LeeG

It's time to control the crowds better.

thin_concrete

That sounds more like a triathlon, with the final leg being in a private setting...

luxroadie

I don't blame crowds ... sorry I've been watching Tours on TV and in person for almost two decades. Same damn crowds.

Take a look at the photos (video all seems to be from the moto just ahead of Porte vs the traditional helicopter shots) and you'll see three if not four camera motos just ahead of Porte.

Bottom line ... ASO screwed up by not clearing media ... AGAIN. Fourth or fifth time the ASO commisaires have allowed media cars/motos to tempt fate.

10000% of the blame is on Prudhomme ... not a single question in my mind.

The silly 'too windy for barriers excuse? Ever see the barriers at the Tour? Without the ads? Might as well have been created by my kids from erector sets! A hurricance couldn't blow one over.

Ever watch a Belgian classic? The police draw a long tape along the edges and stand inside. Drunk or not, Euros respect that line.

100000% of the blame is ASO ... didn't want to pay to move barriers with ads (as they would blow down), didn't want to renegotiate ad deals by putting up barriers and NOT providing paid advertisers with space, and didn't cull the media motos when they absolutely knew there'd be the exact same number of fans on less road surface.

Way to go Chris P. Next stop an Olympic debacle .. oh wait Brazil outdid you already.

gaucho777 

As for Froome breaking the rules, yes, there is a rule against finishing without your bike as well as advancing on the course without your bike. So, technically, yes Froome broke the rule. But it would have been completely ridiculous to have enforced that rule in this case for his running a hundred meters or so without a bike in this case, largely because I think the organizers deserve a big portion of the blame in this case. As many have already said, the change of the course forced many fans from the top of the original route down to the final stretch before the revised finish. However, the organizers didn't put up enough barriers in the final 3k to accommodate the crowds.

Additionally, I really hope some video surfaces showing the crowds ahead of the motorcycles in the moments immediately before the wreck. The only video shown on the telecast was a rear looking shot of the lead Porte/Froome/Mollema crash. However, here's a photo which appears to have been taken very soon before the crash. Rather than a road blockage due to fans, I see a cluster of three motocycles. While the fans were certainly crowding the roads, the trio of motorcycles might deserve some of the responsibility for not keeping enough distance ahead of the lead group, and for slamming on the brakes in front of the riders.



(Photo credit: veloimages.)

At the point Froome began to run without his bike, the bike race was retroactively neutralized to to the negligence of the organizers/race vehicles, so it's hard for me to justify any penalties for advancement without his bike at that point.

I do agree that the sport suffers from haphazard enforcement of rules such as the sticky bottle and obvious drafting of team cars.

Steve C

According to ITV with Chris Boardman, UCI rules state must cross the line with a bike, nothing against running up the road without one.

And I think there are four bikes there, not three.

kzin

This.
By adjusting time to the crash they also eliminate the running w/o the bike issue.
More reason its a good decision.
Not like there isn't strong precedent in cycling for adjusting to odd events.

cslascro

There is always favoritism toward the yellow jersey, and I think it comes across as unfair much of the time. Yesterday when Sky got caught up in the crash it was simply expected that the peloton would slow for the whole team to regroup. It would seem to many (me included) that Froome should endure the test of being a true champion and hold his position without the dropped teammates. Racing is racing, and it's not as if Froome was suddenly hit by a wayward flag--crashing is a legitimate part of the sport, just as mechanical failure. And I would be the first to point out that nobody waited for Richie Porte when his tire went flat.

GC contenders can get iced out of earning the yellow jersey as a result of the same things (mechanical failure, crash, etc.) that the peloton will slow for the current yellow jersey holder.

If you want to win the yellow jersey, you should be required to win it--not simply hold onto it thanks to the respect of the rest of the field. Stuff happens and that's just racing, IMO.

bikecrate

I can see why they decided to adjust the results, but...it's supposed to be a race and it's not always fair. Part of the strategy is to put pressure on other riders so they do make mistakes that cost them. The Porte group decided to take the risk of going up the road to gain time. They got caught up in an incident. Let's say they were going slower and not charging when the moto stopped. No crash occurs, but they lose time due to the crowds. Would it still be fair to adjust their time and let Froome keep the yellow?

jefnvk

SO, if the fans had just closed off the little bit of the road that was even left open and just sat there, everyone that hadn't gotten through should just sit around racking up time?

This is totally on race officials for failing to control the crowd and providing a reasonable racing area. That picture shows it was no longer a race, it was a paced ride. You couldn't have passed even if you had the energy.

bikecrate

Like I said I can see why the officials did what they did, so I wouldn't argue strongly against it. Just making a contrary point that I can see a reason for letting it play out without intervention.

gsa103

There's a difference between Porte (a fellow racer) crashing and a crash caused purely by a race organization vehicle. The race organizers have a responsibility to ensure that the fans and motorcade stays out of the riders way, they clearly failed.

Imagine there's no crash, but Froome gets held up for 30sec because the motorcade is blocked. The race organization would be obligated to neutralize it.

And I do like the idea of the yellow jersey privilege. It's not like it's free, since generally the yellow team is expected to do the pace making. If you want the yellow jersey, you should have to take it. Froome has clearly done that this year. No other GC contender has shown the consistency and aggressiveness of Froome.

Edit: After seeing the video of Quintana getting towed up the hill by a Mavic moto, it's very clear the organizers made the right call. Can you imagine the fiasco if they hadn't neutralized it, then the video of Quintana being towed surfaces.

Shadco 

My sentiments pretty much exactly.

On top of that I felt if Froome wanted to fall back when some of his mob fell that was on him and I don't think the rest of the contenders should have held up.

My opinion of Froome had started to change based on the 2 prior stages but the fall of some of his team on the descent quickly reinforced my original opinion.

.

atbman

There is a considerable difference between crashing in the course of a race or having a mechanical and being brought off by an accredited race vehicle stopping in front of you, causing Porte and then you to crash and then having a following motorbike run over your bike and break it.

This wasn't a racing accident but an organisational balls-up for which Froome should not have paid the penalty of losing yellow. Adam Yates, who would have been given it, stated that he would not have felt right to take over as race leader under such circumstances. I'd rather take his opinion that those of armchair critics.

iab

I still don't see the difference. Motorized vehicles have bee a part of the race from the early teens, over 100 years. Just as road furniture, potholes and fans lining the roads have been a part of the race since the beginning.

Should a race be perfect? Sure, you try. You fill potholes. You put fans behind barriers. You have motor vehicles yield to the racers.

But **** happens. Picking and choosing when the rules are applied and when they are not is a sham. Again, what's the point?

And yellow privilege is bull**** too. He "deserves"? It's "fair"? By the same logic, Armstrong "deserves" his 7 victories because everyone was doping. It is the only "fair" thing to do.

Rollfast

TdF is a real mess this year. What up.

sprince

The TDF was always designed to be a spectacle first, athletic contest second. In that respect it has not disappointed.

Steve C

A lot of people are talking about a rule that says you must not advance up the course without a bike.

Where is this rule stated?

I've looked at the UCI rules and I cannot find it.

DeceptivelySlow

Some of you need to start protesting the 3K rule for sprint finishes. After all, racing is racing, getting taken out by a crash in the last 3K should not allow you to get the time of the group that finishes. If you get taken out by someone's mistake, tough luck, racing is racing and you get what you get.

So, when is it no longer racing? How about a fan deciding to throw a pipe through Froome's spokes. How about the Mad Max, Road Warrior Tour. Now that would be exciting

Remember the tacks on the road incident.

The obvious point being, you are skating on thin ice letting random people decide the outcome of races.

Gerryattrick

Random? Is that the Tour organisers or the spectators?

DeceptivelySlow

I don't know, what about the motorcycle drivers?

Not random enough? Is random the right word to focus on?

I would say focusing on the word random is not productive; however, none of this is productive; so there's that.

DLBroox

No, Bike Forum participants!

Gerryattrick

Without race officials ruling on incidents such as this there is more chance of random people affecting the result.

KD5NRH

They should give him a medal for taking weight weeniedom to a new extreme.

atbman

[QUOTE]I've been watching the Tour since the early 80s and I've never seen Tour vehicles stopped by the pressure of fans and I don't recall reading about it (not to say it hasn't happened).

The rules of racing apply to racing. This wasn't caused by a rider overcooking a corner, nor by 2/3 riders coming together because of a misjudgement, nor by a rider running into another who has crashed because of a misjudgement or a mechanical. Its cause was outside the racing and it affected the result. If you have a unique set of circumstances, you have to then make a judgement call using the more general rules of sporting fairness, which is what they seem to have done.

colombo357

Rules and laws are always interpreted and applied case by case. Same goes for any other sporting event and legal systems in most democracies.

What world do you live in where rules and laws are end-all-be-all, taken absolutely literally?

Specifically with regards to this motorcycle incident, forget about what's fair to Froome, the yellow jersey, etc. Ultimately, the incident is an embarrassment to the tour organizers, and that's why they did what they had to do. The fact that the incident happened 1K from the finish made the decision real easy. Had it happened 10-20K before they would've been in a pickle.