Tour stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Tignes 126km

Inquitus

glasso wrote: »

seems dramatic with lots of animated shouting but the aftermath at that exact spot is not dramatic

the left side of the road could be cleared / pushed aside of muck by a jcb in a few minutes for a car to get though

Agree, but I assume there was a risk of similar events occurring all the way up the climb to Tignes, not happy the way the timings were done is that satisfactory, but I do think in the heat of the moment they did reach a correct decision on a safety front.

MPFGLB

One thing for sure Wigoo, his brexit jacket,and his microphone are getting on my wick

Plus cycling must be the maddest sport in the world
Nothing can happen for ages, everything can be so slow, with boring hours and just pictures of chateaus to entertain , next it all kicks off and just when you think you have handle on what is going on ..it throws a curve ball...its a roller coaster for the insane and you put up with the boredom for the sublime drama that comes when when you least expect

Its like life with the volume turned up to 11 every so often

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

Agree, but I assume there was a risk of similar events occurring all the way up the climb to Tignes, not happy the way the timings were done is that satisfactory, but I do think in the heat of the moment they did reach a correct decision on a safety front.

agree - they took the precautionary approach as if anything happened they would have been under fire of course.

all I was arguing that the hyperbole of LANDSLIDE , WHITE SNOW ON ROAD (was actually hail not snow and for a very short section of road) is not all it seems and could well have been quite passable.

robinph

glasso wrote: »

Inquitus wrote: »

https://twitter.com/2sporten/status/1154771037927682049

seems dramatic with lots of animated shouting but the aftermath at that exact spot is not dramatic

the left side of the road could be cleared / pushed aside of muck by a jcb in a few minutes for a car to get though

This all happened just minutes before they were due to arrive at those sections. You already have one digger clearing the flood, I saw another helicopter shot of a snowplough clearing another section just before a tunnel.

Whilst it is a ski area and they will have more snow ploughs around than most small villages, how many do you really think they can get into action at less than 5 minutes notice to clear away multiple sections of road? That landslide section was also not stopped, it was still building up right at the time they would have been riding through.

robinph

glasso wrote: »

... is not all it seems and could well have been quite passable.

Passable by someone on a bike, yes.

Passable by 150 people racing each other on bikes surrounded by 50 cars and another 50 motorbikes, no.

how do you know it's not stopped in that picture?

it's clear that it wasn't serious and didn't take long to remove as Wiggins was allowed through on his moped soon after.

Mint Sauce

glasso wrote: »

I did see it.

"apparently" refers to the fact that was a small section.

Well just in case, highlights are on ITV4 now, if you are near a TV. Am sure they will show it soon.

Mint Sauce

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Well just in case, highlights are on ITV4 now, if you are near a TV. Am sure they will show it soon.

I saw it live on Eurosport

cunavalos

The weather for tomorrow looks miserable, constant rain with the risk of thundery downpours.The forecast below combiness 5 or 6 different weather models for the region. There still may be a shakeup on GC although the descent off the Roseland is not overly technical, the potential for someone to get it wrong remains.



At the opposite end of the spectrum only 3 seconds separate Yoann Offredo and Sebastien Langeveld in the battle for the Lanterne Rouge.

boege

glasso wrote: »

seems dramatic with lots of animated shouting but the aftermath at that exact spot is not dramatic

the left side of the road could be cleared / pushed aside of muck by a jcb in a few minutes for a car to get though

I’m here in the alps right now and got caught out in this ‘shower’ today. There is no way in the world this race should have been allowed continue. There was even hailstones down at 500m altitude. A rockslide of this nature is a major event - it is effectively a landslide and there is no way of predicting how bad it will get. There are are signs all over the mountains warning hillwalkers of these risks. Parts of mountains have been known to give way in this type of weather and the people running away in the video clip probably have a good sense of the risks that you seem to have no experience about. Finally that is not 8 inches of slurry there are rocks a foot in diameter there that would easily break an ankle or worse.

Seriously, cannot believe the sh*** you are spouting in this thread. Unreal!!!

boege

cunavalos wrote: »

The weather for tomorrow looks miserable, constant rain with the risk of thundery downpours.The forecast below combiness 5 or 6 different weather models for the region. There still may be a shakeup on GC although the descent off the Roseland is not overly technical, the potential for someone to get it wrong remains.



At the opposite end of the spectrum only 3 seconds separate Yoann Offredo and Sebastien Langeveld in the battle for the Lanterne Rouge.

I’ve been here in the alps for the last two weeks and tomorrow is the worst weather forecast we have seen. Local forecasts are predicting storms all day so possibility that route could be modified as summits will be risky if there are thunderstorms.

I’m both a cyclist and hillwalker and we have cancelled plans for either tomorrow. Was hoping to go see the stage at Cornet de Roseland tomorrow but not in that weather.

boege

boege wrote: »

I’m here in the alps right now and got caught out in this ‘shower’ today. There is no way in the world this race should have been allowed continue. There was even hailstones down at 500m altitude. A rockslide of this nature is a major event - it is effectively a landslide and there is no way of predicting how bad it will get. There are are signs all over the mountains warning hillwalkers of these risks. Parts of mountains have been known to give way in this type of weather and the people running away in the video clip probably have a good sense of the risks that you seem to have no experience about. Finally that is not 8 inches of slurry there are rocks a foot in diameter there that would easily break an ankle or worse.

Seriously, cannot believe the sh*** you are spouting in their thread. Unreal!!!

hillwalkers are on the mountain, not on the road.

of course you're going to run when you hear something moving and lots of people shouting like it's Armageddon.

the picture after shows that it was not actually serious.

you could walk over that with a bike without breaking your ankle ffs.

France is a well-developed country where the position of the roads takes account of potential dangers (or barriers are in place in dangerous spots) and the likelihood of a large volume ending up on a road is slim unless it was an avalanche or very freak event indeed.

I have been down to that part of France and it's not Bolivia or Peru (where I've also been in the mountainous areas) where yes you could easily get killed being in the wrong place.

I appreciate the point about a peleton going through but all have radios now and they could be alerted to proceed with caution at a point indicated over radio / markings.

they took the safe decision - that's it.

retalivity

Tomorrow stage has been shortened apparently, cornet de roseland too dangerous?

cunavalos

Dutch journalists claiming tomorrows stage shortened to 60km . no cormet de roselend
https://twitter.com/thijszonneveld/status/1154829641984684032

Dr. Bre

Rumour has it David Brailsford called for the stage to be cancelled today

it's all gone Pete Tong.

Strange end to something that was very interesting for a while.

freak weather? / climate change? .... who knows.

had its impact in any case.

Bernal is a worthy winner but JA was the more romantic conclusion.

Inquitus

glasso wrote: »

it's all gone Pete Tong.

Strange end to something that was very interesting for a while.

freak weather? / climate change? .... who knows.

had its impact in any case.

Bernal is a worthy winner but JA was the more romantic conclusion.

Not sure about a worthy winner, this development today and the nullification of tomorrows stage has handed it to him on a plate. He's an amazing rider, but there are far too many imponderables to be sure he would have won without the weather intervening.

Dr. Bre

Dr. Bre wrote: »

Rumour has it David Brailsford called for the stage to be cancelled today

really? - he is win at all costs - couldn't care how so you'd have to question his motivations, even when safety is concerned and even where the consensus is that JA would have lost more time.

if he was a formula one team manager he would be the guy telling Schumacher to drive into the path of Hill or Villeneuve to take the world F1 championship.

they are under a bit of pressure for the new sponsor also of course.

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

Not sure about a worthy winner, this development today and the nullification of tomorrows stage has handed it to him on a plate. He's an amazing rider, but there are far too many imponderables to be sure he would have won without the weather intervening.

we'll never know but the consensus seems to be that JA would lose more time over the rest of the course.

at least Bernal showed attacking verve over the last couple of days (and was clearly the strongest in the Alps) even though they were team order strategy-based attacks.

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

Not sure about a worthy winner, this development today and the nullification of tomorrows stage has handed it to him on a plate. He's an amazing rider, but there are far too many imponderables to be sure he would have won without the weather intervening.

As someone on another forum pointed out, last year Kruiswijk had 6 mins on the yellow jersey group and ended up losing a minute, at a similar point in the Alpe D'Huez stage.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Tour_de_France,_Stage_12_to_Stage_21#Stage_12

Inquitus

glasso wrote: »

we'll never know but the consensus seems to be that JA would lose more time over the rest of the course.

at least Bernal showed attacking verve over the last couple of days (and was clearly the strongest in the Alps) even though they were team order strategy-based attacks.

I agree I think JA was cooked regardless, but it's more a case of what the other GC contenders could have made up on the descent and subsequent climb to Tignes, Bernal would have been riding on his own more likely than not, towing the likes of Yates and maybe Barguil towards a stage victory. Yates had already caught Bernal on the descent despite being 13s behind at the summit of the Iseran.

BuffaloTengo

Terrible day for Pinot and the race in general. Looks like it's all fizzling out with the inevitable Ineos winner. Only good thing was Simon Yates did not get his third win. Come back next year and play with the big boys for GC instead of riding last for most of the race.

Inquitus

BuffaloTengo wrote: »

Terrible day for Pinot and the race in general. Looks like it's all fizzling out with the inevitable Ineos winner. Only good thing was Simon Yates did not get his third win. Come back next year and play with the big boys for GC instead of riding last for most of the race.

Aye complete disaster for the ASO, went from a competitive race with several potential winners, including two Frenchmen, to a damp squib with the winner nailed on and the penultimate 2 stages ruined.

Dan finished 9:37 down in a group with Zakarin. Still 19th in GC poor enough tour for Dan, wonder whats going on with him.

cunavalos

With such a shortened stage tomorrow and relatively small gaps on gc, it will more than likely mean the stage win and KOM points for a gc candidate. The question is, does bardet have the form to battle it out with the gc contenders for the 6th place or better he would need if Bernal was to win the stage.

cunavalos

cunavalos wrote: »

With such a shortened stage tomorrow and relatively small gaps on gc, it will more than likely mean the stage win and KOM points for a gc candidate. The question is, does bardet have the form to battle it out with the gc contenders for the 6th place or better he would need if Bernal was to win the stage.

LA on his podcast was arguing that the KOM basis should be changed as most years the best climber doesn't actually win KOM and that it's pretty irrelevant as is.

robyntmorton

Dear work,

Damn you. Damn you to frozen over hell.

Highlights it is so.

CramCycle

JA was making time on that descent, he was borderline crazy. This said, that mudslide, if you see the follow on slide was near 3 foot deep, you couldn't walk it CX style, anyone saying differently is cracked. The rain and hail, I can see the point of letting it go, not sure I'd agree. But the mudslide, It's debris and mud, not topsoil and water, near waist height for many by the time they get there, as well as the risk of sweeping them to the side if it's still moving.

robyntmorton

robyntmorton wrote: »

Dear work,

Damn you. Damn you to frozen over hell.

Highlights it is so.

it all stopped just as it was getting interesting. was probably more frustrating live as a result so don't feel too bad.

CramCycle

CramCycle wrote: »

JA was making time on that descent, he was borderline crazy. This said, that mudslide, if you see the follow on slide was near 3 foot deep, you couldn't walk it CX style, anyone saying differently is cracked. The rain and hail, I can see the point of letting it go, not sure I'd agree. But the mudslide, It's debris and mud, not topsoil and water, near waist height for many by the time they get there, as well as the risk of sweeping them to the side if it's still moving.

fair enough if so - I haven't seen the follow up full picture - do you have a link?