Should Sky have waited when Valverde fell?

[King Of The Wolds]

Saxo did it on the climb itself, can't blame Contador to try and gain time on a mountain against his direct opponents like purito/froome.

When it didn't work Saxo didn't do anything to try and gain time on valverde in the last 5km.

So no blame at all on saxo.

Sky were trying to gain an advantage on their direct opponents by trying to create echelons. There's no difference.

 

[mb2612]

And as far as my memory remembers... szymd won that stage in ventoux, so?

Valverde was working with him, then dropped him accidentally in the final km, and waited allowing Szmyd to win the stage, risking his overall lead. Probably the nicest move I've seen on a bike.

 

[Miburo]

Sky were trying to gain an advantage on their direct opponents by trying to create echelons. There's no difference.

I agree, the only thing is that they prob were the cause of the crash.

 

[Cimber]

Sky were trying to gain an advantage on their direct opponents by trying to create echelons. There's no difference.

If i cant tell the difference u are are a lost case. If there had been no crash I would agree, and if there had been no crash I would hve applauded Sky's attack

 

[SafeBet]

I don't hold Sky responsible for the crash and I don't think they should have waited.
Only problem I have is with BMC.

 

[Aguirre]

Valverde was working with him, then dropped him accidentally in the final km, and waited allowing Szmyd to win the stage, risking his overall lead. Probably the nicest move I've seen on a bike.

i cannot see a better example of sportmanship, yes, I remembered well.

same has happened in cycling history, jalabert even leave the victory to that german just because he deserved, at least szmyd helped valverde,

sorry for this off topic

 

[Libertine Seguros]

ah! the clinic! I got it now, you put in the same basket the clinic and actions in the race, when you know very well... they are two different things from different nature.
And as far as my memory remembers... szymd won that stage in ventoux, so?

I am not saying those things are the same. I am agreeing with you.

I am saying that those who are disagreeing with you are basing their statements that Valverde is unfair and doesn't understand the concept of fair play on those clinic matters, not on the internal péloton rules that you were discussing.

I was using the 2009 Dauphiné stage to confirm your point, that Valverde is quite good when it comes to honour within race situations.

 

[Dr.Sahl]

Well... normaly I would say yes when they caused it.. but now I just hope all go full out when one of their riders bites the dust.

I guess there is no respect left in cycling...

 

[l.Harm]

Obvious troll, why did you bother replying?

Okay nub
.................

 

[noddy69]

Just watched replay of the crash and without a doubt sky caused it.......by attacking. Going fast now and making other riders panic and ride into each other is causing a crash according to some.

The replay clearly shows that there was plenty of room between sky and the rest. It was a touch of wheels behind them....and not just behind by inches I mean a few feet behind.

Verdict....sky innocent due to clear and concise video evidence.

 

[Publicus]

No. There's no should. It's a bike race. One can decide to wait, but the thing I hate most is that when a team or some teams decide to wait they think they are entitled to blame others for not waiting.

Stick with your own decision, make your own choice, don't bother with others, that's their choice. Beat them in the next stage if you're angry, but don't go and judge them afterwards from the moral high ground.

Agree with this.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Just watched replay of the crash and without a doubt sky caused it.......by attacking. Going fast now and making other riders panic and ride into each other is causing a crash according to some.

The replay clearly shows that there was plenty of room between sky and the rest. It was a touch of wheels behind them....and not just behind by inches I mean a few feet behind.

Verdict....sky innocent due to clear and concise video evidence.

Movistar caused Levi Leipheimer to crash in Paris-Nice... by attacking. They pushed the pace on a descent, Leipheimer crashed, Movistar felt that the point of their attack was to put pressure on suspect descenders therefore they were entitled to keep on going.

Sky flipped their lids about respect and fair play.

Sky would be more or less innocent in this situation... if they hadn't established that, according to them five months ago, doing what they did today made you guilty.

 

[Herman]

From team sky fanpage on FB

Valverde should have been at the front trying to chase the breakaway down, rather than being bogged down in a place where an accident could happen. Sky didn't cause his accident and can't be accused of cheating for continuing, they accelerated and the pelaton responded. The race was on to catch the breakaway, that Movistar couldn't be bothered to put the effort in for.

More gold:
Froome and wiggo would not have made such a fundamental error on a flat wide open road ! It wasn't a mechanical ,it was a racing event !
haha i love fanboys

 

[Christian]

@HaydenRoulston Crazy day with the x wind/crash in the last 40k here in Spain. We escaped the carnage! Paris-Nice was talked about a lot in our group up




Was odd to see Gilbert, then later an Argos rider lead the charge
Also Contador's attack came at an interesting point ...

 

[cineteq]

Valverde should have been at the front trying to chase the breakaway down, rather than being bogged down in a place where an accident could happen.

I completely agree here, had they controlled the race to keep the red jersey they wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. I still don't understand why they wanted to let it go in such an important stage with bonus seconds at stake and Valverde being one of the best GC sprinters...

The race was on to catch the breakaway.

This is gold

 

[hrotha]

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,26887_8007962,00.html

Sky DS Ljungqvist seems to suggest waiting was the right thing to do and what they would have done... if only they had known Valverde was down

 

[Izzy eviel]

Sky Should've stopped pushing but you know... what goes around comes around. I'm sure Team Sky will have their comeuppance at some stage.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,26887_8007962,00.html

Sky DS Ljungqvist seems to suggest waiting was the right thing to do and what they would have done... if only they had known Valverde was down

A real shame that Beñat Intxausti couldn't have communicated that to a Sky rider. I saw him speaking to Juan Antonio Flecha, but maybe he couldn't get the point across - probably a problem with the language barrier.

 

[hrotha]

A real shame that Beñat Intxausti couldn't have communicated that to a Sky rider. I saw him speaking to Juan Antonio Flecha, but maybe he couldn't get the point across - probably a problem with the language barrier.

Yeah, probably not the best time to promote the use of Euskara and Català.

 

[thirteen]

A real shame that Beñat Intxausti couldn't have communicated that to a Sky rider. I saw him speaking to Juan Antonio Flecha, but maybe he couldn't get the point across - probably a problem with the language barrier.

lol!

10 char

 

[Epicycle]

They should have waited. It's an unwritten rule for a reason. If I were Froome that's not how I would want to gain time.

 

[Fergoose]

Love seeing Movistar complain about a lack of fair play towards Valverde without any hint of irony. Hard to be taken seriously when you complain about unwritten rules and fairness when you've broken a written rule.

I look forward to seeing this come back to bite Sky, Katusha and BMC on the backsides to give us something else to talk about in the future. All good fun.

 

[jencredible]

Personally, I think there ought to be more appreciation for the patently false denial in this case. Who doesn't love irony?

 

[Captain Sensible]

There are alot of unwrittein rules in cycling. U cant just disregard them expecting no pay back. Iirc even good old Voigt wouldnt dismiss the possiblity that Rolland would get some sort of payback later on after this attack in the Tour. Remember former pro Rold Sørensen statin on Danish tv at that time that cyclists has memories like elephants in those matters.

But I reckon its natural that alot of British fans might feel as u do. Its a rather new thing that cycling has become popular some maybe u arent really accustomed to the unwritten rules and their importance (and I honestly dont mean this in a disrespectful way)

Some of us can remember what happen in 85 when Robert Millar was worked over by some Spanish riders and the race officials after he had a puncture while in the leaders jersey, and that was a lot worse than what sky did today.

 

[sartoris]

Some of us can remember what happen in 85 when Robert Millar was worked over by some Spanish riders and the race officials after he had a puncture while in the leaders jersey, and that was a lot worse than what sky did today.

Since you seem to have a trauma with that stage, let me clarify a few things for you .... here's my response to your moaning post on today's stage thread:

SEEMINGLY ROBBED??? You must be joking, dude. I remember that stage cause I SAW IT back in '85 (you probably hadn't been born yet). It was the 2nd time the Spanish TV broadcast the Vuelta live and I was riveted to the sofa for the whole race. That day they rode around the mountains in Madrid the last but one stage, under horrible weather conditions (snow, rain, wind). Millar lead the GC with more than 6 min over Delgado, who attacked on the Puerto de Cotos and caught Pepe Recio (riding for Kelme) and both took turns until the finish line. Back in the peloton, no one seemed very interested in closing the gap, not even Millar, more intent on marking Cabestany or Pacho Rodríguez, closer to him in the GC. When he realised that Delgado was getting away it was too late and Millar's team (Peugeot I think) failed miserably !!! Eventually Delgado finished around 7' before Millar, who lost the Vuelta. Of course he knew what was going on !! I remember his desperate look, almost begging anyone around for help to no avail.

So either you don't know what you're talking about, which is embarrasing, or you're intentionally "embellishing" your comment so that Spanish riders look like Froome & Co. on the 4th stage of Vuelta '12, that is, like a piece of s*it.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye9Ny2JBz1U

Draw your own conclusions. Buenas noches.