TdF 2021 - Stage 3 - Lorient-Pointivy

retalivity

The pro's are weighing in

https://twitter.com/kwiato/status/1409543799995502593

https://twitter.com/simongeschke/status/1409544870998556674

Ewan, Sagan, Roglic, Kruijswijk all gone to hospital for scans

breezy1985

retalivity wrote: »

The pro's are weighing in

https://twitter.com/kwiato/status/1409543799995502593

https://twitter.com/simongeschke/status/1409544870998556674

Ewan, Sagan, Roglic, Kruijswijk all gone to hospital for scans

Kwiato is blaming the UCI but what could they do about the Thomas, Rog or Ewan crash.

Also I thought the times are neutralised if there is a crash in the last 5 km so should Pog not getthe same time as the rest

G1032

breezy1985 wrote: »

Kwiato is blaming the UCI but what could they do about the Thomas, Rog or Ewan crash.

Also I thought the times are neutralised if there is a crash in the last 5 km so should Pog not getthe same time as the rest

You get the same time as the group you were in when you crash if that crash happens within 3km of the finish

breezy1985

G1032 wrote: »

You get the same time as the group you were in when you crash if that crash happens within 3km of the finish

Ah ok. I thought they upped that to 5

Tim Declercq saying after the stage in an interview that there was demand from some teams/riders before the stage that they should take the time with 8km to go.

Richard Hillman

I think there are flaws to what is being proposed. Firstly the chance of the breakaway succeeding or getting very close to succeeding and the chase being hot.

What if like today Roglic crashes with around 15km to go and he doesn't catch the Peleton by 10km to go but will catch the GC teams as they ease off. Does he get the GC group times or does he miss out? Or what if the GC teams decide to pump on to build the time gap on for example Roglic. They will still be going hard coming up to 10km to go.

I think today is just a case of bike racing being bike racing. It's dangerous. It can be unfair. It can be heartbreaking.

I didn't see anything today that could have been avoided by extending the 3km out to 5 or 10km on a different day.

Jack Haig was the rider laid out for Bahrain, he was a DNF.

Dcully

Rowe fined for basically being a dick ,no surprise there.

G1032

Dcully wrote: »

Rowe fined for basically being a dick ,no surprise there.

What did he do?

Darkglasses

G1032 wrote: »

What did he do?

His side of the story:

https://twitter.com/TourDeJose/status/1409589097815887880

TheBlaaMan

https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1409576236473630722?s=20

Eamonnator

Dcully wrote: »

Rowe fined for basically being a dick ,no surprise there.

And spelling peloton incorrectly.

retalivity

Kruijswijk has the best photos on strava

Was Kruiswijk dehorning cattle yesterday?

Brian?

Am I the only one who thinks they should quite their whinging and get on with it?

at1withmyself

Brian? wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks they should quite their whinging and get on with it?

Yes

mr spuckler

red_ken wrote: »

Was Kruiswijk dehorning cattle yesterday?

I read this morning that he had a deep cut to his hand. That's a lot of blood regardless!

Macy0161

Brian? wrote: »

Am I the only one who thinks they should quite their whinging and get on with it?

Pretty much agree. Every year we get this. Thomas couldn't ride over a speed bump, Ewan was nothing to do with the roads, Rog - racing incident (there was no turn or narrowing at that point), we didn't see Madouas, but looked the same as no turn or narrowing. The crash that took out Haig the only one that could potentially be blamed on the route imo.

I say again, the second big one on stage 1 was a wide, well surfaced, straight.

Roglic was trying to move up and tangled his bars with Colbrelli according to the latter.

I think it was mentioned in the Bike Exchange team videos that they had reconned the stage and flagged that corner that Haig crashed on as a danger spot. Seemingly White videos parts of the route and adds voice commentary and uploads them for the team to watch before the stages.

Macy0161

On the ITV coverage or one of the podcasts I was listening too, they mentioned the first time the Tour visited England in the 70's, and the "route" was up and down a yet to be opened bypass. Is that the type of stuff people want for the tour stages to avoid racing incidents?

Paddigol

How much of this is down to the 'youth' factor that has been mentioned by a lot of pros - the lack of respect (both in the good and bad sense) towards elder statesmen of the peloton, with young lads basically saying "screw you telling where to go/ where not to go/ when to race/ when not to race... I'm going for it" - the lack of control? Add in race radios with every DS yelling the same thing - get up there!, better aero technology - increased power/ speeds and it's a bit of a cauldron. The idea you used to have where every team had a leader and a road captain, and the young lads were there to learn their craft, is gone - now it's every neo pro looking backing himself to race at the pointy end and paying no regard to, say, whatever Sagan has achieved.

Obviously there isn't one reason, but there does seem to be a huge degree of instability in the peloton these days.

Macy0161

Macy0161 wrote: »

On the ITV coverage or one of the podcasts I was listening too, they mentioned the first time the Tour visited England in the 70's, and the "route" was up and down a yet to be opened bypass. Is that the type of stuff people want for the tour stages to avoid racing incidents?

It's why I hate watching the races based in the US or the middle east, safe yes but completely boring to watch.

Mefistofelino

To be fair, I don't think any of the riders were complaining about the Ewen or Thomas incidents (except perhaps Luke Rowe) or possibly even the second crash on Saturday. But when many of the "elder statesman" riders and the teams have voiced concerns about a particular run-in, then I'd be inclined to accept their views.

Macy0161

Paddigol wrote: »

Obviously there isn't one reason, but there does seem to be a huge degree of instability in the peloton these days.

Every generation says there's a lack of respect from the younger riders though. Interesting you mention Sagan, because despite the earlier carnage he was a complete dick in the final.

There is probably something in the overall level having risen now though, with training capabilities/ knowledge/ technology meaning there's less of a gap between the front and back.

And the DS's - I mean is there really a need for entire teams up there. Some teams would've been better off letting some sit up than get involved.

Madiot is probably right... https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/madiot-makes-impassioned-plea-for-cycling-to-change-after-chaotic-crash-filled-tour-de-france-finale/

Paddigol

I do think a lot of responsibility falls on teams/ DS's and the riders themselves - they know the route, the roads etc... they need to race them accordingly. Or at the very least object more than a day or two beforehand - how long has the route been known to them? There's definitely no need for whole teams to be fighting to be at the front - that's just madness. The TDF and the Giro have forged their reputations on the roads they race on... the climbs, the descents, the crosswinds, the narrow roads - negotiating them is part of the racecraft expected of top riders, which brings me back to the point of teams having lost the run of themselves with radios and tactics, and younger riders expecting to be able to barge their way to the front just because they have the physical ability.

There's more to the sport than simply numbers on a power meter and what a DS is shouting through the radio. It's too easy to lay all the blame on the race organisers at every sign of trouble.

Paddigol

Macy0161 wrote: »

Every generation says there's a lack of respect from the younger riders though. Interesting you mention Sagan, because despite the earlier carnage he was a complete dick in the final.

I think sprinters are an exception (and another reason why it's madness to see GC guys being kept at the front so late into a sprint stage) - they're nearly all dicks in the final few hundred metres. Sam's well able to throw the shoulder too when he feels his space threatened.

Macy0161

Paddigol wrote: »

I think sprinters are an exception (and another reason why it's madness to see GC guys being kept at the front so late into a sprint stage) - they're nearly all dicks in the final few hundred metres. Sam's well able to throw the shoulder too when he feels his space threatened.

Obviously, but it looked a bit unnecessary yesterday just the way the sprint was playing out, notwithstanding the previous crashes.

Dodge

I think Brian Smith in a preview of the race said the opening stages are always chaos. The GC lads don’t want to lose a second. The sprinters can’t wait to get going and lots of teams have new sponsors that they need to show off. Pogacar lost over a minute last year. Think Landa crashed out

Yesterday’s sprint did look a bit odd with so many turns so close to finish but towns pay big money and they usually don’t have crashes like Ewan’s

I don’t see how they can change it (and hate the suggestion of taking time at 8k or whatever)

They’ll probably go on strike today and race the last 20k

Mefistofelino

One minute stoppage at Km 0 and a go-slow for 10km

Weepsie

Macy0161 wrote: »

Every generation says there's a lack of respect from the younger riders though. Interesting you mention Sagan, because despite the earlier carnage he was a complete dick in the final.

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Was he? He didn't seem to be doing anything untoward that was noticeable to me whatsoever. A lotto cyclist drifted into him so he bumped him back and that was it.

He got a lot of ****e for the move in the tour last year, but people missed that a spectator very clearly stuck an arm out into his line with something in it, and his bumping probably prevented absolute carnage