Posted on 06/30/2017 5:24:21 PM PDT by Baynative
On Saturday, 198 of the world's best cyclists will start the Tour de France. Only four have a realistic shot at winning.
That's according to the highest-ranked American bike racer at the Tour, Andrew Talansky, in a recent interview with Business Insider.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Oowwww! Stay strong.
THIS CLASH taking out Mark Cavendish is going to get a lot of review and discussion. People will say Sagan elbowed him into the wall, others will rightfully say Cavendish was trying to make a lane where none existed.
Having been there, even at the amateur level you learn early that there are no friends in the last 100 meters.
Sagan was shaken at the result. Subsequent videos show Sagan going to Cavendish/Dimension Data team bus where the two of them talked and there is clearly no bad energy between them. Cavendish's team mates are seen comforting Sagan and giving him a pat on the back as if to say they know nothing was intentional.
Looks to me that Cav initiated contact before Sagan threw the elbow.
It wasn’t a wise decision for Cav to try to take that inside line.
Several websites are reporting Sagan has been DQ'd. I don't like hearing that.
Tough call. But as far as not having any room, Cav was following another rider that had taken the same route around Sagan. There was room before Sagan veered right.
“Several websites are reporting Sagan has been DQ’d. I don’t like hearing that. “
Wow, me neither.
Sagan’s elbow came AFTER Cav shouldered into him from behind, after Sagan was pushed over to the wall. And Sagan STILL left room.
If Cav had just squeezed, elbows in, and “YO”ed he wouldn’t have crashed. He wouldn’t have won either, but that would not have been Sagan’s fault.
” There was room before Sagan veered right.”
I didn’t see Sagan ‘veer right’. I saw the whole pack led by the Frenchman who won, veer right’ Sagan (and Cav) in turn following.
The treetops obscured some crucial moments.
Brutal.
Watch it again. Cav clearly was following another rider past Sagan on the right. Then the entire group moved right and cornered Cav in. Still ... hard to tell if the elbow came out before or after contact.
I stand corrected. The elbow and the cutting off of Cavendish’s lane caused it. Videos here:
https://twitter.com/search?q=sagan&ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Esearch
So ugly, the one rider ran directly over Cavendishs face.
A good keirin racer like Gibby Hatton could have hip checked Mr. Elbow into the next lane.
Peter Sagan disqualified after clash that ends Mark Cavendish’s Tour de France
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/04/mark-cavendish-crash-tour-de-france-stage-four
Ok I found it on youtube and watched a million times.
Conclusion: if you dg Sagan, you should dq Greipel AND Demare!
Demare veers off and is coming around Sagan, and Cav had Demare’s wheel, all is fine.
Now Greipel has to get around his leadout guy and veers SHARPLY right and collides with Bouhanni...
...this happens right in front of Sagan with Demare right next to him.
Having PERSONALLY been in this situation before, when two riders going full sprint almost crash in front of you, you quickly veer around or jam the brakes, Sagan did neither (pro) didn’t panic and didn’t veer, but did move right to get around.
You could blame the whole thing on Greipel.
Meanwhile Demare goes all the way to within 6 inches of the curb with Cav on his wheel still no problem....
...then Demare veers LEFT and gets right in front of Sagan, Cav LOSES the wheel to Sagan and is pissed and leans in...
then Demare veers left sharply againn and hits Greipel’s front wheel almost taking him out....
Nasty stuff all around dq everyone of dq no one.
“A good keirin racer like Gibby Hatton...”
Lol, haven’t heard that name in a long time.
Only a senior II from the 80’s would know that name...
“Sagan gradually moved right.”
Agree, and given what Geipel Demare did, that’s not a disqualification.
If fact one could easily say :
Of everyone in that sprint, Sagan held the straightest line.
Sagan and Cav were closer to the middle and Sagan tracked all the way to the right.
“Sagan and Cav were closer to the middle and Sagan tracked all the way to the right.”
Everyone tracked to the right.
Then Demare “tracked” to the left, sharply.
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