Richie Porte's hopes of winning the 98th edition of the Giro d'Italia have sufffered a massive blow after the Team Sky rider lost three quarters of a minute to Tinkoff-Saxo's Alberto Contador – and then had a further 2 minutes docked by commissaires, who said he had received illegal assistance from Orica-GreenEdge's Simon Clarke.
Porte's fellow Australian, who spent last Wednesday in the race leader's maglia rosa, stopped to give Porte his front wheel after his compatriot punctured with around 10km to go in today's 200km stage from Civitanova Marche to Forli, won from the break by Bardiani-CSF's Nicola Boem.
However well intentioned that gesture was, it has cost Porte dear. While professional cycling throughout its history has been characterised by alliances between teams – sometimes to help thwart a common rival, other times to ensure a break stays away – such a flagrant disregard for the rules was not going to go unnoticed.
Porte began the day 22 seconds behind race leader Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo, and despite his Team Sky colleagues attempting to get him back to the peloton, lost 47 seconds on the line.
Initially, it was unclear why commissaires had blocked the convoy of team cars from going through, which prevented Porte from getting assistance from Sky mechanics and being able to get a helpful tow from friendly sports directors, as would typically happen.
However, it now seems clear why race officials decided to prevent that happening.
Porte now lies 12th overall, 3 minutes 9 seconds down on Contador – and 39 behind his own team mate, Leopold Koenig.
Spanish journalist Laura Meseguer tweeted pictures of the incident.
Simon Clarke (OGE) gave his front wheel to his friend Richie Porte (SKY) during his mechanical http://t.co/X2DiqE4ZfN pic.twitter.com/ZIAXmsaeDK
— Laura Meseguer (@Laura_Meseguer) May 19, 2015
Fellow professionals – current and retired – were quick to rally round Porte and Clarke, who also loses 2 minutes, on Twitter.
So cool to see @SimoClarke help out @richie_porte with a wheel in the final of the Giro today. Love the respect between them. Champions
— Koen de Kort (@koendekort) May 19, 2015
The Giant-Alpecin rider was clearly unaware of what the commissaires thought of the incident when he tweeted that; later, he added:
Landed in Barcelona, found out @richie_porte got 2 min penalty. What's the rule? Assistance? If I give another rider a bar, that assistance?
— Koen de Kort (@koendekort) May 19, 2015
Other riders chipped in too.
What a horrible penalty for @richie_porte. Is it really necessary to punish him that hard? And destroy his overal classification?
— Johnny Hoogerland (@zeeuwseleeuw) May 19, 2015
Today @SimoClarke shows not only sportsmanship but friendship in helping @richie_porte out when he needed it. That is cycling to me…
— David Millar (@millarmind) May 19, 2015
UCI rule 2.3.012 about the 'Rights and Duties of Riders' is very clear, however:
All riders may render each other such minor services as lending or exchanging food, drink, spanners or accessories.
The lending or exchanging of tubular tyres or bicycles and waiting for a rider who has been dropped or involved in an accident shall be permitted only amongst riders of the same team, The pushing of a rider by another shall in all cases be forbidden, on pain of disqualification.
One interpretation of the final part of that rule is that both Porte and Clarke are lucky they are still in the race.
Sky principal Sir Dave Brailsford, quoted on the team's website, said: "It is obviously disappointing that a sporting gesture made in the heat of the moment has resulted in such a strong penalty. No one was trying to gain an unfair advantage.
"This has however just strengthened our resolve and determination to fight for this race. Richie and the whole team are ready to take it on and there is a lot of this Giro left."
54 thoughts on “Richie Porte’s Giro hopes dealt huge blow by 2-minute penalty”
So why is it clear they
So why is it clear they blocked the team car ?
Also where was his team ? He is the team leader, not a difficult stage, what happened to them ?
I presume they blocked the
I presume they blocked the cars to punish Porte for taking the wheel. The real question is why did race jury penalise him twice: blocking the cars then docking time?
samuel.godfreymayes wrote:I
seems like it but I still find it strange a professional team like Sky had no team mate to help him out, that is what cost him in the end.
ianrobo
Most of his team did get to him, and reasonably quickly, but not – clearly – before he swapped with Clarke… could have been better sorted, agreed, but it looked like a fairly normal puncture incident, all things considered, until the silliness with the barrage started. Shit luck which every way you look at it, and would be nice to see more people (deservedly) close together fighting for it.
ianrobo
There was a sky rider 10ft up the road from him, stood there looking.
You can’t ride back to help a
You can’t ride back to help a team mate, only stop with them or wait for them to catch up with you before helping.
glynr36 wrote:ianrobo
There was a sky rider 10ft up the road from him, stood there looking.— samuel.godfreymayes
..who had just come back by the look of it.Bottom line is that the riders didn’t know the rule – in fact most people i’ve read or heard from hadn’t – so why would they not take up the offer ?
Edit. It’s pity the rule is there in the first place, even more so that they got penalised for it, but it is there and you can see that the officials probably had to do something. They got the minimum penalty for it, and didn’t get disqualified for the push but i’d like to have thought they might have done something like give a very public and firm warning and reprimand without something this potentially game changing – the image of the wheel swap is everything you’d want in an advert for the sport, ruined by the heavy-handed officiating.
fukawitribe wrote:glynr36
There was a sky rider 10ft up the road from him, stood there looking.— ianrobo
..who had just come back by the look of it.Bottom line is that the riders didn’t know the rule – in fact most people i’ve read or heard from hadn’t – so why would they not take up the offer ?
Edit. It’s pity the rule is there in the first place, even more so that they got penalised for it, but it is there and you can see that the officials probably had to do something. They got the minimum penalty for it, and didn’t get disqualified for the push but i’d like to have thought they might have done something like give a very public and firm warning and reprimand without something this potentially game changing – the image of the wheel swap is everything you’d want in an advert for the sport, ruined by the heavy-handed officiating.— samuel.godfreymayes
As a professional in any field someone should know the rules of what they’re doing. Ignorance is not an excuse.
The rule exists to stop stuff like a bigger team buying smaller ones to support them, and Clarke has come out and said he was ‘helping a mate and fellow Aussie’, not really sportsmanship is it when you take that quote into context, would he have given a wheel up if it was Aru/Contador/Uran? Probably not.
Cycling racing is more than just what you have your legs, it’s a sport of chance in places, if you get a flat in an unfortunate moment and you’re isolated from the team and support well thats tough shit, shouldn’t be left in the compromising position. Your team is there to support you. Porte gained advantage by not having to ‘give up’ a team member by taking that wheel.
glynr36 wrote:As a
It was in the heat of the moment and it’s been done before – perhaps they’re weren’t as perfect as you in their judgement at the time. They’ve also put their hands up and said it’s a fair cop and let’s carry on and personally i’ve not got a problem with the decision beyond hoping that it didn’t have to happen (which it did) – it’s changed the race markedly by punishing someone for the letter of the law rather than,perhaps, the spirit… but as I said, they broke the rules so something had to be done. You race I believe – you never had a moment when your judgement wasn’t spot on ? You’ve always read, remembered and taken in every rule the regs whenever you make any move or action ? Sure they’re professionals but look at the situation and context please before coming the high and mighty.
Yep – that’s what people have been saying here, thank you for so aggressively agreeing. What seems to be an issue with some, myself included, is that there are so many minor transgressions going on it’s a pity this was actioned on as it was. All that they wanted at that point in time was to get back on and finish remotely near the pack with the other GC contenders – had Porte et al been in danger of e.g. coming back to form a train for Viviani, then it would only seem right to be proactive but, for me, it came across as a bit of a double whammy.
That’s what I was bemoaning, that and the possibly unfortunate publicity, not the actual decision itself.
Edit. The quote (and accompanying photos) I like most, in context, about this incident is from the Giro Twitter feed here
“This is cycling. This is the most beautiful sport in the world.”
Clearly they should have known about that rule instead of feeling good about the event.
ianrobo wrote:So why is it
AFAIK It was the convoy, not the Sky car specifically, they blocked.
But it comes back to this incident; they’d seen someone break the rules and however well intentioned Clarke’s gesture was, it was illegal.
By blocking the convoy, Porte – who in the commissaires’ eyes at this stage presumably already faced a penalty – wouldn’t be able to use team cars (his or others) to draft and get back on, something they’d ordinarily turn a blind eye to.
Now, you’re racing at what, 50kph+ at this point, by the time you realise your team leader’s punctured, you’re up the road; most of the Sky team did wait for him, and rode their nuts off to try and get him back on.
Seems a harsh decision.
Seems a harsh decision. Would of made the Giro more entertaining if there were more rivals vying for the title.
Thank goodness they’re
Thank goodness they’re finally cracking down on this sort of thing – professional cycling has a bad enough reputation as it is without people flagrantly being nice to each other.
Astana keeps licence for
Astana keeps licence for repeated doping violations.
Porte gets docked for accepting sportsmanlike gesture.
Way to go pro cycling. Really winning admirers.
It’s important to keep in
It’s important to keep in mind that the Astana riders only got doping products from their own teammates. This rule would only apply if they got them from other teams.
I wonder if they would have
I wonder if they would have been quite so strict if it had been Aru who punctured.
Real shame as this Giro was
Real shame as this Giro was shaping up into an interesting 3 way battle with the TT and proper mountain stages to come. Struggling to summon up much enthusiasm for either remaining contender now.
Presumably Clarke offered the
Presumably Clarke offered the wheel, knowing that it meant one more Sky rider to do the pacing, while if you take a wheel from a team-mate they aren’t going to catch back up to the leader to help him get back to the peleton.
I’m slightly disappointed that a blind eye wasn’t turned to something that doesn’t seem to be ‘gaining an unfair advantage’.
Seems rough justice, as there
Seems rough justice, as there seemed to be a recent incident involving a level crossing and a number of riders, where UCI rules seemed clear.
“Level crossings
2.3.034 It shall be strictly forbidden to cross level crossings when the barrier is down.
Apart from risking the penalty for such an offence as provided by law, offending riders shall be eliminated
from the competition by the commissaires.”
As a few have noted, it does the sport no favour. Will there be a clamp down on “sticky bottles” handed out of team cars??
Weren’t there two
Weren’t there two transgressors? Simon Clarke was just as guilty of rule 2.3.012 by giving as Richie Porte was of accepting, surely? Bloomin’ Euro bureaucrats…
dafyddp wrote:Weren’t there
They were both docked 2 minutes and fined.
I’m surprised to hear it was
I’m surprised to hear it was just a puncture. Looked like he was being babysat to the line and struggling to hold the wheels.
I sincerely hope he
I sincerely hope he absolutely stuffs them in the TT and then the mountains and leaves the golden boy Aru on his arse.
They have stated that within a couple of minutes of the wheel change they knew about it, so why didn’t the commissaires say something to him then rather than say nothing ?????????
I haven’t seen the incident,
I haven’t seen the incident, but the prose isn’t very clear on this.
Was the team car blocked before or after the puncture, it may be me but i read this as the car was PREVENTED from getting to Porte and hence he had no choice but to get a wheel from where-ever.
Does seem unfair, I do wonder
Does seem unfair, I do wonder if the letter or spirit would have been applied if Aru had punctured. Seems heavy handed. Still remember how much time Quintana made up last year on one stage. Hopefully its not over yet.
What I don’t understand is
What I don’t understand is that in the first picture getting the front wheel from Clarke, just out of view on the right hand side there is a Sky rider, facing hime. Why didn’t he take a wheel from him? It seams bizarre. The only conclusion I can come to is that they both punctured?
Rules are there, that’s fair enough but when was this rule written? Why do they turn a blind eye, by all accounts to rail crossings and not this? I read somewhere it was tacks on the road? So some local rooting for a local lad threw out some tacks for good measure?
I guess we’ll never know, perhaps it’ll give Porte resolve to go win in the mountains or the TT. That said if he makes it on to the podium and looses by less that, say 2 minutes, then what?
This was a pure act of sportsmanship like I’ve never seen, really incredible stuff so it’s a shame that a real contender has to suffer as badley as this.
The Giro has a history of
The Giro has a history of screwing over non Italian contenders!
Just had a quick flick
Just had a quick flick through both Porte’s and Aru’s TT times and although its not an exact science Porte seems to be on average about 45 secs faster per 10k than Aru is.
Lets hope i’m right :B
It’s following the rules, but
It’s following the rules, but there’s been plenty of riders at the Giro getting a sticky bottle and caught on camera and that has way less bearing on the GC. This has been a pretty hard fought GC already, let the riders get on with it.
The ridiculous part is the
The ridiculous part is the official giro twitter posting pictures of the wheel change saying why this is ‘ the best sport in the world’ and then penalising him. Crass hypocrisy.
Philip Unwin wrote:The
I am just wondering if it is UCI commissionaires rather than RCS who issue the penalties? That would explain why the official account would have posted the pics.
Otis Bragg wrote:Philip Unwin
From what I read from the inrrng Twitter, RCS found out before Sky but weren’t involved in the decision process.
“exchanging food, drink
“exchanging food, drink spanners or accessories”
Err – what’s a drink spanner and where can I get one???
geargrinderbeard
Same place you can get the missing comma I am about to insert :*
Quote:Initially, it was
This is a point I really don’t understand. Is it true that the commissaires actively prevented Porte from getting service from his Team Car?
Was this the reason which caused Porte to accept the wheel from another rider?
What explanation have the commissaires given for this decision?
Even from when it was unfolding on our screens… something about this incident doesn’t sit right…
would serve the authorities
would serve the authorities right if Sky just cruised rather than riding their nuts off trying to pull the gap back now. Must keep watching though to make sure that all rules are applied equally from now on……………………if you’re not consistent then you’re not credible.
I hope Contador and Aru are
I hope Contador and Aru are going to be whiter than white in the whole of this, if either of them is seen getting a sticky bottle then it just throws the whole nature of the race. I’m sure I’ve seen Aru and Contador pushing each other into position on stages, it might not have been uphill but if they’re going to be that strict with the rules then they should start looking at all of them.
I feel sorry for Ritchie, he seemed to have been doing everything right, holding on in there with relative ease and keeping his energy for the later stages. He seems to get a lot of bad luck, bronchitis during the first week and now this, certainly makes me less excited about the giro if it’s just between the other two.
This is the same UCI Jury
This is the same UCI Jury Commissioner that cut Ted King from the TdF for missing the cut-off time by 7secs. He’s letter of the law kind of guy…
Unfortunate for Porte and Clarke but this rule is at least clear and much easier to enforce than, for example, alleged biological passport irregularities of a certain young Italian rider (Greg Henderson will be able to testify to that shortly in Turin…)
Do I lose points for having
Do I lose points for having Ritchie Porte in my fantasy team :/
This is indeed an unfortunate
This is indeed an unfortunate happening, but rules are rules. Yeah it’s a stupid rule but they can’t change anything about that now, but maybe the rule is there for a reason. What if Clarke gave a broken wheel and porte would have crashed out of the Giro, just being the advocate of the devil here.
Anyways maybe we will finnaly see a SKY rider attack! Because if this wouldn’t have happened he probably got time on the others in the TT and hung on for dear life on the climbs, that would have been as boring as the time Wiggins won the tour!
KoenM wrote:Anyways maybe we
I couldn’t stand watching Sky race the last couple of years but I thought Porte, and Sky in general, have been quite good at attacking this year. The start to the Giro has been reasonably subdued, but was quite enjoying the gamesmanship, no need for Contador or Porte to go ballistic just yet. All IMO of course.
Shame for Porte, but good on
Shame for Porte, but good on Clarke! Kudos
The decision to enforce the
The decision to enforce the rule in this case is stupid and it’s a real pity for the fans and for the Giro. I really like this race but taking one of the contenders out in such a fashion is bad for the sport and for the other contenders as well. I do not feel sorry for Porte though, what he did in the ’13 Tour, breaking the rules by going back to the car and bring food for Froome when it was forbidden in the face of the commissaires was unsportsmanlike. Then he got punished by the rules when he should be thrown out of the tour.
And fair play to Orica (though I’m sure Tinkof and Astana will not agree with me). For some time I have the feeling that Porte will finish there for the next season.
Bloody Giro Officials. This
Bloody Giro Officials. This was a sporting gesture and should be applauded (and I don’t like seeing the Aussies do well, makes us look bad).
HAD IT BEEN ARU, THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. The Officials have done this to improve Aru’s chances, that is not sporting, that is Italian bollocks, its like going backwards 20 years. The Giro has been devalued because of this.
So if Contador, Porte and Aru agreed on Sunday to push hard together to distance Uran, thats ok? But each of them benefits from another team. What is the difference?
You take a drink towards the end of stage and its not approved then you are fined a few swiss franks. Without that water you could lose lots of time, more than wheel change. Utter crap, I’m livid.
I would like to see all riders swap wheels on todays stage (except Porte) and have everyone docked 2 minutes. Contador, grow a pairs, where is Hinault when you want a figurehead?
Simmo72 wrote:
So if
Thats racing though, riders choose to work together.
The rule doesn’t say anything like that though, there is a clearly specific one about the taking of wheels etc.
Why? Porte broke the rules.
As a professional in a field you should know what the rules are, or atleast your team should do to inform you.
“UCI rule 2.3.012 about the
“UCI rule 2.3.012 about the ‘Rights and Duties of Riders’ is very clear, however:
All riders may render each other such minor services as lending or exchanging food, drink, spanners or accessories.
The lending or exchanging of tubular tyres or bicycles and waiting for a rider who has been dropped or involved in an accident shall be permitted only amongst riders of the same team, The pushing of a rider by another shall in all cases be forbidden, on pain of disqualification.”
If that’s to be interpreted literally, it means riders are not allowed to stop and attend to another rider injured in an accident — unless they’re team mates. So you just ride by while they bleed at the road side. I’m sure that isn’t quite what it means, but it’s what it says…
It may feel a bit rough but
It may feel a bit rough but you should know the rules. The commissaire had to do something and could have DQ’ed them. There was another sky rider there for pete’s sake.
Can we ask a certain Mr DB what the marginal gain is from not having your riders aware of the rules?
And before you all throw up in indignation – there are supposed to be professionals – so they should know what they can get away with.
This type of rules interpretation happens down in the cat 3/4 races here so they must know they can get stuck on like this.
So Richie while on one level I feel sorry for you on another I feel you should know your job better and have more loyalty to your team than your countrymen – that sky rider whose shoulder is in the foreground of the one shot could so easily have handed you the wheel and Clark could have ridden you back to your other team mates – stupid is as stupid does
Having said ALL of the the
Having said ALL of the the rules should state the convoy must be allowed to go to the 3Km point for all the obvious reasons of fairness
just wondering, did any other
just wondering, did any other riders puncture? were they effectively penalised because the commissaries refused to allow the convoy through?
The time penalty and fine is one issue, punishing the rider twice… well…
mrmo wrote:just wondering,
Everyone had equal ‘disadvantage’ when the car convoy wasn’t allowed through.
Compared to what happened to
Compared to what happened to Fignon against Moser, for example, this is nothing and if anything it will make it for a better third week.
Please do correct me if I’m
Please do correct me if I’m wrong but was this incident even caught on the TV cameras? It wasn’t shown in yesterdays highlights.
Seems we have to blame social media for the penalty as if nobody really captured it on video and it wasn’t subsequently televised, I’d imagine Porte would’ve got away with it.
I read somewhere this morning that photos of the offending incident were on social media sites a mere 3 minutes after it happened!
I would have expected them to
I would have expected them to know the rules, but the punishment is too harsh for the crime…
If all of the riders feel it is harsh, maybe the other teams could lobby for it to be overturned… If the majority are in favour and publicly say so, it does create a little bad press for the organisers.
AlexChief what a lovely idea
AlexChief what a lovely idea – as if the major protests over really big issues have done anything. Riders even going to the extent of neutralising stages haven’t been able to get organisers to do anything! In any case its nothing to do with the organisers its the UCI officials to blame for this
If the Peleton is so upset at
If the Peleton is so upset at this decision, and lets face it right or wrong it ruins the spirit. So its simples. the Peleton halts at a certain point, the 11 riders in front of Porte all stop, exchange wheels and push each other off again. 2 minutes penalty all around and were back to where we should be, talking about the race and not the rules ruining a good event.