79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 07/02/2013 06:34 PM |
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Velonews has a good article on Ted King's disqualification today. The last paragraph talks of John Wilcockson's twitter suggesting the riders should take a stand tomorrow and refuse to start unless King is with them. I hope they do.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/07/tour-de-france/editorial-kings-7-second-elimination-from-tour-sends-wrong-message_293232
Seems only fair to waive the rule for a rider who embodies true grit and determination in the face of a massive crashed caused by the same racing organization that now wants to DSQ him. AnNd there is precedent. Cavendish was give 2 minutes two years ago.
Riders, man up! Plant your feet until Ted King is allowed to ride.
Ben
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BuffFan
Posts:53
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| 07/02/2013 07:23 PM |
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#letTedRide
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BikeCzar
Posts:53
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| 07/02/2013 07:53 PM |
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I don't get the uproar. Dude missed the time cut, sadly. If you let him continue, then you have to let the next guy who misses the cut continue and so on. What's the point in a rule if it isn't adhered to. Just because we like Ted King the rules should be overturned? Seems like an emotional reaction more than a practical one. Maybe I'm insensitive.
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CarbonGecko
Posts:42
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| 07/02/2013 08:06 PM |
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| I agree with BikeCzar. If you miss by 1 second it should be a miss. The problem is making exceptions for marquis riders. If Cavendish had missed by 7 seconds he'd be riding because of the revenue he brings to the ASO/UCI machine. The inequity is the problem. Ted should be proud of what he did. He left it all on the road today riding hard to make the cut while injured. I give him HUGE respect. But I think it is fair if he is left off the start list for stage 5. It sucks but it is fair. |
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Inferno7
Posts:344
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| 07/02/2013 09:09 PM |
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| ya that was sad to watch but it is what it is. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 07/02/2013 09:10 PM |
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Whoa, whoa! The precedent being set (if indeed Ted King was allowed to continue) would be that rules would be bent if required TO RECTIFY HUGE MISTAKES MADE BY OFFICIALS WITH VERY REAL IMPACT! (The Stage 1 finish.)
Is that really such a bad precedent? Might help keep the officials on their toes.
And CG, fair? Make a decision that takes out a large part of the field at random and allow others to claim Stage wins, yellow jerseys, etc. Again, stage 1. That's fair? I think the riders have real reason to protest. And not protesting because that 1st stage didn't affect that rider or he even benefited from it? Weak.
Ben |
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 07/02/2013 09:21 PM |
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I still say if he was French they would have turned a blind eye, heck they might have even given him some kind of award for good effort.
The tour is about getting as much ink as you can. A rider protest to get him back in will create more headlines than the turning the blind eye would have It's a win win for everyone this way. Stop thinking of it as a game with rules and think about it as a business, because that is what it is. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 07/02/2013 09:39 PM |
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| I'm with Ben and Ride On with this. Exceptions are made all the time and with the stupid bus mess and finish line confusion that was the genesis of the wreck allowing him to continue hurts nothing and adds a true grit story to the Tour. |
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cycling chick
Posts:72
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| 07/02/2013 10:12 PM |
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It seems that it may not be as clear as not making the cutoff...
King’s SRM shows 32:15 and his analysis of the file is that his time was 32:24 or less, which would be just inside the cut. The ASO claims King rode 32:32.60, but they haven’t clarified if that was based on a timing chip or some other method. King doesn’t believe his bike had the chip.
If the ASO can’t show proof of accurate timing, King should be reinstated, as the margin of error is simply too close to take a rider out of the race.
Article that bobswire posted on Facebook |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/02/2013 11:06 PM |
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Basing a decision on King's timing is never gonna happen. They have no idea when he started or stopped the file.
That said, precedent has been set for years allowing riders who grind through injury and persevere to remain in the race. The fact that his injury was at least partially caused by the poor decisions made by the ASO only magnifies the blunder.
Now.....THAT said, the reality is that the best thing for King is to not race and heal himself. Bt that should be a decision left to himself and his team. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 07/03/2013 12:21 AM |
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+1 Ride on. Reminds me of Vaughter's bee sting a few years back. His face looked like a watermelon, but no steroids for you, because you're not French.
It is their race, so they can run it how they want, but saying "rules are rules" makes sense in this case is just ridiculous. |
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 07/03/2013 12:28 AM |
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CK, I don't know how SRM works but I have an old Garmin 60CSx that will clearly show where on the earth I start the timer and the same for when I stop it. If his SRM has GPS it would be easy to prove. Actually if the distance is correct, he wouldn't even need GPS (assuming ASO knows the distance of the stage).
As far as precedence is concerned, I can't remember a TdF in recent memory that they didn't allow a rider (or riders) to continue after missing the time cut. |
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 07/03/2013 07:35 AM |
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| the organizers will have an interesting dilemma on their hands when, in the mountains, the grupetto comes in day after day beyond the time limit (and you know who the grupetto will contain). |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/03/2013 08:28 AM |
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Jm, I don't think SRM has GPS. As for the distance, that brings into question the wheel size calibration that was used, etc. but really my point was just that no race organization is going to start to allow riders to submit timing from their own devices. Their time is the official time, no matter what.
Bt as you note, there is plenty of precedence for exceptions to the time cut, especially where injury is involved. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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jacques_anquetil
Posts:245
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| 07/03/2013 08:39 AM |
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| just a point of clarification regarding Cavendish and the time cut-off. IIRC, he was in a largish groupetto on a hilltop finish, and the whole group was out of the time limit. the organization ignored that cut off because it would have eliminated too many riders. or so the ASO says... |
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