Top bananas for giving Schleck the chance to get back on.

Big mistake not competeing for the line. If I were a fan in Spa I'd be jolly pissed orf.

But controversy sells papers. Look forward to tomorrow, I don't think the race directors will be so understanding … 😈

I know that the poster boy is getting the blame, but you need to consider the impact of Iván Gutiérrez* as well. He was telling everyone to sit up as well.

* i won't laugh if you have to google him 😆

Whatever farce was going on behind, Chavanel had laid his cards on the table and made his move early on. He was committed long before they started messing about. He did a fantastic ride, as he does every year.

I really hope that the magic of wearing the yellow jersey can work for him.

SB

yeah, chavanel's ride was great. chapeau!

Mleh.
It's a group of people who ride bikes as a career, who get treated like performing monkeys, on short contracts, who appreciate more than most that injury can equal loss of money, loss of a contract for next year and who decided to protest in the only way they can about the choice of route and the danger it posed.

Look through the glamour, look behind the cameras, watch the faces of the guys who ride in last in the Classics, look out of the window when it rains in March and go ride 200kms…

… Then remember who's paying your wage, and get on with it.

I thought it was pretty shambolic, and Cancellara's team self interest gave the impression of a bit of a "brotherhood" moment. I agree with Backsted and Roche on eurosport – it's racing, they should have raced. Let's hope they don't get scared by the Pavee tomorrow!

…so a sizeable portion of the peloton (about 60 according to Brailsford) take a spill and you guys whinge like girls that they express their disquiet in just about the only effective way they can?

These guys aren't amateurs you know, they know how to ride bikes without falling off.

The collective spirit of the peleton is something special about pro racing, and there have always been patrons calling the shots and laying down the rules.

there gonna walk up the cobbles tomorrow because its to dangerous

I wonder how many bikes are written off each year in the TDF. There must have been thirty or so just yesterday!

"…so a sizeable portion of the peloton (about 60 according to Brailsford) take a spill and you guys whinge like girls that they express their disquiet in just about the only effective way they can?"

As Backstedt said, it rains on the tour, it rains in other cycle events. Pro cycling isn't and never has been a fair weather sport. Today wasn't a protest, it was about Saxobank ensuring their riders still had a chance at GC. Cancellara was a sole if loud and respected voice who managed to convince the peloton to hold back.

If riders think it's too dangerous, let them individually slow down. Let the folks who are prepared to take the risks reap the rewards.

I have read it is likely at least 2 riders will withdraw from the race with injuries from today. If they had continued the race on such a dodgy surface and more riders were wiped out with serious injuries, it would end up with pretty much no race at all to watch for the next few weeks and where then would the spectators and sponsers be? Worse, someone could have died in a crash as the conditions were apparently so bad. I think the guy was right to ask for the race to be adjusted.

but, the conditions at the finish were fine. Dry, straight, so i'll sa y it again, why no sprint? Chavanel took the risks, he stayed on his bike

Actually Chavanel took very few risks and was losing time on the descent.
Enough of them felt unhappy enough to feel that upsetting loads of IT blokes was a risk worth taking.

They are not paid to entertain. They are paid to do a job, which is to work for the team.

Caceralla had to wait up otherwise his main man would be miles behind in the GC and could have possibly lost any chance of winning / top 3.

As for the non-sprinting at the end I initially thought it was boring but seeing that there was a petrol spill I think its justified. Alot of riders went down and got injured so a neutral finish imo was alrite.

Hopefully that is the end of it though and they just get on with it, if its a protest for today they shouldn't even enter the tour, if they cant ride on cobbles…well there not so pro are they!

Waiting for the peleton to regroup because of a crash – fair enough its the sporting thing and that happens all the time

Not contesting the line. Bollocks.

However, this is just part of the TDF spectacle. Its this sort of thing that makes it fun. Bring it on.

It wasn't that long ago that Chavanel was almost hated by his own countrymen for his huge payroll and lack of major wins. That's been a long time coming.

Feel sorry for Hushvold.

Don't have a problem with what they did, all sports need a 'working' relationship between the sportsman, teams and officials.

Better that than situations where the riders are pushed into corners, and take 'dangerous' risks, eg drugs.

b r – good to see they mince more than me in the wet 😕

These guys aren't amateurs you know, they know how to ride bikes without falling off.

As was pointed out to me Menchov stayed up so it can't have been that tricky ;0)

They are not paid to entertain

Yes they are. That's the job of a professional sportsman, to entertain the followers in one way or another. They failed miserably yesterday apart from chavanel

Chavanel wrote himself off on that decent last year… I think so fair play to him. I also agree that its only the second day of the tour and after the monumental crashes on the first day and then this yesterday they do need to be a little careful as they wouldn't have any riders left by then end.

We also need to take into consideration that one of the motorbikes crashed too. If the following line of support cars had hit the diesel at speed it would have been carnage. Not great to watch but I kind of agree that they did the right thing.

As was pointed out to me Menchov stayed up so it can't have been that tricky ;0)

Exactly! There is no better test. 😀

Roll on today's stage! It should be a belter. Someone better have filled in the cracks in that Pavee though.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/picturegalleries/7873504/Agony-for-cyclists-in-Tour-de-France-2010-crashes-in-pictures.html

Farrar is apparently starting today to hit the cobbles with a fractured wrist!

Here's the theory:

"It all started when Lampre rider Francesco Gavazzi crashed out of the breakaway on the Stockeu. A TV motorcycle then crashed while avoiding hitting Gavazzi, and the bike spilled oil on the road. The oil had time to run down the hill by the time the peloton came through a few minutes later, setting off a dangerous domino effect that saw over 60 riders sliding across the road."

The motorbike only crashed because the Gavazzi crashed. The bike went onto the grass verge & unsurprisingly dropped it.
From that moment on it was madness because all riders were arriving on the scene of the crash blind & in such a situation it just escalates. They were always going to crash because they had to brake hard to avoid hitting the obstacles.

There was no excuse for not racing, but Fabian is a pro & gets his intstructions from one of the most cynical (but very successful) team directors out there.

Not sure what to make of it really. I think oil or whatever on the roads and half the field going down are exceptional circumstances and all this "are they afraid of a bit of rain?" stuff is a bit daft, as is speculation about basically neutralising any stage where someone falls or struggles. Sure tricky conditions is all part of bike racing, but oil on the roads isn't (or you could argue it isn't). Brailsford and a couple of others better placed than us to know what went on don't seem to have too much problem with it.

That said, I do think they could have picked it up again and raced when everybody was back together- I don't see that the likelihood of more crashes was any higher at that point than it would have been before.

That's the job of a professional sportsman, to entertain the followers in one way or another.

I think you're confusing sportsmen and circus performers. 😉