UAE Tour 2022, February 20 - February 26

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Just saw the finish. Was expecting some Groenewegen-like swerving and ramming but it was a lot less serious than the comments here made it out to be. Not a clean sprint, but he deviates roughly 2 meters over the course of 200 meters without sudden movements. I could understand should he be relegated, but i can also understand why they didn't.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1495384094582132742

View: https://twitter.com/MatMitchell30/status/1495384094582132742

 

[Ranagazoo]

Relegations for me are limited to sudden swerves and extreme movements, slowly drifting across the road is fine. Groenewegen lost the sprint by being bumped off Mezgec's wheel and moving to the barriers, not Philipsen's problem. Agree that Dylan is the fastest here but Philipsen really smoked Bennett at the end, who decided to play the game on hard mode by starting at the back of the peloton with like 2k to go.

 

[jmdirt]

Nice win JP!

 

[Red Rick]

Jury is out boys. LRCP says relegation.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

It seems the wind played quite a role in this stage. Very slow average speed…

 

[Lequack]

It seems the wind played quite a role in this stage. Very slow average speed…

Wasn't the wind, it was just the peloton being very slow.

 

[Volderke]

Jury is out boys. LRCP says relegation.

I interprete it as he’s saying that the jury should be consistent, if they relegate Richeze, they should relegate Philipsen. Now it seems very random.

 

[tobydawq]

I interprete it as he’s saying that the jury should be consistent, if they relegate Richeze, they should relegate Philipsen. Now it seems very random.

Well, Philipsen actually rode for a result, Richeze only went where he did to impede Cavendish. Very much against the spirit of the sport. But that may not be something you can judge the incidents by.

 

[claude cat]

You can argue about the Philipsen vs Groenewegen call (it's probably 50-50), but there shouldn't have been any dispute about this one.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1495436423692013571

View: https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen/status/1495436423692013571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1495436423692013571%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=


Should have been a straight red!

 

[Zoef-Lightning]

Relegate Philipsen ?
The man in the lead can always choose his own line. Provided that he does not hinder the rider coming next to him afterwards. To be understood : as long as there is enough space on the road.
Groenewegen was never next to him. Nor did Philipsen use his body, shoulder and finally his elbow in an attempt to hurt or even kill his adversary. As a certain Dutch rider (I forgot his name) once did in Poland.

 

[Nirvana]

What a mess of a sprint, that's why you need turns and roads that aren't at highway width.

For the CPA narrow roads, twists and turns are dangerous and their software says straight highways are the best...

 

[RedheadDane]

You can argue about the Philipsen vs Groenewegen call (it's probably 50-50), but there shouldn't have been any dispute about this one.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1495436423692013571

View: https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen/status/1495436423692013571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1495436423692013571%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=


Should have been a straight red!

He pushed the Ag2R rider, and then he started telling him off! Dude, you started it...

Nor did Philipsen use his body, shoulder and finally his elbow in an attempt to hurt or even kill his adversary. As a certain Dutch rider (I forgot his name) once did in Poland.

That was Groenewegen. And I still highly doubt he was trying to hurt Jakobsen. But that incident showed that even if "riders have been doing it all the time" might be true, all it takes is one false move, speed a bit too high, barriers not properly fastened (though I do hope they have someone checking the barriers at the finals now! Maybe those sock-height people can double-duty) and disaster can strike.

For the CPA narrow roads, twists and turns are dangerous and their software says straight highways are the best...

That weird. Pretty sure I've seen a video with Mørkøv explaining why straight roads aren't necessarily safer. I might be biased, but I'd have thought he'd be someone people would listen to.

 

[Kazistuta]

Relegate Philipsen ?
The man in the lead can always choose his own line. Provided that he does not hinder the rider coming next to him afterwards. To be understood : as long as there is enough space on the road.
Groenewegen was never next to him. Nor did Philipsen use his body, shoulder and finally his elbow in an attempt to hurt or even kill his adversary. As a certain Dutch rider (I forgot his name) once did in Poland.

Let's not talk about sprinters deliberately trying to hurt or kill (sigh) an opponent, shall we? If you're talking about the crazy Theo Bos/Daryl Impey incident, it was in Turkey, not Poland.

 

[Nirvana]

That weird. Pretty sure I've seen a video with Mørkøv explaining why straight roads aren't necessarily safer. I might be biased, but I'd have thought he'd be someone people would listen to.

Last fall I remember at the UCI stakeholder meeting they even proposed to draw lanes on the ground in the finale of sprinting stages so that everyone should sprint in a predefinite lane without going close to others. Every proposal for the supposed safety generally ranges between crazyness and madness.

 

[Faserr]

Nervous and windy today. The sky is full of sand. Splits in the bunch.

Peloton together again (three ahead). I think there will be echelons again later.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

The breakaway consists of three riders from Gazprom. Now, that is special

You do not often see something like this…

 

[Earns1985]

Nervous and windy today. The sky is full of sand. Splits in the bunch.

Peloton together again (three ahead). I think there will be echelons again later.

I think wind is coming from north west today. That would mean, that we will have in the last 25 km crosswind again.. with 30 km/h not that strong, but perhaps we will see some more action in the end..

 

[search]

The breakaway consists of three riders from Gazprom. Now, that is special

You do not often see something like this…

nice move, yeah, especially as Strakhov is 3rd in GC already. This way he can pick up another 6s uncontested and potentially even take over the leader's jersey in the end, in case not the same guys as yesterday end up in the very front.

 

[Ricco']

The breakaway consists of three riders from Gazprom. Now, that is special

You do not often see something like this…

Wish's Gewiss-Ballan

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Wish's Gewiss-Ballan

Yeah, or Mapei‘s Roubaix…

ONCE on Feldberg in Tour of Germany was similar…

 

[glassmoon]

dust in the wind

 

[BlueRoads]

Hey, that's a tempo I could join...

 

[repre]

Hey, that's a tempo I could join...

embarrassing view for race labeled as first big race of the year

 

[Earns1985]

embarrassing view for race labeled as first big race of the year

Well, it´s a strong headwind right now, doesn´t make much sense to do anything right now.
Change of direction will be in 7 km, then it should get more interesting..

 

[Lequack]

embarrassing view for race labeled as first big race of the year

Honestly yes. It's another thing when the breakaway has like 10 minutes and peloton gives up, but this is jsut straight up not racing and taking a day off. And not like yesterday was any different. Just goes to show when you only invite sprinter teams you will end up with a boring race. If Quickstep didn't have a designated sprinter they might do something, but now every team is just waiting for the last 3kms.