Giro 2020 - Stage 4: Catania – Villafranca Tirrena 140 km *Spoilers*

lettingthedaysgoby

Well, it’s not going to get any closer than that...

blazing_saddles

Half of Vini lying prostrate on the floor.
Got caught up in a banner maybe?

Going to be some GC losses too I reckon.

Pross

Great finish. I thought the FDJ lead out rider was going to take it. Loads of bumping and barging on the run in, it looked like Sagan considered shutting the door on Demare but changed his mind when Ballerini pulled alongside him on his other side. Decent effort by Bora although Majka might not have liked seeing them riding so hard on a day like that.

blazing_saddles

Pross said:

Great finish. I thought the FDJ lead out rider was going to take it. Loads of bumping and barging on the run in, it looked like Sagan considered shutting the door on Demare but changed his mind when Ballerini pulled alongside him on his other side. Decent effort by Bora although Majka might not have liked seeing them riding so hard on a day like that.

Especially since Patrick Konrad had to work for him at the end to close a gap, after already pulling the train up the last part of the climb.
Rather a waste of a guy who has a 7th place in the Giro GC.

Ben Swift came home almost last which doesn't bode well for starting tomorrow.

dish_dash

blazing_saddles said:

Half of Vini lying prostrate on the floor.
Got caught up in a banner maybe?

Going to be some GC losses too I reckon.

Apparently a helicopter flew too low and lifted the barriers up into the riders... sounds like at least one rider headed to hospital

Lanterne_Rogue

https://twitter.com/giroditalia/status/1313493932983095303?s=20

Lanterne_Rogue

dish_dash said:

blazing_saddles said:

Half of Vini lying prostrate on the floor.
Got caught up in a banner maybe?

Going to be some GC losses too I reckon.

Apparently a helicopter flew too low and lifted the barriers up into the riders... sounds like at least one rider headed to hospital

Utterly ridiculous:

https://twitter.com/brentbookwalter/status/1313494119889735683?s=20

rick_chasey

#giro

blazing_saddles

That was Vini's other main man, Luca Wackermann.
At first he was down as DNF in the results.

andyp

The race jury reinstated him apparently. Not that it matters, he's got a fractured cheekbone so very unlikely to be starting tomorrow.

gweeds

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1313544550116397063

Christ.

darkhairedlord

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

andyp

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Interested to hear how this is the UCI's fault.

The accident was caused by a RAI helicopter, which flew too low and caused barriers put in by the race organisers to be blown into the path of a group of riders.

darkhairedlord

andyp said:

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Interested to hear how this is the UCI's fault.

The accident was caused by a RAI helicopter, which flew too low and caused barriers put in by the race organisers to be blown into the path of a group of riders.

Do the UCI not have a clear set of rules on barrier retention and some way of ensuring the rules are followed. Or are they more interested in having the jerseys registered in time and the socks short enough?

bobmcstuff

darkhairedlord said:

andyp said:

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Interested to hear how this is the UCI's fault.

The accident was caused by a RAI helicopter, which flew too low and caused barriers put in by the race organisers to be blown into the path of a group of riders.

Do the UCI not have a clear set of rules on barrier retention and some way of ensuring the rules are followed. Or are they more interested in having the jerseys registered in time and the socks short enough?

Or some slightly more solid concussion rules

coopster_the_1st

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Wrong initials

The race organisers are RCS and they are the amateurs to blame here

mididoctors

Demare should have gone to the tour ... That's my take on today. The barriers was not good

rick_chasey

Yeah he should have - quite right.

gsk82

darkhairedlord said:

andyp said:

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Interested to hear how this is the UCI's fault.

The accident was caused by a RAI helicopter, which flew too low and caused barriers put in by the race organisers to be blown into the path of a group of riders.

Do the UCI not have a clear set of rules on barrier retention and some way of ensuring the rules are followed. Or are they more interested in having the jerseys registered in time and the socks short enough?

I don't think low flying aircraft is a matter for the UCI. You sound like one of those people who blames the council for everything in Britain.

salsiccia1

I don't think it's fair to pin this one solely on the UCI, but there's obviously a huge problem with rider safety that the UCI has ultimate responsibility for. The RCS as organisers are responsible for the barriers but the governing body should be doing more to see that organisers are doing the right thing.

andyrac

Exactly! The UCI are the governing body, it's effectually 'their' sport. The list of regs, rules, etc are administered by them (should be), and followed by various race organisers. In this case it looks like RCS have dropped the ball....(and it won't be the last time).
It's 2020, these type of events are unacceptable; most other sports wouldn't put up with it. Too often the sport resembles 'amateur hour'.

ddraver

It's also that the UCI are determined to insert their grubby fingers into as much of cycling they can reach...except when it goes wrong when it's all someone else's fault...

takethehighroad

To be fair to RCS, they had to scramble to rearrange stages at short notice in order to be able to put the race on. The extended stay on Sicily, with the aforementioned poor road surfaces, has not helped in this but the alternative is no race at all, or a shortened one starting today on the mainland

salsiccia1

takethehighroad said:

To be fair to RCS, they had to scramble to rearrange stages at short notice in order to be able to put the race on. The extended stay on Sicily, with the aforementioned poor road surfaces, has not helped in this but the alternative is no race at all, or a shortened one starting today on the mainland

Granted, they've done well to get the race on and they're not responsible for the road surface, but in this case I don't think circumstance has any impact on the barriers and how they're set up. It's not unreasonable to foresee circumstances where the barriers could be blown into the road and stop this from being possible.

I can't imagine the logistics involved in putting a bike race on but it is their job to get it right, especially when it comes to everyone's safety, and it is the UCI's job to make sure they do it properly.

gsk82

Unless they bolt the barriers down a low flying helicopter is going to move the barriers. You can't legislate for stupidity. This is 100% the pilots fault.

If someone drove a car through the barriers would it be the UCIs fault for not making everyone use fixed Armco barriers?

Get a grip you lot.

david37

gsk82 said:

darkhairedlord said:

andyp said:

darkhairedlord said:

Every f'in race UCI are in amateur hour yet again.

Interested to hear how this is the UCI's fault.

The accident was caused by a RAI helicopter, which flew too low and caused barriers put in by the race organisers to be blown into the path of a group of riders.

Do the UCI not have a clear set of rules on barrier retention and some way of ensuring the rules are followed. Or are they more interested in having the jerseys registered in time and the socks short enough?

I don't think low flying aircraft is a matter for the UCI. You sound like one of those people who blames the council for everything in Britain.

I blame Wiggle

salsiccia1

gsk82 said:

Unless they bolt the barriers down a low flying helicopter is going to move the barriers. You can't legislate for stupidity. This is 100% the pilots fault.

If someone drove a car through the barriers would it be the UCIs fault for not making everyone use fixed Armco barriers?

Get a grip you lot.

It's not this incident in isolation though. There's a pattern of stupid things causing injury, this just being the latest. The UCI are quick enough to claim ownership of the sport and they need to be doing more to make sure organisers do their job properly.

Have they commented on this incident yet? They could at least make a statement calling on organisers and broadcasters to ensure rider safety but there's nothing on their website or twitter.

pblakeney

gsk82 said:

Unless they bolt the barriers down a low flying helicopter is going to move the barriers. You can't legislate for stupidity. This is 100% the pilots fault.

If someone drove a car through the barriers would it be the UCIs fault for not making everyone use fixed Armco barriers?

Get a grip you lot.

Exactly! If a helicopter is moving barriers then what is it doing to lightweight cyclists? The finger should be pointed in that direction. Is there a minimum flight height? Start there.

PS - Stories of yore in which helicopters blew favoured cyclist up climbs.

blazing_saddles

I see the hindsight boys are out in force again, trying to pin the blame on the UCI/RCS.

When Hoogerland went on barbed wire inspection during the 2011 Tour, was everyone jumping on the ASO case then, or blaming the stupid driver?

Seems there has been a general complaint that it's also been too low on the climbs, but it could be partly due to the weather.
So kick the Helicopter pilot off the race and fork out for somebody with plenty of experience on the job.

salsiccia1

It's not hindsight though, is it? It's a litany of stupid things. The UCI or RCS may not be responsible for the actions of the pilot, but they do have overall responsibility for what goes on and the UCI aren't doing anything to make a difference.

No-one's saying you can foresee everything but there appears to be so little ownership of this kind of stuff. Your example of the Hoogerland incident shows somebody acting on the incident and doing something about it. The barriers being blown about were causing problems during the recon for stage 1, and something was done about it then but here we are with problems again yesterday with more serious consequences. Have the RCS demanded the helicopter pilot be taken off the race? Where's the UCI standing up to organisers and broadcasters?