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ysobelleI've been watching cycling for years now, and I've never seen anything like today's stage at the Giro.
From Lance Armstrong's Twitter:
"lancearmstrong: St 9 done. Unfortunately not the best day for the fans OR the riders. We (the peloton) collectively took the decision to neutralize most of the race due to circuit. Tram tacks running same direction as the course, parked cars on the roads, etc. Anyhow, it lit up at the end And Cavendish got another stage win. Good for him, great kid. Rest day tomorrow then the "real" Giro starts."
I tuned in this evening to find the peloton looking like the last day of the Tour de France: lots of hanging around, chatting and joking on the bikes, going a lazy, leisurely pace. What the hell? Turns out that the riders were already spooked by an hellacious descent in the rain the day before, and an accident of the type no one ever wants to see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/sports/cycling/17giro.html
Spanish Cyclist in Serious Condition After Crash
By JULIET MACUR
Published: May 16, 2009
BERGAMO, Italy — The Spanish cyclist Pedro Horrillo was in serious condition at a local hospital after crashing over a guardrail during the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday and tumbling at least 200 feet down a ravine, team officials said.
Horrillo, 34, who rides for the Rabobank Team, is in a medically induced coma, with internal bleeding and a punctured lung, as well as several fractures. He has no head injuries, said Dr. Geert Leinders, the Rabobank team doctor.
During a steep descent during the 130-mile stage, Horrillo’s bike skidded on wet leaves, causing him to slide and crash into a railing. He flew over the railing, officials said.
Horrillo was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors discovered that he had broken his right femur, right knee and several ribs. He also had trauma to his throat and at least two fractured vertebrae, including one in his neck.
“At this moment, the most difficult problem is to treat his respiration because of all the trouble with his lung,” Leinders said, adding that Horrillo would be kept in a coma for 24 hours as doctors tried to stabilize him.
Another injured rider, Christian Vande Velde, the leader of Team Garmin-Slipstream, received test results from a medical evaluation at a hospital in Girona, Spain. Vande Velde, who crashed during the third stage on Monday, has one broken rib, as initial tests showed, but also a hairline fracture of his pelvis. Garmin-Slipstream’s team doctor, Prentice Steffen, said it was too soon to know when Vande Velde could return to training.
It took them twenty minutes just to FIND the guy-- the trees and brush were that thick. And the rescue workers had to RAPPEL down the near-vertical slope. Thankfully, he's doing well, and has been transferred to a hospital nearer his home. The point, however, is that there was a growing anger in the peloton about the course this year, and today, the riders finally made a collective decision to say to the race officials, "Enough is enough." Officials responded by neutralising today's stage, ten laps around the city of Milan. That means no intermediate sprints for points, and no change in overall standings. It's not the first time the peloton has protested-- 1998's "Festina Affair" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festina_affair) was pretty crazy-- but I've never seen this kind of protest about the course itself. And they're not crazy: cobblestones are bad enough, but trolley tracks running along the course? Cars parked on the course? Traffic? Come on. Who the hell thought this was a good idea?
Just to be sure spectators knew what they were doing and why, the entire mass of riders stopped at what would later be the finish line. The leader of the race, Danilo Di Luca, took a microphone, and explained to the crowd that the course was too dangerous, and none of them wanted to risk serious injury.
At the end, there was a sprint finish, as Columbia/Highroad set up the amazing young sprinter Mark Cavendish for a win. But this will probably go down as one of the most interesting cycling stages I've ever seen.
And the slowest.
More info: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/sports/cycling/18cycling.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt
From Lance Armstrong's Twitter:
"lancearmstrong: St 9 done. Unfortunately not the best day for the fans OR the riders. We (the peloton) collectively took the decision to neutralize most of the race due to circuit. Tram tacks running same direction as the course, parked cars on the roads, etc. Anyhow, it lit up at the end And Cavendish got another stage win. Good for him, great kid. Rest day tomorrow then the "real" Giro starts."
I tuned in this evening to find the peloton looking like the last day of the Tour de France: lots of hanging around, chatting and joking on the bikes, going a lazy, leisurely pace. What the hell? Turns out that the riders were already spooked by an hellacious descent in the rain the day before, and an accident of the type no one ever wants to see:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/sports/cycling/17giro.html
Spanish Cyclist in Serious Condition After Crash
By JULIET MACUR
Published: May 16, 2009
BERGAMO, Italy — The Spanish cyclist Pedro Horrillo was in serious condition at a local hospital after crashing over a guardrail during the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday and tumbling at least 200 feet down a ravine, team officials said.
Horrillo, 34, who rides for the Rabobank Team, is in a medically induced coma, with internal bleeding and a punctured lung, as well as several fractures. He has no head injuries, said Dr. Geert Leinders, the Rabobank team doctor.
During a steep descent during the 130-mile stage, Horrillo’s bike skidded on wet leaves, causing him to slide and crash into a railing. He flew over the railing, officials said.
Horrillo was airlifted to a hospital, where doctors discovered that he had broken his right femur, right knee and several ribs. He also had trauma to his throat and at least two fractured vertebrae, including one in his neck.
“At this moment, the most difficult problem is to treat his respiration because of all the trouble with his lung,” Leinders said, adding that Horrillo would be kept in a coma for 24 hours as doctors tried to stabilize him.
Another injured rider, Christian Vande Velde, the leader of Team Garmin-Slipstream, received test results from a medical evaluation at a hospital in Girona, Spain. Vande Velde, who crashed during the third stage on Monday, has one broken rib, as initial tests showed, but also a hairline fracture of his pelvis. Garmin-Slipstream’s team doctor, Prentice Steffen, said it was too soon to know when Vande Velde could return to training.
It took them twenty minutes just to FIND the guy-- the trees and brush were that thick. And the rescue workers had to RAPPEL down the near-vertical slope. Thankfully, he's doing well, and has been transferred to a hospital nearer his home. The point, however, is that there was a growing anger in the peloton about the course this year, and today, the riders finally made a collective decision to say to the race officials, "Enough is enough." Officials responded by neutralising today's stage, ten laps around the city of Milan. That means no intermediate sprints for points, and no change in overall standings. It's not the first time the peloton has protested-- 1998's "Festina Affair" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festina_affair) was pretty crazy-- but I've never seen this kind of protest about the course itself. And they're not crazy: cobblestones are bad enough, but trolley tracks running along the course? Cars parked on the course? Traffic? Come on. Who the hell thought this was a good idea?
Just to be sure spectators knew what they were doing and why, the entire mass of riders stopped at what would later be the finish line. The leader of the race, Danilo Di Luca, took a microphone, and explained to the crowd that the course was too dangerous, and none of them wanted to risk serious injury.
At the end, there was a sprint finish, as Columbia/Highroad set up the amazing young sprinter Mark Cavendish for a win. But this will probably go down as one of the most interesting cycling stages I've ever seen.
And the slowest.
More info: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/sports/cycling/18cycling.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt