Re:
canarydan23 said:
Griepel took it back though. I wonder if the Sagan PR machine worked its magic and Griepel wimped out.
If any other rider had done what Sagan did today there would be universal condemnation (like there is whenever Cavendish turns a blind eye to the rules in sprints). Sagan does something utterly reckless and most of the cycling Twitterati are actually saying it was all Cavendish's fault!
Saint Sagan can do no wrong. Still, Robbie McEwen says it's harsh and he's even more saintly.
Have you asked yourself why the front sprinters
ALL diverted their lines from the left of the road to the right with no reason?
They were roughly in the middle after being left and then ended up right and on the barriers.
Greipel struck Bouhani.
Bouhani moves to the right. He almost fell. Naturally he moved because Greipel hit him.
Demare immediately goes far right (they were parallel-ish..not exactly but close enough).
Sagan had looked at the gap between Demare and Bouhani and appeared to want to go for it.
Suddenly, Demare splits and rushed far left and cuts in front of Bouhani.
Is anyone surprised after such a diversion, that Sagan went further to the right?
I'm not.
Heck, Cav lost out big time on this. He tried squeezing Sagan into a space that got massively smaller because Demare moved across and he only did so because Bouhani moved over and he only did so because Greipel hit him.
It's called a racing incident. Common accident.
Personally I'd strip Greipel, Demare and Sagan of all their points and give Kristoff the win (he came second right?).
Kristoff was the only one who held his line and didn't move...because he was in front. Greipel hadn't of hit Bouhani, Cav would have stayed upright.
That was 3 or so seconds of racing.
Explain to me how this was avoidable? It's an accident and Greipel, rightfully changed his opinion.
It's dominoes and Greipel hit the first one.
The commisars need to stress politely, with in race fines, that riders need to stay in their line as much as possible.
ALL OF THEM.