Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2022, stage 11: ElPozo Alimentacion - Cabo de Gata, 191.2k

[Devil's Elbow]

Yates is cursed, once again droping out of a Grand Tour. The way things are going almost anyone in the top10 can still win the Vuelta.

But we all know that if Evenepoel is forced to abandon due to force majeure, it won't be a proper GT win for whoever makes it to Madrid in red. And it's a distinct possibility, this race is fast becoming this year's Tour de Suisse played out over 21 stages instead of 9.

 

[search]

a shame to see Yates out of it already. Ayuso said he is feeling sick as well, but his test were negative so far.

According to Bennett's blog, there's indeed a chance to continue with a positive test as well in the Vuelta, btw, but in his case the virus load was too high:

"At the Tour de France in July, Polish rider Rafal Majka was allowed continue to race with Covid because his viral load was deemed really low, so an hour before the start, I was still pinning numbers on my jersey and hoping test results from the Vuelta’s mobile lab would come back like his.

As I waited tentatively for the results, I felt fine so I really expected the virus to be low in my body. The results said otherwise, and instead of rolling down the start ramp, I watched the time trial from my hotel room this afternoon."

 

[steffr222]

Sivakov out with Covid too

 

[houtdffan]

CN is reporting the Yates abandon is due to a strict team policy

Some teams need to get their *** together like UAE did at the Tour, allowing Majka to continue despite the positive. Or stop testing unless someone is very sick

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

CN is reporting the Yates abandon is due to a strict team policy

Some teams need to get their *** together like UAE did at the Tour, allowing Majka to continue despite the positive. Or stop testing unless someone is very sick

He had body ache and fever last night. People need to stop being outraged about positive tests when the issue is simply being sick.

 

[houtdffan]

He had body ache and fever last night. People need to stop being outraged about positive tests when the issue is simply being sick.

If someone is too sick to continue, they should stop. Test then so the riders can get proper treatment. But don't go looking for this. We'll never make it to Madrid

The Bennett withdrawal is more egregious as he said he was feeling fine. That seems to have been a case of looking for something

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

If someone is too sick to continue, they should stop. Test then so the riders can get proper treatment. But don't go looking for this. We'll never make it to Madrid

Well they did test him after he got fever, what exactly is your point?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Some teams need to get their *** together like UAE did at the Tour, allowing Majka to continue despite the positive. Or stop testing unless someone is very sick

The Bennett withdrawal is more egregious as he said he was feeling fine. That seems to have been a case of looking for something

Did you even read what @search posted literally two posts before you?

 

[houtdffan]

Did you even read what @search posted literally two posts before you?

yeah, I did. The way Bennett described it, he was feeling fine

If we want this race to actually finish, we need to accept this virus is among us and will be forever. Accept it is not a death sentence and move on

 

[Lequack]

People will say Evenepoel only won against a second hand Roglic and Covid stricken GC riders.

 

[tobydawq]

Well they did test him after he got fever, what exactly is your point?

That a slight fever has never been anything to abandon a freaking Grand Tour for.

 

[Wvv]

#Nibalivoodoo
Still some work to do, but The Shark is off to a good start.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

That a slight fever has never been anything to abandon a freaking Grand Tour for.

Tell that to Sepp Kuss.
Meh, I understand that the goals and economic reality often force these guys to push beyond what's considered healthy, but I'll remain quite uneasy with the gladiatoresque notion of "just carry on, let them ride until they fall off their bike" mentality. Covid or not, you shouldn't continue racing with body aches and fever and you shouldn't stick with a healthy team when you're infectious.

 

[tobydawq]

Tell that to Sepp Kuss.
Meh, I understand that the goals and economic reality often force these guys to push beyond what's considered healthy, but I'll remain quite uneasy with the gladiatoresque notion of "just carry on, let them ride until they fall off their bike" mentality. Covid or not, you shouldn't continue racing with body aches and fever and you shouldn't stick with a healthy team when you're infectious.

And how is it our mandate to dictate something like that?

If we abandon the gladiatoresque aspect, our sport loses something it has always had.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

And how is it our mandate to dictate something like that?

If we abandon the gladiatoresque aspect, our sport loses something it has always had.

It's not my mandate, it's my opinion. You guys are actually bitching about the actors who actually have a mandate to dictate that (the teams like BEX and the organizations). From a science/medical perspective there are obviously differences between pushing your body to the boundaries of endurance while being healthy vs. while being sick. The latter carries a far bigger risk than the former.

 

[search]

The Bennett withdrawal is more egregious as he said he was feeling fine. That seems to have been a case of looking for something

well, he said so in that part, but he did a test because he didn't feel completely fine:

"Although I had a negative result on the race organisation test yesterday, the fact that I felt a bit sluggish when I woke up this morning meant I asked the team doctor for an antigen test before I went down to the kitchen truck with the rest of the lads for breakfast. Just in case. "

and he also said:

"When I tested positive in the room, I could have said nothing and raced on all week but, morally, I just couldn’t do that. I don’t want to make anyone else sick either. "

so as someone pointed out above, teams and riders would abandon anyway, no matter if there are protocols or not.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Kern Pharma lose three riders in one go, all Covid. There will be nobody left in the race to reach Madrid at the rate this is going so I suspect that, much like at Suisse, there will magically be no more positive tests in the latter stages of the race...

 

[CyclistAbi]

I expected for Yates to at least give it a try. It's a shame for both cyclist to abandon. Lets just hope that top 3 will get a chance to fight it out on the road.

 

[KZD]

But we all know that if Evenepoel is forced to abandon due to force majeure, it won't be a proper GT win for whoever makes it to Madrid in red. And it's a distinct possibility, this race is fast becoming this year's Tour de Suisse played out over 21 stages instead of 9.

It depends if he is forced to abandon before or after Sierra Nevada.

If unlike in the Tour de Suisse positive cases don't stop rising and there are still 11 days ahead I wouldn't be surprised if the race is cancelled all together

 

[Izzyeviel]

And how is it our mandate to dictate something like that?

If we abandon the gladiatoresque aspect, our sport loses something it has always had.

There's riding through the pain barrier with a broken shoulder, & then there's spreading a highly infectious disease which can ruin careers & kill people.

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1564922952516308994

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/SadhbhOS/status/1564922952516308994

plus the three Kern Pharma, which the tweet author mentioned below he hadn’t seen yet.

 

[Savant12]

People will say Evenepoel only won against a second hand Roglic and Covid stricken GC riders.

He won convincingly against a second hand Roglic, second-tier Ineos riders, a yo-yo, and other Covid stricken GC riders.

Is that better?

 

[tobydawq]

It's not my mandate, it's my opinion. You guys are actually bitching about the actors who actually have a mandate to dictate that (the teams like BEX and the organizations). From a science/medical perspective there are obviously differences between pushing your body to the boundaries of endurance while being healthy vs. while being sick. The latter carries a far bigger risk than the former.

No, we're not. We see riders like Bennett and Yates who wanted to exploit their mandate to decide what to do with their bodies but weren't allowed because the thing they had in their body had a fancy name which still terrifies the powers-that-be and express digruntlement about that.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Headwind all day except for the final few kms. This is going to be a hard watch

 

[Eeslliw]

Does UCI has any rules how many riders have to be present in a GT to still be acceptable. Maybe at least half or third of the starting peloton?