Volta a Catalunya, 23-29 March 2026

[Rob5091]

The abbreviated stage 4 - breakaway or Godon? I just hope Remco looks out for those invisible potholes.

 

[Martinstranger]

Never not watch a race with Remco in it, whether you love him or hate him. The guy is always box office.

But damn it's frustrating sometimes if you love him. From getting all excited about an unexpected bold and strong (albeit perhaps not that smart) move to getting incredibly disappointed because of the crash, losing out on a possible stage win and time gain and most likely having an impact on his climbing performance in the next stages.

Always entertaining and willing to open up races which he should with his abilities.

But i'm not a fan of the post race interview - to me it seems like a young boy, who doesn't get his way in choosing what to play and therefore are mad at the other kids, who wanted to play something different.

He wanted a stage win and Vingegaard wanted the overall - it's simple. If he had waited and Redbull/Visma had put max pressure on to distance the others, he could have attacked with 3-5-7 km's to go and had another race. He looked strong enough to do it.

 

[Netserk]

The jury can choose how they want to handle this. The rule is (luckily) open to interpretation. If they feel he crashed due to bad road and not his own doing, then that's that.

taking your hands off your handlebars when entering a roundabout is a rider error

a pothole is no different from a stream of water making the surface slippery as it was for rogla , and clearly isnt in the listed categories of the rule

now i dont approve of the lex rogla and i think the rule ought to give evenepoel the same time as vingegaard . but by the rules he should have lost 2 ' 20 " in gc

 

[fenns]

He could have got straight back on - but by leaving it a couple of minutes he called the bluff of the race officials

 

[Berniece]

taking your hands off your handlebars when entering a roundabout is a rider error

a pothole is no different from a stream of water making the surface slippery as it was for rogla , and clearly isnt in the listed categories of the rule

now i dont approve of the lex rogla and i think the rule ought to give evenepoel the same time as vingegaard . but by the rules he should have lost 2 ' 20 " in gc

Well that’s your opinion, not the one from the jury who interpreted the situation differently. They feel the bump in the road that made him crash wasn’t clear enough

 

[AmRacer]

Well that’s your opinion, not the one from the jury who interpreted the situation differently. They feel the bump in the road that made him crash wasn’t clear enough

Most crashes are due to bad road, not riders error.

 

[Netserk]

Well that’s your opinion, not the one from the jury who interpreted the situation differently. They feel the bump in the road that made him crash wasn’t clear enough

cycling has a long tradition for disregarding the written rules , and this is yet another instance .

which of the written examples does this one fall under ?

 

[Potomac]

Will the change in route change the time TV coverage begins today?

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Writing this from an earlier page of this Race thread because here in California when I go to Replay for The third stage on Peacock it hasn't shown up yet and it's 640 pm pacific coast time. I am hoping someone will respond without spoilers to let me know if the stage went on a usual. I will see it on the notification icon and if there was something going on like weather or ? whatever.

For anyone else finding themselves in such a situation, I strongly recommend having a link to https://x.com/HowFarOut on your desktop, to direct you to what part of a race is key to see without (dare I mention the word again?) spoilers.

 

[Berniece]

cycling has a long tradition for disregarding the written rules , and this is yet another instance .

which of the written examples does this one fall under ?

The rule is that if you are at fault yourself and fall without anyone else being involved, the actual time is counted. In this case the jury decided it was not Evenepoel's own fault. Not sure what other examples have to do with this. An example isn't a fixed constrained, it isn't the only possibility the rule can be applied, it's an example.

I went deeper in it. Actually checked the rulebook, which you can find here.

Is considered as an incident, any event independent of the rider’s control or from his physical capacity (fall involving several riders, mechanical problem, puncture) and his will of remaining with the riders in whose company he was riding at the moment of the incident.

Riders affected by an incident, within the meaning of the preceding paragraph, are asked to make themselves known to a commissaire by rising their hand and report to a commissaire after the finish of the stage.

 

[Netserk]

The rule is that if you are at fault yourself and fall without anyone else being involved, the actual time is counted. In this case the jury decided it was not Evenepoel's own fault. Not sure what other examples have to do with this. An example isn't a fixed constrained, it isn't the only possibility the rule can be applied, it's an example.

I went deeper in it. Actually checked the rulebook, which you can find here.

why do you think the only example of the three given that involves a fall explicitly states that it is about several riders crashing ?

he had no mechanicals , no puncture . he took his hands off and fell by his own . a textbook example of lex rogla

 

[Berniece]

why do you think the only example of the three given that involves a fall explicitly states that it is about several riders crashing ?

he had no mechanicals , no puncture . he took his hands off and fell by his own . a textbook example of lex rogla

I don't know what you want me to say. I quoted the rules, it's clear the jury felt it wasn't his fault. That's that.

 

[Samamba]

(fall involving several riders, mechanical problem, puncture)

None of these things happened?

A rule where commissaires can just decide what they want is dumb anyways. Rule as a whole is dumb, as it incentivizes you to take others with you in a crash. Or just pretend that you crashed because of a flat/mechanical problem. They gave Remco the same time cause it's Remco, a famous rider riding for one of the big teams. They didn't want the smoke. Just go back to the previous rule.

The Roglic "incident" wasn't a problem because of the crash rule, but because that stage shouldn't have had a 3km rule.

 

[Netserk]

I don't know what you want me to say.

your best answer to the question i asked you :

why do you think the only example of the three given that involves a fall explicitly states that it is about several riders crashing ?

 

[Netserk]

None of these things happened?

A rule where commissaires can just decide what they want is dumb anyways. Rule as a whole is dumb, as it incentivizes you to take others with you in a crash. Or just pretend that you crashed because of a flat/mechanical problem. They gave Remco the same time cause it's Remco, a famous rider riding for one of the big teams. They didn't want the smoke. Just go back to the previous rule.

The Roglic "incident" wasn't a problem because of the crash rule, but because that stage shouldn't have had a 3km rule.

it was no problem at all with rogla

 

[Samamba]

it was no problem at all with rogla

I didn't care either, but I understand why some people have the opinion that he shouldn't have gotten the same time as descending is part of cycling. Doesn't change my point tho, if you want to "fix" that you just take away the 3km rule in stages like that.

 

[Berniece]

your best answer to the question i asked you :

why do you think the only example of the three given that involves a fall explicitly states that it is about several riders crashing ?

Okay, I understand the confusion. You see that as a hard list that can't be extended. You think that something out of a riders control is ONLY:
* fall involving several riders
* a mechanical problem
* a puncture

While I think those are just examples, and it's about "any event independent of the rider’s control or from his physical capacity". Basically giving them the leeway to decide what is and isn't in the riders control. If a bird suddenly flies into the face of a rider, and he falls on his own. Is that his own wrong doing? He crashed alone, didn't have a mechanical and no puncture.

 

[RedheadDane]

What's wrong with Veistroffer?
Where is he?
Is he sick?

 

[Netserk]

You see that as a hard list that can't be extended.

no

i think it was phrased like that to exclude rider errors , like rogla slipping on a wet surface or evenepoel taking his hands off his bike

 

[jmdirt]

Well it's too late here already 8 pm California time and after chatting with help desk I won't have enough time to watch the 3rd stage so will read the posts here as though i am watching the Third Stage of Catalunya UGH

Pretty good highlights on YouTube.

 

[Boehmand]

Okay, I understand the confusion. You see that as a hard list that can't be extended. You think that something out of a riders control is ONLY:
* fall involving several riders
* a mechanical problem
* a puncture

While I think those are just examples, and it's about "any event independent of the rider’s control or from his physical capacity". Basically giving them the leeway to decide what is and isn't in the riders control. If a bird suddenly flies into the face of a rider, and he falls on his own. Is that his own wrong doing? He crashed alone, didn't have a mechanical and no puncture.

A more realistic example, would be a climate protester jumping into the road in front of a rider

 

[jmdirt]

I really don't care if the UCI wants to extend the 3K rule to include everything, but just state it that way.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Need the break to make it today. Vamos!

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I really don't care if the UCI wants to extend the 3K rule to include everything, but just state it that way.

This would be an awful rule change, as it would incentivise deliberately crashing or faking mechanicals with 2.9k to go on every single uphill finish where you don't feel good about your legs.

 

[Samamba]

Need the break to make it today. Vamos!

No chance with the false flat last x kilometers. That's the sad thing about this cancellations, it just turns into a boring sprint stage, not even possible to prevent it. If it was still a hilly stage it could still be interesting.