

Why is the Giro always so EFFING DANGEROUS that riders have to protest because they feel like the director doesn't give two cents about their lives?????? The giro stage that was a circuit race (in Milan??) that had tons of tram lines and parked cars everywhere comes to mind.... THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE UP CALL!!! a big eff you to Zomegnan.

This has absolutely nothing to do with all of this.

 

[jsem94]

This is a tragic incident but what made today's descent that much more dangerous than ones you see in races like this all the time??

It wasn't. But it was enough for this to happen.

 

[Scatto]

It's the saddest news one can get from cycling. It's so awful you cannot call it part of the game. But as for solutions, there is no safe ride: Kivilev fell (without a helmet) when he was riding uphill ... Many (extreme) sports and leisure activities are even more dangerous than cycling.

A young and nice guy lost his life, and a child his father. It doesn't help either of them if someone is responsible for that. We can only hope it does not happen again and that nobody is so mental to look for spectacle in crashing riders. That's something different than having challenging rides.

I hope he wore his smile this morning when he woke up, and keeps it forever.

 

[CatsNK]

+1

If the Crostis was safe enough when they designed the course, it still is today. If it would be two or three days from now, I could see them cancelling a descent, but although this may sound incredibly harsh, two weeks from now Wouter's terrible accident will be on the back of people's mind during the race.

The security of the riders is incredibly important, but this was a 'regular' high speed descent, unless you want to ban all descents you can't rule out all risks (procycling would still be really dangerous). Of course its possible that the Crostis descent is too dangerous, I wouldn't mind if the Giro-organisers look at it again, but I would't base much on a photo taken at an angle, that's possibly not even from the descent itself.

I'll still be watching, still enjoying the 2011 Giro, including the mountain descents. I guess I'm hard-hearted - I'm a Hospice volunteer so perhaps I'm more inured to death than some. Yes, this is sad and a tragedy. But this race will presumably and hopefully (IMO) go on.

Who among us hasn't rocketed down a hill at 50mph+, knowing that a rock or a road bump could cause some, well, difficulties? Especially when we were in our 20s. Riding is risky, racing even more so. I watch it understanding the dangers.

 

[therhodeo]

It wasn't. But it was enough for this to happen.

So does that mean from now on that this stage is the bar and no descents can be worse than this one because something tragic happened? How often does something like this happen? If it were once per grand tour or even once a year I could see this being a trend of really dangerous conditions but I'm not sure that trends point to that.

 

[la.margna]

If I died in a Giro or Tour, I would like the race to go on and see the guys fight and giving it all for it, but maybe dedicating the next day's victory to me or so... maybe a minute of silence, but that's it...

I mean, it is tragic and unwelcome, but it's life.

these are the risks when my profession includes speeding downhill at crazy speeds on my bike. like many other sports have risks.

lots of love, positive energy and respect to Wouter and his family.

 

[benpounder]

I suggest that before we discuss the merits, or demerits, of any race, we wait for details of the crash.

If first reports are correct, it is likely a freak accident, one which very little could have been done prevent.

 

[skippy]

Parrullo i saw your comment about the Boco descent , drove down it and decided that it was not a climb i would like to ride down so carried on to park up and ride the last 20km . Ridden down the Gallibier in torrential rain when the route of the TDF finished in Sestriere so to take fright at a dry road eoday must convey some sense of the dangers posed ?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

It has no use discussing the descent of the Crostis or any other mountain.
They are part of cycling

A horrible accident can happen even in the simplest of courses.
If you sent the peloton through a straight road for 200km, even then accidents happen. A guy touches the back wheel of a rider, flies off his bike and straight into a tree... or a parked car...

You can't protect the riders life for 100%... just like in real life you can't save everyone.

It's life...sad but true. And I don't think doing one crazy descent more or less will really change the statistics

 

[erader]

I agree, and I will have my eyes closed (or not be watching) if the descent is as marginal as we expect.

But how do we balance the sport with the risk. Where do we draw the line between challenging and dangerous. The tragedy of the sport is that this could happen anywhere.

death can happen at any time during a race but rarely does. take a deep breath. the balance is there.

erader

 

[flicker]

+1

I'll still be watching, still enjoying the 2011 Giro, including the mountain descents. I guess I'm hard-hearted - I'm a Hospice volunteer so perhaps I'm more inured to death than some. Yes, this is sad and a tragedy. But this race will presumably and hopefully (IMO) go on.

Who among us hasn't rocketed down a hill at 50mph+, knowing that a rock or a road bump could cause some, well, difficulties? Especially when we were in our 20s. Riding is risky, racing even more so. I watch it understanding the dangers.

Yeah, I know cycling is dangerous, I have been down hard many times. These men are pros, they know what they have signed up for. Cycling, world's toughest sport.
Giro is hard-core man, he took the risk and lost. Big respect to him and his family, but I see it in those races, walls, cliffs road furniture, barriers, spectators abutements, etc. A plastic and styrafoam helmet can only do so much. Even with the protection auto and cafe racers have they still die! Anyone who has raced knows the dangers, no *****footing for the pros. It could be lights out at any time for us who ride bikes.

 

[JohnNordin]

It has no use discussing the descent of the Crostis or any other mountain.
They are part of cycling

A horrible accident can happen even in the simplest of courses.
If you sent the peloton through a straight road for 200km, even then accidents happen. A guy touches the back wheel of a rider, flies off his bike and straight into a tree... or a parked car...

You can't protect the riders life for 100%... just like in real life you can't save everyone.

It's life...sad but true. And I don't think doing one crazy descent more or less will really change the statistics

I respectfully disagree. There are degrees of risk. Yes, an accident can happen anywhere. But some places are more likely, and some places the consequences are larger. I think the risks can be reduced, and should be.

 

[Greenflame]

While this is defenitely terrible and I have been on the brink of tears since this happened, I don't think it would be wise to change the route of the Giro now. Clearly tomorrow will be a nautral stage with a Leopard guy, or perhaps Ferrar as Weylandt's best friend winning and giving away the prize money to his family. But the Giro, despite the shadow hanging over it now, will go on.

As for the Crostis, I can only trust the route designers to make the right call here. If they think it's safe, we'll have to trust that. This shouldn't change anything for the route. Descends, like sprints and cobbles, are inherently dangerous. I'm sure the designers have considered safety when drawing this years Giro, and if they then decided it was safe enough all we can do is trust their judgement, especially since they have far more information and experience on the matter than any of us do.

If, however, they'd decide to scrap that particular descend, I will defenitely not be complaining.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

A freak accident can happen anywhere and to anyone. But it doesn't mean that it doesn't put things into perspective. Personally I think more ski netting is definitely the way to go. Downhill skiing has seen deaths and terrible injuries many a time; the sport contains an element of risk. We shouldn't start a kneejerk reaction of stopping any difficult or challenging descent; descending is part of the sport and has been since the beginning. However, more (and better) netting at potentially dangerous spots (in some cases possibly for much of the descent) is a more feasible and palatable solution than simply making descents easier or slower. Perhaps more indicators on the road or beside it, like the metre markers ahead of corners in motor racing, to say where corners are coming, may be an additional help.

Some climbs are one-way streets, and can't be descended. Angliru, Alpe d'Huez, and Tre Cime di Lavaredo spring to mind as examples. Others are passes that you can go up and down. Maybe we shouldn't be descending the Zoncolan, or similarly narrow or steep roads. But we got down the Mortirolo just fine in the rain last year. Most descents will be okay with just some catch fencing and better signposting of the road ahead.

 

[VeloCity]

This is a tragic incident but what made today's descent that much more dangerous than ones you see in races like this all the time??

Why is there a high-speed, highly technical descent with hairpin turns at the end of a 175km, relatively meaningless stage, when riders are getting nervous, taking risks to get into position for the sprint run-in, and they're getting tired and losing focus? It's a recipe for disaster, and yes, Weylandt's death is absolutely the worst-case scenario, but is it really a surprise when a bad accident occurs on a descent like that?

Of course it's a dangerous sport, but why the need to make it more dangerous than it has to be?

 

[fatandfast]

Guy was on the rise, shame it went this way. RIP. The best of best has one less