Itzulia Basque Country 2024, April 1-6

[armchairclimber]

I'm a race organiser in another sport, which also has its fatalities, sadly. I've also been a health and ssafety manager for 30 years, so I'm used to looking at risks and mitigation. I looked at that corner today and the concrete culvert and my first thought was Lambrecht. My second thought was.... fill it with hay bales ffs.

 

[scribers]

Do we have a triage report yet?

 

[Lequack]

The medical toll is heavy for Belgian Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) with two punctured lungs, two broken ribs and pain in his vertebrae (via @ngeorgereau ). Also involved in the fall in the Basque Country, Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek) has nothing broken. #Itzulia2024

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775955210474500593

View: https://twitter.com/LeGruppetto/status/1775955210474500593

 

[KOM]

I don't get how some randoms become cycling 'influencers'. 10 years ago I don't think this Benji Naesen character would have gained any traction whatsoever but now it's always his Tweets + some other usual profiles who seem to be 'trending' constantly. Is he even a real journalist?

No idea how the algorithm works & why some people become social media celebs out of nowhere (this is hardly exclusive to cycling of course).

Broadly speaking I dont really understand it either. In his case specifically, hes basically a cycling populist lol, always having the "obvious good guy" opinion (which despite that is quite often wrong or atleast debateable as those type of opinions often are, if theyre given deeper thought) and spewing as many of those into the twitter abyss as possible. I guess persistence pays of in that regard. Plus I do enjoy the postcast, but mostly if not exclusively for the other guy, who seems more levelheaded, less calculating, alot less pc and generally more knowledgeable imo Benji is getting carried hard. Good for him I suppose

 

[jaylew]

Update on Jay Vine:

Dr. Adriano Rotunno (Medical Director): "Jay Vine suffered a heavy crash today during the race and sustained a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures. Thankfully no neurological involvement, and there are no other major injuries or head trauma. Jay will stay in hospital for neurological observation. We await spinal orthopaedic assessment and further management."

 

[Cookster15]

The tightening bend and rider judgement is one thing. Lack of protection in that concrete culvert is another.

 

[LesDiablesRouges]

I don't get how some randoms become cycling 'influencers'. 10 years ago I don't think this Benji Naesen character would have gained any traction whatsoever but now it's always his Tweets + some other usual profiles who seem to be 'trending' constantly. Is he even a real journalist?

No idea how the algorithm works & why some people become social media celebs out of nowhere (this is hardly exclusive to cycling of course).



I don't care who's fault it is. It's daft either way.

Imagine if Ayrton Senna's crash had received the same tv broadcast blackout? Everyone would have been clinging to various unsubstantiated rumors about his condition. In fact in his case, TF1 (French broadcaster) did initially say he was conscious & responding to the medical team about an hour later. But since everyone had seen the images there was some doubt which turned out to be sadly (& tragically) correct.

Benji was a big figure for the Pro Cycling Manager game and later was a consultant for Visma and now he's consulting for Lotto.

I wouldn't call him an influencer as he's not hawking merchandise. He has industry experience.

I literally snuck onto a press row 20+ years ago for the biggest High School basketball AAU tournament in the country as a journalist working for a non-affiliated university website and interviewed players who were potential recruits for the school I was working with.

Sports is all about seizing opportunities and forcing your way in unless you are a world class athlete.

Of course it doesn't mean you have to like or agree with someone.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Broadly speaking I dont really understand it either. In his case hes specifically, hes basically a cycling populist lol, always having the "obvious good guy" opinion (which despite that is quite often wrong or atleast debateable as those type of opinions often are, if theyre given deeper thought) and spewing as many of those into the twitter abyss as possible. I guess persistence pays of in that regard. Plus I do enjoy the postcast, but mostly if not exclusively for the other guy, who seems more levelheaded, less calculating, alot less pc and generally more knowledgeable imo Benji is getting carried hard. Good for him I suppose

Benji is a pathetic shill with an obvious bias that even when he gets stuff right he makes the point in such a manufactured way as to destroy all credibility. Is he still being paid directly by Plugge or is he pretending to be objective now?

 

[Lequack]

Update on Jay Vine:

Dr. Adriano Rotunno (Medical Director): "Jay Vine suffered a heavy crash today during the race and sustained a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures. Thankfully no neurological involvement, and there are no other major injuries or head trauma. Jay will stay in hospital for neurological observation. We await spinal orthopaedic assessment and further management."

Really bad luck, and he's had plenty of it.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775956113294246377

View: https://twitter.com/TeamEmiratesUAE/status/1775956113294246377

 

[Tim Cahill]

Vine broken back too, no info about Sean Quinn or Roglic. Can't believe how brutal the crash was, no idea how Marc Soler managed to keep upright,

Edit: @Delo_Sport

"Primož Roglič suffered only some abrasions in that nasty crash and he will be back on a bike in a few days."

 

[Lequack]

Following the crash during Thursday’s stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country, Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital, for medical examination.
There it was revealed that the Belgian Champion suffered a fracture to his right collarbone and his right scapula.

Medical Update | Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team

Following the crash during Thursday’s stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country, Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital, for medical examination.

www.soudal-quickstepteam.com

 

[Rackham]

If you have a fetish about watching people die, then I understand that you think it's daft. But for normal people it's acceptable not to see pictures of a crash where it's not certain the driver will survive.

And how often do you watch F1? Every 30 years? F1 didn't stay in 1994, a lot has changed since then. If something really bad happens, like Bianchi's crash in Japan, someone from the FIA comes out and explains what's going on. Or are you one of those sick people who would have loved to watch from 20 camera angles in super slow motion as his head is smashed at +200km/h on a tractor?

If something has a happy ending, like Grosjean's crash, can't you wait 10 minutes to see a living person jump out of the flames?

There's a huge spectrum between the strawman you present here (i.e. ghoulish up close shots of macabre death) & what amounts to essentially censoring the broadcast & treating the paying public like children, which is what modern F1 does (& it's what some people are advocating for re cycling broadcasts).

I'm not a child. I don't appreciate being treated as one, nor do I appreciate being labelled 'ghoulish' just for wanting to be kept in the loop. I basically don't need self-proclaimed moralists censoring my tv feed on the basis they're doing it for my own good.

 

[jaylew]

Vine broken back too, no info about Sean Quinn or Roglic. Can't believe how brutal the crash was, no idea how Marc Soler managed to keep upright,

Edit: @Delo_Sport

"Primož Roglič suffered only some abrasions in that nasty crash and he will be back on a bike in a few days."

Well, at least we have good news regarding Roglic.

Remco update:

Following the crash during Thursday’s stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country, Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital, for medical examination.

There it was revealed that the Belgian Champion suffered a fracture to his right collarbone and his right scapula.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Benji is a pathetic shill with an obvious bias that even when he gets stuff right he makes the point in such a manufactured way as to destroy all credibility. Is he still being paid directly by Plugge or is he pretending to be objective now?

All you have to do is watch their trip to Flanders. Watch Benji try to conquer the bergs and you will laugh. Pathetic display really. Meanwhile, the other LT-guy (who I somehow forgot the name of, the Australian lad) is climbing them while giving nice reports. In general he seems like a chill and very knowledgeable guy who I enjoy listening to most of the time, but I can definitely agree than Benji is at best very whatever and at worst a CHARLATAN and a FRAUD as my man mou would put it.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Also great, now the Ardennes are ruined as well.

Giro will be a one man show.

Hopefully all these guys make a swift recovery so we can actually get a contested race with the best riders in July. My god this has not been a good season so far.

 

[Red Rick]

All you have to do is watch their trip to Flanders. Watch Benji try to conquer the bergs and you will laugh. Pathetic display really. Meanwhile, the other LT-guy (who I somehow forgot the name of, the Australian lad) is climbing them while giving nice reports. In general he seems like a chill and very knowledgeable guy who I enjoy listening to most of the time, but I can definitely agree than Benji is at best very whatever and at worst a CHARLATAN and a FRAUD as my man mou would put it.

Patrick was doing in depth race analysis before the podcast even started. Pretty sure Benji was just doing procyclingmanager stuff and his only real skill seems to be twitter algorithm. His entire concept of strategy doesn't go much beyond hurdur tugbuddy

 

[Barkintheeye]

Broken collarbone and several broken ribs for Jonas.

Not good but honestly could have been worse.

That’s going to take a toll and take time. No TDF for Vingo this year unfortunately.

 

[proffate]

I don't get how some randoms become cycling 'influencers'. 10 years ago I don't think this Benji Naesen character would have gained any traction whatsoever but now it's always his Tweets + some other usual profiles who seem to be 'trending' constantly. Is he even a real journalist?

No idea how the algorithm works & why some people become social media celebs out of nowhere (this is hardly exclusive to cycling of course).

Honestly I don't understand how the "real" journos get into it either. Precious few valuable insights coming out of "the angry asian" or Gregor Brown or any of the staff writers on cyclingnews. Patrick Broe is one of the very few who has earned a place in the conversation other than by participating as a professional rider.

Benji's role on the Lanterne Rouge podcast is the know-nothing everyman, which is the same as JB on The Move, so I guess that's something people connect with. JB at least has a history on talk radio so I suppose his way of filling air with platitudes is generally entertaining to a broad audience.

Half the time when Benji is voicing an opinion or idea on the LRCP it feels like he's just pitching softballs for Broe to swing at, and even Benji doesn't know if these words hold any truth or not. He's a cuddlier version of ChatGPT.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Speaking of cycling journos, we all seem to agree that Patrick is very good at what he does, but can we also all agree that Daniel Friebe is the best in the business?

 

[Lequack]

That’s going to take a toll and take time. No TDF for Vingo this year unfortunately.

I wouldn't be so sure. Wout has the same kind of injury and he's still not ruled out the Giro, which is much sooner.

 

[Penninepeddler]

I mean, TdF is over 12 weeks away.

In theory both Vingegaard and Evanepoel should be back on their bikes at worst in 8 weeks or so... even if the ribs and scapula are "bad" breaks. (but guess Remco's scapula is not given having surgery on clavicle and not scapula)

I guess both will be "able" to race the Tour... but I doubt either will be in top, top form if they do.

 

[proffate]

All you have to do is watch their trip to Flanders. Watch Benji try to conquer the bergs and you will laugh. Pathetic display really. Meanwhile, the other LT-guy (who I somehow forgot the name of, the Australian lad) is climbing them while giving nice reports. In general he seems like a chill and very knowledgeable guy who I enjoy listening to most of the time, but I can definitely agree than Benji is at best very whatever and at worst a CHARLATAN and a FRAUD as my man mou would put it.

I hate to be that guy but one glimpse of Benji in lycra is enough to tell you all you need to know about whether this guy is a real cyclist/fan of the sport.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

In fairness Remco and Jonas may make the Tour but I cant imagine they will be at their best shape

And with a Giro in his legs Pog wont be at his best

This could be the best opportunity for Roglic to win a Tour before he finishes

 

[proffate]

Benji was a big figure for the Pro Cycling Manager game and later was a consultant for Visma and now he's consulting for Lotto.

I wouldn't call him an influencer as he's not hawking merchandise. He has industry experience.

I literally snuck onto a press row 20+ years ago for the biggest High School basketball AAU tournament in the country as a journalist working for a non-affiliated university website and interviewed players who were potential recruits for the school I was working with.

Sports is all about seizing opportunities and forcing your way in unless you are a world class athlete.

Of course it doesn't mean you have to like or agree with someone.

Pray tell what he is "consulting" on. Social media management? To me, "consultant" is a euphemism for "on the dole".

 

[Gratemans]

I wouldn't be so sure. Wout has the same kind of injury and he's still not ruled out the Giro, which is much sooner.

With Van Aert, I think they hope for the best but are prepared for the worst i.e. I think Giro will be too soon, and I think they know it but are hoping for a miracle.

In Vingegaards en Remco's case, I think they still might make it to the Tour.