Posted on 07/01/2011 7:58:26 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
“The left side tires were off the road and there was a tree coming up that he was about to hit.”
Meaning what? The driver’s only option was to hit the cyclist?
How about the brake pedal?
How about not taking chances with the safety of the riders?
The driver of the vehicle has NO BUSINESS being on the course for the remainder of this race. Period.
He did get expelled this afternoon. Via CyclingFan:
The ASO made a statement after the Tour de France stage, about the incident. “Following the accident which occurred at the 167 kilometers mark … involving the riders Juan Antonio Flecha and Johnny Hoogerland, vehicle Euro Media numbered 800 has been excluded from the Tour de France.”
Tour de France race director, Christian Prudhomme was furious about the unforgettable incident and explained his feelings about the day.
“I announced on Radio Tour, which is the channel everyone should be listening to, that all cars should pull to the side and give priority to the team cars,” said Prudhomme.
“The car previously received the order from the race direction not to pass and let the Europcar team manager get through to the breakaway to give Thomas Voeckler the bottle he was asking for.
“They did not take that order into account … and caused the crash of both riders. This behavior is intolerable.”
Via VeloNation, the riders' team managers are weighing their options:
The driver is the second to be thrown off the Tour, with a motorbike pilot sent home after a stage four incident involving Nicki Sørensen (Saxo Bank SunGard).
For now, both Sky Procycling and Vacansoleil are delaying their comments. Dave Brailsford said the team wanted to wait. “After the stage everyone's emotional now. We'll look at the situation tomorrow and we'll take the matter forward then.”
Vacansoleil said in a statement that it too would think over things. “After the horrible accident of Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) in the 9th stage of the Tour de France the managment of Vacansoleil-DCM will discuss what has happened tomorrow with the parties involved. No further comments will be made today so that they are not based on emotions,” it stated.
Hoogland himself seemed pretty sanguine about it, though- at least at first. Via Cyclism’Actu (roughly translated from the French over there):
"We can be happy to be alive, it's horrible. I don't want to blame anyone, because no one ever does things like this on purpose. Those who drove the car must already feel terribly guilty, and I'm sure they'll apologize. In any case, Juan Antonio [Flecha, other the cyclist who got whacked by the car] came me to apologize. This shouldn't happen, but there's always a risk. "
That comment may have been before it sunk in & before he wept at the polka dot ceremony, however - so heartbreaking, luv2ski.
And so infuriating!
i missed that on versus. thanks for the link. what an iron man. i hope he rides monday
calling the GC for schleck. wanted to be the first in.
i think what happened is the driver saw the tree coming and thought he could floor it and beat the cycle to the tree. he misjudged. in retrospect it was incredibly stupid. he shoulda hit the brakes and let the cycle and tree go by first.
but i dont think it was intentional, just a boner play.
actually given the amount of cycles, news people on motorcycles, team cars, race people, etc etc its amazing it doenst happen a couple times a day
Agree. He didn’t have time to stop as they were going too fast. E car put himself in a very bad position where his only options were smash into a tree or come back on the road. Cars shouldn’t be trying to pass the cyclist unless they are team cars. Motocycles are much more maneuverable.
My goodness! Those photos are incredible. In all the years I have watched the Tour (back to ‘98), I have never seen cars or motorcycles touch the riders. Riders have hit dogs/ photographers/ spectators/ hay bales/ bushes/ melting pavement/ guard rails and more. Motorcycles have hit silly spectators who are running up the road behind riders but NEVER have the riders themselves been involved.
Shocking.
Christian Van de Velde said that they were going fast; the road was wet, then dry, then wet again from the early showers and they over cooked a turn that was more than they thought.
What a classy young man. In this day of around the clock garbage, disrespect and trash talk he is acting very admirably. I'd be ready to strangle the driver for ruining my golden opportunity to live out the dream I've worked so hard for. (Many of us would, I think.)
no one has mentioned the incredible job voeckler did staying on his bike. he got knocked a foot sideways, onto the grass, and still rode thru it.
that boy has some reflexes and balance
Heya, I just got home from being out of town. Luckily today I had time to watch it live.. increduous the whole time.. what a tour. Anyway as a former Vino fan I’m still feeling badly for the way he went out. I mean, jeeeeez. Comments made on Twitter about it being good riddance are in very poor taste imo.
As a former giver-of-the-doubt about Contador, have you guys actually looked hard at the footage? Sure looked like he was bumped out by Karpets to me. Is that allowed or something?
I agree with the bloggers that the peloton should be hopping mad and might should even protest. Like refuse interviews for a day with the media who isn’t condemning that car to the utmost.
And as a former Lance fan, I will say that I’m enjoying this being a Lance-free event, and I’m still TEAM CADEL! Until such time as he does stuff which makes me preface my comments in the future with, “As a former Cadel fan.”
:-D
Gawd, I hate to lose Vino, he was riding well on Saturday.
This has definitely been one of the most gruesome Tours I have seen.
I still remember Beloki going down on melting asphalt, causing Armstrong to cyclocross down the side of the mountain. That was a bad crash. But Casartelli hitting the stone wall on d’Aspet, whew, that was such a tragedy.
Dangerous sport, the margin of error doesn’t have to be much to eat it big time.
After watching the car hit a few more times, I don't think it was intentional; just the bonehead driver either misjudging the road or not paying attention and suddenly seeing the tree and over-reacting. Still a horrible mess and totally uncalled for, so what if they aren't getting the "best" pictures and coverage, safety first! I really hope Hoogerland can continue, but dang he looks ripped up bad! Any news on Flecha and his injuries?
I will say that I’m enjoying this being a Lance-free event
There’s still time. I think I read somewhere he intends to be there for the last couple of days. If so, he’ll be on some of the shows at least for interviews, jmo.
In the Tour....of all the vehicles...automobiles (even team cars) have absolute last right of way.
The driver of that car....intentional or not....will never drive in another bike race. He (or she) is kaput. And should be.
Thanks. We had company yesterday and we had to zip through the recorded race. Might try to rewatch some of it today.
I either heard or read last night that they were still weighing their options on Hoogerland. Apparently he needs a lot of stitches. One only need look at the photos Baynative posted to agree. I’m sure he wants to continue but he’s going to need antibiotics, stitches and a tetanus shot for sure and probably painkillers as well. The only good news in all this is that today is a rest day. They have plenty of time to get him stitched and bandaged up and discuss the plan going forward.
I watched the recap last night since they had to sign off early from the live coverage. Hoogerland’s dad was very upset at the finish (with the team bus). Poor guy. To see your son nearly impaled on a fence in his first Tour has got to be devastating.
But aside from the disappointment & the anger, surely he also has to be damned proud of his kid. Hoogerland looked like he'd been mauled by a mountain lion, but he got right up and into the race again, with his sliced & diced flesh and bike shorts flapping in the wind and finished what he began.
Now that's a true competitor.Very impressive.
Yah now that you mention it, I think I remember hearing that he’s planning to be there for the last TT. Oh well. Enjoy it while it lasts. ;)
Apparently now the French police are investigating the crash. They are interviewing witnesses and the riders, if possible, before the Tour leaves the area. Here’s the link:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/43713268/ns/sports/
What I don’t really understand is what else they can learn from interviews beyond watching the video. I think it’s quite clear that the car was riding along the side and swerved to get around a tree but went too far and hit the riders. It looks like the driver thought he could accelerate and thread the needle between the car and the riders but he was mistaken- badly as it turns out.
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