Tour de Suisse

[JV911]

caavendouche

[Richard.L]

Dam the crash that happened in the background also looked terrible (Garmin rider, 20 riders back)

Cant wait to see the Cervelo documentaries to see what they say
Tour of California part 1 is up if anyone is interested

[amt]

Is this not being telecast on ONE any more? Its dissapeared from my epg.

[hannos]

ONE has it on at 5pm tomorrow afternoon in Sydney.

For a whole hour and a half.

[shiv]

Dam the crash that happened in the background also looked terrible (Garmin rider, 20 riders back)

Cant wait to see the Cervelo documentaries to see what they say
Tour of California part 1 is up if anyone is interested

Ive watched that video 3 times before reading this, and hadnt noticed the crashes back behind Cav/Haussler. Look like a few nasty ones back there as well, maybe a few guys panicked and grabbed a handfull of brake a bit hard

Also get a load of Flecha (I think) splitting the gap. Lifts his left pedal just in time to weave through but still just clips the back of HHs helmet. Bet his heart rate just spiked nicely

[Aushiker]

Hi

The start of the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland was symbolically delayed by two minutes Wednesday as riders expressed their anger at the aggressive attitude of British cyclist Mark Cavendish.

More at BikeRadar.com.

Andrew

[AUbicycles]

Not really impressed at the attitude of Mark Cavendish (as reported in the bikeradar article)... how can he not be solely responsible if he drifts off his line and causes the crash? ... or maybe he expects other riders should move out of his way.

Wouldn't it be easier to admit fault, maybe even apologise and keep his line in the future.

[MichaelB]

Managed to watch it last night, and ohhh, nasty

Whilst IMO, I think that Cav is more at fault, both riders moved across and were head down bum up, so not looking. Cav came across much more, so is more at fault.

The AG2R rider that went AoT after hitting Cav was lucky he didn't do more damage

At the end of the day, wasn't handled well by a number of parties.

[jules21]

so what did we learn from this crash?

A: nothing - we already knew Cav was a douche

[toolonglegs]

That if Mark had a stronger front wheel maybe they would of bounced off each other...probably still crashed but not with that intensity.
But both riders are being quite aggressive with each other before they go left and right at the start of their sprint.

[Richard.L]

Ouch for this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqQpe_Y ... eature=sub[/youtube]

[Baldy]

That if Mark had a stronger front wheel maybe they would of bounced off each other...probably still crashed but not with that intensity.
But both riders are being quite aggressive with each other before they go left and right at the start of their sprint.

So it was not his fault at all? just a wheel failure?

On the stage that Frank won, did anyone else see the guy who got second? He nearly lost his front wheel during the sprint and he had no one anywhere near him. Was that different to what Mark did? It looked the same.

I dont race and im not an overnight expert like some people who have been riding for less time than me. So feel free to explain it to me...

All I know is when I saw it, and replayed it.....my first thought was, farkin hell that midget has just taken everyone out.

[jules21]

the overhead camera shot shows Cav moving sharply across Haussler's line - it doesn't look as bad from the other angles, but that shot tells the real story i believe.

[gdt]

Aussie Heinrich Haussler in mass pile-up in Tour of Switzerland
AFP 2010-06-17

... "I didn't see Cavendish coming," Haussler said.

"He drove into my wheel and before I knew it, I went down and was lying on the ground.

"I could have won the stage today."

The tour jury sided with Haussler, fining Cavendish $200 and docking him 25 points and 30 seconds for "changing his line, putting his colleagues in danger and causing an accident".

[toolonglegs]

I wasn't saying it wasn't his fault...he cut across the other rider for sure.Just saying that if the wheel hadn't collapsed it might not have been so bad.
That video of the brake cable failure is scary!...looks like it was the front cable that broke.

[Baldy]

Yeah fair enough, I'll happily take your word on that. I havnt seen enough racing to know. They had a slow-mo replay on todays footage and it looked like Hausslers front wheel rode up onto Marks rim. The angle his rim was at when hausslers hit it looked like it made it into a 50mm ramp! What I mean is it didnt look like a sideways blow, if that makes sense...

Would other types of rim of the same depth do the same thing do ya think? Ive got no idea, I havnt seen a crash like that one.

And the bike handling from that lotto rider was very nice, well, he did well with what he had washing off some speed but not bailing out. Its far worse to slide into a curb along the ground than hit it and get highsided. At least theres a chance theres a decent place to land, curbs/gutters done give!

I did some stupid stuff as a young fella, we used to go around drifting like that on mtb/bmx's whenever it rained

[Aushiker]

Hi

British sprinter Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour of Switzerland prior to the race's sixth stage in the high mountains, his HTC-Columbia team said Thursday.

Source:BikeRadar.com

Andrew

[AUbicycles]

TLL you may be right, though all speculation. Wonder what HED think about it all (HED Stinger 6 Flamme Rouge what the usual front wheel of choice of Cavendish, and I assume that this of one of them). Demonstrates the weakness of Carbon Fibre over Aluminium - where an aluminium rim would most likely not have suffered as badly - better strength from other directions.

[Scuba23]

after watching the replay for the 50th time i only just realised how many pairs of oakleys were lost in that crash! there are sunnies going everywhere! such a waste...

[familyguy]

after watching the replay for the 50th time i only just realised how many pairs of oakleys were lost in that crash! there are sunnies going everywhere! such a waste...

Yeah, but the kids that picked them up and ran off were laughing.

The Lowik stack was one of those nasty "I can see it coming but there's nothing I can do about it" moments. Apparently none of the spectators were injured to require hospitalisation, which could've been so easy.

Jim

[vince]

Didnt cavendish get penalized in last years tdf for changing lines on thor hushovd?

[Scuba23]

Not really, well not to the extent he should have been penalised... they took his stage result off him but from memory that was the only punishment.

a $200 fine for causing that accident (irregular sprinting I think they called it) is measley - how much dough would Cav be paid each year! - $200 fine is laughable! it would hurt amateurs like us but $200 for a pro? add a few 0's to the figure and see if that helps pull his head in!

Add to that figure the cost of damage to the other riders bikes, team kits and OAKLEYS!!!

[Fletcher]

Heinrich Haussler's blog on Cycling News says Cav may have spat on him while he was lying on the ground after the crash, as a response to criticism for causing it. If it's true, Cavendouche indeed.

[Aushiker]

Hi

Kim Kirchen in artificial coma after heart attack

Former Luxembourg national champion Kim Kirchen is in a stable condition after being placed in an artificial coma following a heart attack, his Katusha team said on Saturday.

Kirchen, who finished seventh overall in the 2007 Tour de France, had been competing in the Tour of Switzerland when he felt unwell and was hospitalised overnight Friday in Zurich.

"Kim Kirchen is in a stable condition after the heart attack he suffered overnight yesterday (Friday)," his team said in a statement...

Balance at BikeRadar.com

Andrew

[Uncle Just]

"Regarding OneHD covering the Tour de Suisse, they will probably just get the same feed they got for Romandie. The commentators are Rob Hatch and Johnathon Harris-Bass. I'm not sure if they are free lance commentators or actually commentate for a station and we just get their feed (sort of like how Phil and Paul commentate for multiple stations at once) but they are quite knowledgeable but could do with putting some excitement into their commentary. It is good though that there is finally a bit of competition for showing cycling now"

+1 I've also enjoyed their commentary as they give you the information you want without the continuous cliche and hyperbole of Ligget and Sherwen. The picture quality is clear too unlike the Giro. Pity about the shocking weather this year.