Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2017 *Spoilers*
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Not an all-time classic, that one, but pretty good for easing us back into proper racing.0
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Three Italian s top ten0
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Was alright, interesting to see the front three head-to-head, but I seem to have missed whatever action caused the original split.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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No tA Doctor wrote:Was alright, interesting to see the front three head-to-head, but I seem to have missed whatever action caused the original split.
Big crash a long way out - Trek pushed on whilst Boonen and others were getting bikes etc. Not long after Sagan just went to the front (4 mins behind a group of 6 who had been there since an hour in) and monstered it. Sagan pulled away with a group of about 8 or 9. Then attacked again and distanced more contenders - held gap at 25-30 secs seemingly by himself.0 -
imatfaal wrote:No tA Doctor wrote:Was alright, interesting to see the front three head-to-head, but I seem to have missed whatever action caused the original split.
Big crash a long way out - Trek pushed on whilst Boonen and others were getting bikes etc. Not long after Sagan just went to the front (4 mins behind a group of 6 who had been there since an hour in) and monstered it. Sagan pulled away with a group of about 8 or 9. Then attacked again and distanced more contenders - held gap at 25-30 secs seemingly by himself.
I love his aggression ,0 -
Sounds like the front three at least should have been thrown out for not riding on the pave having been expressly warned. Seems there are some pretty angry DSs and riders:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sidewalk-riding-sparks-anger-at-omloop-het-nieuwsblad/?utm_content=bufferd6058&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Where's the point in stressing the illegality of such riding and then ignoring it completely?0 -
Never happen though, will it? It's like what happens when a massive group misses the time cut in a GT, like that stage in the Vuelta last year. If enough of them are in danger of it, they just sit up, knowing they'll never get kicked out en masse - it'd be a brave race director who'd kick those three off the podium in favour of Felline!Dorset Boy wrote:Sounds like the front three at least should have been thrown out for not riding on the pave having been expressly warned. Seems there are some pretty angry DSs and riders:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sidewalk-riding-sparks-anger-at-omloop-het-nieuwsblad/?utm_content=bufferd6058&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Where's the point in stressing the illegality of such riding and then ignoring it completely?Fat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.0 -
It's OK. There are no sidewalks in Europe."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0
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Seems monumentally daft to stress the rule then obviously not enforce it.0
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Huge numbers of those not in the front 3 were on the pavement (ie nicely paved surface for pedestrians). The reason those three got away was that one was Sagan and the other two could hang on to him.
Anyway - watching Sep jump on and off the pavement whilst going around a curve is one of the reasons I love this time of the year. Talking of pavement - I hope Zak Dempster is OK; last we saw of him was curled up in pain on the pavement - he went down like a sack of spuds0 -
Simplest solution, surely, is to drop bales of straw/hay on the smooth stuff at 50m intervals? No need for barriers or anything that might introduce a risk in the event of a crash/crossswind, but constant hopping on/off will be more tiring than just riding the cobbles.0
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Basically Peter Sagan's chances of winning were reduced by the thorough testing of Peter Sagan by Peter Sagan. He really reduced his finishing potentialy wearing himself out.
The problem with Sagan is one of the following, I'm not sure which it is.
1. Sagan is more interested in racing than winning
2. He believes the overblown hype the media about him being a supermanTwitter: @RichN950 -
imatfaal wrote:Huge numbers of those not in the front 3 were on the pavement (ie nicely paved surface for pedestrians). The reason those three got away was that one was Sagan and the other two could hang on to him.
Anyway - watching Sep jump on and off the pavement whilst going around a curve is one of the reasons I love this time of the year. Talking of pavement - I hope Zak Dempster is OK; last we saw of him was curled up in pain on the pavement - he went down like a sack of spuds
Those naughty favourites were doing it early on:pottssteve wrote:Seems the riders have forgotten the UCI directive that they must ride on the road....
We teachers always have an eye out for this sort of thing.
Actually, I agree with those who love to watch the way they are able to hop on and off pavements, dodge pedestrians and generally do anything to avoid the pave. The UCI is UCI-less....Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0 -
RichN95 wrote:Basically Peter Sagan's chances of winning were reduced by the thorough testing of Peter Sagan by Peter Sagan. He really reduced his finishing potentialy wearing himself out.
The problem with Sagan is one of the following, I'm not sure which it is.
1. Sagan is more interested in racing than winning
2. He believes the overblown hype the media about him being a superman
I just wonder if he treats these races like training too...0 -
bobmcstuff wrote:Seems monumentally daft to stress the rule then obviously not enforce it.
This. Just start DQ'ing people. They will soon get the message.
They are too scared of the riders having a sulk.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:RichN95 wrote:Basically Peter Sagan's chances of winning were reduced by the thorough testing of Peter Sagan by Peter Sagan. He really reduced his finishing potentialy wearing himself out.
The problem with Sagan is one of the following, I'm not sure which it is.
1. Sagan is more interested in racing than winning
2. He believes the overblown hype the media about him being a superman
I just wonder if he treats these races like training too...
Training - yes. But also a chance to have fun - he looks as if he would prefer to ride freely and only have a small chance of winning than riding tactically and increasing that chance. And his extraordinary ability actually allows him to be in the position to make that choice0 -
They should have pulled a couple of riders from the race live for riding on the pavement. That would stop ot with minimal impact.
The problem with looking at it afterwards is it means changing the race results.0 -
No revenge for Boonen at Kuurne today, he's got stomach problems so has pulled out.0
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Cruff wrote:
Never happen though, will it? It's like what happens when a massive group misses the time cut in a GT, like that stage in the Vuelta last year. If enough of them are in danger of it, they just sit up, knowing they'll never get kicked out en masse - it'd be a brave race director who'd kick those three off the podium in favour of Felline!Dorset Boy wrote:Sounds like the front three at least should have been thrown out for not riding on the pave having been expressly warned. Seems there are some pretty angry DSs and riders:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sidewalk-riding-sparks-anger-at-omloop-het-nieuwsblad/?utm_content=bufferd6058&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Where's the point in stressing the illegality of such riding and then ignoring it completely?
That's slightly different though.
What's happening in these cobbled classics is that riders are not sticking to the actual parcours. An extreme analogy would be having an 8% climb in a Grand Tour and several riders just ducking underneath the barriers and finding a 3% shortcut.
All it needs is for the next rider to do it to be DQ'd live during the race. That would kill it off straight away. Agree it will take some guts though.0 -
Why would it take guts? They stressed the rule beforehand, so applying it would shock no-one. It might take guts to apply the rule out of the blue (though even then complainers wouldn’t have a leg to stand on).
The UCI’s long tradition of amateurishness should not hold hostage all attempts at modernisation.
That said, I have my doubts about the rule in the first place. When you’re racing flat out, it’s borderline inhumane to be asked to deliberately make things harder for yourself. It’s artificial. Better to physically block the easy routes if desired.0 -
I can't see why it should be difficult to stamp out, just DQ them. It's a safety issue more than anything, spectators and people going about their business - an exception can be made for people getting round crashes. As for it being the only way to move up - tough luck it's called being boxed in.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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sadly spectators at bike races have been seriously injured/killed in the past by riders and race support vehicles............the riders are stressed, tired and just plain panic ....which leads to really terrible decisions (and there potential consequences) at times.
Having said that........some spectators are a bloody liability to all!0 -
Has always been part of riding Flanders - searching for the smoothest road.
I don't get the fuss.0 -
Yeah, for me it's part of the race to see them spread out across road, path, bus lanes trying to get ahead.
The charge down to the Koppenberg when it was about 80 k to go was the best example of this0 -
Like I said, the problem is that they said they were going to do something about it then didn't. Needs to be either OK or not OK.0
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Rick Chasey wrote:Has always been part of riding Flanders - searching for the smoothest road.
I don't get the fuss.
Agreed.
But, if they're going to rule on this, and stress that rule before the race only to watch them ignore it and then don't actually enforce it.....Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.0 -
Problem was they didn't enforce it for the breaks, then did (at least in part) when the main bunch came through. Almost as though they quite liked the look of the front three and thought it would be nice for one of them to win. Either allow it, or don't allow it. Blame lies with the commis / UCI, the riders will always do whatever they can get away with especially when they are right on the limit.0
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Like everything, there's no straightforward answer. It seems really artificial to tell riders they must stick to the cobbles when there's a nice strip of tarmac next to it, so some sort of physical barrier would seem the best way put a stop to it. But how would the riders feel about not having a run-off? And how feasible is it to have organisers for smaller races like this putting barriers up in loads of places?It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.0
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BigMat wrote:Problem was they didn't enforce it for the breaks, then did (at least in part) when the main bunch came through. Almost as though they quite liked the look of the front three and thought it would be nice for one of them to win. Either allow it, or don't allow it. Blame lies with the commis / UCI, the riders will always do whatever they can get away with especially when they are right on the limit.
Agreed - that was a c 2km cobbled section that Stannard et al had to ride on Saturday, whereas Sagan / GvA had steamed up the drain / path section. That's got to be worth 5/10 seconds of the lead that didn't head north of 30 seconds until the last 10k or so.
In KBK on Sunday, Luke Rowe led the main bunch onto a cobbled section and was shaking his head when he saw those behind jumping onto the path - he then had to follow them over to stay near the front, but still lost several places doing so.
A bit of consistency one way or the other is needed.0
