It would kind of awesome if Sagan said "Fuck you" to all of them, went back to MTB and never rode another Grand Tour

It would be so cool to see him on the Red Bull circuit*





* yeah, I know; there's no money in it

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

He seemed fine. You know why? For all his youthful antics the kids got something a lot of his peers (and seniors) don't: class and perspective. He apologized for a crash he was at best partly responsible for. Didn't whine on social media and took it like the champ he is. Show me another superstar who'd do that.

He doesn't ride any more dangerously than pretty much any other sprinter (greipel elbowed bouhani in the same sprint, we already discussed demare, and Cav is in a class of his own)...and he often makes light of racing saying it's just a show and there are real problems in the world.

Love old dirty aholes like Ochowitz claiming higher ground. What a farce.

Disagree on all points.

The whole bunch was moving in that direction, Sagan didn't start it.

Cav ran into Sagan first, the elbow comes out when Cav is already going down.

The elbow is a recovery move, trying not to crash after Cav hit him - not an aggressive move.

Anyone other than Sagan, and they both go down. Then we're all talking about what a jerk Cav is and why did he crash himself and someone else out of the Tour.

I have a friend who is a very skilled mountain biker. On really crazy terrain or when something goes sideways, I'll see him with his bike leaning one way, and his body leaning the other way, knee (a little bit) and elbow (a lot more) leaning the opposite direction.

I think this is a recovery move, Sagan got bumped by Cav and he's trying to regain his balance.

Regarding my MTB buddy - when he gets off center like that, and I'm following him, it usually means that whatever made him lean is just about to make me crash. I have very poor MTB skills - but I've seen that move enough to recognize it.

As I said elsewhere, if this is anybody but Sagan, he goes down after the Cav contact and we're all talking about what an overaggressive jerk Cav is.

Yes, Cav definitely leaned. He's done this before, usually gets away with it. He went for an opening that wasn't there and he couldn't force it and paid the price. Sagan's elbow intensity is a slight flick done for balance. To disqualify him is absurd and will make the Tour less fun to watch. I think he would have won the sprint and yesterday's as well. Won't be the same without him.

The MTB club that I used to ride with [until everyone moved] had the following rules

1) First one to use the brakes buys the beer
2) First one to put a foot down buys the rum [or tequila or vodka, or whatever is missing]
3) First one to walk buys dinner [hoagies, pizza, wings, what have you]

A decent crash could set you back $100, before medical and bike repairs

****

Above all else, remember that riding a bike, is - at its most elemental - an act done in complete defiance of Gravity

Gravity doesn't like that, and will find ways to punish you for it

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I am a little late in my comments but I agree with Sailor Sam.

Sprinting is a contact sport!

Cav has a history of leaning in and then crashing. I did not have to see all the video replays, I knew he was leaning when they went under the tree obscuring the overhead view.

Cav got punished by his injuries.

Sagan punished by being kicked off the race.

I am being punished by a dull and boring TdF.

The sprints were all that interested me in the TdF.

I am off to watching something more exciting, like C Span.

Seen this more times now than I care to watch. Sagan's elbow goes up, because Cav's brake hood is inside of his right arm and raises it as Cav goes down. If you are punishing the sprinter for changing his line 4 of the people in that sprint should have been DQ including the winner who was French.

Today's sprint was anything but boring.

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''The enemy isn't conservatism. The enemy isn't liberalism. The enemy is bulls**t.''

—Lars-Erik Nelson

Saw this on Twitter this morning


I can see them heckling the riders, too!!!

"Suffer well, chumps!!!"

"Pedal harder, birdlegs!!!"

"Hey Kittel!!! Where's your hair gel now, pretty boy!!!"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Le Tour itself has been jumped before, so i guess it's fair

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

For those who have not seen it, here is the video of Cav cutting off Park Sanghoon and causing him to crash at the Omnium at the Olympics last summer. Cav wasn't punished and ended up with silver. I realize it is different races and different organizations making the decisions, but Cav getting off scotch free (and was defended by a number of former British riders as doing nothing wrong) for that and Sagan getting tossed from the tour doesn't sit well with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ePCMVPsPHk

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Matt