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Tour de Pologne 2020

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Tomorrow's stage. I smell a solo attempt coming up.

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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.
Your ban idea is heavy handed in light of the practice being widespread. It's arguable that any sprinter that chooses to pass on the barrier side of a lead sprinter is very, very aware that the gap can narrow quickly. Again, they all know the risks that are learned in the amateur ranks on up. Only riders that have a sprinter's mindset go into this territory in the first place. If the UCI wants to redefine the rules; so be it.
The real culprit is a poorly staged finish zone. The UCI must own it and pay up.
 
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.

This basically says exactly how I saw it. This was the worst I have ever seen. Cancellara also commented on the overhead view on twitter - which in my view was pretty damning.
 
Groenewegen should be given a 4 year ban. Same as a doping infraction. He cheated and multiple people have been seriously hurt by his actions
Oh please. I agree that his manoeuvre was reckless and inappropriate and that he caused the crash, but let’s not get carried away. I remember three sprint incidents that were similar or worse, but with lesser bodily injury.
  1. Steels throwing his bottle at Moncasin in TdF 1997. (worst infraction I ever saw)
  2. Steve Bauer pushing Criquelion in the barriers in 1988 (very similar to DG, but at a lower speed)
  3. Sagan pushing Cavendish into the barriers in the TdF (again, very similar to DG)
I think a suspension should be given, maybe for the rest of the season, but it isn’t fair to look at this incident as something exceptional.
 
Your ban idea is heavy handed in light of the practice being widespread. It's arguable that any sprinter that chooses to pass on the barrier side of a lead sprinter is very, very aware that the gap can narrow quickly. Again, they all know the risks that are learned in the amateur ranks on up. Only riders that have a sprinter's mindset go into this territory in the first place. If the UCI wants to redefine the rules; so be it.
The real culprit is a poorly staged finish zone. The UCI must own it and pay up.

But maybe the problem is that the practice is widespread and this was just something that was bound to happen eventually, with that practice being accepted as "normal". So maybe the real problem is that practice.

Improving safety should always be a priority but making clear boundaries on the grey areas in what is "okay", and not, when racing need to be practiced more. I mean there are clear rules, but they only sometimes are enforced. It makes it hard for the riders. Sometimes you get away with it and sometimes they DQ you. This time it had a brutal outcome and it was an ugly move by that rider.

I do think they should make somewhat of an example. Judges in the future need to enforce that rule that when you dont stay in your lane or swerve to hinder someone, every time. You will get DQ:ed. Not to confuse when someone going past, in a clear and safe lane, because they are faster. And they need to work on the safety and making finishes that are not "dangerous". Things always gonna happen. But if it is one invidviual that is responsible for what happened. Then a punishment that seems fit for what happened should be made.
 
May 28, 2017
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The shattered trachea and palate were already mentioned before. But most of Fabo's facial bones are broken and he lost most of his teeth. Although the brain, central nerve system, vital organs, and eye balls dont seem to be damaged, its too early to tell how the nerve system in his face has been hit. Today he will be woken from his coma and that will tell the doctors a lot more about his situation.
 
Do you or any other have the details of that little hill in the final lap? Looks like a couple of kms at 5%.
It's supposedly 2k and appears to be gaining 100 meters in altitude, so that would indeed be 5%.

EDIT: going by *** the Quick's profile and this, it appears a bit longer, i guess +/-2.35km and the altitude seems to gain just a tad below 100m (let's say 90-95) going by the PCS profile. So it's probably closer to 4%, with a steeper part of 250m, around 12% from what i can calculate if that profile is drawn mathematically correct, at the end.

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