DS Forums

 
 

The Pro Cycling Thread (Part 2)


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 14-07-2016, 17:56
Thomas007
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 6,215
Last time I checked, Froome already has more titles than Lance.
Ok so his target number of TdF's are less to become GOAT. The record's what 5? Surely he's got an excellent chance of passing that?
Thomas007 is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 14-07-2016, 17:57
Richard46
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: London
Posts: 41,694
The safety and "fairness" of the race should be paramount at all times.
We want to see the best riders competing under fair and just conditions, with no outside elements, such as fans interfering with the race, doing so.

If it means changing some of the stages, or doing something different, then so be it.

Fans should not be able to be close enough to touch the riders, or to throw urine over them, that should not be anything that should ever be acceptable.

Would it be right and acceptable to see the fans running alongside Mo Farrah in his races, or pushing his competitors, no it wouldn't, do why on earth is it acceptable here??

The race should be about seeing which racer is best, not which racer can be the lucky one in not getting into a tangle with the fans.

The UCI need to have a long hard look at themselves, and do something about the idiotic fans that populate these stages.
They do; they fine riders who push idiots out of the way. Froome should have been given a reward for crowd control for punching a clown not a fine.

Oh and the Police should just take any one in a mankinny or wearing joke pubic hair into protective custody long before the riders appear.
Richard46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 17:59
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
Exactly. Lance Armstrong has zero TdF titles.

I see Froome was booed by a few idiots on the podium. There is no room for such behaviour in cycling. Not classy.
I can categorically state that I have as many Tour de France titles as Lance Armstrong!

Why on earth would people boo Froome, what exactly did he do to warrant being booed??
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:01
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
They do; they fine riders who push idiots out of the way. Froome should have been given a reward for crowd control for punching a clown not a fine.

Oh and the Police should just take any one in a mankinny or wearing joke pubic hair into protective custody long before the riders appear.
If the "fans" are close enough to touch the riders, or to be even pushed/punched out of the way, that that is on the UCI and the police, that simply should not be the case at all ever.

The fans should not be allowed to dictate what time a rider gets, the only person who should dictate what time a rider gets should be the rider themselves.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:14
Richard46
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: London
Posts: 41,694
If the "fans" are close enough to touch the riders, or to be even pushed/punched out of the way, that that is on the UCI and the police, that simply should not be the case at all ever.

The fans should not be allowed to dictate what time a rider gets, the only person who should dictate what time a rider gets should be the rider themselves.
Absolutely; if nothing else no more riders should be fined for punching fans; if they are that close 'fans' deserve all they get.
Richard46 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:23
codeblue
Inactive Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: A Sound Expert
Posts: 13,881
Exactly. Lance Armstrong has zero TdF titles.

I see Froome was booed by a few idiots on the podium. There is no room for such behaviour in cycling. Not classy.
i still cannot understand why lance had his titles removed and clear dopers are still allowed their victories.
codeblue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:25
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
Absolutely; if nothing else no more riders should be fined for punching fans; if they are that close 'fans' deserve all they get.
Exactly, if the so called "fans" (who are not fans at all, just merely idiots looking to get themselves on TV) are close enough to get punched, then they fully deserve it.

They should be stood well back, and allow the racers to race, watching them do their simply amazing thing, is what the race should be all about, not trying to dodge idiots.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:27
The Net
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: St Albans
Posts: 3,547
i still cannot understand why lance had his titles removed and clear dopers are still allowed their victories.
Remove the word "and" and substitute the word with "when" and I would have more sympathy with your point of view.
The Net is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:37
gemma-the-husky
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 17,851
I assumed they would give froome and porte the same time as mollema

the TdF were a bit lucky that Mollema was able to finish ahead of the other contenders. It gave them an easy call, I think. It meant the three of them took 19 seconds, although they would have taken rather more, I think.

Richie Porte was unlucky to puncture on the early stage, or he would have been very close now.

I think the motor bikes will have to be a bit further away from the cyclists in future.
gemma-the-husky is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:43
David_Flett1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,457
I would far rather see no spectators on the road interfering with the race, (and in your mind, having no atmosphere), then see things like this, happen time after, tome, after tome, where the fans alter and affect the stage, and what times each rider gets.

It should be about who is the best rider, not about the best atmosphere.
How many instances such as this incident have happened in the entire history of the Tour? This was an extreme incident that affected the leaders, banning spectators is not the answer, limiting them possibly, marshalling them, impossible. If you want a tour with no spectators then by all means go for it, I for one won't be watching. Spectators are the lifeblood of the tour.
David_Flett1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 18:51
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
How many instances such as this incident have happened in the entire history of the Tour? This was an extreme incident that affected the leaders, banning spectators is not the answer, limiting them possibly, marshalling them, impossible. If you want a tour with no spectators then by all means go for it, I for one won't be watching. Spectators are the lifeblood of the tour.
No, I don't mean no spectators at all on the tour, I mean cut them back on the hills, so we don't have to see them wade through them like we have on so many occasions previously.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 19:19
breppo
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing
Posts: 2,410
Mollema on Twitter:
What's going on? Seems like everybody gets time bonuses. I wonder what would have happened if I would have been the only one to go down...
— Bauke Mollema (@BaukeMollema)
Bauke should know by now some pro cyclists are more equal than other pro cyclists.

On a more positive note. Lindeman who is from my home town came in sixth. Best result for someone from Assen ever. (The other pro cyclist from Assen, Marc de Maar has not competed in the Tour so far).

Jokes are coming in...
Froome should be disqualified. He did not keep one foot on the ground at all times during his racewalking stint...
breppo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 20:25
grassmarket
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 23,319
Very likely we will see a rider's strike or work-to-rule on Saturday, I reckon.
grassmarket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 20:32
grassmarket
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 23,319
How many instances such as this incident have happened in the entire history of the Tour?
Quite a few. Eddie Merckx was punched by a fan in 1971?, had to withdraw.
grassmarket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 20:44
tealady
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: colchester
Posts: 15,350
No, I don't mean no spectators at all on the tour, I mean cut them back on the hills, so we don't have to see them wade through them like we have on so many occasions previously.
There was a time trial up the alp d'huez a few years ago that was mad due to the huge volume of spectators.
Surprised nothing like today hadn't happened before (not sure lance and the bag lady counts).
tealady is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 20:48
cmq2
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 2,090
Jokes are coming in...
Froome should be disqualified. He did not keep one foot on the ground at all times during his racewalking stint...
Actually, there is a rule that disqualifies any rider not completing the whole course with a bike.

It is often seen with pile ups in the finish straight. The riders have to pick up their shattered carbon frames and walk across the line with them. Leaving them behind is not an option.
cmq2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 20:56
grassmarket
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 23,319
Actually, there is a rule that disqualifies any rider not completing the whole course with a bike.

It is often seen with pile ups in the finish straight. The riders have to pick up their shattered carbon frames and walk across the line with them. Leaving them behind is not an option.
In the early days of the Keirin about 15 years back someone won a World Champs bronze medal by being the first person to recover from a crash and having the presence of mind to run across the line carrying his bike.
grassmarket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 21:02
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
There was a time trial up the alp d'huez a few years ago that was mad due to the huge volume of spectators.
Surprised nothing like today hadn't happened before (not sure lance and the bag lady counts).
I don't mind the volume of spectators, the more the better, just keep them off of the road, and completely out of the cyclists way.
Let the racers do what they do so spectacularly well, and that is race their bikes against each other.

Why on earth the UCI think it is fine and dandy to have the race keep on being disrupted by fans, I have no idea, it is just not on.

Racers should be protected from the fans, just as they are at the finishing line.
Why should other parts of the course be open to fans disrupting the race, all parts of the race should be made so that the fans cannot get in touching distance to the riders.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 21:58
aggs
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 13,160
I guess that the extra fans who had come down the mountain to watch the shortened finish will have made the crowds much deeper than normal, which will have made it even harder to control the crowd.

Something I'd not thought about before...

The Mavic bikes will be generic sizes, I presume, and probably a bit on the small size to suit as many as possible, so always a compromise. But I'd not thought about the cleats not being compatible. I presume that each team uses a common cleat design across the team (both for compatability so riders can swap bikes, but also as part of any sponsorship deals). I don't know how critical the cleat design is to rider performance, but I wonder if it would make more sense if a team used a mavic compatible version on their bikes, just in case.

Also, at the cutting edge of component design, are the shoes even worse that "nornal" race shoes, or are they the same as ones that the public buy? I was wondering how easy/difficult it was for Froome to run. Or would adrenaline dull any pain?
Mavic are the neutral service vehicles sponsors - so will use Mavic pedals (or maybe Time). Team Sky ride Shimano - which will vary just slightly but enough from the Mavic/Time ones. Usually not a problem because a team mate will hand over their bike to the team leader - it was the whole situation for Chris - he didn't have a team mate with him and the Team car was way behind. On the flat he could have got by without clipping in - on the vertical, not so much.
aggs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 22:07
aggs
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 13,160
How many instances such as this incident have happened in the entire history of the Tour? This was an extreme incident that affected the leaders, banning spectators is not the answer, limiting them possibly, marshalling them, impossible. If you want a tour with no spectators then by all means go for it, I for one won't be watching. Spectators are the lifeblood of the tour.
I've stood on the side of more European roads than you can count and marshalled on a few as well. By and large, the fans are amazing, time trials, flat stages, team time trials people seem to be able to use their heads - but something happens when the road goes vertical. Whether it's because, these days, to get a spot you basically have to spend 3 weeks in a camper van at the side of the road (with the equivalent amount of alcohol) or because the entire stage is televised these days and anybody with a mankini and a flag can get their few minutes of air time (we used to pick ourselves out on the highlights by the barrier hordings, not because it was where the nuddy bloke was) I don't know, but something needs to be done. In the 30 or so years I've been following, crowd behaviour has definitely changed.
aggs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 22:27
batdude_uk1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 69,134
The fans are amazing, and all of the costumes etc are great, the more if them the better, just keep them off of the road, it can not be that hard to have rule like that can it??

Let the racers race, and let the spectators watch them race, instead of interfering in the race.
batdude_uk1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 22:31
tealady
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: colchester
Posts: 15,350
Saw the highlights - shocking to see it in real time.
The worst bit was froome saying his bike was broken by the motorcycle from behind - why was that so close to him?
tealady is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 22:54
aggs
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 13,160
The fans are amazing, and all of the costumes etc are great, the more if them the better, just keep them off of the road, it can not be that hard to have rule like that can it??

Let the racers race, and let the spectators watch them race, instead of interfering in the race.
It really is hard to explain just how much it has changed and got bigger over the last 30 odd years. Even just going back to the Indurain days, you could stumble across him in the street. The English speaking riders used to hear an English voice and come over for a chat. Many's the time I've given cricket scores to Aussie riders . It's the lack of any barrier between them and us that makes cycling unique - but vunerable.

You can't barrier an entire stage - and to be honest there is no particular need to, but the summits definitely need looking at.
aggs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 22:57
aggs
Forum Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 13,160
Saw the highlights - shocking to see it in real time.
The worst bit was froome saying his bike was broken by the motorcycle from behind - why was that so close to him?
I think it everyone had just got choked up in the crowd. I guess they couldn't pick out the riders from the spectators until it was too late.
aggs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-07-2016, 23:05
tealady
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: colchester
Posts: 15,350
I think it everyone had just got choked up in the crowd. I guess they couldn't pick out the riders from the spectators until it was too late.
That doesn't explain being hit from behind though.
tealady is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 19:17.