The Cycling Thread

Vasilevskiy

The cat will be back
Dec 30, 2008
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Barcelona
His ellbow might be not the only reason why he was disqualified. If you look at the overhead images from the first crash you can see Sagan trying to squeeze between two riders causing the crash as a result.

https://u.nya.is/jdkpym.mp4

Not his fault that the FDJ moved suddenly.

Such a shame that he has been DFQ but difficult to argue in his favour after that elbow :(
 

Cruor

Registered User
May 12, 2012
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His ellbow might be not the only reason why he was disqualified. If you look at the overhead images from the first crash you can see Sagan trying to squeeze between two riders causing the crash as a result.

https://u.nya.is/jdkpym.mp4

Mariën (from UCI) is on record saying the elbow made it look intentional, which is the reason for the DQ. Either way I think UCI rules stipulate three different transgressions for DQ'ing a rider, does anyone know if Sagan can appeal the decision?

Either way this is sure to cause some drama. I'm of the opinion this was a racing incident where you could argue 50/50 fault. Cavendish shot for a gap that wasn't there, that's what he does and it's what makes him one of the best sprinters.
 

Cruor

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May 12, 2012
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To drive my point home bit, here's Mariën:

In every sprint something happens, but what happens here, it looks like it was on purpose and it almost looks like hitting a person....It’s not about Sagan or Cavendish. It could be anybody. The names don’t matter. What others did in the sprint today was very much less severe than the Sagan and Cavendish incident.

Source

Here's a frame by frame of the incident:

DD60SdxUQAAp54c.jpg:large


EDIT:

And in this camera angle you can clearly see Sagan's arm caught in Cav's hoods

 
Last edited:

Dr Johnny Fever

Eggplant and Teal
Apr 11, 2012
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Lower Left Coast
That was a pretty ugly elbow from Sagan. Given what has been allowed in the past without disqualification, I'm a bit surprised he was DQed. But there's really no way to defend that elbow.

Kind of ironic that Cav was the one taken out given how many crashes he has previously caused with his own recklessness. But that doesn't excuse Sagan.
 

Dr Johnny Fever

Eggplant and Teal
Apr 11, 2012
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EDIT:

And in this camera angle you can clearly see Sagan's arm caught in Cav's hoods



I think after reviewing that angle as well as the link below, I'm going to backtrack and say Sagan really didn't throw an elbow. Cav tried to squeeze through an opening that wasn't there and the contact (initiated by Cav) caused Sagan to bring his elbow up for balance. Cav was on his way down before the elbow came up. An the elbow never made contact nor did it cause the crash.

And even if anybody disagrees, I really can't see a reason to eject him from the Tour. That's really a bad decision, regardless.

https://streamable.com/j7gqb
 

Sotty

Registered User
Nov 1, 2004
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Westfalen
To drive my point home bit, here's Mariën:



Source

Here's a frame by frame of the incident:

DD60SdxUQAAp54c.jpg:large


EDIT:

And in this camera angle you can clearly see Sagan's arm caught in Cav's hoods



That is a great angle. I think there is a great chance the DQ gets revoked.
But I could see arguments that Sagan didn't leave Cavendish any room when he was already next tom him and that he continued to turn to the right.
 

Vasilevskiy

The cat will be back
Dec 30, 2008
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No way it gets revoked now, they will stick with their decision... it takes balls to DQF the most popular cyclist in the world
 

Dr Johnny Fever

Eggplant and Teal
Apr 11, 2012
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It was not only the elbow, Sagan drove Cavendish in the stands, the DSQ is a given and Cav is lucky the outcome wasn't worse.

I don't agree. Cav went for a very narrow opening. When he got to Sagan's hip, his head made contact causing both riders to lose balance. Cav went down when his bike bumped Sagan's. Sagan's elbow came up (but never made contact and was not "thrown") as a movement for balance.

People can debate the idea of "holding your line" but the commissars specifically said the DQ was 100% for the elbow. So they had no issue with the line Sagan took. And when you look closely at the tweeted replay, Cav was already on his way down with no help from the elbow. Most people agree that the elbow looked a lot worse initially before seeing a better replay.
 

Dr Johnny Fever

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Apr 11, 2012
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Quite a lot of carnage today. 5 abandons and 7 time cuts. Glad to read that Porte isn't nearly as bad off as it looked like he might be. That was a brutal looking fall.

Looks like 2/3 of the podium could be wide open now.
 

The Imp

5-14-6-1
Jul 8, 2003
3,891
22
Copenhagen, Denmark
Porte suffered a broken pelvis and clavicle. Hit the grass at roughly 72 kph, then bounced across the road and into the wall. Yeah, could have been worse, but ouch.

Quite the spectacle yesterday, but such attrition among the top 10 GC :(
 

Cruor

Registered User
May 12, 2012
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Porte's fall was pretty nasty, I'm glad it wasn't career ending or worse. He was never the best downhill rider but in the mountains he could give Froome a run for his money.

As for Sagan, I'm convinced they made an example out of him. They took the decision really early in, you could see UCI representatives huddled together and discussing right after the crash. They also referred to Sagan's status as World Champion and leading by example (which IMO should have nothing to do with the question of fault).
 

Preds Partisan

Gunga galunga
Aug 17, 2009
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I turned the race on about two minutes before Porte's crash. Bad timing because I was stretching getting ready for my ride and I've got a nasty, pothole laden, damp hill on my route. Not what you want to watch right before hitting the streets.
 

Fighter

Registered User
Jan 1, 2004
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Trieste, Italy
Kittel today was scary, gave all the other sprinters 3-4 metres at least. Can't remember such a powerful sprinter since Mario Cipollini. :amazed:
 

Dr Johnny Fever

Eggplant and Teal
Apr 11, 2012
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It's odd watching all these sprints with no real dominant train controlling the front of the peloton. A few years ago if you didn't have a strong train you didn't stand a chance. Now almost everybody is riding hobo.

I hope Kittel wins 8 and stinks up the green jersey competition.
 

Bagge

Registered User
May 4, 2013
1,602
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Copenhagen
Best stage of the race so far and the shortest. Hmmm, maybe there is something to it? Worked well at last year's Vuelta too.

I think it was more of a result of Aru being completely isolated from his team from the very beginning. I agree about the entartainment value though. If all stages could be like this, the tv ratings would tribble.
 

Dr Johnny Fever

Eggplant and Teal
Apr 11, 2012
21,234
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Lower Left Coast
I think it was more of a result of Aru being completely isolated from his team from the very beginning. I agree about the entartainment value though. If all stages could be like this, the tv ratings would tribble.

Well, they can't all be short stages but throwing one or two into the mix the second or third week really has the potential to liven things up. Teams and riders that aren't strong enough to do something over 200km definitely have the strength to ride hard for 100km. That allows for so much more strategy from all teams. I don't think Aru's lack of teammates really factored into what happened today.

I do find it interesting that Landa didn't just sit on Contador's wheel and then come back to help Froome before the last climb. Landa even took turns pulling. The GC could easily have let Contador have 2-3 minutes today. But Froome found himself without any teammates for a while, while Landa was riding away and potentially taking yellow. After the firework of the day before things may be getting interesting at Sky.
 

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