Paris - Tours 2014 (1.HC), 12.10

[RedheadDane]

Personally I like Voeckler, he's always good for some entertainment.
But, yeah. Skipping the podium like that was a big NO! If he at least had told them, which it didn't really seem like...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Personally I like Voeckler, he's always good for some entertainment.
But, yeah. Skipping the podium like that was a big NO! If he at least had told them, which it didn't really seem like...

Personally prefer if the winner was the only celebrated rider on the podium in these types of races anyway.

Also there are rules in place when something like this happen. Voeckler and his team lost a nice little monetary gift. Now that cash can be send to a charity or will it be used to buy expensive wines for the UCI Christmas party?

Imagine of a rider trying to circumvent the rules during the actual race. Now that would be really problematic.

Voeckler skipping the podium ceremony is a minor blip in the world of cycling.

 

[veji11]

Personally prefer if the winner was the only celebrated rider on the podium in these types of races anyway.

Also there are rules in place when something like this happen. Voeckler and his team lost a nice little monetary gift. Now that cash can be send to a charity or will it be used to buy expensive wines for the UCI Christmas party?

Imagine of a rider trying to circumvent the rules during the actual race. Now that would be really problematic.

Voeckler skipping the podium ceremony is a minor blip in the world of cycling.

rest assured, the total fine such a rider would get would remain a good 10 or even 100 times smaller than the money Voeckler lost there : the UCI has its priorities set up straight !

 

[Echoes]

Until the late eighties and perhaps also the early nineties, don't remember, only the winner of a race was celebrated on the forum, except of course in Bore and the Worlds.

http://www.pedaletricolore.it/wp-co...aeminck-gis-alla-milano-sanremo-del-19791.jpg

It was much better that way, of course. Why should the first three move to the podium, and not the 4th. Is being 3rd so much better than 4th?

You win or you lose. Then high places are important to assess which riders are the most consistent on the season but I'd say being 10th in the classic isn't so much worse than 3rd.

Those pyramidal podiums there look like paganist Olympian and freemasonic things.


By the way, hate to say but Vöckler has a pretty bad reputation. Looks nice on camera but is really rude off camera.

 

[veji11]

Until the late eighties and perhaps also the early nineties, don't remember, only the winner of a race was celebrated on the forum, except of course in Bore and the Worlds.

http://www.pedaletricolore.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/14.12.12-vittoria-di-de-vlaeminck-gis-alla-milano-sanremo-del-19791.jpg

It was much better that way, of course. Why should the first three move to the podium, and not the 4th. Is being 3rd so much better than 4th?

You win or you lose. Then high places are important to assess which riders are the most consistent on the season but I'd say being 10th in the classic isn't so much worse than 3rd.

Those pyramidal podiums there look like paganist Olympian and freemasonic things.


By the way, hate to say but Vöckler has a pretty bad reputation. Looks nice on camera but is really rude off camera.

No one says otherwise, he is a gritty whiny *******. But a superb rider nonetheless who brings more to a race than 90% of the peloton. The fact that haters could ignore that drives me mad.

 

[RedheadDane]

Of course Voeckler's no-show wasn't a horrible rule-break. What iffed me about it was the fact that he made everyone else look rather stupid.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Of course Voeckler's no-show wasn't a horrible rule-break. What iffed me about it was the fact that he made everyone else look rather stupid.

We are not dealing with kids here. They should be able to celebrate and handle the situation without Voeckler who was busy dealing with the demons in the team bus.

 

[RedheadDane]

But then you could turn it around and say that Voeckler is not a kid; he should be able to turn up on the podium having his second place celebrated.

 

[neineinei]

He gets paid is to ride around as an advertisment for his teams sponsors and to show up at the podium to be taken pictures of in front of the race sponsors logos. When he fails to do that he doesn't get paid. It is that simple.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

But then you could turn it around and say that Voeckler is not a kid; he should be able to turn up on the podium having his second place celebrated.

Again, let the people who are responsible for running the podium ceremony handle the situation. They have the winner, fire off a couple of jokes, fine Voeckler and move on. Thats what they are paid to do. How hard can it be.

 

[barmaher]

I agree with neineinei. He is paid by sponsors, and the race sponsors pony up money in the hope to get a high-profile name like TiVo on the podium.

No show, no money.

Lots of sports have harsh penalties for failing to perform your duties after a race, even if you lose. Golf (signing card), horse racing (weighing in), etc. Sponsors keep our sport going.

 

[Echoes]

Yes they should do everything that sponsors want, obviously. They are their slaves...

Not to defend Vöckler. Just this reasoning is awful...

 

[Tonton]

I'm not a Voekler fan, and I agree that it was his job to go to the podium. Having said that, he attacked, did the work, fell short, and was super upset about a second place finish...compare that to Valverde, who saves his energy, races for second, ends up on the podium, and feels good about it.

Too bad Tommy: calves look like Virenque, couldn't pull a Virenque.

 

[barmaher]

I didn't say that they should do whatever the sponsors want. I am not sure why you think that is my reasoning.

But this is a very reasonable request. For decades, disappointed riders have shown up and swallowed their pride. Voeckler is being unreasonable by not showing up, and he is in breach of UCI regulations by not doing so.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I didn't say that they should do whatever the sponsors want. I am not sure why you think that is my reasoning.

But this is a very reasonable request. For decades, disappointed riders have shown up and swallowed their pride. Voeckler is being unreasonable by not showing up, and he is in breach of UCI regulations by not doing so.

Can't find anybody here who suggests Voeckler shouldn't be fined for breach of protocol. The rules are in place, everybody knows them.

I'm suggesting his decision to stay away ranks pretty low compared to other stuff happening. Reactions seems overblown and out of proportion imo.

I do however think the protocol should change back to previously, so the winner gets all the attention during the post race ceremony. Different discussion altogether however.

 

[Echoes]

I think sponsors are already making a lot of publicity in a natural way. They don't need to ask for more. Besides, I don't think they will get the Vöckler fine. Wrong argument for me.

I reiterate, for decades, only the winner went to the podium. In 1976, the French public wanted to see Poulidor on the podium (this very race but in the opposite direction). He was 2nd (for once he was true to his "legend"), De Witte won. He would respond: "no I haven't won, De Witte has." Today he would have gone to the podium.

If I'm not mistaken, Björn Borg refused to attend the ceremony after the USO final that he lost to McEnroe in 1981. I might be wrong though, think I read that somewhere.

 

[veji11]

Can't find anybody here who suggests Voeckler shouldn't be fined for breach of protocol. The rules are in place, everybody knows them.

I'm suggesting his decision to stay away ranks pretty low compared to other stuff happening. Reactions seems overblown and out of proportion imo.

I do however think the protocol should change back to previously, so the winner gets all the attention during the post race ceremony. Different discussion altogether however.

+1.

What Voeckler did sucked and getting penalized was normal, but to be honest when you see that he basically gets fined 4 000 euros for it while he just made the race happen, attacked and all, while lots of other riders just stay put in the bunch... it's a bit salty.

You could fine him more than 200 CHF, 1 000 if you want or whatever, but just yanking the prize money, compared to lots of other things done in the peloton. It's harsh.

 

[barmaher]

I agree Dazed and Confused that it is not a heinous crime. But the rules are clear. They are there to protect sponsors. So I don't think the punishment is disproportionate.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Don't agree that the punishment is proportionate. Far from it, but if the purpose is to stop the behavior, a rather large fine will likely do the trick.

Unlike the small fine stuff (drafting, holding onto cars, p!ssing in front of spectators etc) which acts as an infinite cashcow.

 

[healthystuff]

I had a great time reading your posts.