Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“In a sense barriers could be more dangerous......if a nutter jumps over a barrier he's trapped amongst the riders
As it is nutters can run along but if a group of riders comes up behind he can quicklyjump back off the road.............
It's only a problem on the mountains where the riders are only going 10-12 MPH. On the open flat stages nobody jumps out alongside the riders when they'e going 25-30 MPH
You've probably noticed that they tend to barrier off the final few kilometres up a climb........I suppose extend that another kilo or two
Fact is that the sport has been going for over a hundred years and it's always taken place on public roads where spectators don't have to book or get a ticket or pay anything.........and the number of serious incidents is minimal. I expect the sport is willing to accept the minimal risk for the huge benefit of getting spectators close up to the action and making it an 'event'”
Just because something has been going for over a hundred years is no excuse for change and to try and keep the riders as safe as possible.
We all want to see good racing, and for the teams and riders to do as well as possible, what we don't want to see is them having to dodge spectators, worry about what spectators are going to do to them etc.
What if that flare had been something more dangerous, or if someone was alergic to the chemicals in the flare, and had to pull out because of that, would that have been considered fair?
There should be an opportunity for the fans to see and watch as much of the action as possible, but the first consideration should be to keep the riders and teams as safe as possible, so that all they have to think about is the race and nothing else.