Eneco Tour 2014 (2.WT), 11.08 - 17/08

[Arnout]

nasty crash
and that *** from Giant - like a f*cking professional
hope Styby is OK.

Yeah these tactics by Giant to upset a sprint by just steering straight in the peloton after coming from the front are very common, they do it all the time.

 

[Flamin]

Well done Giant-Shimano. And congrats to Dumoulin.

What a horrible crash.

 

[glassmoon]

i know the cannondale rider getting bonked on the head by stybar's flying bike wasnt funny.....but it was slightly funny

it's raining bikes
now i feel slightly bad

 

[Miburo]

Holy ****, i saw stybar his face, it's full of blood. Most likely broke his nose. Let's hope it's 'only' that

 

[willbick]

Holy ****, i saw stybar his face, it's full of blood. Most likely broke his nose. Let's hope it's 'only' that

yeah it looked like the full face-plant. hope his teeth are ok

seriously how long is it gonna be before road cyclists are wearing full body armour?! i mean there has to come a point when with the increased speed of modern cycling, the big pelotons, and the amount of road furniture the very viability of the sport is called into question. i mean when does a sport become 'too dangerous'? the first thing they should do is have a serious discussion about how to make sprint finishes safer

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well done Giant-Shimano. And congrats to Dumoulin.

What a horrible crash.

Yes I'm sure it was a 100% tactic by Giant to eliminate Stybar.

Jesus christ. Some people here are so....nevermind

 

[Miburo]

Honestly i just hate flat sprint stages in general. The sprints are kinda exciting but it's only for like 10 sec.

I can see riders crashing out the way Contador did but i just can't handle it anymore the way riders like stybar crashes out.

Please put in a rule that GC isn't relevant anymore in the last 10 km in pure flat stages. I just don't see the point to not do it. You only ask for trouble.

 

[willbick]

Honestly i just hate flat sprint stages in general. The sprints are kinda exciting but it's only for like 10 sec.

I can see riders crashing out the way Contador did but i just can't handle it anymore the way riders like stybar crashes out.

Please put in a rule that GC isn't relevant anymore in the last 10 km in pure flat stages. I just don't see the point to not do it. You only ask for trouble.

the UCI needs to seriously make changes to sort this out because its becoming ridiculous. like u say they should neutralise the Gc in the last 5km or so, having GC trains up with sprint trains near the fini8sh is just madness. also they need to make the parcours of sprints safer, no stupid corners near the finish or narrow roads. also get rid of those barriers with feet near the finish. and thats just for starters

 

[kingjr]

Yes I'm sure it was a 100% tactic by Giant to eliminate Stybar.

Whoever says that is completely ***, the guy had no intention to crash anyone or even obstruct anyone he made the mistake of looking behind which he had no business of doing cause you always swerve at least a little bit to one side or the other. That's like the first thing to know about riding in a pack, I think in future they should consider taking riders out of the race who cause crashes that way.

 

[Flamin]

Yes I'm sure it was a 100% tactic by Giant to eliminate Stybar.

Jesus christ. Some people here are so....nevermind

Yeah, that's totally what I said of course it was unintentional, but *** nevertheless.

 

[glassmoon]

Yes I'm sure it was a 100% tactic by Giant to eliminate Stybar.

Jesus christ. Some people here are so....nevermind

no one is saying that is was on purpose, you are jumping into wrong conclusion)...
still *** move form that Giant rider - looking around during the sprint

 

[willbick]

does the UCI turn a blind eye to reducing the number of crashes because they add to the drama of the racing?

discuss

 

[kingjr]

does the UCI turn a blind eye to reducing the number of crashes because they add to the drama of the racing?

No


__________

 

[Stelvio]

Probably broken jaw according to Lefevere: http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozon...eco_Tour/MV_140814-Eneco-Lefevere-over-stybar

What more does he say?

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Styby

 

[Jagartrott]

He will be fine, bloody heads always look very nasty but all things considered the way he fell meant he didn't really take big impacts with critical body parts.

Because your head is not a vital body part?

 

[Red Rick]

yeah it looked like the full face-plant. hope his teeth are ok

seriously how long is it gonna be before road cyclists are wearing full body armour?! i mean there has to come a point when with the increased speed of modern cycling, the big pelotons, and the amount of road furniture the very viability of the sport is called into question. i mean when does a sport become 'too dangerous'? the first thing they should do is have a serious discussion about how to make sprint finishes safer

You're giving me the idea of a track event with full body armor where riders are actually allowed to cause crashes

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Dull stage, but good to see Bouhanni finding a way to win.

Considering the next three stages, its madness Stybar wants to engage in the flat sprint finish just to pick up some bonus secs.

 

[Kwibus]

Horrible crash by Stybar, just horrible. Faceplant at full speed

Van Rensburg should learn to keep his head pointed straigtforward during bunchsprints. He probably would've avoided the AG2R rider that rode him off his bike. Both were at fault imo.

And yes I agree that something should be done about the 3k rule. Make it 10k atleast.

 

[Kwibus]

Because your head is not a vital body part?

Obviously it is when it's the first body part that hits the ground... I know what he meant though, because usually a rider has to stop because of a broken collarbone/arm/wrist/leg/hip etc. Still it's a bad conclusion because the head is ofcourse a vital body part.

 

[Bushman]

Making the 13 k rule a 10 k rule wouldn't help anything on a stage like this. I mean, it's not like the gc riders dropped back with 3 k to go, then why would they drop back with 10 k to go? Also in a race like this that very likely is decided by only a few seconds, the favourites will probably try and snatch up a few seconds in bonifications or if a small split happens in the peloton.

 

[Arnout]

Horrible crash by Stybar, just horrible. Faceplant at full speed

Van Rensburg should learn to keep his head pointed straigtforward during bunchsprints. He probably would've avoided the AG2R rider that rode him off his bike. Both were at fault imo.

And yes I agree that something should be done about the 3k rule. Make it 10k atleast.

The easiest way to avoid this stuff is to actually make some rules about behavior during the final km of a flat stage and enforce them. You drop back into the middle of the peloton (like Giant always do to disturb other teams) without trying to keep speed? Disqualification.

And use normal fences instead of those stupid ones with extended legs.

 

[Jagartrott]

Obviously it is when it's the first body part that hits the ground... I know what he meant though, because usually a rider has to stop because of a broken collarbone/arm/wrist/leg/hip etc. Still it's a bad conclusion because the head is ofcourse a vital body part.

Yes, I know, but it sounded weird. As a doctor, I'd be much more worried about the health of a rider after he smacked his head into a fence at 50-60 km/h than if he just broke his collarbone.

 

[Kwibus]

Making the 13 k rule a 10 k rule wouldn't help anything on a stage like this. I mean, it's not like the gc riders dropped back with 3 k to go, then why would they drop back with 10 k to go? Also in a race like this that very likely is decided by only a few seconds, the favourites will probably try and snatch up a few seconds in bonifications or if a small split happens in the peloton.

Imo they should make the rule that once inside the final 10k you can't lose any more time to the bunch. So you can actually let the bunch go and freewheel. So only the sprintersteam will have to stay upfront.

If there is still a breakaway with 10k to go you still get the same time as the bunch if you let go. So if the bunch isn't able to pull the breakaway back in and the breakaway then you lose as much time as the bunch.

Ofcourse this only applies in real sprintstages.

The only problems occurs when someone flats with 12k to go. Then how to apply the rules? He will have to catch the bunch, but the problem is that probably half of the bunch starts to freewheel with 10k to go which is big obstacle for the rider that has to try to return to the bunch.

Hmmmm.. Thoughts?

 

[jens_attacks]

3 kms is fine. nonetheless, the gc riders should think twice if a 10-15 seconds gained in a split really worths the risk of a terrifying crash ending their race