Tdf Stage 11 - Thursday, July 15 2010, Sisteron - Bourg-lès-Valence, 180 km

[Ramira]

After seeing it a few more times I gotta say there's no excuse for Renshaw's behaviour. Ye Dean pushed in a bit on him when he started headbutting him (which is unacceptable no matter what) but there was a good meter or two between him and the barrier and dean moved over about 30 cm or so making it a massive overreaction on his part, and he then did his very best to try and block Farrar by moving about 2 meters to the side (while looking where he was) and leaving way to little room. In my opinion he should be removed from the tour because if this kinda behaviour is accepted there's gonna be a serious injury sometime soon, I mean head headbutted dean's arm, if he hit him a bit harder he couldve steared right into him because of it.

 

[Captain Serious]

I reckon there's a fair chance Renshaw didn't know Farar was on his left. He obviously knew Dean was on his right, so maybe he assumed that's where Farar was gunna come from. However, I gather the rules is that if he goes off his line too far, then it's potentially worth a penalty whether it was deliberate or not.

 

[search]

Renshaw is not part of the result at letour.fr and he is listed as abandoned

 

[Jamsque]

Renshaw is a tough cookie.

I don't know the rules, but assume for the sake of the argument that Renshaw is punished for blocking Farrar, could the referee take points away from Cav? I don't think so, but it's kind of a loophole IMHO to have the lead-out take out the competition without repercussions for his front man.

I think the race jury has pretty much total freedom to hand out any kind of punishment they like, but it would be excessive (not to mention entirely unprecedented) to punish a sprinter for the actions of his lead-out man.

Renshaw is an excellent last man in the train, he has a really good tactical mind for positioning in the closing kilometres, and yes part of being a good pilot-fish is fighting for position, but he took it too far today. Hitting Deano was pretty bad, but what he did after he pulled off was worse in my opinion. The standard procedure for spent sprint train riders is to swing over to the opposite side of the road from where all the fast men are, not to drop back in a straight line or try to box in a rival.

 

[Cobblestones]

Ale Jet was pretty fast today. He came a bit late, but it looked like he was gaining on Cav in the end. Definitely favorite for the green now.

 

[goggalor]

I reckon there's a fair chance Renshaw didn't know Farar was on his left. He obviously knew Dean was on his right, so maybe he assumed that's where Farar was gunna come from. However, I gather the rules is that if he goes off his line too far, then it's potentially worth a penalty whether it was deliberate or not.

He looked back and cut off Farrar. If he's kicked out, it won't be undeserved.

 

[Roland Rat]

renshaw is listed as hors course on the official page, guess he got kicked out

Just the stage though, presumably?

 

[Ramira]

Nope he's out

http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/LIVE/us/1100/classement/index.html

He's no longer there and on Belgian TV they just told him he got removed from the tour. I doubt it was worth it for Cavendish cause I think he'll struggle to win another stage now he's really been riding Renshaw in his three wins. It will certainly open up the sprints from now on if Cavendish has to go on his own.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Hushovd's sprinting is terrible, but he would probably still have been in green had it not been for stage 2.

 

[goggalor]

Ale Jet was pretty fast today. He came a bit late, but it looked like he was gaining on Cav in the end. Definitely favorite for the green now.

Yup, Thor needs to work hard in the Pyrenees if he wants the jersey. I reckon he needs a 20-30 point buffer before the last two sprints.

Cervelo were weak today. No one anywhere near Hushovd in the last 3 k. And Thor was fuming at the finish!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Renshaw sent home

Renshaw sent home - confirmed on the RAI

 

[Ryaguas]

I reckon there's a fair chance Renshaw didn't know Farar was on his left. He obviously knew Dean was on his right, so maybe he assumed that's where Farar was gunna come from. However, I gather the rules is that if he goes off his line too far, then it's potentially worth a penalty whether it was deliberate or not.

I don't think so mate... if you see the repetition Renshaw give a brief look behind and when he see Farrar he move his bike to block him... Renshaw should be removed from the tour... this behavior is unacceptable... he is not a rookie and he knows pretty well the rules...!

 

[ak-zaaf]

Nope he's out

http://www.letour.fr/2010/TDF/LIVE/us/1100/classement/index.html

He's no longer there and on Belgian TV they just told him he got removed from the tour. I doubt it was worth it for Cavendish cause I think he'll struggle to win another stage now he's really been riding Renshaw in his three wins. It will certainly open up the sprints from now on if Cavendish has to go on his own.

That's way too much.

 

[sometriguy]

Renshaw sent home - confirmed on the RAI

Damn, there goes my fantasy team...


can htc challenge the decision or is it final?

 

[Ramira]

Yup, Thor needs to work hard in the Pyrenees if he wants the jersey. I reckon he needs a 20-30 point buffer before the last two sprints.

Cervelo were weak today. No one anywhere near Hushovd in the last 3 k.

Well Hushhovd said in an interview with Belgian tv he still doesn't have the sprint speed due to his early season injury, he's never really had many team mates around him from what I can remember but right now he simply doesn't have the speed, so yeah seems his only chance will be to take 4-5 sprints in the Mountains, I have to say with the DQ of Renshaw Petacchi is my favorite for the green if he can survive the pyrenees.

 

[hrotha]

That's way too much.

I think it's perfectly fine. And he wouldn't have cared about any other punishment.

Incidentally, both Barredo and Rui Costa were allowed to stay because technically their brawl didn't happen during the race, so it's not comparable.

 

[TRDean]

From the twitter of Kenny van Hummel...A great end anyway? This happens often, but this is the # TDF and there are cameras everywhere.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

If Renshaw looked back then cut off Farrar, absolutely, he should be sent home. Ridiculous action that does not belong in a sprint.
There's no question that he put Farrar into the barriers.

 

[Straßenrennen]

That's way too much.

No its not, Renshaw was damned dangerous today, there is fighting for position and acting like an idiot, and Renshaw crossed the line. Its cycling not UFC for crying out loud. If they dont draw the line with what he did today when should they draw the line? When someone shoots someone else?

 

[Roland Rat]

Not sure they'd make that decision so quickly. Surely they'll need to review the tape etc first.

 

[Roland Rat]

That's harsh. Very harsh. What about those two having a punch up after that earlier stage?

Oh well, at least it gives Cav a chance to show he can win without Renshaw.

 

[Jamsque]

If it was just for the head-but the I think removal from the race would be excessive, but the way Renshaw dropped right back in to the middle of the sprint and then cynically and deliberately ran Farrar in to the barriers was way too dangerous.

This is going to be a real test for Cav, I think he's come to rely on Renshaw's skills a bit too much. He's certainly the fastest man in the bunch, but he'll have to work a lot harder to pick up win number 4 without his favourite lead-out man.

 

[ak-zaaf]

No its not, Renshaw was damned dangerous today, there is fighting for position and acting like an idiot, and Renshaw crossed the line. Its cycling not UFC for crying out loud. If they dont draw the line with what he did today when should they draw the line? When someone shoots someone else?

I'm all for the age old cycling solution: only throw them out if somebody actually got hurt.

 

[Ramira]

Not sure they'd make that decision so quickly. Surely they'll need to review the tape etc first.

Well in the time before they banned him they showed the replay about 3/4 times on TV so I'm pretty sure they would've seen it at least a dozen times, and it wasn't exactly subtle. But ye it was pretty fast to decide to ban him afterwards, guess they really felt he went over the top and there was no doubt he had to be punished.

I'm all for the age old cycling solution: only throw them out if somebody actually got hurt.

I think it's mainly because it's the only thing they could do that would actually hurt him and they wanted to give a clear signal. Unless the rules allowed them to remove the win from Cavendish, which I doubt they do, any punishment would be laughed away by Renshaw and HTC so I wouldn't be surprised if they felt they had no other choice.

 

[Francois the Postman]

That's way too much.

Sprints have been getting increasingly agitated and dangerous. I guess the Tour decided to draw one firm red line in the sand. Shame Renshaw got such a severe punishment, but I'm not totally unhappy that a stark example is made. Antics like that at max speed are one limb-mangling crash waiting to happen.

Did Dean get punished?