So sorry to hear of this. Hope you heal quickly and get back at it.

You are totally entitled to a full range of emotions after such an unforeseen tragedy. Whatever you decide to do over the next few months, make sure you make YOUR recovery a top priority. You deserve that more than anything.

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Blog: https://swimbikerunrinserepeat.wordpress.com

I wasn't there, but I can tell you what most likely happened. He saw you slowing down on the right and thought he could over take you on the left. You went left to take the proper line for a hairpin and he ran into you. Afterward, he freaked out knowing it was his fault and tried to explain to you that you moved off your line. His biggest error prior to the crash was incorrectly anticipating your path. That is something you can do in a crit, but not in a non-draft triathlon. The biggest error afterward was putting his race above the need to see to your well being. If he could go back and do it all over again, he would have been more careful.

Does knowing all this help?

It seems like the only piece of connecting information left is possibly on the GPS servers. But, I don't think Strava or Garmin or whoever is just going to hand over their private data; it would probably have to be legally obtained.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Personally if that was me, I would pursue this. Hopefully Slowtwitch CSI can get on the case with Strava and Finisher Pics and find the guy and hold him responsible. Incredibly selfish for him to leave you there.

I would say in general, just like rear ending someone in driving, the onus is not the person in the front (Ed) it is the person behind (the guy who hit him). We're supposed to be in control of our vehicle to deal with what is in front of us. People in front of us don't have eyes in the back of their heads.

In any case, seriously Ed and everyone. There is nothing to do about the past. Its done, its finished.

I am certain if you find the guy in a bar or cafe, before or after the race, he would say he would never intentionally slam another rider, because I am certain all of us would not because we are likely to hurt ourselves in the process.

NO ONE is thinking with a clear mind when racing is going on when this type of situation erupts out of seamingly nowhere. I don't think anyone is trying to be hurtful to another competitor, but I think we all need to admit to ourselves, that racing is already an insanely selfish thing we all do for ourselves and ourselves only. In this situation, it is very very hard to subserve our personal selfish racing needs. Ed is right to believe that they guy who slammed him from behind is at fault (and in my mind he is). But the guy who slammed him from behind at that very moment in the heat of race that he may have worked his entire life for may have not been thinking that way. He was not about to give up his race for what he thought that another rider did "wrong".

The only way to get beyond this is recognize both the selfish need we all have to maximize our race results while at the same time also seeing the innate "goodness" in the fellow competitor. These forces are diametrically opposite in a conflict situation and its like a split second prisoner's dilemma on how any of us react at that very moment in time.

I can't actually say I would subserve my race for another racer 100% of the time even though I have seen the inside of ambulances in racing and training a bit more than most people (then again I have more lifetime miles in racing and training than most people). I would like to say, most of the time if someone was really badly hurt, I would. If they don't seem badly hurt, I'll ride to the next aid station and get help, because honestly decked out in cycling kit, with cleats and an aero helmet on, short of giving CPR or compression which I can do, I am less useful standing around than going up th course to get real medical aid.

I actually don't think that seeking this guy out to publicly shame, or get charges laid moves anyone forward in any constructive way. If you can identify the guy, sit down in a bar, hug and forgive, and become fans of each other and support each other for the next round of racing you will be stronger for it. My "crash mate" from Ironman Switzerland have a 9 year long friendship....not a close one, but we've cheered each other on over many exploits in life. We don't even really know whose fault the crash was as we were both side by side when bad shit happened but we both wrecked each other's race.

Move on Ed....you'll kick ass. Maybe Taupo awaits. You have better things to spend your energy on now.

I was in the last wave and didn't see your crash unfortunately, however, I know exactly where it happened. I actually lost a bit of time here as I got caught behind a group of slower riders at that point, there is no way that it was a sensible passing location, but if the rider knew the road well, he also knew that it would have been difficult to pass for the next 200m. when passing I always shout a warning, and wait for a sign that the rider ahead has heard me and will give me space, I probably lose 2 seconds per rider being a bit cautious, but I am not in the hunt for a podium.

The biggest shock for me was Alexandr Vinokurov, his descent was right up with the Pro's (and much faster than Daniella Ryf) but he started in the last wave, so the descent would have been really busy; he must have taken some insane risks

I think that the organizers also need to be very clear, it is ALWAYS the responsibility of the overtaking bike to avoid a collision, when there is a collision, both bike MUST STOP, if the bike being overtaken is unable to continue due to damage or injury, then the other cyclist cannot start again until an official has give the go ahead

Overall I didn't find the course to be overcrowded. In the Alps there are many races, like Etap Du Tour, Alpenbrevet etc, which are significantly more crowded and much scarier descending. I think that it is a worthy venue for the 70.3 World Championships.

Sorry to hear this happened to you.
I was very aggressive at first on the desent, started in wave 3. But once it got steeper with hairpins and slower riders from earlier waves where using the whole road and heavy braking not sure of the turns I slowed a lot and said life over splits.

Sounds like the guy behind you was the opposite.
It was a very tough course to have overlapping speeds.
A race of starting fast to slower athletes would be OK, but I am a light guy and was flying by bigger guys.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

x 1,000

Two MASSIVE mistakes here:

1) The idiot didn't use his brakes as needed. Plus, one NEVER wants to be NEXT to (or right behind, or passing) someone in a sharp turn in a TT type race format. It was HIS fault that he slammed into you, the fault is ALWAYS on the person behind slamming in to the person in front.

2) The idiot did not even have the basic human decency to throw in the towel on his race when he had no idea on the extent of your (clearly severe) injuries. It was basically a criminal hit-and-run. I hope the perp can be identified ('marathoninvestigation', this your chance ... )

Very sorry to hear this news, I hope you heal well and speedily.

Greg @ dsw

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I was in the first wave, 40-44. And while I was not the fastest descender I was not slow. I had just passed a pack of 4-5 guys and I was going into a hairpin at 29mph after bunny-hopping a speed bump at 33mph...

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

I would be amazed if that applied to sporting events. I don’t recall seeing everyone in the peloton stopping to render aid every time someone crashes in the Tour de France. Same with regard to auto racing. It wouldn’t make much sense to charge someone with a crime for leaving the scene of an accident in a sporting event that accidents are very much a part of.

To the original poster, I am very sorry to hear about your accident.

You I know my comment was to my experience in wave 3, not your situation.
I think maybe one of those guys you passed hopped onto your wheel for a faster ride and got to close.

I has a few doing that to me too.

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

I was hit with tremendous force. The guy was going a lot faster than me, not someone on my wheel that got too close.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

Nah, ban North Americans. Having done a few races in Europe, their courses are (mostly) far more technical than anything in NA.
Europeans know how to handle their bikes (and vehicles too), because they are used to it and get practice.

I beg to differ.

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Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

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the world's still turning? >>>>>>> the world's still turning

yeah us in murica can only turn left on banked roads

Why did they choose to send out a slow age group first? Wouldn't it be better to get all the fast athletes out there from the start and then open the gates for the rest?

Not sure the status of the law esp in France with 'closed roads' but failure to stop at a road traffic collision where there's an injury?

In the UK that's a criminal offence. And just because the roads are trafic closed, doesn't mean other traffic laws (such as stopping at an accident) are also suspended.

See my first response after the OP. ;)

That's on oversimplification. I pass in corners all the time and I have to be next to someone to do that. If you cut across the lane and cut me off, that's on you. Not saying that's the case here, but there are certainly cases where the bike being passed is at fault.

Sure, I follow.

But the person passing has enormous visibility of the situation ahead. While a person in a corner ahead of you and being passed by you has only a vague awareness of what might be happening behind (and to the side of) them. If you pass in a corner, you MUST plan on every possible contingency, including the person ahead of you "cutting you off", not because they dislike you or are trying to block you, but because they simply can't see you. Even on a bike, there are blind spots (well, ... unless you are a horse with eyes on the side of your head ... ).

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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I am quite certain that I have heard in briefings before that in this kind of incidents a racer should be staying with the victim at least to make sure help can be sent or officials alerted. But I guess sadly just not all people are as good as you'd hope they are.

Meanwhile I've seen some right dickheads from Europe riding like right dickheads in Europe.

Are you saying that a private corporation is going to make decisions in the best interest of competition and the well-being of the athletes, even if those decisions have a significant impact on their bottom line? Like, say, reducing the number of athletes on course and bringing their dollars to host cities? Not happening.

My point was that ITU runs worlds, just like UCI does for cycling. WTC runs Ironman, just like ASO runs Le Tour.

Anyway, in this particular case, no organizing body would have made a difference. Someone overcooked a turn and hit someone. And I would bet dollars to Timbits that there is a a French or German thread on some European tri board cursing out the unpredictable descending skills of all of these foreign flatlander athletes. It's regrettable and shitty, but it happens. Hope the OP recovers quickly.

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They may ride like dickheads (what does that even mean?) but they know how to handle a bike.