Pro cycling returns......and so do the crashes!

[Cade]

A sair yin for Fabio Jakobsen on the opening stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday.
He was put into an induced coma following this brutal crash and needed facial surgery but is now out of the coma and doing well, despite him needing rehabilitation.
Dylan Groenewegen was disqualified for forcing Fabio into the barriers and has since apologised in a public statement.

 

Not for the feint of heart.
View at own discretion.
 

Spoiler

 

 

[Tazio]

That should result in a massive ban. It was a downhill finish for some crazy reason and they were doing around 85kph at the time of the crash. Jacobsen has had, according to the hospital, every bone in his face broken and lost all his teeth. Even if his other injuries allow him to race again it’s questionable if he can do it on a mental level. If you’re so desperate for a stage win you’ll punt someone into the barriers at that speed you have no place in the sport. 

[jonesy]

Horrible crash. If that is ruled as intentional then the instigator should never race again. 

[Gone]

Looks fairly deliberate although if you're knackered you tend to go sideways but he definitely would know there was someone to his right 

[Tazio]

7 minutes ago, Gone said:

Looks fairly deliberate although if you're knackered you tend to go sideways but he definitely would know there was someone to his right 

There’s overhead footage where you clearly see him changing line and using his elbow. 

[Gone]

2 minutes ago, Tazio said:

There’s overhead footage where you clearly see him changing line and using his elbow. 

 

Jail then

[All roads lead to Gorgie]

No place for that in a sport where those taking part have very little protection.

[Tazio]

Also worth mentioning that an official was badly injured as well as he was hit by Jakobsen as he flew into the finish line structure. 

[Tazio]

This is the overhead camera angle, thankfully they’ve cut it so you don’t see the full impact as he crashes. Pretty conclusive. Sprinters do use elbows on occasion and even lean in and head butt but it always results in fines or disqualification. However it is normally in the middle of the road and not against the barriers. Sprinters are a different breed to most of the cyclists in the peloton, I’m pretty good on a bike but the idea of those type of speeds inches from each other freaks me out. 
 

Spoiler

 

 

[Cade]

Tour of Lombardy:

Remco Evenepoel hits the side of a bridge on the approach and flips right off the side and down a ravine.

 

Team says he's conscious and ok but that was a scary sight.

 

 

[StSow]

17 minutes ago, Cade said:

Tour of Lombardy:

Remco Evenepoel hits the side of a bridge on the approach and flips right off the side and down a ravine.

 

Team says he's conscious and ok but that was a scary sight.

 

 

Seems like he's got off relatively lightly. 

Took a couple of seconds to realise what I was watching. Horrible stuff 

[Cade]

Max Schachmann just got wiped out by some daft bint driving her car on the course.

 

[Cade]

Fractured pelvis and bruised lung for Evenepoel.

 

Falling 30 feet off a bridge hurts.

 

[Jamhammer]

These guys are nuts. Mad speeds. Think I'd have gone for King of The Mountains rather than the Green jersey. If I could get round Arthur's seat of course.

The Tour will be interesting this year coming as late as it does

[Cade]

It's been a crazy few weeks.

The calendar has been seriously compressed and there's three or four races all overlapping.

Anything could happen on the Tour de France.

[Boof]

I've yet to find a sport with better commentators - certainly over a sustained period of action - than the Eurosport team.

 

They are so knowledgeable and just make for a hugely more enjoyable viewing experience.

[Tazio]

53 minutes ago, Boof said:

I've yet to find a sport with better commentators - certainly over a sustained period of action - than the Eurosport team.

 

They are so knowledgeable and just make for a hugely more enjoyable viewing experience.

ITV4 also excellent with Ned Boulting and David Millar. I enjoy the insight Millar gives as a recent ex pro and a very bright guy, though Sean Kelly’s more dour comments on Eurosport are also excellent and Matt Stephens has been a good addition. 

[Cade]

Eurosport is absolutely superb when it comes to cycling coverage.

They really do know their stuff.

[Cade]

Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome both left out of the Ineos Tour de France squad.

 

Bernal will lead the team as reigning champion.

 

Geraint will head the team at the Giro d'Italia.

Froome will lead at the Vuelta a Espana.

 

Probably the best way of handling the situation within the team, to be honest. 

No quibbling about which one of them is the main rider in each race, and Froome's fecking off at the end of the year anyways.

[stu]

Froome and Thomas got totally burned at the criterium so it’s no surprise they didn’t make the team.

The way they cycled I have my doubts they’ll be ready for their respective tours. 
Clearly not match fit...

[Cade]

Adam Yates signs for Ineos.

Good move for both the team and the rider.  

 

Also, Tour de France route has been confirmed.
https://www.letour.fr/en/overall-route

 

Cannae wait for saturday.

[Greedy Jambo]

It should be a really good Tour this year with all the young talent coming through and ineos no longer the force Sky were. 

I think Jumbo Visma will be very strong and may win it if Roglic recovers from his crash. 

[Greedy Jambo]

Edit: I didn't realise Steven Kruijswijk was out, that's blow. 

[Tazio]

I’d like Pinot to win it but I’m not sure he can be consistent for 3 weeks. He’s a great rider and a little bit odd in his private life which I like. He says he doesn’t like or trust people and lives on a farm with a load of animals that he claims are his best friends. I saw a great photo online today of him saying goodbye to his goats before he leaves for the race. 

[Cade]

Predictions are right oot the window this year.

It's almost impossible to judge anybody's form as the season has been so compressed and rushed.

Every other day we hear someone else is pulling out.

Then of course there's the Covid threat to worry about.

It won't be boring, that's for damn sure.

 

 

[StSow]

Nairo!

[Tazio]

1 hour ago, Cade said:

Predictions are right oot the window this year.

It's almost impossible to judge anybody's form as the season has been so compressed and rushed.

Every other day we hear someone else is pulling out.

Then of course there's the Covid threat to worry about.

It won't be boring, that's for damn sure.

 

 

The COVID issue is huge. If any team has 2 positive results they have to withdraw. Worse case scenario is nobody finishes as riders will, of course, be in very close proximity to each other. 

[Tazio]

46 minutes ago, StSow said:

Nairo!

Always reminds me of Andy Schleck, all the ability in the world but seems nervous to take the big risks and make decisive moves. 

[Cade]

Tour in doubt as Nice has been put on "red alert" due to a local outbreak and two Lotto Soudal staff have tested "non negative" (nice use of language there) and been sent home.

 

 

[Tazio]

I watched the Women’s road race from the European championships this afternoon. Annamiek Van Vleuten really is an astonishing rider, she’s always been good but since the season restarted she has moved to another level. She’s worn nearly every race so far and the effort today was astonishing to watch in the last 1km. 

[Greedy Jambo]

2 hours ago, Cade said:

Tour in doubt as Nice has been put on "red alert" due to a local outbreak and two Lotto Soudal staff have tested "non negative" (nice use of language there) and been sent home.

 

 

 

Just seen that.

Unbelievable. 1 day to go. 

[Cade]

Deignan wins La Course with a lunge on the line, pipping Vos to the win.

 

[Tazio]

32 minutes ago, Cade said:

Deignan wins La Course with a lunge on the line, pipping Vos to the win.

 

Pleased with that, for some reason I’ve never warmed to Vos, she a bit odd even for a pro cyclist, her mum and dad follow her to races in a campervan with her pet cat as she can’t bear to be apart from it. 
 

I think the tactics on this years tour are going to be very aggressive. With the chance the race might not make full distance nobody will want to be over tactical and wait until the last week to make their push. Though as yet the authorities have been very vague and non committal about what percentage, if any, of the full distance would constitute enough for a winner to be declared or if the race would just be called void. 

[Cade]

Slight audio problems for Eurosport

[Tazio]

1 minute ago, Cade said:

Slight audio problems for Eurosport

I’m on ITV4 as I like the combination of Ned Boulting and David Millar. 

[Cade]

Eurosport seemed to be playing every language commentary over the top of each other.  

Fascinating and terrifying.

Fixed it now.

[Greedy Jambo]

Sam Bennett on his arse already. 

 

[Greedy Jambo]

1 hour ago, Tazio said:

I’m on ITV4 as I like the combination of Ned Boulting and David Millar. 

 

I'm on itv4 as well, it's a dreadful picture in SD though. Is there an HD ITV4? 

Edited August 29 by Space Pirate

[Tazio]

6 minutes ago, Space Pirate said:

 

I'm on itv4 as well, it's a dreadful picture in SD though. Is there an HD ITV4? 

There is but I think it depends where you get your telly from. I’m on Virgin ch178.

[Cade]

Picture on Eurosport HD has been tip-top.

Virgin 521

[Greedy Jambo]

I got rid of virgin cos I was hardly watching it. 

I'll maybe get eurosport player. It's only 6.99 for the month or 40 quid a year. 

[Greedy Jambo]

Why do they keep falling at the same place? Dodgy. 

[Cade]

Absolute carnage today.

Pishing rain, technical descents and lots of paint on the road surface always equals crashes.

[Greedy Jambo]

Ritchie Porte crashes all the bloody time. 

Thank **** Cavendish isn't in it. 

Edited August 29 by Space Pirate

[Tazio]

Lots of big names hitting the ground in these incidents. I expect to see them all winding the efforts in and making sure they finish safely. 
I’m skipping channels now as I like Matt Stephens on Eurosport. 

[Greedy Jambo]

I take it they've called a truce because they're scared of falling off on the decents? 

[Cade]

Yep rider's union at work.

If it's unsafe, they'll call a slowdown.

[Tazio]

3 minutes ago, Space Pirate said:

I take it they've called a truce because they're scared of falling off on the decents? 

The way the roads are it’s not just the descents. The Astana rider a minute ago is a good example of why they’ve slowed down, and he’s getting a good bollocking from other riders. 

[Cade]

Izaguirre got lucky there

[Greedy Jambo]

Who's going to win this then? 

I'm going for Sagan.