The Crostis Descent

[profff]

in descent a rider must regulate his own speed
allmost all the descent from alps have potentially very dangerous sections.
the essence of road racing downhill it si not just going fast, it is going fast without falling.
bike handling is essentially that.

i accept the discussion wheter repleting the stages with too much altimetric difficulties will kill aggressive racing and also tactics, or enhancing the use of PED but i cannot understand discussing if a descent from a 1980 m mountain on a secondary road can be dangerous: almost all the descents in the alps and the pyrenees are dangerous.
the ones of you that have climbed the alps know perfectly what i mean.

i understand very well the ben pounder argument : i did the finestre and i liked it very much ,and i think that the crostis is something similar .
i would not like to go on the plan corones : to steep for a gravel road, no fit for road bike racing.
on the descent of crostis they will have to go slow: differences will be big anyway.
i hope everything will be okay.
everybody was excited about crostis ; WW' s death ( may he rest in peace),happened in a complete different situation and i do not understand why this horrible tragedy has changed everything about crostis,

 

[VeloCity]

Exactly, 2006 had absolutely nothing to do with how hard the route was (it wasn't even exceptional for a Giro, last year was much more difficult). Basso was so much better in 2006 than the competition, no mather what route you had, it would always be a boring race.

It wasn't just Basso, it was the time gaps from 2nd on as well.

A difficult doesn't guarantee good race, but an easy route pretty much does guarantee a boring one (Paris-Nice anyone?).

Who said anything about easy? I said conservative. As in, sticking with the tried and tested.

So far, these experiments haven't had an effect on the riders safety, so there's little wrong with it. If anything, the Giro has become safer.

Which is why you have one dead rider, another who almost lost his life in a crash that prematurely ended his career, riders neutralizing a stage to protest safety conditions, the top GC rider fearing for his safety, and talk of needing nets to stop riders from falling off the side of a cliff on a particularly dangerous and untested descent, all just in the past three years. Yep, sounds like its become a lot safer.

 

[tinga1]

It wasn't just Basso, it was the time gaps from 2nd on as well.

Who said anything about easy? I said conservative. As in, sticking with the tried and tested.

Which is why you have one dead rider, another who almost lost his life in a crash that prematurely ended his career, riders neutralizing a stage to protest safety conditions, the top GC rider fearing for his safety, and talk of needing nets to stop riders from falling off the side of a cliff on a particularly dangerous and untested descent, all just in the past three years. Yep, sounds like its become a lot safer.

Ding Ding Ding we have a winner in the *** stakes.

 

[Eshnar]

Which is why you have one dead rider

You've seen where he died, haven't you?

and talk of needing nets to stop riders from falling off the side of a cliff on a particularly dangerous and untested descent

It's not a talk. Thay'll put nets because they always do it when it comes to dangerous descent.

 

[rhubroma]

...

Which is why you have one dead rider

Unfortunately, and I say this with the maximum respect, this was do to his own momentary lack of attention, not the course.

Riding alpine descents is part of their job and if someone hadn't died recently on a descent that wasn't particularly dangerous, we wouldn't be arguing about this.

Having said that, is the Crotis descent too perilous? Certainly it is quite dangerous. Though there are many dangerous descents in the Italian alps and dolomites and we have no way of gauging precisely how dangerous one dangerous descent is relative to others they have gone done before and nobody has died.

It can probably be used.

 

[Credive]

you really think people will tune in less if there is no dirt in a road race? Really?
Are you implying that this stage was forced by sponsors?

Is that anything like people tune in for the crashes? more crashes more sponsors?

No, I'm saying that they want to close the gap between the tour and the giro. Tour de France is absolutly dominating in popularity. I am not saying this is the right thing to do or defending the 14th stage.

If you want to start removing stages or part of them, where should you stop? If this is a competition of the riders security you can forget about the whole "mass-start" concept

 

[Culkasi]

Damn it, I hate this,
If the riders think its dangerous, be careful and don't go down with 100km an hour - it is actually that easy. There is a terrain for everyone, and this will be for the specialists - but why should they not have a chance to shine?

Shame on the riders, and shame on the Giro if they change the route.

Cycling is about extremes, and we want to see riders shine and overcome different obstacles. Many stages in the GTs previously have had dangerous descents, and yes, accidents happen, but usually the riders take the speed which is possible - why not do the same here?

It would be sad for cycling if we have to change the nature of it because of a very unfortunate crash that sadly killed a rider

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I dislike the way people are already trying to exploit Weylandt's death to advance their own agendas.

No shock that Garmin are complaining about yesterday

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wilson-and-millar-call-to-limit-danger-on-gravel-stages

 

[El Pistolero]

I dislike the way people are already trying to exploit Weylandt's death to advance their own agendas.

No shock that Garmin are complaining about yesterday

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wilson-and-millar-call-to-limit-danger-on-gravel-stages

Seems like fair complains. Not once did they mention WW. And they were only complaining about downhill strade bianche, not strade bianche on straight or uphill roads.

 

[Benotti69]

If Contador feels strongly enough about it, why doesn't he do something about it? Nibali, Contador and Scarponi for me would be the patrons of the Giro peloton, those 3 could do something about if they so wished, to ride slowly down it and have a system where they treat the descent like a railway crossing where everyone comes together when the barrier is down, then after the train passes they let riders off at the original gaps. It is a suggestion should a problem arise, but i dont see it.
I dont see a problem if the riders dont feel strongly enough to do something about it.

 

[cineteq]

I dislike the way people are already trying to exploit Weylandt's death to advance their own agendas.

No shock that Garmin are complaining about yesterday

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wilson-and-millar-call-to-limit-danger-on-gravel-stages

Don't think is the case. You find this funny?
"But there was some hairpin turns in a steep downhill and a long descent for about ten minutes. I saw two crashes; I thought I should have seen more. What people don’t see on TV is the guys chasing to get back on. How many cars are there behind the riders? More than fifty! I’ve had cars passing me on the dirt, stones flying and hitting me."

 

[Lanark]

I think it's a fair assessment by the Garmin boys. That first downhill part wasn't necessary, nobody took any risks, you could see very little, and there wasn't any selection in the peloton. The uphill sections, or the roling sections like the last part are great (although they should find some way to help people with a flat tire faster), and a fantastic addition to the yearly Giro-route, a strade bianche descent is dangerous and isn't even really much fun for the viewer.

 

[Benotti69]

Don't think is the case. You find this funny?
"But there was some hairpin turns in a steep downhill and a long descent for about ten minutes. I saw two crashes; I thought I should have seen more. What people don’t see on TV is the guys chasing to get back on. How many cars are there behind the riders? More than fifty! I’ve had cars passing me on the dirt, stones flying and hitting me."

Then it is up to the riders to do something about it! Simples really. It will always be the riders who bring about change to this sport, to say enough is enough we wont race such dangerous roads.

Chris Boardman refused to ride the Paris Roubaix after i think 1 ride. He called it a circus. Hinault hated Paris Roubaix rode it twice i think.

 

[Escarabajo]

As you can see, there might not be a Crostis descent after all. Riders are planning a protest for that descent.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rasmussen-says-possible-rider-protest-against-crostis-zoncolan-stage

"Racing is so dangerous. There is not just one or two but ten men that could ride off the edge there,” he said. “They're constantly working to make the Giro as hard and extreme as possible. But this is a little too extreme.”

Saxo Bank-SunGard's Alberto Contador also admitted that he was afraid of the Crostis descent and that he was hoping for snowfall to cancel the stage. “If Contador says that, then there is something to it. That part of the stage is to his advantage."

 

[Escarabajo]

You've seen where he died, haven't you?

It's not a talk. Thay'll put nets because they always do it when it comes to dangerous descent.

I didn't know that, honestly. Can you please show us some examples of this?

Thanks.

 

[Parrulo]

i have an idea for rasmussen and bak. . . . don't want to ride it? leave the giro its not like any fan will miss them or anything . . . . that decision should be up to the people who might have to take risks there and those are the GC classification

 

[craig1985]

i have an idea for rasmussen and bak. . . . don't want to ride it? leave the giro its not like any fan will miss them or anything . . . . that decision should be up to the people who might have to take risks there and those are the GC classification

Given what happened to WW, you can understand why they have that POV. My feeling is that AZ will now not make them ride the Crositis.

 

[therhodeo]

Maybe Crostis shouldn't happen. After watching this vid it seems like a large part of the peloton can't stay upright on good pavement let alone gravel.

http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=a1d5d308-dbf8-4cfe-9479-dc37ed70e63a.html?

 

[Scansorial]

Now would be the best time for a rider protest to actually be successful. If the organizers said no they'd look like complete a-holes.

Why can't the riders just regulate themselves, though? Let a break go and set up an agreement between the GC guys that they'll play it safe on the descent and let the Zoncolon decide everything.

 

[Escarabajo]

i have an idea for rasmussen and bak. . . . don't want to ride it? leave the giro its not like any fan will miss them or anything . . . . that decision should be up to the people who might have to take risks there and those are the GC classification

He'll still have to ride hard to avoid being outside the time limit. Some riders, or actually many riders, use the descents to catch up.

 

[therhodeo]

As you can see, there might not be a Crostis descent after all. Riders are planning a protest for that descent.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rasmussen-says-possible-rider-protest-against-crostis-zoncolan-stage

Looks like a rider commenting to the press based on the same crazy picture that people have been posting on here.

“We have seen pictures of it and it is not fun,”

 

[craig1985]

He'll still have to ride hard to avoid being outside the time limit. Some riders, or actually many riders, use the descents to catch up.

Yeah, some of the best descenders are sprinters Rasmussen will still take risks to stay inside the time limit.

David Harmon on British Eurosport is questioning the logic of ending Paolo Savoldelli to see if the Crositis is ok to down on. Surely you would a **** descender to go down as well to see what they think, because Il Falco is going to find it easier then what a lot of people do.

 

[Escarabajo]

Maybe Crostis shouldn't happen. After watching this vid it seems like a large part of the peloton can't stay upright on good pavement let alone gravel.

http://www.universalsports.com/video/assetid=a1d5d308-dbf8-4cfe-9479-dc37ed70e63a.html?

Did you see how many silly mistakes these professionals are making due to the adrenaline or being in the heat of the race?

 

[Parrulo]

He'll still have to ride hard to avoid being outside the time limit. Some riders, or actually many riders, use the descents to catch up.

well by leaving the giro like i said he won't have trouble with that. still i already said on this thread that they should remove the time limits for that stage. simple as that

 

[therhodeo]

Did you see how many silly mistakes these professionals are making due to the adrenaline or being in the heat of the race?

Thats like someone like Peyton Manning saying "its just hard to throw to the right person, there are so many people watching". They're pros. They're not new to this. I do think there will be some calming down by the time they get to Crostis though.