Tour de France 2020 | Stage 3 (Nice - Sisteron, 198 km)

[SafeBet]

Sagan somehow already in green.

 

[BlueRoads]

Ewan's sprint looked a bit like Mario Kart. Extremely nice to watch.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Relegation is possible but deviating from one's line is not nearly as dangerous when it's away from the barriers instead of towards them, that should always be taken into account imo.

 

[tobydawq]

Sagan in green.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

The way the sprint developed, as a long headwind sprint, Trek could have won with Pedersen....... Theuns was nowhere near.

 

[valentius borealis]

That Ewan sprint reminded me of Dan McLay in the 2016 GP Denain.

 

[Volderke]

Is there a middle ground to draw attention to Bennett's move off line at the end? Maybe some sort of relegation, short of disqualification?

maybe a yellow card? Two yellows = penalty or whatever?

 

[movingtarget]

DSQ is possible but deviating from one's line is not nearly as dangerous when it's away from the barriers instead of towards them, that should always be taken into account imo.

Doesn't really matter which direction they shift, they have to ride a straight line or near enough.

 

[Jagartrott]

One of the most beautiful sprints I've seen. He wasn't even in the overhead picture, just ahead of Kristoff who ended nowhere, then moved through the field like - er...- me through a busy crowd at a shopping center.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Doesn't really matter which direction they shift, they have to ride a straight line or near enough.

Not quite true.

You can only be penalised if it is judged to impede another rider, or if it is judged to create a dangerous situation.

If none of those things occur, you can swerve to your hearts content

 

[yaco]

Wow - Sprinters are mad ! How close did Ewan come to the barriers.

 

[jaylew]

Missed the entire stage until the last 2k so I guess my timing was perfect as I'm assuming nothing happened today. Ewan's sprint was amazing. I was sure he had no shot, he was so far back in the finale but the speed he had was amazing.

 

[bambino]

Best individual sprint I've seen for long time. Impressive given the leadout was too early and Caled was boxed for last 500m.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

One of the most beautiful sprints I've seen. He wasn't even in the overhead picture, just ahead of Kristoff who ended nowhere, then moved through the field like - er...- me through a busy crowd at a shopping center.

Are we getting a video of you sprinting through the shopping center?

 

[Flamin]

Come on, what Bennett did was pretty harmless. There's a lot more going on in the run-in with all the pushing and bodychecks.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

maybe a yellow card? Two yellows = penalty or whatever?

That's what they do in cross-country skiing. It's very subjective and sometimes almost random what gets called and doesn't get called, and as usual is open to calls of corruption when particular teams and athletes seem to get away with murder. However, it is also very clear; athletes on startlists, in intermediate sprint results and on results pages appear with the yellow card clearly displayed next to their name, and if they receive one mid-stage it is added almost instantly via the transponder data.

That might have helped explain some of the furore in 2010 and 2017, if it had been clear that Renshaw and Sagan were already on a yellow card from previous incidents. Although Renshaw's were so close in time to be consecutive, but it would have helped immeasurably in Sagan's DQ to at least understand the thinking behind the decision, because the comments about his actions at the intermediate sprint weren't public until after he'd already been relegated for the irregular final sprint; had he appeared with a yellow card icon in the intermediate and stage finish results, then people might have known he was already on warning and been less taken aback when the commissaires took the nuclear option.

 

[IndianCyclist]

All the other sprinters started too long. They were all gassed 50 m from the line. Caleb timed it beautifully but now that the other teams know and his team is short 2 powerful guys, it will get difficult

 

[tobydawq]

Are we getting a video of you sprinting through the shopping center?

Well, we didn't get a video of bob.a.feet's experiments from yesterday...

 

[Mayomaniac]

How do you beat Ewan in a headwind sprint like this one?
He's both the smallest and the most explosive top sprinter, a headwind finish is great news for him.

 

[Gigs_98]

All the other sprinters started too long. They were all gassed 50 m from the line. Caleb timed it beautifully but now that the other teams know and his team is short 2 powerful guys, it will get difficult

Don't think that's really a problem. Other sprinter teams will still control breaks cause that's what sprinter teams do and he can't really be positioned worse than he was today. Now that doesn't mean he is easily gonna win every bunch sprint, he was already lucky today that there was such a strong headwind, just that I don't think today changed the sprinter dynamics in any meaningful way.

 

[Brumdog66]

We live in different worlds

At what he does not saying he'll be winning top races anytime soon

 

[oropa]

How do you beat Ewan in a headwind sprint like this one?
He's both the smallest and the most explosive top sprinter, a headwind finish is great news for him.

Agree
And he timed this one to perfection as well

 

[RedheadDane]

Sagan in green for real now. At least there are some things that are still normal in this world.

 

[happytramp]

Sagan in green for real now. At least there are some things that are still normal in this world.

Kristoff or bennet could get it off him tomorrow as the intermediate sprint is quite early.

 

[Vino's Mum]

Great win for Ewan. FFS please DQ Bennett.

Harsh on Sam. Sure, he purposely drifts across as his legs die on him, but it’s not like he was quickly shutting the door against the barriers.

Fastest man won. The end.