Rio Olympics *Spoilers*

FocusZing

According to Dutch officials, Annemiek van Vleuten is conscious and en route to the hospital. She's in shock but no words on injuries yet.

ddraver

Rewatching it the impact isn't too bad. Then she slithers into that horror position (unconscious likely) so hopefully it's not too horrible

RichN95.

Kingstonian wrote:

BBC coverage is pretty crap after the finish, just loads of random shots with no commentary etc

That's because you're probably watching it on red button/online rather than BBC1

slim_boy_fat

ddraver wrote:

Rewatching it the impact isn't too bad. Then she slithers into that horror position (unconscious likely) so hopefully it's not too horrible

Reckon the initial impact with the road knocked her straight out which made the rest of it better as she'd have been limp. Hate to think what would have happened if the initial impact had been with one of those ridiculous kerb stones.

kingstonian

RichN95 wrote:

Kingstonian wrote:

BBC coverage is pretty crap after the finish, just loads of random shots with no commentary etc

That's because you're probably watching it on red button/online rather than BBC1

Ah, balls, that teaches me to let my wife and kids be in charge of the telly

tazmon

It was a shocker, genuinely feared she'd lost her life. Wishing Annemiek a full recovery.

cougie

Awful crash. But remember the impact that G had with the telegraph pole? I thought he was a goner there too.

bobmcstuff

Slim Boy Fat wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Rewatching it the impact isn't too bad. Then she slithers into that horror position (unconscious likely) so hopefully it's not too horrible

Reckon the initial impact with the road knocked her straight out which made the rest of it better as she'd have been limp. Hate to think what would have happened if the initial impact had been with one of those ridiculous kerb stones.

Yeah watching it again it's not quite as horrific as it looked at first.

When I first saw it it made me immediately think of that skier cross one from the other year which was as horrific as it looked. I think it's the ragdoll effect which makes it really heart stopping.

above_the_cows

I just caught up with events. Yay a Dutch gold. Bl00dy hell van Vleuten's crash! :shock:

Well done Anna v/d Breggen but getter soon Annemiek. Oooof I fell a bit sick after watching her crash.

knedlicky

davidof wrote:

Val Vleuten seemed to crash in a similar spot to Thomas.

I think she was at a similar bend two or three farther down, actually not that far from the end of the descent.

NitrousOxide wrote:

That crash by Van Vleuten, hope to god she pulls through!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnVhdqKvCco

Dolan Driver wrote:

If she has regained consciousness and escapes without a spinal injury, it'll be a minor miracle.

Both my feelings too. It looked like a broken neck to me so I’m surprised she’s even alive (as reported), although I heard she hasn’t moved since being picked up and taken to hospital.

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Boardman is really angry, and I think quite rightly. I usually say 'no such thing as a bad road, only the wrong speed', but that road...
As CB said, if you come off on that, you're not getting back on

I didn’t watch Boardman, so don’t know what he was angry about, but roads with very high curbs, like that had, always bring an added high risk to them if you make a mistake. And while I also would often agree with you (although I think Van Vleuten got the curve wrong rather than her speed), if Boardman meant in that sense (high curbs), I think him right.

I hope Van der Breggen decides to not attend a medal ceremony in respect of Van Vleuten’s crash, irrespective of how serious the injury turns out to be.

nwallace

Still feel sick rewatching it, and at 0.25 speed despite what the Dutch federation say...

awavey

true, but still you go head first into a concrete gutter like that at some speed,and a simple skull fracture can be fatal,it only needs to be a fraction of a section at a very high g load, and that reminded me of so many motor racing style impacts, the worst ones are always actually the ones that look straightforward. because all the crash energy goes into the rider, I certainly was fearing the worse

and especially after Lizzies interview on R5, where she said she was shocked by what she'd seen,and Lizzies seen crashes before, been knocked about abit herself, so whilst I still think the news is great that Annemiek is concious & can communicate, thats still a long way from concious and ok, I hope shes ok and they are just being cautious with the news.

ddraver

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9tz6mHGOPnY

Interview with a gutted Gee

germcevoy

She took the risks and almost paid the ultimate price. I hope the early reports on her condition are accurate.

jscl

She's OK.

ddraver

NOT A PICTURE FROM TODAY!!!!

Thats from last year

FocusZing

Nice shot:)

jscl

ddraver wrote:

NOT A PICTURE FROM TODAY!!!!

Apologies, I assumed!

http://www.wielerupdate.nl/wielernieuws/37280/

gweeds

I'm amazed those curbs weren't padded out. They're insane on those corners

ddraver

You and Matt Pinsent to befair

davidof

JSCL wrote:

ddraver wrote:

NOT A PICTURE FROM TODAY!!!!

Apologies, I assumed!

http://www.wielerupdate.nl/wielernieuws/37280/

it is very bad of them tweeting that photo (for illustration purposes only)

// tweet deleted now

frisbee

Other than an air fence or catch net any curb, gulley, drain, wall etc. is going to be just as bad. The road surfaces actually looked pretty good compared to a lot of European descents (and most of the roads I cycle on in the UK).

above_the_cows

JSCL wrote:

ddraver wrote:

NOT A PICTURE FROM TODAY!!!!

Apologies, I assumed!

http://www.wielerupdate.nl/wielernieuws/37280/

That report doesn't say anything other than summarising events and that she's going to the hospital.

jouxplan

Which body actually designs an Olympic road course, and who decides if it is safe enough? It seems incredible to me that such a dangerous descent was allowed. And given the crashes yesterday, I'm perplexed that there appeared to be no additional safety measures ie padding etc for today's race.

Felt sick watching it live and can't recall the last time I shouted in horror at my tv so much. Hope to God she really is ok.

TheBigBean

Those curbs are standard issue for the entire continent of South America. Always looked ridiculously dangerous to me for any type of vehicle, but especially cyclists who have no exit strategy in the event of a car. There's probably some advantage of them, but I've got no idea what it is.

Dorset_Boy

It looked like they hadn't even repaired the crash netting that Titchie Richie hit yesterday either.

Fingers crossed Van Vleuten isn't too badly hurt

jscl

Above The Cows wrote:

JSCL wrote:

ddraver wrote:

NOT A PICTURE FROM TODAY!!!!

Apologies, I assumed!

http://www.wielerupdate.nl/wielernieuws/37280/

That report doesn't say anything other than summarising events and that she's going to the hospital.

The above picture originally accompanied the article, but they;ve changed it now.

bobmcstuff

frisbee wrote:

Other than an air fence or catch net any curb, gulley, drain, wall etc. is going to be just as bad. The road surfaces actually looked pretty good compared to a lot of European descents (and most of the roads I cycle on in the UK).

Well the roads had just been resurfaced sure, but thats not really the issue - a lot of those corners were off camber but mostly that gutter and kerb combo looks particularly unforgiving for bikes. Certainly not seen anything like that in Europe.

gweeds

I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

above_the_cows

Gweeds wrote:

I'd imagine it's to deal with the volume of water coming down during monsoons.

^This. Stops run off onto loose soil and landslides.