Road Bike Racing - Beloki....down and out

Joseba Beloki's tour ended today when he had a nasty spill on a decent near the end of the race.
Here's the report:

ONCE's Joseba Beloki - 2nd in the GC - locked up his rear wheel on a slight right hand turn / heat slickened road and went down HARD, landing on his head, shoulder and hip and injuring his elbow badly. He tried to get back on his bike but after lying in agony for several minutes he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital, his 2003 Tour de France over and ONCE's hope shattered.

And while Beloki was going down at speeds up around 45 mph, Lance was literally on Beloki's wheel, having driven the chase upward to catch Vino and only 15" from him over the summit. LA was forced into total Cyclocross mode as he went off the road hard to the left to avoid going down as well, rolling through an open field as he bled off speed. Lance then jumped off his bike, hopped down a small embankment and rejoined the chase group to try and catch Vino.

Bummer...
But superman is in 5th overall so that's amazing!

I read that he fractured his leg, wrist and elbow.
I really hate it that he is out.
Even tho I'm pulling for Lance, I did want to see
a good ride.

Marty

"According to race leader Lance Armstrong, who had to swerve across a field to avoid Beloki, his tyre blew on melted tarmac."

Lance probably smelled the burning tire a split second before it blew up.

http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/V3/L0/S18/E5379/sport_Lng0_Spo18_Evt5379_Sto457088.shtml

Here is a streaming video of the crash and Lance doing the "mountain biking":

http://www.eurosport.com/static_FilesV2/asp/zones/V3/multim/popup/Player_Container.asp?LangueID=0&sportID=18&StoryID=457059&videoID=12367

I agree with Lotek. I want Lance to win the 5th, but I want it to be a "battle", not a gimmie!

L8R

Uuugh!

I saw the videoclip Lotek provided from Eurosport. To listen to Beloki scream in agony like that- it almost brings tears to my eyes. Damn, that's real suffering..... uuuugh!

Totally feeling down about him not being able to finish the Tour. I really do want Lance to win, but surely, no one wants to see the big guys going down like this.

:(

i'm gutted that beloki is out. He looked so strong and willing to attack armstrong. I think he could have gave armstrong a run for his money.
I only hope he is not to injured and can get back on the bike.

Beloki said if he did not win this year he would think about his future. So this might be the end for Beloki?

I think one of the interesting things about cycling that isn't as prevalent in other sports... especially court-sports is the enthuisiasm that the fans and those participating in the events themselves have for not just one rider or a team or even a bunch of teams but for all the riders. I hold great admiration for any rider who's in the TdF. Just to finish one TdF is an incrdedible accomplishment.

Originally posted by Rossgo
i'm gutted that beloki is out. He looked so strong and willing to attack armstrong. I think he could have gave armstrong a run for his money.
I only hope he is not to injured and can get back on the bike.



That's true. He was riding with more confidence this year. It's a real shame. Hopefully there will be more attacks on the yellow. Lance has the jersey too early, and he won't like defending it for the next two weeks...

Poor guy, his season is in ruins. After all this time, he finally saw a ***** in Armstrong's armour- and started attacking, rather than following. Looked like a rolled tyre off a hot rim (but from the camera distance, it could have been a blow-out, or Beloki could have caused the problem with heavy braking).

Mountain descents, at the speeds the guys race, with rim/caliper brakes, are a serious undertaking.

LA is lucky to be in this race himself. He has had a couple very close calls. At the speed he and Joseba were traveling, Id hate to think what would have happened if Lance couldnt avoid him.

www.cyclingnews.com is reporting that LA was 5m off the back of Beloki's wheel when it blew. LA says that Beloki went into the curve to fast, saw his mistake, got on the brakes to hard, skidded the rear tire, rolled it, it blew, and if you watch the video of it at Eurosport, the bike got sideways and he was literally thrown straight onto the ground, boom.

Cyclingnews says that Manolo Saiz was on the team radio while this was happening trying to talk Beloki into letting Armstrong do the work of catching Vino.

Originally posted by don d.
the bike got sideways and he was literally thrown straight onto the ground, boom.

Yup, it was a classic "high side" crash. You always hit hard off the high side. I watched the end of the stage again, and heard Beloki on the ground, screaming in agony. Damn.

I certainly hope that he can pick up the pieces and race again next year. With the type of injuries that are being reported (broken leg, wrist, elbow), he is going to have long road back. :(

His injuries will require several surgeries. So he is going to be out for quite some time. i hope he comes back next year and ends on a good note.

Just watched the clip on OLN, horrifying is the only thing that comes to mind, absolutely horrifying. I sincerely pray Beloki is able to recover without long term injuries.

The whole event could have been devasting.

I wonder if the commercial from last year where Armstrong takes to the trail and is riding his roadbike against MTB's to shortcut a hairpin turn was running through his mind as he shot across that field.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
Uuugh!

I saw the videoclip Lotek provided from Eurosport. To listen to Beloki scream in agony like that- it almost brings tears to my eyes. Damn, that's real suffering..... uuuugh!

Totally feeling down about him not being able to finish the Tour. I really do want Lance to win, but surely, no one wants to see the big guys going down like this.


I know what you mean. That was horrible, seeing him on the ground screaming in pain.
That really sucks that his injuries are that severe. One minute he is in great condition to possibly win the TDF... next minute it is a wonder if he will get a chance to ride in it again :(

Yeah, I can't get those screams out of my head- I'm almost sorry I saw the video. It was terrible to see him writhing on the ground, screaming and crying...

I would not wish that on someone I didn't like even. It looked horrible.

I am going to pray for him and I hope he comes back even stronger and will be a contender in the future.

what a terrible crash of Beloki.
He could have been a real threat for Armstrong this year.
Apropos Armstrong, to me it seems that Armstrong isn´t that strong this year and I think he will have big problems winning the Tour.
Vinokourov is surprisingly well and Mayo seems to be much stronger in the mountains than Armstrong

Armstrong isnt that strong this year? You have got to be kidding me.

I don´t know which climb of Alpe d´Huez you saw, but to me Armstrong didn´t make the impression of being so well.
He was able to hold on to Beloki but couldn´t get away of him.
Neither was he able to reach Mayo or Vinkourov (e.g. yesterday again).

That is because he had 4 different riders attacking him constantly.

Perhaps more in fact. From what I saw, there was a group attack on LA. The man is only human.

this didn´t matter to him anytime in the past.
Let´s wait and see what´s happening next.
I guess that this years´Tour will be closer than ever and might have a big surprise...

Originally posted by Piratello
this didn´t matter to him anytime in the past.
Let´s wait and see what´s happening next.
I guess that this years´Tour will be closer than ever and might have a big surprise...

There is a difference between him not being AS strong and not being strong.

He finished third on that stage. I don't see that as a weak performance.

Man, these guys are just lining up to attack Lance: Belocki, Ullrich, Hamilton. And now Mayo and Vinkourov.

Postal's got a job ahead of them if they're going to get LA to Paris in yellow and in one piece.

This is turning out to be one fantastic race and who knows what is going to happen. I think that is what makes it so great...there is so much racing left and it is so close. It's too bad that there have been so many serious crashes eliminating so many good riders who were serious threats for the GC. I only wish that I could be watching it instead of just listening to the telecast. Phil and Paul are fun to listen to though and when they get excited it feels like you are right there anyway. I would like to see Lance with #5 but I won't be at all disappointed if the race is a close one to the finish.

This would have been a good year for American television to start covering cycling. With all these crashes and drama going on it would have won over a lot of racing fans who live only for the crashes. Let's hope that there are no more serious incidents the rest of the way.

Words just cant fit how one feels for such a talented rider. I hope as others have stated that Beloki has a speedy recovery and reaps some of his well deserved rewards.

Related to the Cyclocross run LA made, could he be peanalized for cutting the hairpin out. Honestly he did not make up time or place, but he did leave the course?

(Edit) Dont read this the wrong way, Im pulling for Lance's 5th too!!

Go USPS

I got this posting from cyclingnews.com It looks as though Lance is off the hook for the short cut. I think it would have been a crime to penalize the guy for that manoeuver. I think what he did was almost heroic by missing Beloki at those speeds and taking that chance field crossing.

Lance Armstrong's improvised cross country manoeuvre to avoid the fallen Joseba Beloki in today's stage 9 did not earn him a penalty from the race jury. Despite "not completing the entire course", Armstrong's cutting out of a section of road did not give him any advantage over his competitors.

"The regulations are clear," said jury president Martijn Swinkels. "If a competitor cheats, he is penalised. But in this case the reaction of Armstrong was completely unintentional. It is considered an exceptional circumstance."

There would've been an almighty uproar and protest had Lance been penalised for crossing the field to avoid Beloki, and insuring he caused him no further injury. Thats just sportsmanship.

It's a good thing this didnt' get complicated and have legalities thrown in. Lance is very lucky though, he just escaped a tour ending crash by the skin of his teeth.

Shame about Beloki though, he didnt escape by any means, poor fella. :(

There are rules... and there are judges to interpret those rules. Just because a rule is strictly enforced to the letter does not always mean it's fair. I'm glad the judges didn't penalise Lance.