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Spoiler alert next post.....and for future reference...do not look at this thread if you are concerned about spoilers - with multiple viewings each day - posts can come at any time about that day's stage. best to check in the next day or after you have watched the most recent coverage.

That was tough to watch Baz. He got hurt pretty badly too. Too bad for his team as this hurts them big time.
Fromme has certainly made a statement with his finish.

Yes...tough to watch, Scott. Possible damage to patella. Terrible injury for a cyclist.

I agree with Bob Roll's comments after the stage...no excuse not to have padded barricades in corners like that...hay bales even.

CF has a decided (35 to 42 sec.) lead over RP, NQ, RB, and AC.

Inauspicious start for Movistar.....

Real racing starts tomorrow.....

That was a disorganized sprint. Given the dead flat, dead straight run-in, I'd have expected some better leadout action.

Very impressed with Taylor Phinney for his early and extended attack.....love his interviews too...he's a child of the 60's...lol.

And happy for Marcel Kittel for his sprint and stage win. I think the best part was the antics of his lead out an when Marcel was going across the finish line...that was great!

Good day today for Sagan and the Americans - retaining the PDJ!

:)

Super cool bit of today's route...

Up Eau Rouge
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1499119745.jpg

Down Rivage (no doubt flat out)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1499119745.jpg

Interesting to see Porte attacking and holding his own against the likes of Sagan, Matthews, Van Avermat on a classics rider sort of short, hard, power climb. He's good on that kind of stuff, remember Willunga Hill in the TDU. He must have all kinds of confidence and the Dauphine showed he has the form to back it up.

CalmeJane has a weird sort of pedaling style. Sometimes he looks okay, lean and flat backed. Other times he looks like a wobbly stork, pedaling a high cadence while standing. I think he's a bit to tall to really look good on a bike. But he's been winning a bunch this year.

Well that sure was an interesting finish today.

Wow....very disappointing....I will have to watch more video before commenting further. Unreal though.... :(

@DaveEdward
Replying to @hobbitt666 @mcewenrobbie and

Had already lost his balance. He gambled trying to force his way past and lost.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DD6Yjs2WsAQvXur.jpg

Not exactly. There was pretty significant contact between Sagan and Cav pre elbow that wasn't caught on the video. Anyway, arming someone into the barrier like that is inexcusable. Cav sounds like he may be out as well, reinjured the shoulder he had surgery on in '14.

https://youtu.be/JOyNOuZSuUw
A better view. What isn't captured is that Cav was on Demare's wheel seconds before, Demare swerves left, Sagan wants his wheel, and doesn't see or care about Cav, then when he becomes aware he flicks him. Whether the elbow actually caused the fall or not is immaterial, its too dangerous and unacceptable.

I think it'd be interesting to see a sync'd, side-by-side view from overhead with that from the front view. It's pretty hard to see when the elbow action takes place and the relative positions of the riders to Sagan's left. Not defending Sagan at all, but it did look like Cav was trying to go where there really wasn't any space for him and you know Sagan isn't going to go left to make room either.
I feel for the guys that went over Cav after he went down. They didn't have a choice.
I think the Tour was lucky that big crash happened before this one or there would have been a lot more riders hurt.

Just saw a ticker on ESPN that Cav has withdrawn with a broken shoulder blade.

I vehemently disagree with the "jury's" decision to expel PS from the tour.

Given all that I have seen of the incident, even if one assigns some kind of blame for the crash.....to lay it ALL on PS....and....to the extent that he is dismissed from the tour? Not only is that TOTALLY unfair.......it is ABSOLUTELY overkill.

I hope this comes back to bite those who made this decision in the arse.

VERY disappointed! :mad:

I caught the vid off u tube just some time ago after hearing it on our local news. I can see this is not Sagan's fault. Its Cav's. He screwed up this time and sprinters or any pro riders know about the risk of getting between someone and the inches off the barriers at the finish. I really think he threw his bike too close to PS's bike and the crank hit. Its always the rider in the back that will take a spill.

The head-on videos I've seen start too late, they leave out the important parts.

Watch the overhead, this one is magnified.

Tour de France: Sagan sparks Cavendish crash during Vittel sprint | Cyclingnews.com

At about 0:02 Sagan is in the middle of the road, Demare is coming up on Sagan’s right, Cav is in Demare’s wheel. Demare passes Sagan who is still in the middle of the road. Sagan is about 8 feet from the barrier, Demare is ahead and to Sagan’s right, Cav is coming up on Sagan’s right. Then Sagan moves right, and they go under a tree. When they come out from that tree, Demare is further ahead of Sagan and moving left to get in front of Bouhanni, Sagan is still moving right and is about 3 feet from the barrier, Cav is already overlapping Sagan on the right and moving up to pass. Sagan then moves right again, they go under another tree. When they emerge, Sagan has moved even further right, Cav is jammed between Sagan and the barrier, Sagan throws the elbow, Cav starts to fall.

Note that all of this is deliberate, meaning that Sagan isn’t being forced to his right by anyone on his left. He’s not even fighting for Demare’s wheel, as Demare was moving to the left when Sagan was moving right and jamming Cavendish. It is possible that Sagan saw Bouhanni slowing and wanted to come around to Bouhanni’s right, but there was enough room that he didn’t need to squeeze to the barrier.

Definitely Sagan’s fault, a blatant deviation, blocking, jamming the other rider into barrier, and elbowing. Sprints are messy and you can usually get away with deviation and blocking (unless you have a bad reputation like Bouhanni). Add jamming into barriers and you’re going to get penalized if it causes an accident. Add throwing an elbow and you’re definitely going to get penalized if it causes an accident.

Most of the pros and ex-pro commentators were saying it was Sagan's fault and he deserved a penalty. The initial penalty (relegation to 115th spot, 30 sec time, lost a bunch of green jersey points) wasn't attracting much protest. It is the severity of the DQ penalty that has most people surprised.

Was DQ the right penalty? The elbow makes it an aggression, remember Renshaw getting DQ’d for deliberate head butting. The accident was significant. Sagan has been getting a bit of a reputation as a bully, recall a recent race where he elbowed a rider right off the road. With eight sprint stages in the Tour, the commissaires might have wanted to get control of the racers early. I think it’s harsh but the jury will have seen more video in higher resolution than we’re seeing. If Sagan actually threw his elbow twice as some are saying, or was elbowing and shoving racers earlier in the sprint, then maybe DQ fits.

Bummer that two of the best riders are gone from the race. Kind of impressed that the jury had the guts to throw out the most popular rider in cycling.