General News Thread

[lemon cheese cake]

Am I right in thinking the Giro thing thats being mentioned is that really wet stage towards the end of the 2020 edition that made Mauro Vegni angry?

 

[tobydawq]

I don't understand the dislike for him either. Okay, so he was involved in one of the extremely rare cases where it maybe turned out afterwards that a race that got changed could possibly have been ridden as originaly intended, out of the already rare cases where a race gets changed. Hardly a reason to dislike the man.
And he's so in touch with the sport he's active (again), he's riding for the WSA KTM team.

Adam Hansen (procyclingstats.com)

What do you mean by "could possibly have been ridden"?

 

[tobydawq]

Am I right in thinking the Giro thing thats being mentioned is that really wet stage towards the end of the 2020 edition that made Mauro Vegni angry?

Yes.

 

[pastronef]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1637043880582340610

View: https://twitter.com/raulbanqueri/status/1637043880582340610

 

[yaco]

We will see how and what Adam Hansen will do. Hopefully it's going to be good for the sport. But after the Giro thing there's some scepticism. Cycling needs to think about safety, but it needs to focus on the real dangers (which usually come from trying to save or earn more money) and not on some symbols and prestige actions.

Do you realise that at each race there is an UCI safety representative ? Do you think, Hansen unilaterally decided he didn't want to race that stage of the Giro ? He was merely the spokesperson .Any decision is made in consultation with the riders and the UCI safety rep.

 

[RedheadDane]

What do you mean by "could possibly have been ridden"?

Exactly that. That it possibly could have been ridden as originally planned, but the decision was made, and there's no point in still going on about it over two years later.
No harm done.

 

[tobydawq]

Exactly that. That it possibly could have been ridden as originally planned, but the decision was made, and there's no point in still going on about it over two years later.
No harm done.

It's three years, and yes, there is a good point in dwelling on it, and it is without doubts that it could have been ridden, no reason for the word 'possibly'.

 

[RedheadDane]

It's three years, and yes, there is a good point in dwelling on it, and it is without doubts that it could have been ridden, no reason for the word 'possibly'.

It was in the Fall of 2020, we're in the Spring of 2023, so not quite three years.
Done is done; nobody can change what happened, thus why there's no point in dwelling on it. Do you really think anyone involved still have random thoughts about "Oh, that day in the Giro 2020!"?
And again; the whole situation is doubly-rare. Not only is it rare that a race gets altered because of the weather, it even rarer that a race gets altered, and afterwards it turns out that it could possibly/probably/likely/without doubts have been ridden as originally intended.

 

[tobydawq]

It was in the Fall of 2020, we're in the Spring of 2023, so not quite three years.
Done is done; nobody can change what happened, thus why there's no point in dwelling on it. Do you really think anyone involved still have random thoughts about "Oh, that day in the Giro 2020!"?
And again; the whole situation is doubly-rare. Not only is it rare that a race gets altered because of the weather, it even rarer that a race gets altered, and afterwards it turns out that it could possibly/probably/likely/without doubts have been ridden as originally intended.

I don't think there's any point discussing this with you.

The fact that the first thing many of us think about when Adam Hansen's name is mentioned is that day obviously shows that you're wrong in saying that we don't remember that day and are afraid that his nomination to a position of power within cycling will lead to more mollycoddling than there already is.

 

[RedheadDane]

The fact that the first thing many of us think about when Adam Hansen's name is mentioned is that day obviously shows that you're wrong in saying that we don't remember that day and are afraid that his nomination to a position of power within cycling will lead to more mollycoddling than there already is.

I was talking about the people whose opinion actually matters. The people who were involved in making the decision. The riders, and UCI safety representative.
Do you really think any of the riders still think about "Oh, if only we had just ridden the stage in the Giro back in 2020 as it had originally been planned?"

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Well it's not like the CPA has a great reputation which could be in danger of getting ruined.

 

[DNP-Old]

Weather forecast for the next week and a half is literally rain, rain and even more rain every day, except on April 2nd. De Ronde is cursed.

 

[DNP-Old]

Weather forecast for the next week and a half is literally rain, rain and even more rain every day, except on April 2nd. De Ronde is cursed.

Rain dance imminent, because the latest reports say it is going to rain on April 2nd. It won't be much in itself, but it could huge given it is likely to rain non-stop from Wednesday to Sunday. Cobbles and roads won't have much time to dry. Friday and Saturday should see the most water, so if nature does its job we'll be golden.

 

[Wyndbrook]

I don't think there's any point discussing this with you.

The fact that the first thing many of us think about when Adam Hansen's name is mentioned is that day obviously shows that you're wrong in saying that we don't remember that day and are afraid that his nomination to a position of power within cycling will lead to more mollycoddling than there already is.

What mollycoddling.

 

[yaco]

I prefer a dry day with a bit of wind - Wet, cold conditions can lead to strange results.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Expect a new wave of race cancellations in the Netherlands this year as the police continues its quest to root out professional cycling in this country. Short summary: cycling races are required to have the police motorbike department guide the race (as opposed to relying on volunteers), now the police has abruptly decided to drastically limit the amount of officers made available for this.

https://www.knwu.nl/nieuws/nationale-politie-overvalt-knwu-wedstrijdkalender-2023-op-de-tocht

 

[Red Rick]

Expect a new wave of race cancellations in the Netherlands this year as the police continues its quest to root out professional cycling in this country. Short summary: cycling races are required to have the police motorbike department guide the race (as opposed to relying on volunteers), now the police has abruptly decided to drastically limit the amount of officers made available for this.

https://www.knwu.nl/nieuws/nationale-politie-overvalt-knwu-wedstrijdkalender-2023-op-de-tocht

Guess we burnt through our budget for dealing with angry farmer protests for this century

 

[Nick2413]

Expect a new wave of race cancellations in the Netherlands this year as the police continues its quest to root out professional cycling in this country. Short summary: cycling races are required to have the police motorbike department guide the race (as opposed to relying on volunteers), now the police has abruptly decided to drastically limit the amount of officers made available for this.

https://www.knwu.nl/nieuws/nationale-politie-overvalt-knwu-wedstrijdkalender-2023-op-de-tocht

For a country so supportive of cycling it seems odd they’re so opposed to bike racing, but I don’t really know the political history of it there.

 

[Sciatic]

Expect a new wave of race cancellations in the Netherlands this year as the police continues its quest to root out professional cycling in this country. Short summary: cycling races are required to have the police motorbike department guide the race (as opposed to relying on volunteers), now the police has abruptly decided to drastically limit the amount of officers made available for this.

https://www.knwu.nl/nieuws/nationale-politie-overvalt-knwu-wedstrijdkalender-2023-op-de-tocht

What’s the motivation behind this —has there been some simmering political or public concern about how bike races are being run?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

What’s the motivation behind this —has there been some simmering political or public concern about how bike races are being run?

Longstanding labour shortages in the relevant police departments that have probably been aggravated by current nationwide labour shortages, combined with professional cycling not exactly being high on the police's priority list which means they've repeatedly pulled/tried to pull out of committing workforce there. Benelux Tour and Slag om Norg (the latter mere days before the race was supposed to be held) were both cancelled for this reason last year, and the underlying domestic calendar has also taken repeated hits.

For a country so supportive of cycling it seems odd they’re so opposed to bike racing, but I don’t really know the political history of it there.

Bike racing is very much a separate entity from cycling generally here, and is also viewed much less positively (especially as a recreational activity).

 

[Samamba]

Expect a new wave of race cancellations in the Netherlands this year as the police continues its quest to root out professional cycling in this country. Short summary: cycling races are required to have the police motorbike department guide the race (as opposed to relying on volunteers), now the police has abruptly decided to drastically limit the amount of officers made available for this.

https://www.knwu.nl/nieuws/nationale-politie-overvalt-knwu-wedstrijdkalender-2023-op-de-tocht

Great timing for Volta Limburg Classic on Saturday... Cancellation coming?

And Benlux Tour cancelled again? Or just a WT Tour of Belgium, let's be honest. The Dutch stages won't be missed.

 

[Sciatic]

Longstanding labour shortages in the relevant police departments that have probably been aggravated by current nationwide labour shortages, combined with professional cycling not exactly being high on the police's priority list which means they've repeatedly pulled/tried to pull out of committing workforce there. Benelux Tour and Slag om Norg (the latter mere days before the race was supposed to be held) were both cancelled for this reason last year, and the underlying domestic calendar has also taken repeated hits.

Bike racing is very much a separate entity from cycling generally here, and is also viewed much less positively (especially as a recreational activity).

Thanks, I appreciate the info even though it’s bad news

 

[search]

Longstanding labour shortages in the relevant police departments that have probably been aggravated by current nationwide labour shortages, combined with professional cycling not exactly being high on the police's priority list which means they've repeatedly pulled/tried to pull out of committing workforce there.

I can see the issue there of course, but not really how it let to the decision to not allow those "C1" qualified policemen to supervise cycling races anymore - instead it now needs a special qualification (only very few seem to have), according to that article. Maybe some bureaucratic or legal reasons played a part there as well?

 

[Mayomaniac]

I can see the issue there of course, but not really how it let to the decision to not allow those "C1" qualified policemen to supervise cycling races anymore - instead it now needs a special qualification (only very few seem to have), according to that article. Maybe some bureaucratic or legal reasons played a part there as well?

I guess it's probably a legal reason, maybe something like that their insurance wouldn't pay in case of incident, if they didn't have the specific qualification.

 

[DNP-Old]

Great timing for Volta Limburg Classic on Saturday... Cancellation coming?

And Benlux Tour cancelled again? Or just a WT Tour of Belgium, let's be honest. The Dutch stages won't be missed.

They won't indeed, but they should. You could make terrific stages in Zeeland and Limburg. An echelon stage, a mini Gold Race, a mini Ronde and mini LBL should be the foundation for one hell of a race and basically the epitome of Dutch/Belgian nature. For some odd reason, organizers seem te believe that Friesland is where the country starts and ends. Either that, or some trash ITT in or around Rotterdam/The Hague region.