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news
Daniele Colli Giro crashDaniele Colli calls on man who caused Giro crash to apologise
Daniele Colli, whose left humerus was smashed in a crash at the Giro d’Italia yesterday when he collided with the lens of a camera a spectator was holding, has called on the man concerned to apologise.
Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador, the race leader, also came down and dislocated his shoulder, but started today’s Stage 7.
In a post to Twitter this morning accompanied by a picture of the moment he crashed, Nippo-Vini Fantini rider Colli said: “This person should apologise to everyone, besides anything else he’s not even watching the race. Incredible.”
Questa persona dovrebbe chiedere scusa a tutti, tra l'altro nemmeno sta guardando la gara, incredibile..#nocomment pic.twitter.com/yHDKuCbBaV
— Daniele Colli (@DanieleColli) May 15, 2015
The high-speed crash happened around 300 metres from the end of the stage, won in a bunch sprint by Lotto-Soudal’s Andre Greipel.
The camera had a zoom or telephoto lens on it that protruded over the barrier (at right angles to the direction of the race) sufficiently for Colli to crash into it, the impact bringing him down.
The lens is likely to be a Canon, going by the colour, and possibly a 70-200mm zoom or similar, which extends up to 20cm excluding lens hood and weighs 1.5kg.
One respondent to Colli’s post, Franco Clivio, said: “I’ve got an idea where he can stick the lens.”
This overhead shot shows the precise moment of the collision. Colli, bottom left, is close to the barriers, but not right on top of them.
A spectator standing a few metres closer to the line on the same side of the road took the following footage of the crash.
You can’t see Colli hitting the lens, but the danger posed to the riders by people holding out their smartphones to take pictures, pulling their hands back at the very last moment, is clear.
There have been an increasing number of incidents of fans getting too close to the action in recent years, often as they try to take selfies.
Last year, Andy Schleck retired after getting injured on Stage 3 of the Tour de France as it headed into London.
The crash that brought him down was caused by riders ahead of the Trek Factory Racing cyclist swerving to avoid a man in the road taking a picture.
Later in the same race, Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali, wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, knocked the phone out of the hand of a young woman as he rounded a bend on a mountain stage.
With her back to the race – and Nibali – she had been jumping up and down and waving at the cameras.
Yesterday’s incident is bound to lead to renewed calls from race organisers and the UCI to respect the riders and not get in their way for whatever reason.
However Team Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford has told Sky Sports that fans being close to the action is one of the things that sets cycling apart from other sports, and he does not believe yesterday's incident justifies introducing additional security measures such as moving them further away.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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20 comments
I hope that this is a joke.
http://diariodeltriatlon.es/not/7222/el-fotografo-que-causo-un-grave-acc...
The photographer is suing as he's a victim too.
When I saw the TdF in Ilkley it was quickly obvious to me when merely watching the cavalcade (and previously the ToB) that you can either film or watch but not both so I simply pointed my camera low. This way I could watch what was coming and move if necessary, rocket science huh?
I do think there is an increase in people who seem happy to wait for hours until the race comes along and then turn their back on it to get their face on the TV cameras. Clearly failed entrants to Big Brother. Don't get me started on the Richard Craniums that run alongside!
If it continues at this rate the entire race will need barriers.
I used to have the privilege of being able to stand race side of the barriers and I most certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in touching distance of the peloton charging in on a final sprint. I used to crap myself when being in the sanctioned area for the finish line photos where you are in a position of safety.
If we see more of this, and it is a question of common sense, then a simple double row of barriers to keep the spectators at arms length.
Poor bugger. Just standing there checking out his shots and some tit on a bike rides far too close and clouts his pride and joy out of his hands...
Ok. Look at this rationally. The spectator is standing behind the barriers. Hes not sticking the camera out, you can see that in the top shot, hes doing nothing wrong. The rider gets too close to the spectators, rides into someone, has and injury and blames someone else. Compare this to the other incident in the race so far.
What if a cyclist hurts a spectator? Who is at fault then? Is it the race organiser for allowing them both to get so close? It just makes sense to have a buffer between spectators and riders in the home straights at least as this is where the riders are taking the most risks to cross the line. Is there such a public if two riders touch wheels and brings one down?
It has happened, repeatedly. Back in the day a marshal was killed when he collided with a marshal who adjusted their position at the wrong time. Merckx's gurney pacer died in an accident and more recently (I think it was Stybar) collided with a pedestrian who was on a traffic island. I can't remember if she died or if she was just very badly injured in a serious life changing way.
Johan van Summeren.
the sloped barriers that ASO use do slope more and have a structure behind them- you can stretch far enough to "band the boards" but little further.
Let's face it - 'fans' getting in the way is nothing new. Crowds parting like the Red Sea when riders are inches away has been a feature forever. Alcohol was the biggest threat at one time but now weapons are involved and are being used by the selfie numpties.
You can't stop people taking pictures but you can stop them being a nuisance - double barriers is the only way; there's enough money sloshing around to stump up for another row. It may even save a life, one day, never mind a career.
I do like Trek's leadoutcrowdplough in Farrell's video, though - excellent bike handling skills and a clear path for his man behind - a great piece of footage.
I think teamextreme comment sums it up, these idiots will force the distancing of racers from spectators. It will take one spectator, could be this one suing for damage to equipment or body to make the organisers to close our freedom down. They will never afford the anti-litigation insurance without charging an entrance fee, resulting in us being in a completely different world and probably the end of open road racing.
There are so many scary incidents of idiots wanting selfies, getting slapped by riders, as in farrells clip, to put them and us back in our boxes and enjoy the spectacle for what it is.
I am however if absolute favour of having double depth barriers in the final sprint, it is too fast, too chaotic to mix inanimate spectators with multiple blocks of >75kg travelling at maximum speed, as was seen yesterday it is not the dumb-arse on the side that suffers a potential career ending event, our heros should be demanding protection from their ‘fans’.
More barriers is just fine and dandy where you have a finish on a wide road, but sometimes the issue is that the route to the finishing line, or the finishing line itself does not have adequate width for this. Narrowing the road has its own risks too as sprinters jostle for position. I think the argument has been made before and the race organisers have said that they would struggle especially with finishes in iconic areas.
Cyclists and fans (and their dogs) have been involved in crashes from the day they started racing. I'm not so sure that it has gotten worse. But I agree that what happened is not acceptable. Perhaps fan wardens who help remind/marshal fans might remind people of their duty to not get 'involved'.
But getting close to the action is one of the key aspects of becoming a spectator. Sending people back to the TVs to get the closest view is not what it is about. All sports have problem fans - not to say that the authorities should not take action - but that it is not unique to cycling that fans get involved.
The saddest part is that Berti looks odds on to end his participation in another Geand Tour through serious injury. He may do a Hamilton, but I can only imagine that he will likely perform below his best and lose (like Hamilton).
Why cant people just enjoy the moment instead of trying to get flippin facebook videos/photos. They/we are are not professional photographers FFS.
Looking at that video (spectators POV), there was any number of people dangling their mobiles over the barrier - the guy who caused the problem was no better or worse
I disagree.
If someone shoves their camera or phone out in front of me it's a nuisance and they are a bit of a tit, but it's no real mither.
If someone shoves a camera or phone out in front of me and breaks my arm then yes, that is far, far worse.
Sorry but this does not make sense. The negligence of the photographer is the same whether or not he hurt someone. He is no more negligent, no less. I wish we could live in a world where accidents happened and that we learnt from them, rather than an excuse to vomit virtriol at someone who didn't realise the possible consequences of their actions.
In a sprint zone there really should be better policing and a better sloped fence. But cycling has always got close to the crowds and long may it continue. A consequence of this though will be riders colliding with spectators and spectators colliding with riders. Don't forget, it's not always the rider who comes off worse, see Vansummeren.
Note that this happens just before the sloped barriers, and that the Giro sloped barriers don't appear to have as much slope as on other races, giving the riders less protection. They don't look as good as the ones ASO have for the TdF.
Daniele Colli was only just going to squeeze through before the sloped barriers begin. I think that the spectator was being a bit dozy, but think the opprobrium directed at him isn't entirely fair.
Why not?! He stuck a massive camera lens out into a race and caused a crash that has resulted in a broken arm for one rider and a dislocated shoulder for another.
It's negligence in the extreme and should not be tolerated.
yes it is, he's a complete fucktard
This needs to happen more often:
https://vine.co/v/MPBA7E9Ytwu
And not just in bike races, this should be the accepted response at gigs, festivals, pubs, shopping centres, pavements etc
What a fuckwit ...a lens that size photographing from zero distance ...how much closer was he expecting to get