Where's the Vuelta thread gone?

What a rubbish day for some and hope they heal well. 🙁

Yet another short straw for Dan Martin. He probably wants to go back to a balance bike. Sad to see people go out like that though.

At least Sagan bounced….that could’ve been worse.

what happened to sagan ? Saw him kicking a variety of vehicles 😀 but missed the incident

Moved across & into a motorbike passing too close…

seems to be no video of it

(he nearly took out a caja rural rider the other day too. think it may have been deliberate on his part that time though – that lad was just putting in a big effort up a hill)

Just watched the highlights – total carnage!

Lotto rider nearly died

😯

Note to self – don’t get on the wrong side of Peter Sagan

yup just seen a news update, Kris Boeckmans in an induced coma

Induced coma? Poor bloke and he’s needing plenty of surgery too. Really disappointing for Dan Martin too, he was riding so strongly and in a decent position.

A bad day. 🙁

Little dig from Boulting in a tweet yesterday:

Ned Boulting ?@nedboulting 12h12 hours ago
Some UCI fines so far:

Grmay 400 CHF (wrong jersey)
Sagan 300 CHF (being angry after nearly being killed)
Nibali 200 CHF (cheating)

Unfortunately followed up this morning with a Tweet about Sagan being out.

Mind, I don’t know how big a fine would have to be to impact either Nibali personally, or his team. In his case it’s the exclusion, innit ?

Nooooooooo, so disappointed for Sagan, what an exciting rider he is. Get well soon.

Something that has been getting talked about at the moment seems to be the sometimes inaccurate stage guides in the race manual. For example yesterday one of the climbs showed a false flat part way up in the race manual but it was actually a tricky little descent.
Fingers crossed for Kris Boeckmans. Tejay van Garderen posted a picture of himself in hospital on instagram looking a bit rough, possibly that’s his season over. Stage winner Jasper Stuyven out with a broken scaphoid. Nacer Bouhanni also out on a stage that he would have had a good chance on. Simon Gerrans and a few others all injured to a lesser extent on the stage.
Still no pictures or video of Sagan’s crash. The “best” picture I have seen is this

You can see that Sagan has not stopped rolling and the distance between him his bike and the moto, which apparently did not stop.

Sagan posted this to Facebook
,,Friends, I have had quite a nice day … It could’ve been a good stage, so I thought before the start. There was about 10 km to go before the finish and I was in the first group of the peloton and there was a smaller group in front of us. I chose them chase, no one wanted to go with me and when I was indicating with my hand as I was just swapping place I felt a motorbike flying from behind me. I do not know even how fast it went, I just suddenly felt a blow from behind and found myself on the ground… I didn’t see the motorcycle, it carried on. I knew that it was someone from the organisers, someone on a motorbike who is actually suppose to take care of our safety. I stood up, I started to see if I had anything broken … In that moment, I was very angry, because I went for the stage win and it wasn’t my fault that I had fallen…
I want to say openly that I am not at all impressed because these incidents have been happening quite often recently! Competitors are quiet and everything usually passes without any more noise… For example, in San Sebastian, in the hill, Van Avermaet was hit by a motorcyclist who cannot ride… In the next race, the organisers left the road signs, road restrictions in the sprint for about two hundred meters before the finish, where there was also a big fall and it all got quietly swept under the carpet…
I do not like these falls due to our safety, after all, such bike can weigh 200 kg and if it ran me over, what could’ve happened?! Fortunately, I only have bruised body, especially my legs and my hand hurts. It could, however, been a lot worse… but I am here at the hotel, alive and well! What else can I add? After my fall I was really very angry, the motorbike left which didn’t help to keep me calm. Plus, another funny thing, I got fined 200 euros for improper conduct and € 100 for the bad sportsmanship…What now…? Well nothing! I’m sitting in the room, wondering what had happened … First of all, I did not cause the fall, I am bruised and still I get fined for scolding the organisers… Is that even possible?
I know that I have to accept it, also the fine, but I find it ridiculous, even comical … but whatever, that’s life, let’s carry on. If the fall was my own fault, but no, it was someone else’s, someone, who should look after us. Us cyclists, we race whether it’s cold or hot, we put everything into it so we could be winning. But because of someone, towards the end of the stage when my mind is already focusing on the sprint into the finish, someone makes me fall. Then I open my mouth and get a penalty … what am I suppose to do? Where are my rights? Shall I rather pack up and go home? I wonder if anything will change after my fall, but probably nothing … My view is that something should definitely change in cycling in this matter!”

Thanks for your er, disturbing but informative, post tsurani. Quite extraordinary that the motorcyclist did not realise he’d hit a cyclist. Wasn’t aware that there’d been other incidents but it does look to be a difficult job to do, not least due to the sheer number of vehicles, both 2 and 4 wheeled.

Certainly on the ITV highlights yesterday I noticed a few instances where the road was narrow and motorbikes were literally weaving, as were the cyclists. Not sure why the motorbikes weren’t instructed to hold back.

Just incase I have given the impression that race vehicles were involved in or the cause of any of the crashes apart from Sagan’s yesterday. That is not the case from what I have seen or read. That said I did see some poor positioning and iffy passes from race vehicles yesterday which seems to have happened a lot this season. Two examples would be the moto that got himself stuck in between riders on the final descent I think it was, instead of moving over out off the racing line on some wide corners he just tried to keep up and an Astana rider Sanchez I think had go off the racing line to overtake him. I also saw a car come very close to running over the foot of a cyclist on the ground.

Sounds as though a review is well overdue of all aspects.

an Astana rider Sanchez I think had go off the racing line to overtake him

yeh, that was a bit dodgy

I guess it’s “need” for dramatic up-close footage of the racing that’s driving them but it does seem to be going a bit wrong

It would be interesting to know, how much pressure is applied to the people on the motorbikes covering the race from a director or producer or who ever it is that tells them where to go and what they want filmed at any given time.
What happens if they do the right thing by not making a dodgy pass and so do not get the coverage they are asked to get?
Obviously that does not apply to neutral service vehicles.

Obviously that does not apply to neutral service vehicles.

dunno – maybe the commissaires shout at them to move up ?

I would imagine that neutral service do have someone telling them to move up when the gap between the break and the peloton gets too small for example. I don’t think that they are under the same pressure as a camera bike that has to pass a group of riders to catch footage of someone that has just attacked off the front. Pass when it is safe and get passed right now are very different situations

Sure, but then they’re often in a car rather than a bike

narrow (and narrowing further ?) road, maybe commissaire or team cars stuck behind and shouting in your ear, riders right across the available space. The pressure must add up sometimes.

That Hoogerland crash a while ago was the worst example – nobody can have “needed” to get past that group

I couldn’t remember the Hoogerland crash I had to check youtube. I guess you mean the one from the tour? Was it Ten Dam that got messed up really bad in that crash and I think it was like a car for VIP’s or something? Clearly that was a driver error. I think they were not paying attention then saw that they were about to hit a tree and swerved when they should have not been in the situation in the first place and braked instead of swerving. It made me think of the London Classic this year when the Lotto rider was leading and the moto nearly took him out when it was just the two of them on an open straight road and all he was going to do was tell him the gap.
I agree that in some situations the pressure must be right on for nuetral service cars and bikes.
There is a video on youtube or vimeo I don’t remember which but it follows the nuetral service guys and it is obvious that they are feeling the pressure of the situation at times.
I just don’t see them having someone constantly in their ear to get ahead of the race as fast as possible in normal race situations.

demoulin must weight more than froome and rodrigeuz together,

just sailed past 😆 😉

Wasn’t aware that there’d been other incidents…

The one mentioned by Peter Sagan in the post above about San Sebastian was quite recent. Big talking point in the news because Van Avermaet was leading the race, on his own, not far short of the finish line when it happened. BMC threatened to sue.

Was another well documented one with a Shimano Neutral Service vehicle at the Tour of Flanders too…

What a finish.

Don’t know enough about demoulin to point the finger, but eyebrows may have been raised here.

I suspect normal service will resume on the big mountain days.

Yeh, I’m assuming that dumoulin is just very well rested after not much recent racing

He’ll look a bit more “well prepared” if he survives the pyrenees in red

In his post-race interview he came across very well I thought, seemed open and honest and he sounded convinced by his own answers.

I am not saying Dumoulin is doing things the right way or the wrong way, the reality is unless he is busted we will never know which goes for everyone else in the peloton. That said I would be surprised to see him still fighting it out with the leaders by the second rest day.
He is still young and has shown in the past that he is a talented rider with a great engine, other than the Tour de Suisse this year where he went well I don’t recall seeing him fight it out with top climbers in the past, though I have read elsewhere that he has done well on some climbs in other races.
He said yesterday after the stage that he has lost weight since the TDF and kept all the power that he had, but he didn’t say how much weight he has lost. On back stage pass I think it was they mentioned that Chaves had lost 3 kg since the Giro

I don’t know how often PCS update rider weights, but here are some numbers I grabbed
H 1.87 W 73 Hesjedal
H 1.86 W 69 Froome
H 1.86 W 72 van Garderen H
H 1.85 W 69 Dumoulin
H 1.83 W 66 Aru
H 1.83 W 71 Thomas
H 1.81 W 64 Mollema
H 1.78 W 61 Valverde
H 1.69 W 57 Rodriguez
H 1.67 W 59 Quintana
H 1.64 W 55 Chaves

So will Rodríguez win his “Own” stage?

This looks very ouchie.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-11/

PS I assume the hoogerland one was this from 2011:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/11/hoogerland-finally-received-payout-after-2011-barbed-wire-crash-in-tour-de-france/

Gutted to hear that Chris Froome was feeling great at the start of the Andorra stage. The more I learn about him, the more I like him as a competitor. Been a cracking Vuelta so far, abandons notwithstanding.

what are folks thoughts on how the time trial will change the leaderboard after the bonkers mountain stages??

Anyone else developing a slight man-crush on Dumoulin?

Can’t wait for today’s TT.

Wasn’t this excited at any point during the last two weeks of the Tour.

Should be a good one. Can see him back in red but not with enough of a gap on Aru and Purito to keep hold of it into Madrid.

DuMoulin is my last great hope in the fantasy vuelta. So far FIVE of my nine riders have left the race. I’m considering hiring myself out to pro-tour teams next year, “will pick your rivals for a nominal sum”

This is the first time Ive followed the Vuelta…not sure why, have followed the Giro the the tour for years.
Its been great though and some of them mountain stages looked like riding up the rake in Rammy!

It’s certainly an engaging race to watch. Tarnished somewhat by lacking a rider to root for. Dumoulin has taken on that mantle now. Can’t support Purito nor Aru due their doping associations.

Yes, been a great race to watch, though was gutted when Froome went out after his freak accident. Been massively impressed by Dumoulin and really want him to nail the TT today and win the thing. Great ride by him, totally unsupported, hanging in there.

Has to be said it’s been a very interesting race to follow this year – you’ve still got 4 contenders very close, and a few outsiders who could yet spring a surprise.