Have you ever seen anything like it? Chris Froome is seen running up Mont Ventoux in his yellow jersey. It was an extraordinary image, the race leader bereft of his bike as he ran past the cheering crowds.
Here’s a look at what happened and an attempt to make sense of it all.
Look at the image above and what do you see? André Greipel’s on his way to winning Stage 6 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia but look again through the gap of riders to the background and the pink jersey sat on the road. It’s Alberto Contador who has suffered a crash in the final hundred metres. What was he doing in the sprint you might ask and the answer is trying to stay out of trouble. The irony is that in a stage race those aiming for the overall classification have to be near the front even in the finish of a sprint stage to avoid losing time but this only raises the risks.
Is it time to rethink the 3km rule and reserve the finish of certain stages for the sprinters?
The UCI has announced a fresh set of reforms to the World Tour. Last September saw cycling’s governing body announce plans for 2017 but these prompted rebellion from race organisers with ASO, the largest of them, saying it would pull all of its races out of the 2017 World Tour and register them as HC-status events in 2017. The result is that last September’s plans have been abandoned and a press release issued today announces a new start.
This week has seen several comment pieces like the one in London’s The Guardian shown above (and here and here) saying the new Bahrain cycling team too controversial and unpleasant for the sport because of the multiple allegations claiming the team’s backer Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, son of the the ruler King Fahd, tortured people. He denies this. Public statements like “Whoever calls for the fall of the regime, may a wall fall on his head” are a matter of record. With headlines like “UCI urged to halt Bahraini-bankrolled WorldTour team over rights abuses” can the team be stopped?
The UCI has published its annual report and accounts for 2015 on its website. It’s full of glossy images but let’s skip to the numbers at the back to see how the governing body is earning and spending its money.
There’s plenty up in the air right now given the proposed UCI reforms, their rejection by ASO and all the uncertainty ahead but since this is about a theory, let’s run with it. The idea is that if 18 teams or less apply for the 18 World Tour spots then all is well but the moment another team applies the equilibrium is broke with consequences for teams, tactics and wages.
As product tests go this was not the case-study people had planned. When it was announced that disc brakes could be allowed on a trial basis it looked like an open door for the product to become established: a courtesy before a formality. Then Francisco Ventoso crashed in Paris-Roubaix, slammed into a disc and sliced his leg. He typed an open letter, used words like “machete” and within hours the trial was ended and disc brakes are banned.
New for 2016 is the UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol, a rule that concerns itself with bad weather of all kinds and it got its first use in the World Tour yesterday in Paris-Nice. As rule explainers go this is a quick one but worth exploring.
Can you ride on a bike path during a race? Who is to blame if riders stack up on sharp corner in the final metres of a race? Is it ok to cross a level-crossing if the gates are still open?
Some of the rules have changed for 2016 and for all the rest it’s impossible to remember all the UCI rules, they take enough enough space on a hard drive yet alone your own memory. What’s a rider to do?
Well these rules cover everything from BMX and frame design to media accreditation or World Tour team licence applications, the kind of things that no racer need worry about. So what in-race rules are there to remember if you’ve got a number on your back and your feet clipped into the pedals? Here’s a handy list of do’s and don’ts for racers…
Katusha have quit the MPCC grouping of teams, following Orica-Greendge’s departure too. Teams rushed to join this group when they needed the political cover and most bail the moment they have to uphold its strict rules.
The exodus is a blow to the group but at the same time the MPCC’s work is almost done as most of the ideas it promoted have now been adopted by the UCI and the ones that aren’t yet are under review.