Apologies if this has already been done. Looks like some amateur roadie was racing/following Vingegaard on a downhill section of a training ride in Spain, Big Vin tried to outpace him to get away and then crashed onto his face.
The amateur expresses surprise that Vingegaard was so annoyed. Perhaps that's because you were riding up his arse on a public road in an uninvited race, you berk?
I'll be honest it's made Vingegaard look a bit stupid. It's a public road if you don't want someone behind you slow down and let them past
"I'm training, leave me be", or just slow down or pull over? 50/50 blame at best.
There's a video on twitter (so I'm not linking it here but I found it via reddit) that shows the guy around 20m behind on the descent.
Dunno, I think i you don't want fans bothering you you shouldn't try to drop them on the descent. Do a Bernard Hinault instead.
Jump off the bike and start swinging. Then jump back on come third in the Paris-Nice.
I was out in Calpe last week. It was Pro Central; every ride we did we'd see team training sessions (often with team car behind them), individuals doing efforts, small groups doing motorpacing... It was vergng on chaotic.
The normal thing to do of course is just mind your own business. Occasionally there'd be a brief and barely visible wave, most of the pros would say "hola!" as they overtook on a climb but you leave them be. Partly because even trying to match their pace is impossible on a climb and suicidal on a descent.
However there are some amateurs out there who are on a hero worship mission to ride alongside / film as many pros as possible and they'll do all sorts of stupid shit to achieve that. There was another story on road.cc about some amateur riding alongside Visma filming them when they pointed out that they were 2-abreast on the right side of the road and he was riding on the wrong side trying to film them and could he please **** off.
I think the Women's teams out there had it worse because it's a bit easier for most blokes to hold their wheel, they weren't going quite as quick. We saw some Italian women's squad - neat, drilled, pro, perfect 2x4 line - and in their wake was about 4 or 5 amateur blokes all trying to sit in the slipstream, all looking like a total bag of spanners. Kinda creepy in all honesty - sitting on a stranger's wheel uninvited is wrong anyway; for a bloke to sit uninvited on the wheel of a female rider is verging well into harassment. You just don't do it.
I can see why they get pissed off. But then some of their behaviour wasn't great either. Team cars that'd cut you up or risk a dodgy overtake so they could stay close to their riders. Riders coming steaming past at full gas effort not really caring that they're passing at pro-race distances, rather than "you're riding past a complete amateur" distance. Straight-lining the bends on a descent as you're trying to climb it. Sprint efforts where they cane past you then sit up 10 seconds later and soft pedal for a bit so you pass them again and then next thing they're on the next effort screaming past again.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it out there but you needed your wits about you on the road. Also the sheer number of cyclists out there now is beginning to annoy the locals. You try to drive out of Calpe or Altea in a morning and you can't move for the massive pelotons of pro teams / enthusiasts heading out.
Perhaps this is why Tom Pidcock and his band of merry men have gone to Chile. Warm weather, high altitude and away from the crowds
Kinda creepy in all honesty - sitting on a stranger's wheel uninvited is wrong anyway;
Typical roadie behaviour on my commute: some absolute bellend hanging 2 inches off my back wheel so that if I touch the brakes he'll be right up me (and I can't afford tk crash in my physical condition). And I'm not riding at speeds that make slipstreaming very worthwhile!
Typical roadie behaviour
Oh do grow up
But then some of their behaviour wasn't great either. Team cars that'd cut you up or risk a dodgy overtake so they could stay close to their riders
I have almost been hit by a ped motor pacing a rider in Mallorca as I was going up Sa Batella. Bell ends are amongst us all
Not really clear, yeah need to give them space when they're out training but 20m should be plenty...was Jonas pushing to keep/increase distance, or would the guy have backed off a touch if he sat up.
Pros must get this all the time....excited amateurs trying to ride a mile or three with them. Quite how someone riding behind you can make you 'need' to go faster and then 'cause' you to fall off....really?
Quite how someone riding behind you can make you 'need' to go faster and then 'cause' you to fall off....really?
It can become a significant distraction.
It's fine if you're in a race - you know everyone there, you know how and why certain people are riding, certain others might be hanging on, dropping back etc. Racing is all alright, you're on closed roads and everyone knows the score.
Training is even better - you're following structured plans with your teammates and in theory at least it should be fairly well controlled even if it is on open roads.
Having an amateur in the mix (even a good one and honestly if the guy can keep up with JV on a descent, he's either very good or JV is simply freewheeling it) is a huge red flag where you have no idea of what he's up to (is he a harmless "other cyclist" or someone who wants to cause harm or someone simply seeking some Tiktok content...?), what his abilities are, what his reaction times might be, does he know the road, is he riding beyond his abilities...?
As mentioned above, if someone does that to you on a commute through traffic, it really puts you under pressure to ride with that person in mind, it's suddenly stopped you from slamming on the brakes or going for a gap cos you've got a stranger on your wheel. If someone does that to you in the middle of a training session where you're trying to stick to a power or HR or a structured plan, it's properly unnerving.
And JV is famously quite introverted, he's not someone who wants hangers-on and fanboys crowding him on a ride.
Amateur causes Vingegaard to crash on training ride
Slight error there, think you mean "Vingegaard causes Vingegaard to crash on training ride", or "Vingegaard crashes in vicinity of cyclist". I mean jeez, if he can't cope with having an amateur 20m behind him, he's going to find it really tough when he gets to <checks notes> the TdF for the first time... 🙄
Tbh nobody comes out of this looking good. Vingegaard obviously screwed up and was angry at the other cyclist; the other cyclist sounds like a tool with his "stay humble" BS; and the team's sense of entitlement is also damn stupid: "For both your own and others’ wellbeing, please allow riders to train and give them as much space and peace as possible.”. They're public roads and they're all cyclists - giving each other mutual space and respect is the default, and while the pros are always going to be faster, there still needs to be some sense of "look, you're as entitled to use the road as much as us, we'll try not to foul up your slow ride if you try not to foul up our training ride"
As others have noted Vingegaard crashed all on his own.
If I have someone on my wheel and I don't want them there for any reason I wave them past.
If I'm descending an unknown to me road in a foreign country and a local closes on me I'll definitely wave them past and perhaps benefit from their local knowledge.
All Vingegaard had to do was slow up, if the the rider had then stalked him he would have been justifiably annoyed, as it was he reacted irrationally.
trying to stick to a power or HR or a structured plan
Use a home trainer for that and accept that in the real world there are real people, cars, trucks, other cyclists, pedestrians, animals, variable road conditions, bends.
Anyhow I wasn't really a fan, now I'll be cheering the opposition. 🙂
If teams are really bothered about this, then maybe don't wear team kit on training rides, as it kinda attracts peoples attention...🤷
If teams are really bothered about this, then maybe don't wear team kit on training rides, as it kinda attracts peoples attention...🤷
I think it's contractual obligations. Plus a lot of them have the team car behind, they're all on the same bike brand... Not difficult to work it all out.
I mean if JV can't drop an amateur cyclist he really needs to consider a different job!
I reckon even Gerraint Thomas wouldn't crash, just cos a random was hanging on to him for a bit.
The peleton must be laughing their cocks off.
I think it's contractual obligations.
I'm sure you're right but maybe someone negotiating the contract needs to do some risk-assessment first. Surely the risk of your Grand Tour prospect being side-lined thru a stupid accident like this is enough to warrant some action to reduce risk.
And maybe hire a car locally to carry the DS and the extra kit/bidons, rather then spending a the money on driving team cars across Europe (or on a ferry*)
"Team kit on training rides" could be reserved for media days...I mean how much publicity does Visma get when not on TV?? (Or adverse publicity when pissing off locals on training camps?)
*Only applies to Mallorca and Tenerife and a few other islands I suppose.
a stupid accident like this is enough to warrant some action to reduce risk.
Like anger management training. 🙂
I've checked some photos from my racing days, I used to be quite quick on descent and sure enough there are riders on my wheel, didn't bother me a bit.
They're public roads
...so don't try to race on them and give other road users space?
I mean if JV can't drop an amateur cyclist he really needs to consider a different job!
I could probably keep up with Vindegaard on a downhill...if he'd just done 100km before breakfast and was warming down while I was fresh as a daisy!
I could probably keep up with Vindegaard on a downhill
So you are a demon descender who wets his pants if someone follows too closely when commuting?
I could probably keep up with Vindegaard on a downhill
Race yah !
Even pro riders that look slow on descent have had years of learning the best trajectories, how hard they can push the tyres, how late they can brake, how hard they can brake. Then there's the aero, I doubt you could get into a good aero position let alone hold it for more than 30 seconds, then it would go completely to pieces at the first bend. I suggest the "amateur" is quite a good descender and knows his local roads. I was out with the roadie club today, mostly 60+ and several ex-racers, everybody knows the roads well, the ex-racers put hundreds of meters into the others on every decent without a turn of the pedals.
I could probably keep up with Vindegaard on a downhill...if he'd just done 100km before breakfast and was warming down while I was fresh as a daisy!
So you are a demon descender who wets his pants if someone follows too closely when commuting?
Unfortunately, we can't all be awesome keyboard warrior roadie action men like you and Edukator. 😪 #operatingatthetipofthespear
I could easily drop JV on a descent because I eat a lot more cake than him 🤤
After receiving treatment, Jonas explained his anger and frustration - "Fair enough guys, it's my fault and I shouldn't have got all jumpy about having to share a public road. It's just that we all know what those bell ends on STW are gonna be posting and squabbling about - it makes me feel grubby"
😉
Unfortunately, we can't all be awesome keyboard warrior roadie action men like you
Not sure I understand the point you are trying to make, you are the one who thinks they could keep up with a Tour de France winner downhill. I certainly couldn't