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tdf stage 3 crash.pngDramatic video reveals full extent of Tour de France stage 3 crash
Stage 3 of the 2015 Tour de France should have been remembered for the titanic battle on the ascent of the brutally steep Mur de Huy, but it's likely it'll be remembered for the high speed crash that caused chaos, a temporary halt to racing, and has led to several big name abandons. The full chaos of the crash is really brought home in this shocking video.
The full extent of the crash has been revealed in this video from a camera being worn by ORICA-GreenEDGE Mechanic Fausto Oppici. Team mechanics have a pretty tough job, charged with changing wheels extremely quickly in moments of high pressure. This incident was far from normal, requiring new bikes being rushed back from the team car, retrieval of water bottles, fixing a helmet, and much more.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 2 sec ago
Jolly good. Only it hasn't been and it is still a public bridleway. Feel free to look it up.
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"...it feels more like a £100+ jersey". It's almost as if cycling apparel is over priced.
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I've had a few Lezyne bits and bobs over the years and while it's true I've never bothered to return anything under warranty, I've had a couple of...
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There's a transition period. For the benefit in kind (BIK) tax to the employee, it will be treated as a goods vehicle as it is now (rather than a...
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Isn't basically all carbon recycled? From stars?
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As witnessed at so many infrastructure improvement projects similar to this one, all those who object should ignore the consultation and pray at...
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It's a DLO to those in the trade.
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Cars keep getting wider and wider, but it's those damn cyclists with their wide handlebars that are the real problem. ref
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17 comments
Nice use of 'earth coloured' insulation tape there on the bars by OGE.
There's a helmet debate?
Must've missed that one.
He did faff with the helmet, but later he put 2 helmets back in the team car (including the one he was trying to fix. presumably the other car provided replacements
did strike me as odd the way he was seemingly running about with bikes from one car to another (I'm guessing making sure good bikes were on the inside and readily available, but it didn't look like that - just a shuffling exercise with £10K bikes
A guess from other similar cases, different riders and different bikes, you want the bikes for key riders in the right place at the right time, in this case you have just lost a rider so to be blunt you do not want his spares in the way of spares for the riders still in the race. Get his bike off car 1 and onto car 2 get the bikes that were for lesser riders that were on car 2 onto car 1.
Hang on? Where's the numpties with "There's no need for helmets at all." quoting their extensive scientific reports that turn out to be from a lab at the University of Wishful Thinking.
This is relevant, except the first part:
Hang on; you're so desperate to have yet another helmet debate that you're annoyed enough to insult people because you don't like the stuff you've imagined they'll say?
If mental gymnastics was in the Olympics, you'd be in the medals for sure...
Yeah, because every cyclist is out there doing 50+ km/h in dense pelotons. No cyclists at all toodling along at the same speed as runners, or less. Oh no.
In other news, the world is either black or white.
Biggest crash I've had was at walking speed in a car park - only time I've ended up being checked in hospital after coming off a bike. Speed is almost irrelevant when it comes whether you should wear a helmet or not, as hitting the corner bit of a kerb or similar with your head at walking speed could be easily as bad as hitting your head against the tarmac or similar at 50 mph.
I've ripped off a helmet and detached the strap before... 'Jus sayin'
Team Lotto Jumbo have also released some footage from their mechanic at yesterday's crash.
They give an interesting perspective of the chaos.
Sincerely hope everyone involves makes a full and speedy recovery!
Excellent video. Among all that chaos he's cool as and just gets on with things, including switching languages.
Fausto Oppici?
Does he have a legendary ongoing rivalry with competing mechanic Gino Artalibi?
Excellent name, whether real or wisecrack.
(Well-wishes to all who were injured, more importantly.)
Pretty disturbing hearing all those people moaning in pain. Still, an interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes.
If a helmet needs fixing - it really should be replaced.
if a helmet needs fixing and the rider is wandering around apparently dazed, they should be withdrawn immediately from the event. As last night's Velocast was discussing, concussion is being taken seriously by other sports- cycling currently plays it lip service with mandatory plastic hats.
In the heat of the moment, I doubt popping back to the car for a new helmet was the first thing in the bloke's mind.