2014 Giro-Stage 20:Monte Zoncolan *Spoilers*
Comments
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This is the problem, and unfortunately the media showing these people only encourages it.ThomThom wrote:... we've seen slight change in the behaviour patterns on the mountains from people whose agenda is more focused on being in the lens rather than on the race and the riders ...
At the Tour the last few years, it’s seemed to me that many of these clowns (I mean those who run for ages precariously close to the riders) aren’t French, so maybe it might be premature to say at the Giro they are the Tifosi.Dolan Driver wrote:It is probably true that the tifosi have always been a little nuts
In an Italian cycling forum I periodically glance at, the posters today have been really heavy in condemning such spectator behaviour.
I wouldn’t say they were drunk, drunkenness doesn’t seem a problem amongst spectators (away from the Dutch cornerssbbefc wrote:i think its a matter of spectators being drunk more than anything.
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I certainly don’t want barriers.
Why did Poels take the sunglasses? The guy wasn’t particularly in his path, nor running alongside.Dolan Driver wrote:I presume Poels won maximum panache points for that move today?0 -
No, no. I thoroughly agree that they are idiots. I just don't want barriers to be the solution because 0,01% of the spectators can't behave.mfin wrote:ThomThom wrote:mfin wrote:Stacks of cycling fans are idiots, it's just yet another example of seeing a load of dickhead spectators acting like this on a big climb, nothing new, it's the norm. Better with barriers if you actually want to watch it on the TV.
Thankfully not everyone decides to see it front of the tv. Without the spectators you'd have a 3 weeks edition Tour of Turkey..
Watching the thing live is a limited enough experience as it is.
Yep, but a bunch of screaming berks doesn't add a thing to watching it on TV and when you do go and you are surrounded by these idiots after you've waited that long on a climb it ruins it too. Unless that is that you perceive it as passionate, I perceive it as idiotic, but I am not saying I am right.0 -
mfin wrote:Stacks of cycling fans are idiots, it's just yet another example of seeing a load of dickhead spectators acting like this on a big climb, nothing new, it's the norm. Better with barriers if you actually want to watch it on the TV.
And as others have said, so many aren't cycling fans. Case in point: I was at the 1.5km up the climb point yday, for the riders coming by. 4 guys with a motor home parked opposite. Spent all the time before the race came through setting up their beer keg and tasting the contents to perfection. Almost all of the rest of us in that spot were glued to the tv screen set up around 20 metres away, then ambled to the road when the riders were approaching start of the climb, before going back to see the finish.
Needless to say, one of the 4 guys was the sole dick-head on our little stretch of road who tried running along by the riders, beer glass in hand. Until someone, er, stopped him...However one Astana rider did play up to the offer of a sip from someone's proffered beer glass, which was pretty funny.0 -
The Zoncolan might work as a piece of engineered excitement if it came around stage 15. Then it could generate the possibility of a contender slipping, agonizingly down the mountain and the standings as the others spun away. It is too steep to generate attacks and so any excitement must come from those who can't stick with the rest.Correlation is not causation.0
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That is what will happen eventually though surely? Excuse the comparison to football, but look at the way football matches are looked after with police presence and segregating fans, it's only the 1% that cause/want to cause the problems and that has a knock on for everyone else.ThomThom wrote:
No, no. I thoroughly agree that they are idiots. I just don't want barriers to be the solution because 0,01% of the spectators can't behave.mfin wrote:ThomThom wrote:mfin wrote:Stacks of cycling fans are idiots, it's just yet another example of seeing a load of dickhead spectators acting like this on a big climb, nothing new, it's the norm. Better with barriers if you actually want to watch it on the TV.
Thankfully not everyone decides to see it front of the tv. Without the spectators you'd have a 3 weeks edition Tour of Turkey..
Watching the thing live is a limited enough experience as it is.
Yep, but a bunch of screaming berks doesn't add a thing to watching it on TV and when you do go and you are surrounded by these idiots after you've waited that long on a climb it ruins it too. Unless that is that you perceive it as passionate, I perceive it as idiotic, but I am not saying I am right.
I would prefer to see barriers to avoid incidents like yesterday, I don't see how having something in front of you to stop you going in front of the riders takes away from the experience of being there watching live, unless you want to get too close or run along side them or get on TV?0 -
knedlicky wrote:I wouldn’t say they were drunk, drunkenness doesn’t seem a problem amongst spectators (away from the Dutch corners )
Errr the Basques and their infamous red wine and coca cola concoction?
To be fair to the Basques and the Dutch, they might get drunk but they for the most part actually know how to behave. Dutch corner might be a sea of Oranje (a bit like my street right now, apparently there's some football competition about to start) and they might be merry, have awful taste in music (I will never understand Dutch musical tastes) and do weird things with chairs and yes occasionally boo riders but they do get out of the way and they don't run alongside/wear mankinis or massive antlers etc etc or wave flags in riders faces.
The same for the most part can be said of the Basque fans.Correlation is not causation.0 -
If the collective cycling community would rather not see barriers then maybe fining people for having a material, negative effect on a rider is an option. Seriously, we almost saw the guy finishing 2nd in the Giro taken out by some clown trying to take a better photo. Bongiorno had any chance he had of a stage win ruined because he was pushed in the back. That shouldn't happen in professional sport.
It's a small number of people who over-step the mark but they need to be made aware that what they're doing is not acceptable.0 -
He was running alongside and waving a flag in the face of the riders a few moments before the sunglasses incident. Rolland took a swipe at him too.knedlicky wrote:
Why did Poels take the sunglasses? The guy wasn’t particularly in his path, nor running alongside.Dolan Driver wrote:I presume Poels won maximum panache points for that move today?0 -
I think the running with the riders can't be avoided but perhaps a bit of education wouldn't go a miss along the lines of, give them a couple of feet either side and don't get in the way of the line they want to take.
There do seem to be a load of d£%ks that do it just to get on TV though, if you run with the riders because it's your passion then that's one thing but at races like the tour of California you get idiots running with giant flags and people who aren't even looking at the riders.
They could take a leaf out of Boar man's book. He ran with Quintana , gave maximum entertainment and didn't get in his way or hinder him at all!
WC jersey man should have hung his head in shame, instead he just carried on, someone should have pushed him, but down a ravine instead of into a rider...0 -
Dolan Driver wrote:Mick Rodgers swung an arm at one fan today and this was fully justified, in my opinion. Riders kill themselves in training all winter, survive 20 days of a grand tour and when a stage win opportunity arrives, a bunch of p!ssed idiots do there damnedest to knock you off your bike, so these reactions from riders are understandable. What is the race jury's assessment on these actions by riders? A arm in the chest from Rodgers is one thing but if he connected with your teeth, you'd spend the rest of the afternoon looking for the broken delph! Wasn't a rider thrown off the Tour of Belgium this week for "irregular sprinting" so where do things stand with striking a fan? It'd be a shame to see a rider being expelled from the race for something like this. Maybe Wout Poels needs to give some classes to other riders on how to get one-up on idiot fans without going all Queensbury on their asses.
Belli was thrown off the 2001 Giro for punching Simoni's nephew. Picking out your opponent's gobby young relatives while riding up a mountain and then landing one in the chops, all the time riding on as if nothing has happened is pure class and should only be encouraged in my book.0 -
Other fans should police the idiots, doesn't have to be an elbow as we saw in the Tour last year a little trip should be enough. If I was stood by the road to cheer the race I would not take kindly to someone pushing past me just as the riders came along.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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Why all the talk about barriers as if they're a potential solution for all this? They're waist height, hardly an insurmountable obstacle! You see people running in the road in barriered sections already, and that's typically in the last 1k or whatever where you'd expect a higher security presence from the organisers. You could go to all the trouble of barriering off all 20k of a long climb and it wouldn't come close to stopping people getting on the road, you'd need some sort of security personnel on the ground to do that... and even then I think the best you could really do is grab people after they get onto the road. The crowds are so large and stretched out over such a long distance you can't keep them getting onto the road if they really want to do it.
That's not a bad idea at all, if other fans would do stuff like that more often it might actually help.DeVlaeminck wrote:Other fans should police the idiots, doesn't have to be an elbow as we saw in the Tour last year a little trip should be enough. If I was stood by the road to cheer the race I would not take kindly to someone pushing past me just as the riders came along.0 -
Thought it a bit odd that the road was completely lined with Alpini around the last km. Might have been more useful to have spread them around the lower sections.0
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I was thinking that too. The majority of the fans were no trouble so they could possibly have spread out a bit to help police the idiots.Mad_Malx wrote:Thought it a bit odd that the road was completely lined with Alpini around the last km. Might have been more useful to have spread them around the lower sections.0 -
Some very good photos here:
http://www.steephill.tv/2014/giro-d-ita ... /stage-20/Contador is the Greatest0 -
The answer is clearly Tasers. Hand out Tasers to the fans who can't stand these idiots, and hand out Tasers to the riders too. All Tasering should be performed to the face. But, to make it not get out of control any 'uncalled for' Tasering should be penalised by Tasering.0
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Contador is the Greatest0
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Great comments from Quintana again, got character and maturity. Makes a change from the cardboard performances at the Tour recently.
"Perhaps I didn't suffer because I'm better than the others, I think we saw that yesterday," he said with pride and without a blink of the eye in the press conference after the Zoncolan stage.
"Obviously, as I've said all along, I’m not in perfect shape. During the stage, the [sinus] congestion made be feel ill, as did the effort too. I actually suffer as much as everyone else because I’m a human being like everyone else. My legs hurt, but I managed the pain well, and perhaps looked tranquil, but inside I felt the pain."
Quintana insisted that his ear and throat problems had affected his race and admitted that he had a bad moment on the descent of the Gavia on stage 16, when teammate Gorka Izaguirre shoved food down his throat to ensure he had the energy for the Stelvio and the final climb to Val Martello.
However, he quickly dismissed a provocative question, when it was suggested he would win by an hour if he was ever at 100 per cent.
"That's impossible. I don’t know what's going through your mind. I’m not from another planet," he said.
"I'm a good climber and things have gone well for me in the conditions I’ve had. But there are other riders who are strong and more mature than I am. We have to keep working, hammering away every day, to try to equal them and surpass them. Winning isn’t as easy as you are suggesting."
Targeting the Tour de France in 2015
Quintana is still only 24 but seems wise beyond his years. The Movistar team hesitated before deciding that he should target the Giro d'Italia instead of the Tour de France in 2014. After finishing second in the 2013 Tour, going back this year seemed a logical choice. But winning the Giro d'Italia has given Quintana a crash course in Grand Tour riding and team leadership.
"It was a pretty difficult decision for (team manager) Eusebio Unzue. But it was perhaps the best decision we could take," Quintana explained.
"I’ve learned a great deal here, about a lot of things: how to ride in different conditions, how to ride when I was a bit ill, and now how to ride in the maglia rosa. All this has taught me a lot, including knowing how to lead the team in this type of race, over three weeks, is very important. I’ve learned a lot and I’m very grateful to the Giro d’Italia."
"Life pushed me and continues to push me. I’ve grown up pretty quickly with the help of those around me, I’ve learned a lot and taken some giant steps. Compared to four years ago, there’s no comparison. Lots of things have changed. I feel like I'm a man, capable of doing great things in cycling, putting on a show for the fans who follow me. I hope Nairo Quintana will be around for a long time."
He confirmed he now feels ready to target the Tour e France in 2015 and perhaps even target a rare Giro and Tour double.
"I know that next year, I’ll ride the Tour. I don’t know if there will be the possibility of doing Giro and Tour. We’ll look at it, and see if I can do well in both."
"I think I'm fortunate that when I turned pro, I joined the right team, with a great teacher and connoisseur of cycling in Eusebio, he has taught many champions how to be successful. We talk a lot, he teaches me a lot and that keeps me calm. When you have the legs, too, that makes things even easier."
Quintana has proved he is the strongest rider in this year's Giro d'Italia but his rivals have not forgotten what happened on the descent of the Stelvio. All the polemics and allegations gave him extra motivation.
"The day over the Stelvio was a spectacular stage but a lot of people wanted to ignore that and just talk about the polemics," he said.
"That motivated me for the time trial, it motivated me to do better, to gain time. I think everyone saw I had a great time trial and I demonstrated who I am, and I'll continue to show it."
Proud to be the first Colombian Giro d'Italia winner
Quintana is the first Colombian to win the Giro d'Italia and so now leads the new generation of Colombian riders emerging more and more at the highest level of professional cycling. He is proud to be Colombian and proud of his simple upbringing.
"We’ve shown our ability since we came to Europe about three years ago," he said.
"This new generation started winning stages, then important races and we showed ourselves. This year we're at a new level. Last year I was second in the Tour - better than any other Colombian, and my friend Rigoberto (Uran) was second in the Giro. Perhaps because of natural (physiological) reasons or for whatever other reason, we’ve done well. There are also other Colombian kids coming up behind us who are very strong, who will have a future in European teams and races."
Hundreds of Colombian fans have rushed to the Giro d'Italia to cheer Quintana to victory. He is rightly proud of his origins.
"I don’t come from a lost little village in Colombia. We don’t live in the forest. You should come and see Colombia," he said with national pride when asked about his journey from Colombia to the top step of the Giro d'Italia podium.
"We don’t lack anything in respect to anywhere else. I’m very proud of my country. I've secured this wonderful victory and been successful, I feel very happy, and I know the Colombians are even happier and proud to have someone representing them at a world level, and I’m happy to do it, too."
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintan ... ro-ditaliaContador is the Greatest0 -
Obviously it's a long day or 2 if your waiting for the riders to come. There was that case at Alp d' Huez where the fan taking photos knocked the rider off his bike but he still won. I love the fans on the side of the road running along. If some have had a bit to much to drink then they might not have the best spatial awareness. It was unfortunate yesterday but I don't want to see barriers. What next seating and then what,start charging for watching? Its very rare that anything happens. Look how many climbs are in racing.0
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@olegtinkov · 16h
3litters of Dom Perignon for @tinkoff_saxo and @mickrogers tonight.Fucking A!
@brianbomber86 · 20h
Best moment of this stage was when @olegtinkov almost jumped on @mickrogers when he won. So much entusiasm!!!! #Giro #TinkoffSaxo
This guy is great. Brings some colour to the sport and no doubt some happiness to the riders. Bet Mick is happier than he ever was at Sky.
@tinkoff_saxo: @olegtinkov on his way out on the final tough ride to Zoncolan - #giro pic.twitter.com/yzh7z0WkhO” Last day for me , 2,000km!!!
Hannah Grant @dailystews May 30
This was for dessert tonight: Russian beluga caviar as a gift from @olegtinkov and his staff from the bank #giro
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TDW shot:
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The moment the idiotic Colombian fan nearly took out Quintana:
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I like Quintana. He's not a unique character who comes out with great one-liners in interviews but he just comes across as a really humble guy who will give you a straight answer to a straight question.
You have to say that if Froome, Quintana, Contador, and Nibali can maintain their current level then the next few years really could be a golden period in Grand Tour racing. Obviously now I've said that it will be a total disappointment.
I can see it undermining the Giro though. If by far the best four GC riders just focus on the Tour for the next few years then the Giro line up will look pretty weak. As it did this year with the exception of Quintana.0 -
I like him too - but I'm hoping that his referring to himself in the 3rd person is a translation thing... History shows it usually ends badly (Pantani, Cipollini, Mr T, etc)...0
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frenchfighter wrote:
Small point of order, but that's Domaine Ruinart *not* Dom Perignon. #newmoneyTeam My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy0 -
tuneskyline wrote:I love the fans on the side of the road running along.
I think you are in a very small minority then. Fans running alongside riders is pointless, idiotic and selfish.0 -
Contador is the Greatest0
