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Live blog: Fans arrested for endangering riders on Alpe d’Huez; Ex-pro’s journey from paracetamol to MDMA; Video of crash that forced Nibali to abandon + more
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Fri, Jul 20, 2018 14:30
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Latest Comments
andygates 22 minutes ago
Could we get some updates, the glove world hath changethed.
andygates 28 minutes ago
Google is broken. Even if they are forced to roll back on the made up summary (a German court said it was original content so they're liable), it will still be a front page of SEO slop. Images full of geometry nightmares. Another vote for switching search to DuckDuckGo. You can turn all the crap off in Settings. Ah, bliss.
Chris RideFar 4 hours ago
If you're not trying to escape from wild animals, what would be the advantage of putting a tent on top of a car, rather than setting up a similar tent on the ground? Seems rather unnecessary to me - even if the price was comparable, I would choose a ground-based version.
chrisonabike 6 hours ago
"you can’t pass a law saying it’s illegal not to have a speedometer if you’re going to go above the speed limit." I don't think this would be a good idea, nor even speed limits (and presumably mandatory speedometers everywhere) ... ... but is there any theoretical legal impediment to that? Or even simply enacting a law that cyclists are not permitted to ride faster on roads than the motor vehicle speed limit (or some other limit) and leaving it up to cyclists how they go about complying with that? (Not a lawyer not a legal theorist though...)
Sriracha 6 hours ago
What has KE to do with it? If you are hit by a large object you don't absorb all its KE. Being hit by a car is no better than being hit by a bus at the same speed. What matters is how much acceleration you experience.
Rendel Harris 6 hours ago
@Robert Hardy 20mph isn't as fast as you seem to think, this 57-year-old-not-that-fit rider can easily achieve it on the flat in still conditions and most averagely fit people can on a decent bike. The argument that it wouldn't be a problem to impose speed limits on cyclists because those who can achieve 20mph already have speedometers is an entirely specious one, firstly as I've said a huge number of people can achieve 20mph, not just Garmin-obsessed racers, and secondly you would have to make speedometers compulsory for everyone on a bike, you can't pass a law saying it's illegal not to have a speedometer if you're going to go above the speed limit. How many cycling incidents are caused by supposedly excessive speed? It wasn't a factor in this case, the cyclist would still have hit her if he'd been doing 15mph or even 10mph. Charlie Alliston was under the car speed limit. It's a non-issue and only of interest to those seeking yet another stick with which to beat cyclists.
chrisonabike 7 hours ago
(Usual reference to speed being the major issue as kinetic energy goes up with the square of velocity / much greater braking distances required etc)
chrisonabike 7 hours ago
@mdavidford steady on - an 80kg cyclist on a 20kg bike would only need to be doing a little over 89mph to have the same kinetic energy as a 2 ton car at 20mph. So same ballpark, really...
18 thoughts on “Live blog: Fans arrested for endangering riders on Alpe d’Huez; Ex-pro’s journey from paracetamol to MDMA; Video of crash that forced Nibali to abandon + more”
That Nibali incident is
That Nibali incident is outrageous. How can so called fans sleep at night knowing that they’ve caused the retirement of a GC contender? These are not fans, they’re animals.
Same goes for the twat in the
Same goes for the twat in the green shorts who gave Froome a sideways push as he rode past.
srchar wrote:
He got busted! https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/07/19/tour_francia/1532020428_071632.html
These “fans” are a disgrace
These “fans” are a disgrace
I can only assume these are the same fans who accuse Team Sky of ruining the sport.
Sometimes I wonder if the French would be happier with a Tour de France with only French riders. Though, I’m sure they’d still be unhappy if a Frenchman from a different département won.
Canyon48 wrote:
I expect the one who pushed Froomedog was, but the one who took out Nibali wasn’t. I assume you didn’t think through that one properly.
don simon wrote:
That was the one I was referring to 😛
I’m not sure what was going on with all the flags though, Bardet was having a pretty tough time with flags on long poles being draped in his face quite a few times.
Well that’s cleared that one
Well that’s cleared that one up then…
cant really see the crash,
cant really see the crash, but what it does show is how much of a complete of time videoing anything on a mobile phone is.
enjoy the moment, dont waste your time getting a few flashy images of very little..
Trying to pick my way through
Trying to pick my way through that footage above it looks like Nibali’s bars may have caught on a camera strap flapping around loosely rather than out of the way around someone’s neck! Feel for him, shit way to leave the event.
Stepping through the video it
Stepping through the video it appears Nibali either got caught on something dangling from the crowd or was directly pushed. He was not that close to the motorbikes or other riders.
He falls a fraction of a second after this frame.
When these Grand Tour
When these Grand Tour organisers going to supervise the crowds on these stages is when hell freezes over probably, now that they have partly caused a top rider to retire! Wtf?
Good work Watlina, I only saw
Good work Watlina, I only saw that Nibali was out of shot when he actually fell. Your still frame looks like a flag getting caught in his back wheel.
The person dragging Nibali to his feet was certainly well-intentioned, and maybe it was necessary to get him out of the road for his own safety. It’s not the ideal procedure where there’s a back injury, though.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
It looks nasty when he goes down. Because of his slow speed he just falls straight down sideways on to the road. You can see the pain as he puts his hand straight on to his back. Can’t belive he actually carried on.
Seeing the Dutch fans yet
Seeing the Dutch fans letting flares off in the faces of the lead rider on Wednesday and again on D’huez, this is an assault and those letting them off should be arrested and heavily fined.
RIP to Monty Young, yet another of the old guard to pass away, there are so few left now from those heady days of the late 40s/50s/60s. Glad that Condor live on and in their original address.
As for the Kiwi druggie, sounds like the judge is another wet through type, yeah remorseful my arese, remoreseful that he was caught. Should have got a far heavier sentence, don’t want skanks like that ‘reconnecting’ with cycling thank you very much!
You say that but the phone
You say that but the phone videos are the best shots we have of the Nibali crash.
Enjoy the racing and maybe set your phone on video but try and take it all in. Whenever I’ve been on the Alpe it’s been a great day but you need the TV coverage to show you what actually happened. Live sport is all too fast.
And yes anyone with a flare needs to be arrested. You’d think that would be pretty easy.
fenix wrote:
You are quite right. Unfortunately (I speak from experience having lived in France for over 20 years) the way the Gendarmerie opperates is to nothing to prevent offences being commited, and often stand around and watch them happening, and then act afterwards if they decide to act, ie are directed to.
<pedantry_alert>
Re: “Glad that Condor live on and in their original address” – As I first remember it, back when some of us still lived in black & white and Madame Thatcher was in her grisly pomp…Condor Cycles used to be on the other side of Grays Inn Road, I can then remember them moving to a larger address a couple of doors along – before they moved to their current location.
</pedantry_alert>
HowardR wrote:
You may be right, but whatever, Condors always were, and still are quality*, wherever the exact location of their shop was.
*For the definition of quality, please read “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance”