Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco 2015 (6-11 april)

[Libertine Seguros]

Zakarin is very strong on this kind of territory. If he's worked on his sprint he could be a surprise package if Purito is off form, as the length of climbs is within his range, not sure he'll be able to handle the steeper short finishes though.

Of course, if Purito is off form Dani Moreno will be leader and it will be irrelevant

 

[RedheadDane]

1: Nice win by Bling
2: Cofidis rider on the ground didn't look good
3: I'm oddly disappointed that for the last few years the information on the TV screen has been written in English...

 

[Poursuivant]

Camera work was atrocious. Good win for Matthews.

 

[Arredondo]

That crash from the Cofidis rider was really horrible. Especially with that speed.

Slagter, Atapuma and Herrada amongst the victims. Atapuma looked okay though after the finish.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

Zakarin is very strong on this kind of territory. If he's worked on his sprint he could be a surprise package if Purito is off form, as the length of climbs is within his range, not sure he'll be able to handle the steeper short finishes though.

Of course, if Purito is off form Dani Moreno will be leader and it will be irrelevant

I think he will also struggle on the longer climbs like Arrate.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Zakarin is very strong on this kind of territory. If he's worked on his sprint he could be a surprise package if Purito is off form, as the length of climbs is within his range, not sure he'll be able to handle the steeper short finishes though.

Of course, if Purito is off form Dani Moreno will be leader and it will be irrelevant

Or Spilak. He surely has to prove one day he can also ride a GC in good weather.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Apparently, the crash at the end is due to the organizers. They removed some barriers near the finish, but there were "hidden" road signs here ("ilôts directionnels" in french) and the riders were at 80km/h.

Peter Stetina's leg is broken. The Cofidis rider is Stéphane Rossetto.

 

[Jagartrott]

Jesus Christ, what was the organisation thinking? How can anybody be that stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0wCkc ... .be&t=9m6s

And next time, please hire a cameraman that can keep the camera steady.

 

[TurboButton]

Nieve with 3 minutes of loss so it probably clarifies who will be Sky leader.

 

[SkyTears]

very disappointed with Nieve's performance
he is becoming worse and worse

his 2013 TDF performance seems a distant past

 

[Pricey_sky]

Adam Yates abandoned due to a broken finger. Such a ridiculous thing to have happened and Poor from the organisers.

 

[manafana]

Re:

Jesus Christ, what was the organisation thinking? How can anybody be that stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0wCkc ... .be&t=9m6s

And next time, please hire a cameraman that can keep the camera steady.

christ that crash looked so nasty

 

[Alexandre B.]

https://twitter.com/JeremyPen/status/585184084244226048

Absolutely disgraceful.

 

[Dedelou]

really they are trying to find new ways to endanger the riders ..

 

[luckyboy]

Re:

Jesus Christ, what was the organisation thinking? How can anybody be that stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0wCkc ... .be&t=9m6s

And next time, please hire a cameraman that can keep the camera steady.

They put cones on them! What more can you ask!?

 

[willbick]

The UCI really need to pull their finger out regarding sprint finishes. They should appoint dedicated safety officials for any stage likely to end in a bunch sprint and scrutinise the last km for danger points. Obviously there is a limit to what can be done - you cant make a 200km parcours free from any danger but they need to do a lot more to make the finishes safer. Having 2 metal bollards in the road in the last few hundred metres with cones on top is just a joke. Riders are gonna get killed if they dont sort it out

 

[greenedge]

To quote Cyclingquotes, regarding Matthews "Riders like Gianni Meersman and Ben Swift are almost at his (Matthews) level when it comes to sprinting"

I don't know if I agree with that, neither of the other two have featured as prominently as he does in GT sprints, which shpuld be the main parameter.

 

[Jagartrott]

The organisers should be prosecuted by the crashed riders and/or teams.
What the f*ck were they thinking? Riders coming past at 70 km/h and metal poles indicated by... a cone. Not even hay or anything. If it wasn't so tragically moronic, I'd be laughing.

 

[Der Effe]

Re:

To quote Cyclingquotes, regarding Matthews "Riders like Gianni Meersman and Ben Swift are almost at his (Matthews) level when it comes to sprinting"

I don't know if I agree with that, neither of the other two have featured as prominently as he does in GT sprints, which shpuld be the main parameter.

Matthews is way better in peloton sprints. And in uphill sprints. And in anything else.

 

[Eshnar]

Now let's see if riders strike against this kind of stuff too, or if strikes are reserved only for really outrageous organizational flaws like, say, the weather...

 

[RedheadDane]

Just saw the picture of the "marking" of those poles!
Who, just who did that, looked at each other and went "Yup! That's totally gonna work! "

 

[huge]

Re:

Jesus Christ, what was the organisation thinking? How can anybody be that stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0wCkc ... .be&t=9m6s

And next time, please hire a cameraman that can keep the camera steady.

That was absolutely, utterly non sense. How can anyone possibly think to leave poles in the middle of the road like that, with just a cone on top????! Put a *** running barrier before them, forcing the peloton to take a tighter bend, not giving them room on that side of the road. And put a race official to flag signal the danger, for Christ sake! As it is usually done with unmovable obstacles along the course, like islands.
Those riders are just lucky to have come out of the crash with just a few bones broken. It was really really nasty. Hope all of them a speedy recovery.

 

[lemon cheese cake]

Re:

Just saw the picture of the "marking" of those poles!
Who, just who did that, looked at each other and went "Yup! That's totally gonna work! "

 

[ferryman]

Re:

Now let's see if riders strike against this kind of stuff too, or if strikes are reserved only for really outrageous organizational flaws like, say, the weather...

5 minute protest before the start today...I would have made it 30 minutes...ridiculous organisation yesterday..

 

[hrotha]

Forget about protesting, they should see the organizers in court.