Should Theo Bos be suspended for this?

[JoeVelo]

right

I guess you are absolutely right. Bos deserve to be suspended for at least two years and charged with assault in a criminal court. this a deliberate move to injure a rider and the consequences on the career of impey could have been far worse. i can't believe this **** happens in cycling, this is not wwe or nhl.

Not only should he receive a suspension, he should be charged with assault.

Unbelievable.

 

[JoeVelo]

what went wrong with Bos

I still don't get it! What went wrong in his mind? I'm still looking at the video and it is clear Bos grabbed firmly the jersey of Impey and throws him into the barriers. I can't get any other conclusion. We'll see what the clowns at ICU have to say about this. I guess it will be like in the NHL, no serious injury, big name involved, funny suspension. Impey should sue Bos for his injuries, possible consequences for his future and loss of possible money.

 

[Csmith1]

No suspension

Don't judge too quickly people!

The video looks heinous, but watch more closely:
Check out the slow-mo replay on YouTube, you will CLEARLY see that Bos hits the barrier BEFORE he pulls Impey... Bos was pushed onto the barrier, and his left shoulder is sliding along the rail!
Then he grabs Impey, desperately trying to pull himself back up. He's not trying to pull Impey down, Bos is trying to pull himself back UP.

Admittedly, Bos caused the crash. But, it happened because he was trying to avoid going down himself, not in a malicious act towards the yellow jersey.

I feel terrible for Impey, but I feel terrible for Bos too, he's been judged and executed by the media already, and I just hope his reputation recovers.

 

[Csmith1]

Don't judge too quickly people!

The video looks heinous, but watch more closely:
Check out the slow-mo replay on YouTube, you will CLEARLY see that Bos hits the barrier BEFORE he pulls Impey... Bos was pushed onto the barrier, and his left shoulder is sliding along the rail!
Then he grabs Impey, desperately trying to pull himself back up. He's not trying to pull Impey down, Bos is trying to pull himself back UP.

Admittedly, Bos caused the crash. But, it happened because he was trying to avoid going down himself, not in a malicious act towards the yellow jersey.

I feel terrible for Impey, but I feel terrible for Bos too, he's been judged and executed by the media already, and I just hope his reputation recovers.

 

[Blorpht]

I've watched the slo-mo video about 20 times. Bos is getting scary close to the barriers, but it appears he puts his hand on Impey just before he touches the barrier. I don't think it was a malicious act....a stupid move on Bos' part, nonetheless. It looked like a grab of panic.

A say he deserves a suspension. Not a life time ban.

 

[LugHugger]

I've watched the slo-mo video about 20 times. Bos is getting scary close to the barriers, but it appears he puts his hand on Impey just before he touches the barrier. I don't think it was a malicious act....a stupid move on Bos' part, nonetheless. It looked like a grab of panic.

A say he deserves a suspension. Not a life time ban.

Agreed. Bos was reckless. I would have thought that his handling skills would have enabled him to avoid the barriers. Perhaps somebody will point out that road bikes possess brakes and that he should practice using them. This might help him avoid making a similar mistake in the future. I still think though that he showed such negligence and incompetence that Impey and Barlowworld should prosecute him for loss or earnings and injury at the very least.

 

[ak-zaaf]

I still think though that he showed such negligence and incompetence that Impey and Barlowworld should prosecute him for loss or earnings and injury at the very least.

If they do and win the case, cycling as we know it is over.

 

[Teamsprint]

Bos Sprint

Bos was accelerating up the left side. The rider to his right (Impey) started moving left because he was reacting to a left movement of the group. Bos put up his hand to stop the rider moving left. One thing I know as a sprinter. If you take your hand off the bars and use it on a another rider during a sprint it's a rules violation. Elbows yes, hands, no.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed. Bos was reckless. I would have thought that his handling skills would have enabled him to avoid the barriers. Perhaps somebody will point out that road bikes possess brakes and that he should practice using them. This might help him avoid making a similar mistake in the future. I still think though that he showed such negligence and incompetence that Impey and Barlowworld should prosecute him for loss or earnings and injury at the very least.

I think it was mentioned earlier but someone brought up the point that since he's a track specialist he isn't used to using brakes. So his instinct isn't to grab onto the brakes. Instead, in a panic, he takes his hands off the handlebar.

And the natural reaction when one falls is to try to grab onto something or someone to stabilize yourself. In this case, it was the wrong decision.

Then add in him trying to squeaze into a space that wasn't there and the close proximity of the barriers and "POW!" Not good...

 

[54x11Sprint]

Agreed. Bos was reckless. I would have thought that his handling skills would have enabled him to avoid the barriers. Perhaps somebody will point out that road bikes possess brakes and that he should practice using them. This might help him avoid making a similar mistake in the future. I still think though that he showed such negligence and incompetence that Impey and Barlowworld should prosecute him for loss or earnings and injury at the very least.

Even though they are not yet sprinting, using your brakes in a mess like that is a surefire way to cause a crash. There had already been one really bad pileup, and there was another one after it. The whole finale was a total mess that really did look worse than some of our local amateur races.

When I review the video I see Bos getting pushed into the barriers and trying to keep Impey off of him. I don't see anything intentional with him trying to take down another rider. Why in the world would someone try to take someone down by "throwing" them in front of their own bike. That's a 100% surefire way to crash - like riding full speed into a sharp curb or something.

Bos shouldn't have grabbed jersey, that was a stupid thing to do, but there was no 'throwing'. All of that is nonsense. The 'tensing' of his arm happens when he hits the barrier and that causes him to drastically slow down. If you watch Impeys speed compared to the other riders, Impey didn't speed up like he would have if it was the "madison throw' everyone is claiming it is, and there isn't anything going on at all until Bos hit the barriers.

Again, stupid move by Bos, and he ought to be asked to sit for a month or so, but to play this out like he was trying to cause a crash and should be 'banned' is crazy.

 

[whittnj]

Darryls crash

No immediate action taken, does not surprise me as this requires careful consideration by the UCI and the race organisers.

As an ex racing cyclist, ex team mechanic and team manager / sponsor, who has won bunch sprints, I understand the difficulty that is sometimes placed on a sprinter when taking the inside or for that matter the outside track, often against the barriers. However, in Impy's case I have looked at the youtube video posted and it is quite clear, Bos grabbed Impy and threw him forward into the barrier, God only know what he was thinking, or perhaps he was not.

Any sprinter worth his salt in understanding the risks involved in firstly placing yourself in the position Bos did, and then placing a hand, as shown quite clearly in this video on another rider during the last final kilometres of a bunch sprint, should expect to receive punishment. Shoulders & elbows is the norm, but this, this is incredible.

As he has endangered the life and professional carrier of another professional, he should therefore be stripped of his professional racing licence and recieve a competition suspension of a two year ban. As for his team management, they should have taken the iniative here and as soon as this emmerged, fired Bos.

Racing is not for fools and these are not suffered gladly.
Bos's actions could have resulted in a death.

Please UCI, for once do the right thing here.....

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I wonder what Sven Nys would've done in this situation. Jump the barrier cross-style like the gazelle that he is?

 

[Jasper]

I wonder what Sven Nys would've done in this situation. Jump the barrier cross-style like the gazelle that he is?

I wonder what Bart Wellens would have done if he were Impey. I bet he'd roundhouse kick Bos against the barrier before he could pull him down

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Any sprinter worth his salt in understanding the risks involved in firstly placing yourself in the position Bos did, and then placing a hand, as shown quite clearly in this video on another rider during the last final kilometres of a bunch sprint, should expect to receive punishment. Shoulders & elbows is the norm, but this, this is incredible.

Thanks Whittnj. I didn't race as much as you did, but this is what I saw. as I said before, it was Bos extremely poor decision of not reading the course (barriers) and the dynamics of the peloton then riding himself into a place where he had nowhere to go. That was his first mistake. Impey didn't ride into him. Bos ended up in that position with nowhere to go because of his own poor judgment.

The second mistake he made was not so much touching Impey to let Darryl know he was there - that does happen - but to keep his hand there almost as a brace, then to grab Impey. As Whittnj notes, shoulders and elbows happen a lot, quick gentle pushes happen, but you do not grab someone else's jersey 700km from a finish in a field sprint regardless of the reason. I don't care if they were at full sprint yet or not. Anything under about 3k on the flats like this can be very fast and dangerous.

Touching the brakes is usually a bad idea, and done as a last ditch effort as it can indeed cause crashes behind you, but not always, and it certainly would have been a better choice for Bos if he did it just right, than the action he took.

It matters not to me that Bos didn't act with malice, he acted in gross negligence that may have ruined another riders career.

Racing is not for fools and these are not suffered gladly.
Bos's actions could have resulted in a death.

This is the part that seems to be lost on people. Impey is still in the hospital with very serious injuries. He's completely immobilized and will be recovering for a very long time. Despite his positive attitude, he is in bad shape and who knows even if he will recover to where he fully was before.

 

[Anonymous]

whittnj, I have to disagree. I still don't feel he threw Impey at all. Taking his hand off the handlebar and grabbing Impey was certainly a violation and he should be punished but not to the extent that you say.

But to say he blatantly threw Impey into the barriers I feel was not what happened. I, too, watched the vid on You Tube, several times. However, the view is obscured because of where the camera is located. So we don't get to see the whole thing as it happened. But momentum (or sudden change in direction of momentum) is what carried him into the barriers.

Maybe someone with a physics background can chime in but if two fast moving objects are side by side and connected ahead of the center of the second object (hand grabbing jersey by upper back/shoulder) and suddenly one of those objects stops (Bos crashing into barrier) while still connected, the "other" object would naturally be "pulled" around the front as his (Impey's) speed is suddenly decreased as well.

Try this... take two skate boards. Tie a rope to the front trucks of each board. Roll them down the street at high speed, then suddenly stop the board on the left. What happens to the board on the right that is connected at the front truck with the other board? It will swing around because it is connected to the front of the other board, just like Impey did in front of Bos. Unfortunately it was into the barriers and caused Impey lots of bodily harm.

Was it a dumb move, yes. Should he be punished? Yes. Was it blatant? No. But like Mcewen said, suspend him for a month and let that be the end of it. And once cooler heads prevail let them talk to each other and work it out amongst themselves.

 

[feltf3c_biker]

He grabbed him and tossed him. He had a fist full of jersey and pulled him down. Watch the video very closely.

I too have watched this video numerous times and agree with you. One can definitely see Bos's arm move from his right to his left, taking Impey into the barrier. It isn't Impey that turned into it. I think there's more to this incident than Bos is letting on.

 

[BroDeal]

I too have watched this video numerous times and agree with you. One can definitely see Bos's arm move from his right to his left, taking Impey into the barrier. It isn't Impey that turned into it. I think there's more to this incident than Bos is letting on.

I don't know. I think I am going to go with Gee333's idea. Never having tried it, I have my doubts that a "judo style" throw is possible on a bike. There would not be enough friction, so if you try to throw someone one direction then your body will go the other direction. I suspect that as Bos begins to crash he yanks Impey, causing him to crash, and the crash physics of Impey are such that he flies off into the barriers. Bos's arm follows, making it look like he throws Impey. Bodies go in weird directions during crashes.

The crappy youtube video quality I watched makes it hard to tell much.

 

[54x11Sprint]

I too have watched this video numerous times and agree with you. One can definitely see Bos's arm move from his right to his left, taking Impey into the barrier. It isn't Impey that turned into it. I think there's more to this incident than Bos is letting on.

Really guys. Just think about it. If Bos had the motive to take impey down in a crash, wouldn't he simply push him away and into other riders, or instead of slowing up next to him when pinched by the barriers, try to slip around and then hook him back into the pack? If he had done that, he might have had a chance at saving himself from a crash.

Why in the world would he 'throw' something/someone in front of his own bike, resulting in a 100% chance that he would crash himself.

Yes, Bos's arm moved from the right to the left taking Impey into the barrier. The question is why. I see that Bos hits the barrier FIRST, watch his speed relative to Impey and everyone else. AFTER he drastically slows by hitting the barrier is when Impey comes across because Bos did have a fistful of jersey. I still can't see how this was intentional - just a rule of physics. If Bos was 'throwing' Impey, Bos speed would have stayed constant, and Impey would have sped up. Neither of these things happened. Bos should not have been holding on and should get some punishment from that, but I don't see how anyone can say it was intentional just from the video.

 

[Anonymous]

I, too, watched the vid on You Tube, several times. However, the view is obscured because of where the camera is located.

the view on my video is not obscured... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8K_7bJQaaI
(and interestingly im up to 16,000 hits and starting to hit some of the other boards and newsites now.. ) reckon i should add the forum address to the description...

im still unsure, im sure he caused it, im sure his excuse is pathetic, and blaming it on impey is idiotic.. deliberate.. i dont know..
stupid and worthy of a ban, yes...

If Bos was 'throwing' Impey, Bos speed would have stayed constant, and Impey would have sped up

they start off level, after bos grabs his shirt impey ends up a full length in front.. deliberate who knows, thrown, who knows, but certainly impey does gain on him

 

[Bartoli]

I'm so dissapointed... Theo Bos is allways such a nice guy... Never expected this from him. I can't conclude anything else than Bos did something that is absolutely disgusting.

 

[ak-zaaf]

This should be easy. Take Bos to a shrink to see if he's suicidal. If he's not, this wasn't on purpose.

 

[ATAC50]

I love the load of armchair psychologists here who are applying measured logic to actions that happened in split seconds; to listen to some of them, it's like hearing my kids:

"I know his nose is bleeding, but I didn't mean to hit him with the book! I just threw it!"

Accident? Bull. Could not have done so in his right mind, since it made him crash, too? Roadapples. Trying to keep from being bullied into the barriers? Yeah, right -- show me the pic of the last pro sprinter to be bullied ANYWHERE.

Bos needs a new career. Maybe he can be javelin catcher for the Olympic team in his native land.

 

[cougie]

I cant believe that he could have deliberately thrown the guy - even in a temper - its its too much of a stretch.

I think I'd have to side with the losing balance and grabbing in panic thing - despite it looking like he lobbed the guy through the barriers !

Impey was fast and Bos was slowing - so the hand on the jersey just swung him off to the left. Its not as it looked - how strong would you need to be to throw a rider off to the left ? Unless Rabobank have signed a Dr David Banner ?

Nasty crash anyway. Hope Impey recovers well.

 

[AlHooKoo]

It's plain and simple.
Bos should be suspended.

 

[ATAC50]

I cant believe that he could have deliberately thrown the guy - even in a temper - its its too much of a stretch.

I think I'd have to side with the losing balance and grabbing in panic thing - despite it looking like he lobbed the guy through the barriers !

Impey was fast and Bos was slowing - so the hand on the jersey just swung him off to the left. Its not as it looked - how strong would you need to be to throw a rider off to the left ? Unless Rabobank have signed a Dr David Banner ?

Nasty crash anyway. Hope Impey recovers well.

Dr. David Banner? Pal, I have an arthritic shoulder attached to a rebuilt collarbone, and I GUARANTEE I could fling you at least that far if we were bustin' it for the same space. Now, I see myself in the mirror daily (no, it doesn't break all that often), and I'm not green, or even all that buff.

Keep on thinking it's all nice and flowery, and nobody could POSSIBLY do something like that, after all, they're pros, right? Hey -- MONEY's involved, and people -- even nice ones -- will dropkick their mothers for enough of it.