Small consolation prize for Trek, a team struggling to get anything going in the cobbles races (for obvious reasons).
- Mar 10, 2009
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BigMac said:
Where has anyone said that this was a deliberate act? I can't imagine any scenario where plotting a race route down a street with poles at that height permanently in the road with only cones to visually warn the riders as being acceptable. It was extreme negligence on the organizers part. If they in fact had run out of barriers, then they should have stationed someone(s) there waving flags or even parked a series of cars around it along with having a race marshall there with flags. You seem more intent on making excuses for this than actually seeing it for what it plainly is: a gigantic frak up by the organizers that could have easily been avoided.
- Jun 10, 2013
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Angliru said:
I didn't actually mean that people were saying it was deliberate. I said their reaction is as condemning and impulsive as if it had been a deliberate act. Point being, it's blown out of proportion. As if a bloody assassination attempt had just taken place. I didn't even condone what happened, I just said the cause might not have been as plain as idiocy, as people are portraying it. My comment was in light of the previous' [stinker] posts. I still think the organisers didn't expect such a big group comming together to the line - does it make it excusable? Not really. As I said, all finishing scenarios must be taken into account. Does it make it less of a big deal and renders all this rants over the top? Yes. It wasn't that of an elementar mistake considering it. But I'm pretty sure it's easier to ignore all the shades of grey.
Jagartrott said:
Ye, uh.. mmm. Read response above. For what's inside the quotation marks, won't bother.
- Apr 19, 2014
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BigMac said:
In weeklong stageraces I don't mind him going for a sprint and go out of harms way. Just look at the crash yesterday. Better be at the front and don't get hurt. But what bugs me a lot is that he often is part of Cav's leadout at the Tour. In weeklong races you can sustain that kind of effort but not for 3 weeks. That's for sure.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Re: Re:
There's actually a couple of car parking spaces behind where those poles are, with normally dumpsters being kept from being hit by traffic by those metal poles. Given how many places with similar poles and car parking spaces before the final straight were taped off, perhaps there had just been some glaring oversight and they just thought they'd do the same there (which wouldn't have been as problematic because the metal poles would be obscured behind the cars which would have been easier to prevent riders hitting, making it very difficult to hit them unless you went full Abdou way too early), and nobody actually thought "but we are going to clear all the cars out of the finishing straight on the day", you know, like common sense would suggest.
Reminds me a little of a horror story from the IRL Indycar Series a few years ago in Toronto, where they were short on catch fencing, so they ran it around the outside of the circuit and only used it on the inside of the course on left handers that made it where cars would crash. So far, so sensible, except that to cover for this, they had put zero run-off at the end of the long high-speed straight, and drivers understandably were not keen to take the track until they'd re-allocated the fencing so that drivers weren't running the risk of hitting the barriers face first at 180mph.
There's a reason they chose Gran Vía. It's also the same street they used in the 2011 stage of the Vuelta, but they had over a kilometre's worth of barriers then. If you look at the finish of that stage (start from about the 10:00 mark) you will notice that in addition to having the barriers, they also funneled the final corner far tighter that day, and were dealing with smaller groups on the road.lemon cheese cake said:
Of course it's not a deliberate act, and nobody set out to injure anybody, but really, some bales of hay or coning off that part of the road with a marshal preventing riders from going that way was definitely absolutely necessary. I'd like to be able to defend them but I can't, if it was a last minute solution they were very poorly prepared considering we've known that the first EHI stage was ending in Bilbao since October, and if it wasn't a last minute solution, they were sticking their heads in the sand about the obvious problems that metal poles on the road when people are sprinting are going to cause. It resembled old school Eastern Bloc cycling or South American cycling with the cone funnel and fans by the side of the road in the final sprint (like this), but that's not really viable in places with road furniture (and like I said above, in 2011, the barriers made the final corner far tighter and the finishing straight narrower, negating any problem with road furniture.BigMac said:
There's actually a couple of car parking spaces behind where those poles are, with normally dumpsters being kept from being hit by traffic by those metal poles. Given how many places with similar poles and car parking spaces before the final straight were taped off, perhaps there had just been some glaring oversight and they just thought they'd do the same there (which wouldn't have been as problematic because the metal poles would be obscured behind the cars which would have been easier to prevent riders hitting, making it very difficult to hit them unless you went full Abdou way too early), and nobody actually thought "but we are going to clear all the cars out of the finishing straight on the day", you know, like common sense would suggest.
Reminds me a little of a horror story from the IRL Indycar Series a few years ago in Toronto, where they were short on catch fencing, so they ran it around the outside of the circuit and only used it on the inside of the course on left handers that made it where cars would crash. So far, so sensible, except that to cover for this, they had put zero run-off at the end of the long high-speed straight, and drivers understandably were not keen to take the track until they'd re-allocated the fencing so that drivers weren't running the risk of hitting the barriers face first at 180mph.
Swift lost time yesterday (finished in the group at 3'09") so he can't have been in the crash or he would have got the winner's time like Herrada, Stetina, Landa, Formolo, Txurruka, Edet and Pardilla, who were all credit at +0'00". Suggest if he did crash it's unrelated.TMP402 said:
- May 15, 2011
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Delighted with Felline knew he had it in him and to beat Matthews made it all the sweeter, Matthews is top notch despite some of his recent comments one of the best in a reduced or up hill sprint.
For tomorrow is rodriguez sharp enough, perhaps not a chance for Trek to strike, Henao my outsider for glory in this.
For tomorrow is rodriguez sharp enough, perhaps not a chance for Trek to strike, Henao my outsider for glory in this.
- Aug 18, 2013
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Re BigMac post, I don't think Kwiatkowski is as stupid as you think he is. If you had watched last year race, he basically did the same and still managed a 2nd place GC after Contador. Besides, he is here to prepare for the classics, it is a good practice to warm up the sprinting legs.Akuryo said:
GC here is a plus for him. Of course Etixx wants this badly to make their spring season straight, but it is okay as long as he is fit for the classics.
manafana said:
Matthews looked tired and reacted too slow. Normally he would have won that sprint comfortably but a good win to Felline. If Matthews was not up for it you would have thought he would have told his team mates who are also good sprinters but he wanted to hold on to the jersey but will probably lose it in the next stage.
Felline would be one of the favourites to take the points jersey at the Giro should he hold this form.
Re:
he crashed near the end of stage 1 while in the front group so form is reasonably good. Realistically Kwiatowski will really want this stage, Purito/Spilak/Moreno for Katusha, Quintana looks good, Henao looks good and maybe it will disappoint and end in a sprint - Matthews or Felline or maybe even Agnoli. Gilbert for an outside bet, Formolo for a really outside bet.
UlissiSafeBet said:
he crashed near the end of stage 1 while in the front group so form is reasonably good. Realistically Kwiatowski will really want this stage, Purito/Spilak/Moreno for Katusha, Quintana looks good, Henao looks good and maybe it will disappoint and end in a sprint - Matthews or Felline or maybe even Agnoli. Gilbert for an outside bet, Formolo for a really outside bet.
DBotero said:
I have lost count over the last 12 months how many times ive heard those words, "this one is made for Purito, as long as he is in form" He hasn't been in form for I don't know how long, How long do you have to be *** before everybody stops calling you a contender or the red hot favourite? Past glories shouldn't keep you at the top of the list. though now after that rant he will probably make an ass of me and win.
- Mar 13, 2015
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TMP402 said:
To answer my own question, he is tired
https://www.facebook.com/BenSwiftySwift ... 4050717174
- Apr 16, 2009
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