Tour de Pologne 2020

[Slaro]

Fabio has a shattered trachea and palate. In Dutch articles I read he had to be reanimated on the spot for an hour. I assume they actually mean they had to apply artificial ventilation for an hour. If they actually had to fully reanimate him (also the blood circulation) for an hour its hard to see how he didnt have brain/nerve damage which he, caution here till he awakes, doesn't seem to have. Anyways, although it does seem he can fully recover, the injuries are very serious and can still have long lasting effects jeopardizing his career as a top sporter. But Fabio having a normal life again is now more important.

 

[Bolder]

Some good points about barriers and enforcing the rules. This was a very narrow finish, and the barriers were -- at least to my eye -- useless if the goal is to protect the riders. I could see something like what pro ski racing has, with multiple layers of "catch" netting to avoid having a hard surface to hit.

As for enforcing the rules: I think they are generally enforced, but the problem is that the penalties are not stiff enough. 500 euros for diverging from your line? Sure, if there are no consequences, which most times there aren't. But you have to create the penalty with an eye to the worst case, which we saw yesterday.

If the penalty for diverging from your line was immediate DQ plus a month suspendion and forcing the team to start the next race with 2 fewer riders, or fining the TEAM 100,000 euros, then we'd see the practice disappear.

Slightly off topic, but had Jacobsen gone left to pass Groenewegen he probably would have pulled off the move, or if he'd been pushed off his line he wouldn't have gone all the way across into the barriers, I think. But it was a really bad move by DG, no doubt he's sincere about feeling terrible since the roles could have been reversed, but I think this might be a final straw regarding sprint safety. At least I hope so.

 

[RedheadDane]

So... anyway... Paterski and Van den Berg have been out front all day, but they're being chased by one De Gendt.


(And they did indeed force Malecki to wear the jersey...)

 

[Naico]

Fabio has a shattered trachea and palate. In Dutch articles I read he had to be reanimated on the spot for an hour. I assume they actually mean they had to apply artificial ventilation for an hour. If they actually had to fully reanimate him (also the blood circulation) for an hour its hard to see how he didnt have brain/nerve damage which he, caution here till he awakes, doesn't seem to have. Anyways, although it does seem he can fully recover, the injuries are very serious and can still have long lasting effects jeopardizing his career as a top sporter. But Fabio having a normal life again is now more important.

It’s not sure at all apparently that he won’t have nerve damage. That is something that will be analyzed and monitored closely once he wakes up. And that’s what doctors are the most afraid of if I understood correctly.

 

[Bonimenier]

Too many spectators, too little masks.

 

[Volderke]

I read the whole topic and read some lines I really don't grasp.

What happened, by the look of it, and I race myself, is that FJ was fully using DG's draft. DG launched and immediately looked down / under his shoulder and saw FJ coming left. DG decided to slowly close the door and keep closing it. You can close a door if that door wasn't open in the first place. In this case, there was plenty of legroom until the crash and DG deliberately kept closing.

If some on here argue that there have been worse sprints by other riders, but I have yet to find one where the rider is so deliberately trying to block a rider up until the point of crashing, taking into account the ridiculous high speed that really didn't leave any margin for error.
There are some sprints that are a tiny bit worse as in 'trying to cause a rider to crash' (I refer to Cavendish vs. Veelers), but none with the combination of deliberate dangerous action at life-threatening speeds.

I remember all kinds of irregular sprints, but I really found none that was so bad. Even Abdoujaparov looks like an angel as he was mostly swerving in the middle of the road. Cavendish was maybe the worst of the last 20 years if you combine what he did on the track with his sprints against Haussler and Veelers. Stating that throwing a bidon by Steels was worse than DG is ridiculous. That is an act out of frustration and nowhere as dangerous as pushing a rider in the barriers. And stating that Demare swerved in Milano-Torino is ridiculous as well. There was no one blocked and that sprint was perfectly fine. Last, one commenter here suggested that if FJ choose the other side, he would be fine... Let that sink in. If FJ choose the right, he reckons DG would have swarved to the left. Go figure. That commenter probably never raced a day in his life.

I'm not going to speak about what should be done and who should be punished. It actually isn't any of my business. I only hope FJ will still be able to eat, smell, see and think normally, and if miracles happen, this young and prodigious kid can one day race a bike again, hopefully on the same level as before.

 

[RedheadDane]

For a sec there I thought we might have a "lap too early" situation.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Mads Pedersen won?

 

[jaylew]

Ackermann or Pedersen?

 

[RedheadDane]

Pedersen.

But most importantly, no crashes.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

1. Pedersen
2. Ackermann
3. Ballerini

I think. Really impressive, long sprint by Pedersen.

 

[Bonimenier]

Great work from Trek. Excellent finish by Pedersen. Did not expect that.

 

[sir fly]

World champion celebrating.
A nice sprint victory for him and neat lead-out. Should they've dropped him just a moment earlier I doubt he'd taken it.

 

[jaylew]

Not sure what Bora was doing there.

 

[tobydawq]

That was really nice to see him getting a win in the jersey. I didn't think that would happen. Incredible to beat Ackermann.

 

[Faserr]

Normally Ackermann sprints too early. That was too late. But happy for Pedersen.

 

[Highlander]

I am guessing this is his first victory in the WC jersey. If so, he did a great job as I was trying to figure out who Trek was working for and forgot he was in the race.

 

[Sestriere]

Hearing reports of Trentin calling Cassani: "Did you see that, did you see that??"

But seriously, great sprint by Pedersen, and great to see the rainbow bands winning.

 

[Earns1985]

Normally Ackermann sprints too early. That was too late. But happy for Pedersen.

But he didn´t have much more speed in the end then Pedersen either. 50 m from the finish line it still looked good for Ackermann, but then he wasn´t that much faster any more..

 

[Faserr]

Yes. Perhaps he doesn't have the best legs. Normally he does hold his speed for over 200 metres. He doesn't have a short fast kick.

 

[geisterhome]

Downhill sprints, barriers from the 90ties, deadly road furniture. How many more casualties does this race need until the call it off? The worst ProTour race year after year, and at this point the lame race design and subpar quality of the TV coverage don't deserve mentioning anymore even with what is happening there.

Groenewegen should be punished, at first I thought ban him for life but after reviewing the footage multiple times I think a 2-year ban and a hefty fine (1-year salary) should do.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I'm surprised that there weren't more non-starters, not least Nelson Powless, who seemed to have been side swiped by a flying barrier yesterday.

Just relieved that there are very few posts about today's stage.

 

[Red Rick]

I didn't even know Pedersen could sprint lol

 

[RedheadDane]

Just relieved that there are very few posts about today's stage.

Not much happened in today's stage.

I didn't even know Pedersen could sprint lol

Neither did Trentin.

 

[tobydawq]

I'm surprised that there weren't more non-starters, not least Nelson Powless, who seemed to have been side swiped by a flying barrier yesterday.

Just relieved that there are very few posts about today's stage.

You find it in poor taste to be pleased with the world champion's first WorldTour win because of what happened yesterday?