Prudhomme 1 Vino 0

BigSpecs

Is it just me or did anyone else notice some politics on yesterdays stage? When all of the team cars got pulled out from behind the peleton as Vino tried to get back on. Looked a bit fishy to me. I guess that Mr Prudhomme is not a big Vino fan and thinks that a win for Astana would not be good PR for his new "clean" Tour image? Anyone else think the same?

iainf72

It was interesting. And I think there is definately something in it. I've not seen what the rules are exactly about using cars to get back but I'd be interested to find out.

Hopefully they will apply the rules in a consistant fashion.

Its like, if a sprinter takes a tow from a car, doesn't get caught and wins a stage a couple of days later. Isn't he a filthy dirty cheat [tm]?

BTW, Colin, I've still got those DVD's to send to you. Sorry for being slack.

Eurostar

Don't forget that Cav also had a very unjust barrage and his team is apparently squeaky clean. I think the French are just being French as usual. Even if Virenque made a comeback I bet they wouldn't give him a barrage.

andyp

The commissaires are from the UCI not from ASO. So one imagines they're under instruction to assist the UCI's favoured teams, i.e. Astana what with them being in the ProTour but not really recognised as such, rather than obstructing them.

Or is Mr McQuaid not quite that cute?

BigSpecs

Definitely something fishy going on. However, I'm no fan of Vino myself and I definitely fancy him as one of the "men in black", so not too bothered. Do the same thing to my picks for the top three and I might start to complain though
Cheers,
Colin
Iain, Hi. Don't stress dude. Plenty to keep me occupied at the mo, what with the Tour and a new baby in the house!

weyayeman

This sums it up for me,from Valverde taken from daily peloton



Those crashes yesterday were the worst thing to happen to Astana since the Borat movie. After the finish Valverde commented, “I believe that the most significant thing today is Alexandre Vinokourov’s crash”, concluded Valverde, “the Kazakh rider lost one minute and twenty seconds. That’s bad luck and as for me I hope that he will recover very well.” Valverde was not amused either that CSC started to ride like hell when Vino crashed. Lampre and Rabobank were driving it more than CSC but it's a good show of sportsmanship by Valverde and a show of respect for Vino as a rival.

coinneach

I saw it completely differently.
I thought Vino was being paced back by his team car which he was being allowed to ride. ridiculously close behind. They ploughed through the field until they came behind other cars which couldn't get out of the way. But it was bad luck when it happened and I did think the other teams could have given him a minute to get back on. But he should have been penalised for riding behind his team car

afx237vi

andyppro wrote:

The commissaires are from the UCI not from ASO. So one imagines they're under instruction to assist the UCI's favoured teams, i.e. Astana what with them being in the ProTour but not really recognised as such, rather than obstructing them.

Or is Mr McQuaid not quite that cute?

Really? I thought it was the race director, ie Prudhomme, who controlled the team cars.

afx237vi

coinneach wrote:

I saw it completely differently.
I thought Vino was being paced back by his team car which he was being allowed to ride. ridiculously close behind. They ploughed through the field until they came behind other cars which couldn't get out of the way. But it was bad luck when it happened and I did think the other teams could have given him a minute to get back on. But he should have been penalised for riding behind his team car

This is the way I saw it. Vino crashed, his team dropped back and started to help him when the road was still flat. At that point, there was a whole load of empty road in front of him because the barrage had been ordered.

Once they got on to the 2nd cat climb, Vino had lost all his team-mates and was working his way through the gruppetos. Only then did he have the Astana car for a little help, but it was too late by then and the race was really going all guns.

I watched the roll-out of today's stage on Eurosport and they interviewed one of the commissaires, and he reckoned Vino sent a personal "thanks" to the commissaires after the race yesterday. He said they always try and let the team cars stay in place, but yesterday was difficult because of the numerous groups on the road. That seemed kinda fishy to me, because I thought the cars were taken out before the bunch began to split. Surely Vino's "thanks" was a little Kazakh sarcasm...

drenkrom

it is.

ridgerider

I heard Astana complain because they had a clear road in order to catch up the bunch, and I heard them complain that Vino got held up in all the cars when it got to the hill.

They can't have it both ways...

weyayeman

Ridgerider wrote:

I heard Astana complain because they had a clear road in order to catch up the bunch, and I heard them complain that Vino got held up in all the cars when it got to the hill.

They can't have it both ways...

When the fcuk did Astana complain,they said thats racing
read above you dipstick
If it had happened to any one else would YOU feel the same NO this Tour isn't over by a long shot
when the fcuk were Astana found guilty as I must have missed it
you fcuk vvankers

Eurostar

Time gentlemen, please!

peejay78

some manners might be nice.

Ste_S

weyayeman wrote:

Ridgerider wrote:

I heard Astana complain because they had a clear road in order to catch up the bunch, and I heard them complain that Vino got held up in all the cars when it got to the hill.

They can't have it both ways...

When the fcuk did Astana complain,they said thats racing
read above you dipstick
If it had happened to any one else would YOU feel the same NO this Tour isn't over by a long shot
when the fcuk were Astana found guilty as I must have missed it
you fcuk vvankers

This post wins the internet