Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[Fight.The.Power]

There's an interesting question here, I feel, about punishment being appropriate to the results of the crime. To my eyes, it appears like every full-on sprint I have ever seen - bullish egos charging for the win - and that should be par for that type of finish.
And after a few hours reflection, I find I cannot concur with the Chris Boardman's assessment that it is unfair that Segan is being punished for the results of his actions, rather that his actions, in and of themselves (as others were doing something similar), and my argument is this: if you were to punch a person, you might be charged with assault, but if I were to punch a person, and they fell, hit their head and died, I might be charged with manslaughter.
The results of a person's actions do matter.
Personally, I think if you design a stage for a sprint finish for entertainment, you should impose only the bare minimum of conditions on the egos fighting it out - they know the risks.
The 2017 race will be slightly poorer for both their absences.

I think much of the punditry on ITV has been lacking today IMO. I usually subscribe to Eurosport as I think Carlton Kirby and Sean Kelly are unbeatable.

I have cheered at the top of my lungs seeing Miller going past on the Champs ahead of the peloton but he ain't a sprinter and he ain't a Classics man. And neither is Boardman.

 

[mrbadexample]

For me Sagan's wrong, but no real malice. Stage DQ yes, Tour DQ no.

 

[BalkanExpress]

Robbie McEwen's analysis. Something for everyone to agree, and disagree, with.

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720...hboard=tour-de-france&id=983158339921&yr=2017

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Disappointed for both of them. Nothing can be done for Cav now but the race officials have it in their gift to reconsider the fate of Sagan. I don't suppose they will though.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

...as I think Carlton Kirby and Sean Kelly are unbearable.

TTFY...

 

[PaulB]

View: https://twitter.com/Laura_Meseguer/status/882300130686377985


Not sure if this has been posted, Cav's hoods come into Sagan's wrist and his shoulders into the elbow of Sagan, Sagan moves his arm away from him as Cav comes into contact which contributes to Cav moving sideways and coming off, but by the time his elbow is extended Cav is already off There's just no room for bike and rider on the inside of Sagan, Cav went for a gap that wasnt there, look how compact he's trying to make himself, but still there's just no room there. A racing incident for sure but not DQ worthy IMO.

I think you're wrong. Look at the direction Sagan is headed there. In the heat of the moment, he's trying to block Cavendish off. Whether that's malicious or a rush of blood to the head we can't know. Either way, it's a DQ for me.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Just spotted that Degenkolb had no broken bones; injured right shoulder and he'll see today how it is.

 

[Deleted member 35268]

Nasty nasty man. Just why.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Froome's rivals need to get stuck in and try to mix things up from today and keep at it.

 

[jarlrmai]

I think you're wrong. Look at the direction Sagan is headed there. In the heat of the moment, he's trying to block Cavendish off. Whether that's malicious or a rush of blood to the head we can't know. Either way, it's a DQ for me.

Possibly its all interpretation really, is he trying to block a rider who is behind him or is he moving to get through the gap between the barrier and the rider in blue and red who then, almost immediately, moves in the other direction but Sagan is already moving that way.

 

[Venod]

The video in PaulsB's post above does look as if Sagan is guilty, if he had followed the wheel of Demare he would have being going left, but he chose to continue right to take out Cav.

Edited to take into consideration @jarlrmai post which is a good point.

 

[mjr]

Nacer isn't someone I'd want to pish off though.

Oh Nacer's got plenty of people he's going to be more annoyed at! It seems like the whole bumping match starts with Griepel trying to shove Bouhanni off Kristoff's wheel - the predictable push-back makes Griepel wobble, but also results in Bouhanni swaying towards Demare, who moves right to avoid him and then Sagan leaves Bouhanni's wobbling wheels to go for Demare's, putting Cav into the fence and then blocking Bouhanni... I suspect Griepel's going to get a bit more pushing in the next few days

 

[smutchin]

Having watched countless slow-motion replays and different camera angles, my opinion of the incident... remains exactly the same as when I watched it live.

This is how I saw it unfolding as it happened and nothing I've seen subsequently has changed my mind:
• Cav was on Demare's wheel, but Demare was starting to pull away from him. Cav was already out of the race.
• Sagan saw Demare coming past and thought there was enough of a gap to jump onto his wheel but hadn't seen Cav coming up behind.
• The two came together, usual sprinters' argy-bargy, unfortunately Cav was hard up against the barrier with nowhere else to go...

Sagan may have been at fault - that's for the jury to decide and I'm glad it's not my call - but the DQ seems harsh.

Anyway, the race moves on, and today's finale should hopefully see some fireworks of a less controversial kind.

 

[lyn1]

Possibly its all interpretation really, is he trying to block a rider who is behind him or is he moving to get through the gap between the barrier and the rider in blue and red who then, almost immediately, moves in the other direction but Sagan is already moving that way.

Fair enough, but either way he is in the wrong, because you should not impede others through a change of direction.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I'm surprised that nobody has commented about the (head-on view) move to the left was partly as a result of Greipel's rear wheel sliding as he put down the hammer.