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Tour de France 2013

48 watchers

eL Bee! Jul 2013 9:51pm, 9 Jul 2013 18,738 posts	0 eL Bee! At those speeds when commited to a line, the bike has to be steered using countersteering at speed. The move right by Veelers, while subtle was clearly made to impede the direct line for Cav, Giving Cav two options - steer the bike left (so that his centre of mass moved right and then the bike could move right - BUT the bike would have hit Veelers' bike; OR counter steer the bike to the right, knowing that his body would go left and hope that he could hold it straight until he was past. Ever had to do that to avoid a pothole and THEN had to control the oversteer in the opposite direction? At those speeds a touch of some kind was inevitable
Bazoaxe Jul 2013 9:55pm, 9 Jul 2013 5,770 posts	0 Bazoaxe Described better than I could LB, but still looked very much like Cav also looked for a bit of shoulder contact as he knew he had been impeded and stopped from taking part in the sprint. If he hadnt done that then Veelers would have been less likely to fall. No doubt Veelers was also at fault, but not sure that Cav is guilt free Just my opinion
JohnnyO Jul 2013 10:17pm, 9 Jul 2013 16,569 posts	0 JohnnyO Veelers fault, no doubt. Cavendish was lucky to avoid coming off himself the way Veelers started to take his line.
Tonybv9 Jul 2013 11:46pm, 9 Jul 2013 37 posts	0 Tonybv9 In slow motion it looks like Cav's fault, but at real speed you realise just how fast they're going and how little reaction time there is. 50-50, I reckon. Cav wouldn't have won anyway. I bet he wishes he had his HTC lead out train again.
tiamo69 Jul 2013 12:39am, 10 Jul 2013 440 posts	0 tiamo69 Decision was correct... after watching it live & seeing umpteen replays; what's clear is that Cav looks at fault 'IF' you only see the cut down/edited version... Veelers releases Kittel & then takes a 'really' long look over his right shoulder; he knows exactly where Cav is & IMHO makes a classic blocking move to push Cav as wide as possible and keep him away from Kittel for as long as possible... Veelers moved towards the right, crossing the white line, ahead of a left hand bend??? Seems like a pretty calculated move to me... seen far worse clashes in this year's MotoGP chalked up to 'Racing Incidents' by Race Control. Kudos to Kittel though, for an awesome Sprint steal off Greipel
hammerite Jul 2013 8:35am, 10 Jul 2013 18,818 posts	0 hammerite Tony - OPQS lead out was fine. Watch it again. Steegmans goes flying up the outside of the group, Cav follows part of the way, then decides to ease up and tuck in behind another rider (Kittel probably). Steegmans carries on right to the front of the bunch and eases straight up when he realises Cav wasn't there. Had Cav gone with him he'd probably have needed to unleash a slightly long sprint, but I think would have been ok, as he'd have been going from the front and would have had the jump on the others.
Meglet Jul 2013 8:58am, 10 Jul 2013 12,812 posts	0 Meglet HTC were so dominant in those lead out trains and you knew once they were in place the win was Cav's. Is it that OPQS aren't as good as they were, or is it that the other teams have got better/more organised?
Endorphins Junky Jul 2013 9:29am, 10 Jul 2013 2,165 posts	0 Endorphins Junky Individual TT today - could be quite significant me thinks.
Tonybv9 Jul 2013 9:38am, 10 Jul 2013 39 posts	0 Tonybv9 Yes, Hammerite, I noticed that Cav switched wheels; I thought it was strange at the time. In the post race interview he actually complained: "Steegmans went too early, and I can't go from that far out". I'm not saying OPQS are rubbish. I thought they'd got it right as they only went to the front at about 5k. Also, the former HTC train members have strengthened the teams they went to, so they have all got better.
hammerite Jul 2013 9:49am, 10 Jul 2013 18,822 posts	0 hammerite Yes I think there are a lot more contenders now. In the early days Cav was up against the fading McEwen, Hushovd and Petacchi - Farrar was a definite contender but he seems to have lost is since Wouter Weylandts died. Now he's up against a few other younger sprinters upping their game/experience with every race. You have to remember that both Greipel, Goss (and Ciolek) were on the same team as Cav so that was most of his current contenders on the same team!