wetswimmer99 wrote:
It's a race, right? Movistar were pulling for many miles before the crash, should they not be able to keep the peloton under pressure? Maybe Sky should have been at the front, where it is safest? The maglia rosa was not involved and even if he was involved, I think the race should still go on. G. Thomas might reconsider riding near the gutter. Historically, there have been many, many, many times when cyclists capitalize on the misfortune of their peers. Each stage of a Grand Tour is like a super bowl and career maker for a winner. Do you think the favorites should soft pedal if another favorite crashed in Paris Roubaix... I don't, and I don't think they should in grand tours, as luck is a big factor in ultimately being able to win. Sky, was either unlucky or poorly positioned or both.
Do you remember when The TdF had a flat stage early in the race in the early 2000s over a road that is under water most of the day, due to high versus low tides? Armstrong, knew the road would be slick and crashes would be likely. What did Armstrong and Bruyneal do? They had Postal set a furious pace at the front of the peloton over this segment far from the finish line and it was in an early stage of the Tour. Some of the favorites went down, and Postal didn't do anything, except turn the screws harder on the coffins of the favorites that crashed out by setting an unrelenting pace to the finish. Those favorites lost their overall chances on that flat segment of road. Movistar does not have to worry about Sky for the rest of this race. Actually that was the passage to Gois stage at the TdF 1999. You are right the dynamics were similar, but rather than one team driving the pace, it was many when the gap to Zulle, Boogard and a few others became apparent. There was a large group of teams working together...ONCE (Olano), Casino (Vino), Telekom (Zabel), Postal (Hincapie, Livingstone, Armstrong) , Mapei (Tom Steels), Saeco (Cippolini), Virenque (Festina), O'Grady (Credit Agricole). As soon as they saw Banesto with Zulle in distress the pace was jacked up after the passage. But it was not a single team
Here is an article on that. It was before Postal was dominant. The only thing they had done at that point was Armstrong's 4th at the 98 Vuelta:
http://www.cyclingweekly.com/...s-causes-chaos-50738 You can watch the end of that stage from 8 min to 11 min in this video. You'll see many teams driving in this. Postal is literally on for the ride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDGOK3HtxcA I think today's case though is different. The race organizers basically screwed up the stage. You guys are right that Movistar did not need to do anything to slow it down, but maybe the organizers "could" have neutralized things for a few K, but I understand the complexity of that in real time when the heat of the race was on.