Tour de France Motogate-Stage 14 of the 2023 Tour de France

[rallybanana]

Were there even ropes?

Ropes might be an exaggeration. But there was definitely some kind of yellow string keeping the spectators back over the last 300m to the summit.

Something like this perhaps

 

[RedheadDane]

Ropes might be an exaggeration. But there was definitely some kind of yellow string keeping the spectators back over the last 300m to the summit.

Something like this perhaps

Doesn't seem to have helped much...
A shame they probably can't get electricity up there, electric fences might help a little holding people back.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Doesn't seem to have helped much...
A shame they probably can't get electricity up there, electric fences might help a little holding people back.

So you want to punch people and electrocute them?

 

[RedheadDane]

So you want to punch people and electrocute them?

Just idiots. And not at the same time.

 

[D. Pecher]

Ropes might be an exaggeration. But there was definitely some kind of yellow string keeping the spectators back over the last 300m to the summit.

Something like this perhaps

Since the moto incident was at 500m, it was a pointless exercise in this case. If you make a KOM sprint extra-spicy by adding bonus seconds, at least the last km should be roped off, as even casual observers know that riders often attack some way out if they're not confident in their sprinting ability.

 

[rallybanana]

Doesn't seem to have helped much...
A shame they probably can't get electricity up there, electric fences might help a little holding people back.

Electric fences usually operate on something like 9V batteries which can easily be carried up a mountain. Unless you actually want to kill someone in which case you would connect to the electrical grid.

 

[RedheadDane]

Electric fences usually operate on something like 9V batteries which can easily be carried up a mountain. Unless you actually want to kill someone in which case you would connect to the electrical grid.

Of course I don't want to kill people! How evil do you think I am.
Just a little ZAPP.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

So, you‘re saying that you‘ve also been huffing exhaust fumes? Explains a lot.

I mean yeah, but I'm not stupid enough to believe that the moto incident will have any measurable affect on the outcome of the Tour, so evidently, a lot of people have been huffing something even more toxic. That the motos were in the way is a pity, but ultimately, it won't matter as to who has yellow in Paris.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Unfortunately, then spectators would just have gotten on the road behind the motos.

I'm quite sure that two moto's are wider and take up more space than one skinny-assed cyclist. But i may be mistaken.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm quite sure that two moto's are wider and take up more space than one skinny-assed cyclist. But i may be mistaken.

Yeah, but even if spectators move aside when the motos come, there will always be some idiots who don't get that they're supposed to stay out of the way. Even if riders don't physically require as much space, spectators still need to give them plenty of space.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Another incident not being discussed is Rodriquez having to bob and weave to get past a moto as well. Which is why three were punished. He still won the stage but maybe could have gained more time.

 

[ashhutch1997]

I think maybe there should have been barriers further out, given that there were bonus seconds which were obviously going to be sprinted for. But I see a lot of people complaining about the crowds, I disagree. Some of the cycling most iconic shots are when there are huge crowds. Claudio Chiappucci going up Sestries in 1992, Pantani up the Alpe in 1997, those images still give me goosebumps, and its one of the most beautiful parts of cycling.
All in all I think people are massively overreacting over this, Pogi showed that he couldn't drop Vingegaard yesterday, and he made a massive tactical boo boo at the top to loose the bonus seconds. I'm a huge Pogi fan as well..

 

[RedheadDane]

Some of the cycling most iconic shots are when there are huge crowds. Claudio Chiappucci going up Sestries in 1992, Pantani up the Alpe in 1997, those images still give me goosebumps, and its one of the most beautiful parts of cycling.

Crowds are great, as long as they get the bit where they need to move aside when the race actually arrives. Not run next to the riders like a bunch of drunk chickens.

 

[Reynard]

The riders union and the organizers should push for constant punishment for "fans" who misbehave or close the final climbs in general (at least in the tour) to make a point. It can't be that the riders union is only looking at dangerous decents and forgets the "fans" as a source of endangerment. Of course "fans " don't lead to something tragic like with Gino but so many riders were already crashed out or were badly hurt in such incidents over the years. It's time to work on that problem. I think covid showed that you don't need those Assh*** on the streets to have a Tour de France.

 

[Sciatic]

Crowds are great, as long as they get the bit where they need to move aside when the race actually arrives. Not run next to the riders like a bunch of drunk chickens.

One of the shots we saw yesterday seemed particularly bad-- a kind of biggish guy running alongside Vingegaard and wobbbling a bit, with other "runners" right behind him. Would only have taken one of the other slightly clipping his foot and he would have bowled over, perhaps right into Ving. It's going to happen some day. Ironically, most of the worst fan-caused accidents have been from folks leaning into the action (plastic bag for Lance, camera strap for Nibali, Omi-Opi for Roglic, to name a few) not from fans running alongside.

 

[Netserk]

I'm happy that the race won't be decided by bonus seconds. So now it matters more how it affected the fight for the stage win.

 

[DNP-Old]

Hello darkness, my old friend. We meet again. More motard garbage.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Hello darkness, my old friend. We meet again. More motard garbage.

Could be the difference between second and third

 

[DNP-Old]

Could be the difference between second and third

ASO is oh so lucky that the fight for yellow was all but decided. Imagine Pogacar had been there right with Vingegaard. Of course, just like last time, the motard, in this case Voeckler, who I complained about earlier in this thread, gets hit with the almighty repercussion of a suspension.... of one stage. Will it change anything? Of course not, because tomorrow another moron will be right there to claim his place.

 

[theyoungest]

ASO is oh so lucky that the fight for yellow was all but decided. Imagine Pogacar had been there right with Vingegaard. Of course, just like last time, the motard, in this case Voeckler, who I complained about earlier in this thread, gets hit with the almighty repercussion of a suspension.... of one stage. Will it change anything? Of course not, because tomorrow another moron will be right there to claim his place.

ASO only fight the symptoms, never the disease. Because they themselves are the disease. They do not care about the riders, they do not care about the race, they want to make money and they want to spend as little money as possible on annoying stuff like safety and making sure that the final climb doesn't look like a bacchanal where there happen to be some cyclists passing through.

Case in point were these mattresses in the descent yesterday. They weren't fixed properly and anyone who missed the corner would have flown right through. And they were placed in a spot that wasn't dangerous at all because there was a parking lot right behind. But they were there so that ASO could say: "see, we've done something about safety!"

 

[search]

going by the fan videos I saw on Twitter, yesterday's incident was a bit of a different story, tbh. By the look of it, the moto was stuck behind Majka, who was waiting for Yates, and they had to take the turn so slowly that it stalled, and it was too steep to get it restarted. The fans actually even helped to try to push it up the climb.

Maybe having those threewheelers like in the Giro would have helped, but at that moment, it didn't really look like anyone could have done much different.

 

[tobydawq]

going by the fan videos I saw on Twitter, yesterday's incident was a bit of a different story, tbh. By the look of it, the moto was stuck behind Majka, who was waiting for Yates, and they had to take the turn so slowly that it stalled, and it was too steep to get it restarted. The fans actually even helped to try to push it up the climb.

Maybe having those threewheelers like in the Giro would have helped, but at that moment, it didn't really look like anyone could have done much different.

Let me quote my own post from 7 minutes ago in another thread. It probably belongs here more:

"I saw a nice thread on Twitter from a French guy who had been standing at the point where the motos came to a halt yesterday on the Col de La Loze. He said that throughout the day, cyclotourists as well as vehicles from the caravan had continually come to a halt in that bend because it was there that the road ramped up to 24% and that wasn't visible due to the tightness of the turn. He said that it had nothing with the spectators to do but simply the high gradients coupled with low speed. He also said that because there were so many spectators, they would help push the vehicles to get the engine running again, and his assessment was that it would have been even worse, if there had not been that many people (that's of course a very specific point about just that corner yesterday and not something general)."

 

[RedheadDane]

The Pinot-incident sure looked like it was caused by the commisaire car trying to overtake the Ag2R car...

 

[rallybanana]

Hopefully, the ASO can act quickly over this issue and reduce these moto and crowd-related incidents. After all, it's only been happening for at least 35 years.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1546894655236841474

View: https://twitter.com/davidguenel/status/1546894655236841474

 

[RedheadDane]

Doesn't seem to have helped much...
A shame they probably can't get electricity up there, electric fences might help a little holding people back.

Okay, I changed my mind. Too great of a risk that the riders would get zapped. Wouldn't want that!