Volta a Catalunya 2012: Stage 3, La Vall d'en Bas - Port-Ainé (211 km)

[Ryo Hazuki]

the riders that gave up are being allowed back in the race?? that would be pathetic.

 

[Frosty]

If Albasini does still lead by 1.32 then hopefully it'll make for some good racing over the next few days with people trying to get that time away from him. Also, with a lot of people on the same GC then hopefully it will encourage some attacks from those who wont stand much chance if it comes down to placings in the bunch. Also hope that the climbs near the end of the next two stages are enough to break things up a lot. Dont really want to see a mass gallop to the line with loads of people worried about trying to finish as high up as possible in case they all end up crashing (someone else has already pointed this out).

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Erik Breukink
What a strange deciscion in #voltacatalunya. Stage winner but no time gaps in GC. Or you cancel the whole stage or you count everything.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

The organisers have backed themselves into a corner by allowing today's race to go ahead, when it was quite clear that it shouldn't have happened.

Any decision they make now is either going to be unfair, in some way, on the race, the riders or the fans.

There isn't a suitable solution.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Erik Breukink
What a strange deciscion in #voltacatalunya. Stage winner but no time gaps in GC. Or you cancel the whole stage or you count everything.

Seems like the obvious decision to me, given the change came with less than 10kms to the new finish and the group at 10 minutes behind.

As for letting back in riders who had already abandoned, however close to this being announce: tough.
They made their choice to climb off, regardless.

Yes, the obvious thing to do was to have a Paris-Nice style back up plan and to implement it in plenty of time.
However, they didn't, so we end up in a farcical mess.

Apt that GreenEdge should now win Spain's answer to the TDU.

 

[hatcher]

The organisers have backed themselves into a corner by allowing today's race to go ahead, when it was quite clear that it shouldn't have happened.

Any decision they make now is either going to be unfair, in some way, on the race, the riders or the fans.

There isn't a suitable solution.

Yep, the atrocious decision making all day was the problem. Wonder how many fewer abandoners there would have been had they known the stage would suddenly be 60k shorter?

Anything they do now will shaft someone. Keeping the result but eliminating the time gap is probably, imo, the best decision at this point. I don't know. Utterly farcical.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

how are tomorrows climbs? on paper it looks quite tough but that doesn't say all of course...

 

[theyoungest]

Erik Breukink
What a strange deciscion in #voltacatalunya. Stage winner but no time gaps in GC. Or you cancel the whole stage or you count everything.

Breukink will think this all a bit ridiculous, having won that notorious Gavia stage in the snow.

 

[Frosty]

What we need is a cycling version of the Duckworth-Lewis method for deciding how much a cricket team would have made

 

[Frosty]

how are tomorrows climbs? on paper it looks quite tough but that doesn't say all of course...

The profiles can be a bit misleading as they sometimes look like the Zoncolan until you look at the scale. Looks like there should be enough to create some gaps.

 

[Froome19]

I don't think any of the GC teams intended to let him have 1:30 in a race with one MTF

You argue that the GC teams would have tried harder if they'd known this stage wasn't going to count. Albasini could just as easily argue that he'd have tried harder to extend the gap in that case but was saving something to defend his lead

Aaah no I think all he really cared about then was ensuring his victory (and possibly getting a decent gap on GC).

Even if they didnt intend to let him have such a gap they werent worried as they thought they could knock it off, it wasnt like oh what have we done but rather like oh ok we will just get it back on Wednesday.

 

[MADRAZO]

The profiles can be a bit misleading as they sometimes look like the Zoncolan until you look at the scale. Looks like there should be enough to create some gaps.

The early climb is 5,2 kms at 5,3 % and then the last two climbs that looks quite different is the same and is 8,6 kms at 5,5 %, the last ending 19.2 kms from the finish.

 

[hatcher]

What we need is a cycling version of the Duckworth-Lewis method for deciding how much a cricket team would have made

Great idea. I'm emailing Mr Duckworth right this second. He'll sort today out. Literally anyone in the peloton, including those that abandoned, could be leading by tonight.

 

[Frosty]

Great idea. I'm emailing Mr Duckworth right this second. He'll sort today out. Literally anyone in the peloton, including those that abandoned, could be leading by tonight.

(chars....)

 

[plooton]

why so much criticism here. I think letting the actual standing results valid and not to count the time gaps into overal classification is the best possible and the most fair way of treating it.

 

[happytramp]

why so much criticism here. I think letting the actual standing results valid and not to count the time gaps into overal classification is the best possible and the most fair way of treating it.

Yes, but it's also effectively ending the race based on an unchallenged break on the first stage. In my opinion the only way to get the race back on track is to add a MTF to another stage. Neutralising the time gaps on it's own is largely irrelevant.

 

[zigmeister]

I don't get it. The weather was atrocious.

Then I'm watching on Universal sports online, next thing I see, they start the race, and about a minute or two later, some dude is lying on the ground after going almost through a car windshield?!?!

WTF is wrong with these bike race organizers?

 

[roundabout]

Ok, in what universe did CAS finish 5th on today's stage?

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Ok, in what universe did CAS finish 5th on today's stage?

Yep, not that it really matters much but it looked like he rolled in at the back of the lead group (9th)

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well everyone has been put in s.t. but the abandons stay abandons

 

[roundabout]

Yep, not that it really matters much but it looked like he rolled in at the back of the lead group (9th)

And Cherel is 4th instead of 3rd and Vandevelde is ahead of Rohregger when in reality they finished the other way around.

It's really incomprehensible when there's even a video available where the finishing order is quite clear.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well everyone has been put in s.t. but the abandons stay abandons

good!

......

 

[search]

besides the time gaps, the stage rankings do not seem to count as well. Otherwise Cherel would be 2nd in GC now (as he was just 1 place behind Hesjedal yesterday and gained a couple of places today)

 

[King Of The Wolds]

WTF is wrong with these bike race organizers?

I think the mistake they've made is, bafflingly, not realising that the riders would abandon.

If it was the Giro or Paris-Roubaix and it was thick snow, the organisers could easily say, 'no problem, this is the Giro/P-R, this thing happens, if you want to win this race you've got to deal with anything, it's supposed to be tough, get on with it.' And they could do that because it's the Giro/P-R and the riders will do anything to win them.

But this is the Volta a Catalunya. NOBODY is aiming for this race, EVERYBODY is using it as prep for something else. And I think the organisers failed to grasp that and the fact that riders like Basso, Wiggins, TJVG and Schleck would always choose safeguarding their hopes for July (or whenever) at the first sign of trouble.

 

[liamito]

good!

......

It's really sad. This event does NOT deserve a new license for four more years at the highest level.