Well, That settles that little argument then......... 
Always makes me chuckle that picture of big Jensie on that tiny bike!!!
......almost as much as a_a getting pwned on the interweb does 😆
a_a: the actual line in that text which is sort of lost in translation a little bit (and bear in mind that English is not Jens' first language) is that it was LIKE riding a kid's bike.
See if you can get the hint - C'est moi:
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On Jens - it was a kids bike, one of the special events that year was for children to ride some of each stage:
Jens Voigt crashed hard on Tuesday's stage, in the descent of the Col de Peyresourde. With the team cars long gone and his front tire exploded, the German fought hard to not being picked up by the broom wagon, ready to give the German a lift. Determined to reach Paris this year, he borrowed a kid's bike for around 15 kilometers, until he reached his spare bike.Voigt recalled the mayhem of the post crash frenzy on the rest day. "By the time you get up and your brain starts working again, I realized that all the team cars had passed me and there would be nobody there to help me," he told Sporza in an interview. The driver of the broom wagon was ready to pick up Voigt. "He asked me 'Do you want to come in?', but I said 'No, no, I want to get to Paris - give me some sort of bike!'"
Voigt's bike was totaled. "The frame was broken, the derailleur was broken, the front wheel was broken - there was nothing you could fix there anymore."
Rescue came through one of the special events that accompany the race. "I think there is this children's program where they do part of the Tour de France stages. One of those cars came by and they gave me one of their bikes." The bike was painted yellow and equipped with good old fashioned toe clips. "It was way too small for me, it didn't fit with my pedal system and it didn't really work the way I wanted it to work," Voigt said. "But it was something to move and I took the chance," Voigt added, happy that he was able to continue the race.
Read more: [url] http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/4977/Jens-Voigt-avoids-abandoning-Tour-de-France-with-help-from-kids-bike.aspx#ixzz4EQCR9oyO [/URL]
From something called 'Twitter'?
Geraint Thomas when being shown a video of Froome running without his bike. "He's from Kenya, should be good at that!"
🙂
God knows what happens next, but Adam Yates has played a blinder.
Interesting times.
Still, better than being...
I've only just read the end of this thread, so might have missed it, but is there anybody else pissed off with the C4 highlights providing a massive spoiler at the start of their programme. I'd successfully avoided all coverage today (hadn't been on STW) and looking forward to the rare experience of watching the highlights without knowing what happened - wtf were they thinking with that?
Of course then half way through watching the highlights mrs aracer walks in and asks whether it's a running race or a bike race today 🙄 - and then proceeds to ask why Froome got given the same time on the Ventoux stage yesterday 🙄 (she'd seen reports on the news and thought it was yesterdays)
The Mavic bikes always look great.
Who knew it could be s entertaining watching the Tdf Maillot Jaune run up hill without his bike
What a mess but the fairest result given the total mess that the stage was.
Good on Yates for saying he did not want to get the jersey this way as well
I have to say that booing had me hopping on the outrage bus. Barrier the last 5k and make it so people can't camp out in advance.
See how many chav ****ers feel like a stroll up Ventoux in thir costumes toting a beer cooler then.
Better yet make it a limited number per km and make everyone race for their spectator position.
Yes, it crossed my mind that the a-holes booing were probably the ones who caused the whole thing in the first place.
[quote=xyeti ]there was NO way Mollenma was observing the "Respect YELLOW" unwritten rule he was up and off.
Well in the end he probably did them a favour (and certainly did the commissaires a favour) by doing so, as he provided a finish time for them.
[quote=Junkyard ]Good on Yates for saying he did not want to get the jersey this way as well
He comes across as a very honest chap, but even if he wasn't then he only has to remember a few stages back for a similar incident after which they also adjusted the times - an incident which there is a very visible reminder of when you see him being interviewed!
See if you can get the hint - C'est moi:
Come on @ninfan we know you photo shopped that and it could be any old bald fella 😉
Whilst the tunnel of spectators might give atmosphere to mountain stages, surely they have to introduce better crowd control. Not only is it dangerous as we saw today, but it also could prevent people making breaks if there is only a bike corridor. Also as mention earlier, what's then to stop spectators taking out people they don't like. Accidents will always happen, but this was irresponsible tw*ts ruining a great stage. As for the booing, frankly disgusting.
The irony of the booing is that it should have been Froome booing the spectators
Froome has raced with real style and class this tour, Its not been the normal Sky procession its been proper racing nothing for any one to boo about. I was quite annoyed at the booing. The crazed tribalism of football is starting creep in. What next cycling fans fighting on the slopes and in the bars?
Wowsers.. just seen the highlights.. well that was absolutely farcical. 😆
What have I missed in the STW internet-armchair-expert debate-stakes so far?
Get some bic's and a cup of tea its going to start soon.
Seriously the stage I fall asleep for... Just caught up this morning, mental truly mental and on the end it'd been coming for a while. The spectators have been closing in too much and we have had issues already. Gutted for Porte shows that no matter how much you do luck is a big part of it. I think they would have pulled more time know the rest by the end, they looked in good form up there.
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http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/07/news/more-details-of-froome-crash-from-mavic-neutral-service_414703
I thought the behaviour of the fans was starting to resemble the giro in places. The camera bike was behind Quintana at one point,he was just behind two other bikes,there was no way he could have attacked,even if he had it in him,it was like riding between trees with wide bars on.
a_a: the actual line in that text which is sort of lost in translation a little bit (and bear in mind that English is not Jens' first language) is that it was LIKE riding a kid's bike.
No it isnt, have you watched the video. Jens speaks in English, his English is very good its clear what he says. Maybe he lied just so the stw big hitters could expose the truth!
Watching the highlights, it's obvious the officials made the right decision: not only were the fans behaving in obstructive and dangerous way, the motorbikes were far too close to the riders.
The fact that one of the motorbikes following them ran over Froome's bike, proves the latter point.
On the plus side though, Froome had well and truly cracked Quintana and Porte looks to be flying.
Obviously the right decision was made re standings at the end.
But
Wouldn't it have been interesting if they'd left it as it stood... with Yates in yellow and Froome over a minute down.
I reckon the young man would have only held onto it for a day... Froome would have destroyed todays TT fueled by anger.
Yeah, that thought crossed my mind as well.
I must admit it's the type of incident I've been expecting to happen for a long time. Something has to be done.
Wish my French was better to pick up the subtleties in L'Equipe this morning to see what feedback from other places are. Generally most of the riders seem to agree with the decision (Mollema excepted)
Velonews are finding something to whinge about in Sky's approach as usual
http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/07/tour-de-france/froomes-abuse-of-yellow-was-movistars-missed-opportunity_414736
LOL ninfan's 'burn' 😆
tragic
here's a pic of me with my long term partner, Danny MacAskill
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But there's already a precedent from this year's tour when on stage 8 the 1Km red kite banner collapsed just as Adam Yates approached then the lead bunch ran in to it. Since that was a flat finish the 3Km rule was in force and the organisers could use the timings from the 3Km point to work out the time gaps between those who were and weren't affected by the collapsed banner and apply them retrospectively.
Yesterday I don't think the timing kit was in place at the 3Km point due to it being a mountain finish so it was kind of fortunate for the organisers that Mollema wasn't held up by a significant amount of time so they could assign Porte and Froome the same finishing time as him. Similarly for the Yate/Quintana/Van Garderen group.
It's unlikely that those riders would have finished in that manner since there would have been several attacks in the last Km but it's basically the least worst option to take. Possibly the rider who benefited most from the re-timing was Quintana since he was already losing time, didn't look like he'd the strength to attack (just about everyone in his group was attacking and leaving him) and bridge to the Porte/Froome/Mollema group but gained the time that it took Mollema to extricate himself from the crash.
Velonews are finding something to whinge about in Sky's approach as usual
It is an odd one, Sky were quite streetwise there, but dunno what Movistar were doing they certainly shouldn't have bothered waiting IMO.
I agree that something needs to change on the mountain stages - too many fans just don't have enough respect (or are just drunk) for it to carry on as it is. I was wincing the other day (when Contador abandoned) seeing some of the shots of him climbing with fans 'helpfully' smacking him on the back - if I was covered in road rash and someone did that to me no way would I have stayed composed.
As for yesterday's stage - even without the moto incident the crowd were already interfering by not allowing enough room for attacks. Whether it's feasible to barrier/police 10km of road is another matter though.
Oh and any dick that's doing selfie filming or waving at the TV camera and not actually watching the riders as they come past (usually whilst stepped out dangerously in the road) should be flogged
A situation made more intense by the thronging crowds crammed into a much smaller area. Whilst, in general, the crowds are an integral part of the Tour, there are situations like this that ought to be more controlled and managed.
As a spectacle I've never seen this in all my time watching and following bike racing, yes there have been situations similar to it but nothing quite this extreme and at the end of the stage.
One main point has to be taken out of it, Froome is a passionate competitor. He could have stood up and argued with the commissaries after the stage, whined like he did back in 2012. But No, he did what his instinct told him to and carry on, continue the fight, the struggle, the passion.
I admire him more for that.
Running in cleats, walking even, is pretty difficult when you've ridden 50k never mind 184k at tempo then spent the last 30k at pace up a mountain chasing your mates for the win.
Determination at its finest, result duely given correctly. A slow handclap for the ASO and Race Officials.
Those photos showing 4 motos bunched up in front of the yellow jersey group tell the story imo. Just a ridiculous number of motorbikes at the tour these days.
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Back to discussing the actual race pre-incident...
Seemed to me, not being a roadie and only watching the tour and the vuelta, that Quintana just doesnt have it in him? seemed to sit up when his attacks didnt work and Froome started. Almost like he couldnt be bothered to retaliate - is his mind just not quite in it?
Movistar would appear to be either tactically inept or unable to decide what they want to do. Having Valverde there is splitting their resources. Quintana looked pretty isolated on the lower slopes, if you've no-one to help you then trying to deal with attacks from a team that has three domestiques helping their leader is not going to work.
Anyone else seen this? Quintana holding onto the Mavic bike:
https://twitter.com/assekevin/status/753720450551836673
Would be a bit petty to punish him for that when Froome is running up the road without a bike, complete chaos, motos speeding up and slowing down suddenly and spectators all over the road. He's just trying to navigate through the carnage without having to clip and unclip every two seconds, or crash into a pissed fool in a mankini.
Shame we didn't get to see how the race would have ended without the crash, I feel it's the race that has lost out here.
Interesting to see Froome running up the road. Can you imagine what went through his mind? should I just cycle on that neautral bike, should I run, walk or should I should I just stand there with my hands on my hips looking annoyed with several thousand spectators surrounding me?
Something like this has been on the cards for years.
Any 'supporters' that have so little respect for the riders deserve to be run over. A couple of Hummers as lead vehicles would do the job.
Nice!
Any 'supporters' that have so little respect for the riders deserve to be run over. A couple of Hummers as lead vehicles would do the job.
Nice!
Indeed. Well put.
Shame we didn't get to see how the race would have ended without the crash, I feel it's the race that has lost out here.
Definitely. Though the stage win and any time bonuses had already been decided. I think the conclusion for the GC boys was pretty much determined by that point as the decisive move had been made.
fifeandy, you might want to check out todays non-cycling related headlines and maybe consider your comment?
No, not really.
There's a world of difference between a terrorist deliberately driving over innocent people and drunken fools jumping into the middle of a bike race.
Is it really too much to ask for fans to cheer the race respectfully from the side of the road? As with most other things in life, morons will continue to be morons whilever there are no consequences for their actions.
I think GC would have been different too, Quintana was going backwards, Froome and Porte (and Mollema too?) would have 100% put more time into him.