Reduce the Number of Cars and Motos!

[42x16ss]

Re:

Marcel Kittel ‏@marcelkittel
And again a rider had to abandon a race because of a motorbike. My question is: what is our riders union @cpacycling doing to change that?

Choooooooooooooooooooooooo, pompadour means waaar.

Someone needs to ask that question! This is getting out of hand, and it's been going on for a few years now - remember Hoogerland and Flecha?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Marcel Kittel ‏@marcelkittel
And again a rider had to abandon a race because of a motorbike. My question is: what is our riders union @cpacycling doing to change that?

Choooooooooooooooooooooooo, pompadour means waaar.

Someone needs to ask that question! This is getting out of hand, and it's been going on for a few years now - remember Hoogerland and Flecha?

How can you forget?

That was bad enough, but that was a relatively isolated incident. Now these motos are taking out riders left right and centre

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Marcel Kittel ‏@marcelkittel
And again a rider had to abandon a race because of a motorbike. My question is: what is our riders union @cpacycling doing to change that?

Choooooooooooooooooooooooo, pompadour means waaar.

The CPA is a joke, always has been, always will be. Nowhere to be found when others talk about changing the business model of the sport, modifying the calendar, or anti-doping (although with Bugno as the prez what do you expect). Bravo Marcel for speaking out.

 

[BeachBum]

Re:

Does anyone know what, if any, training is required to be a moto driver for pro races?

Couple years ago I was helping out a friend who had press credentials for Tour of California, and I got to meet some of the photo moto drivers. The one I remember worked bike races and also did photo work on the track for Ducati-- he carried a cameraman on the track alongside Ducati's Moto GP riders filming commercials and such. Anyhow, he was flown over from England for the race and Ducati USA lent him a brand new bike to use. He had done photo moto work at Paris-Roubaix among other races, so I'd say the guy was pretty qualified to be there.

Of course, that is a sample size of 1, who knows what the median experience level is. Didn't I read somewhere that the guy that got in Mini-Phinney's way was on his 1st race?

In any event, there almost certainly are too many motos and cars out there, trying to pass on roads too narrow for safe passing. The riders are the ones who lose. I hope Tinkoff takes his team out of the race, there aren't too many other ways to get the attention of the race organizers.

 

[Aapjes]

There is a video of Paulinho's accident:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-footage-shows-paulinhos-moto-incident-at-the-vuelta-a-espana/

Watching the video I can't say that Paulinho is blameless. He had full visibility of the moto and just rode into him.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Yep, the moto is not to blame in the Paulinho situation imo.
Looks like a "normal" race incident where the rider makes a mistake.

 

[Andre.J]

The problem is not with the vehicles. There are too many riders. The amount of riders makes for more vehicles. The only solution is to go down from 9 to 7 riders per team. I mean I always thought 9 was a ridiculous amount for one team...simply overkill. Teams need to adjust to 7 riders maximum. And also perhaps one or two fewer teams. This could eliminate the number of riders thus the number of vehicles.

 

[Ryongsyong]

Re:

There is a video of Paulinho's accident:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-footage-shows-paulinhos-moto-incident-at-the-vuelta-a-espana/

Watching the video I can't say that Paulinho is blameless. He had full visibility of the moto and just rode into him.

Wow, what an idiot. That was completely his fault. You can't just ride into a motorbike from behind and then blame it for being there.

 

[BigMac]

Re: Re:

There is a video of Paulinho's accident:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-footage-shows-paulinhos-moto-incident-at-the-vuelta-a-espana/

Watching the video I can't say that Paulinho is blameless. He had full visibility of the moto and just rode into him.

Wow, what an idiot. That was completely his fault. You can't just ride into a motorbike from behind and then blame it for being there.

I don't think Paulinho blamed the motorbike. I havent read any statement from him, if there's one, but he was actually quite polite on twitter. Loud-mouth Olga was the one swearing and shooting insults everywhere.

 

[dottigirl]

‘As a moto rider on the Vuelta, I feel like a pariah right now’
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/racing/vuelta-a-espana/as-a-moto-rider-on-the-vuelta-i-feel-like-a-pariah-right-now-189898

 

[Stelvio]

I would like to see a few more seconds before the crash. What is odd is how much slower the motorbike is going compared to Paulinho, which also leads to the motorbike taking the turn much sharper. Also, on exiting the turn the motorbike appears to slow down even more, instead of hiting the gas when the driver sees him coming. Paulinho doesn't do any surprising moves.

That said, if there hadn't already been a couple of high profile incidents before this one, this one would not have caused this much fuss.

 

[ray j willings]

I think its just been a time where a few accidents have happened in a short space of time. I think most times the motorbikes with a camera man on the back do a great job. They are human and like all humans mistakes can be made. Putting the bikes further away and getting shots of tiny riders in the distance is stupid. I love the motorbike shots. The UCI etc need to make sure the riders are of a high standard and know the limitations of their motorbikes and what the riders are capable of. But there will always be the odd error its part of the risk.
Get some drones

 

[Billie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=44&v=20DG3NcErXU

The Sagan crash.

 

[roundabout]

wow, Stevie Wonder would have done a better job there

better idea of how it happened starting from a couple of seconds earlier

https://youtu.be/20DG3NcErXU?t=42

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The Sagan crash was very different. Clearly a clown operated the motorbike. But the other incident was "just" a rider mistake and these things happens all the time unfortunately.

 

[ray j willings]

The Motorbike really should not be that close but Sagan does move right over to his left which caught the motorbike rider out.

 

[Jancouver]

The Motorbike really should not be that close but Sagan does move right over to his left which caught the motorbike rider out.

Yes, but if you are the motorbike driver and you see the rider made a move to the left, you slow down and let them go.

Instead, this clown was trying to pass the riders by accelerating and taking Sagan out. Watch the video in slow motion at 0.25 speed.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Wow, what an idiot. That was completely his fault. You can't just ride into a motorbike from behind and then blame it for being there.

Of course you can blame a motorbike for blocking the most natural racing line.

 

[jmdirt]

Re:

Yep, the moto is not to blame in the Paulinho situation imo.
Looks like a "normal" race incident where the rider makes a mistake.

Other than the fact that the moto is in the middle of the race going slower than the bikes. GtFOotW!
Fault moto.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re: Re:

Yep, the moto is not to blame in the Paulinho situation imo.
Looks like a "normal" race incident where the rider makes a mistake.

Other than the fact that the moto is in the middle of the race going slower than the bikes. GtFOotW!
Fault moto.

The moto needs to stay cool and look ahead not behind.
Clearly it was the clown behind who made the mistake.

 

[hrotha]

What? The moto obviously needs to look behind too. They have to avoid pacing riders, for starters. And again, they need to get out of the line.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Re:

What? The moto obviously needs to look behind too. They have to avoid pacing riders, for starters. And again, they need to get out of the line.

Rubbish, the moto needs to focus on the road ahead when going down and around a corner.
This isn't a tricycle, hrotha.

Anyway like I said, the Portuguese clearly lost his mind and wanted to blame somebody before his boss complained too much.

 

[jmdirt]

Re: Re:

Yep, the moto is not to blame in the Paulinho situation imo.
Looks like a "normal" race incident where the rider makes a mistake.

Other than the fact that the moto is in the middle of the race going slower than the bikes. GtFOotW!
Fault moto.

The moto needs to stay cool and look ahead not behind.
Clearly it was the clown behind who made the mistake.

Its a bike race.

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

Wow, what an idiot. That was completely his fault. You can't just ride into a motorbike from behind and then blame it for being there.

Of course you can blame a motorbike for blocking the most natural racing line.

+1. It's a bike race on a closed course. The hitting from behind argument that D&C makes is valid in normal traffic conditions, not here. The motorcycle is at the end of a curb, on the most obvious trajectory, completely at fault IMO.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Wow, what an idiot. That was completely his fault. You can't just ride into a motorbike from behind and then blame it for being there.

Of course you can blame a motorbike for blocking the most natural racing line.

+1. It's a bike race on a closed course. The hitting from behind argument that D&C makes is valid in normal traffic conditions, not here. The motorcycle is at the end of a curb, on the most obvious trajectory, completely at fault IMO.

Totally agree, the rider should always have the right of way and hogging the best line on a slow moto doesn't cut it.