Pro Cycling Discussion Thread 2015

Roady said:
Awesome quote and sums up what much of cycling is about, much more of a gentlemanly sport!
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After he has thrown a bidon at him, very gentlemanly...

Froome apparently not going to wear Yellow today in respect to Martin.
 
I think things happen in the heat of the moment but generally I think pro cyclists have to make an effort to be decent to each other. In football Arsenal spend maybe 6 hours playing Chelsea in a year, an Arsenal striker can have beef with a Chelsea defender and it's manageable. In cycling you can be spending 6 hours a day with people for 3 weeks straight, maybe 3 times a year. If you're a dick, it's going to be difficult for you. There's also the shifting loyalties and quasi-teamwork to consider. If Astana and Sky end up in a breakaway (not likely, it's not Sky's style - maybe Europcar and OPQS is a better example, particularly given the circumstances of the crash) then they have to be able to put this argument behind them because they have to work together for a large part of the race. You have to collaborate much more with your opponents for so much of the time in cycling, so things have to be that bit more civil.
 
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Froome has tweeted saying he won't be wearing yellow today. Cycling Weekly have a story saying that the commisaires have said that per the rules with Martin retiring there is no leader, so there's no one to wear yellow today.
 
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SoliD said:
Froome apparently not going to wear Yellow today in respect to Martin.
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Vonhelmet said:
Froome has tweeted saying he won't be wearing yellow today.
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Surely it's not Froome's choice?

Tony crashed inside the last 3k of the stage, so he gets given the same time as the group he was with (Froome, Nibali, etc) so he will still be the leader of the GC until they cross the line at the end of today's stage.
 
touch said:
Surely it's not Froome's choice?

Tony crashed inside the last 3k of the stage, so he gets given the same time as the group he was with (Froome, Nibali, etc) so he will still be the leader of the GC until they cross the line at the end of today's stage.
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Indeed, hence my update above once I'd read the CW report ;)
 
As was always possible, this first week has been just a little too much. Lot's of egg on faces with all these YJ retirements. Today looks like a narrow finish too.
 
It's not the parcours that's led to the retirements, so it's not really the organisers faults. It's not like we had crashes on the cobbles or anything like that.
 
I dont think it's been bad at all. IMO there has been less crashes than usual for the first week of the tour.
The problem is that there has been some big crashes rather than lots of smaller ones and quite a few high profile riders gone down.

In terms of retirements, this year is no higher than the previous years.
Retirements after first 7 stages:
2012: 17
2013: 10
2014: 12
2015: 11
 
touch said:
It's pretty rare for the yellow jersey wearer to crash out of the tour.
Last time was Chris Boardman in 1998. It's happened less than 10 times in the entire history of the race.
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I meant the Yellow jersey as a curse more than wearers crashing out of the tour really mate.

Vonhelmet said:
I think things happen in the heat of the moment but generally I think pro cyclists have to make an effort to be decent to each other.
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I think that sums it up really, there has to be a huge amount of trust in the abilities of the riders alongside each other riding at those speeds for the hours and days they do as pro riders. It's not just team vs team like most sports.
 
Vonhelmet said:
It's not the parcours that's led to the retirements, so it's not really the organisers faults. It's not like we had crashes on the cobbles or anything like that.
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That's my take on it as well the big crashes haven't been on difficult course sections and yesterdays was frankly bizarre it came totally out of nothing. Real shame for Martin and the other retirements but nothing the course planners could have done to help!
 
Something tells me Geraint Thomas' stage by stage guide at the BBC was written before the team selection was announced:

G said:
For Team Sky today will be all about keeping Froome up at the front. Our bigger guys like Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe, Bernhard Eisel and Christian Knees, will look to keep him out of trouble. These are the stages when they work hardest.
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platypus said:
Gutted for Martin :(.

Looking at the replays it looks like the guy behind Martin clips his wheel and forces him into the rider next to him (can't tell who they are because of the camera angles).
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He gets chopped by the Europcar rider, isn't paying enough attention to move over or slow up a touch.

His front wheel touches the rear of the Europcar guys, you naturally lean into it a bit, then when they come apart he goes sideways into someone else causing him to crash.

Someone hitting your rear wheel won't cause you to crash, lots of weight over the rear wheel and it's fixed in place, would have to be a huge impact to do any damage.
 
a1ex2001 said:
That's my take on it as well the big crashes haven't been on difficult course sections and yesterdays was frankly bizarre it came totally out of nothing. Real shame for Martin and the other retirements but nothing the course planners could have done to help!
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That's fair, but the general feel of 7 days of Classics must increase pressure / anticipation which wears down energy levels faster?
 
Berger said:
He gets chopped by the Europcar rider, isn't paying enough attention to move over or slow up a touch.

His front wheel touches the rear of the Europcar guys, you naturally lean into it a bit, then when they come apart he goes sideways into someone else causing him to crash.

Someone hitting your rear wheel won't cause you to crash, lots of weight over the rear wheel and it's fixed in place, would have to be a huge impact to do any damage.
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This one from tuesday from Froome is another prime example of some of the chopping going on which might explain why we're seeing so many big crashes.

He's come through a couple of them now rather than falling over like a flower in other years...

James07 said:
Cavendish has it, hell of a finish that!
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Looking forward to watching it later, he needed a win.
 
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