Giro d' Italia 2015

[Gen]

Well race on then.. Porte is going to have to attack. . He has no choice

[Mntboy]

That begs the question of support Teams at Epic, technically aren't they separate teams?

I would imagine that the teams would be separate for timing and results but would be viewed as one team in order to avoid being penalized by the race commissioner. I also think that the Epic would have a specific clause which would allow teams of a parent squad to assist each other.

[T-Bob]

Richie Porte docked 2 minutes for taking a wheel off mate Simon Clarke of OGE and drops to 12th on the GC.

 

Personally I think that stinks to the heavens and goes against the spirit of fair play and mateship. What Clarke did was a great gesture and Australian to the core. More people would have seen an act of kindness than a unfair attempt at cheating.

 

If rules are rules and you want to stick to them in such a rigid way then that's the way it is and you have to take it. Porte should have known the rule and abided. Just seems clear as mud. Would ha have been fined if OGE had just pulled with Sky to get him backion the bunch? If he'd been given a gel?

[intern]

Yes the rules in cycling are always seen as mere recommendations. That's the whole problem with the dope culture; like all other rules, bending or breaking them is tacitly endorsed by the peloton and the tifosi as part of the game, just like all other forms of cheating have a blind eye turned. We constantly see the pros cheating live on TV and simply accept it as part of the game, then get upset when the rules are actually applied.

Ridiculous, really.

[goya-goya]

There's a dope culture that you are a part of? Didn't realise you had all the answers. .

 

adhering to absolute rules is for games where you chase after a ball in a small cage.

 

like in business you would understand that the situation and mitigating circumstances enable us to review actions on an individual basis. .. Hard work. .. easy way out is to be absolute. .. Not very fair is it?

 

cycling has the balls to be willing to be wrong for the sake of the game. Sometimes they make mistakes. ..

 

 

To say doping is because of this brave move is as silly as thinking that Rugby players don't dope because they know the rules! ! haha

 

you're actually quite silly eh?

[HappyMartin]

this will force Porte out of his shell and make him work and not just react.

 

Fascinating event the Giro. Always been my favorite grand tour. Now they are in an area where I did a one day race two years ago. I'm loving it.

['Dale]

“I’ve had my bad moment and now Richie had his bad moment today.”

 

'Berto

['Dale]

The plague of that one bad day at a grand tour follows Porte. So much for his own camper van

 

 

Some suggested that he should've used his camper van to draft him back to the magnolia rosa group

 

[tombeej]

Last night, Giro director Mauro Vegni spelt out the rule regarding getting support from a rider on a rival team:

 

“Art. 12.1.040. Non regulation assistance to a rider from another team, stage races. 200 CHF fine and 2 min penalty”

 

“They maintained the penalty was unfair but that’s the rule and the commissaires have put out a communique where the rule is outlined clearly,” Vegni said. “For the first offence, it’s 2 minutes, for the second it’s 5, for the third it’s 10 and I believe for a fourth offence, the penalty is expulsion. So it’s not like they can say: ‘We’ll give you a discount, we’ll give you 1:30.’

 

However...

 

Reading some of the twitter responses from pro cyclists and coaches tells me that they don't know about this rule.

 

 

Time for the teams to get out the rule book and start studying it properly.

[Winstonian1984]

Richie Porte docked 2 minutes for taking a wheel off mate Simon Clarke of OGE and drops to 12th on the GC.

 

Personally I think that stinks to the heavens and goes against the spirit of fair play and mateship. What Clarke did was a great gesture and Australian to the core. More people would have seen an act of kindness than a unfair attempt at cheating.

 

If rules are rules and you want to stick to them in such a rigid way then that's the way it is and you have to take it. Porte should have known the rule and abided. Just seems clear as mud. Would ha have been fined if OGE had just pulled with Sky to get him backion the bunch? If he'd been given a gel?

I think the rule is pretty clear. Porte should have known that taking equipment is cause for a penalty. So why run the risk of that.

 

Sportsmanship has become a very subjective term these days. Sport being in the professional era has changed all things related to sportsmanship. At the end of the day, these guys are there to win, not just make up numbers. 

[tombeej]

To be honest, for me as a spectator I can't help but feel a bit deflated today. A tad less enthusiasm than I had before yesterday.

 

Kinda like how I felt in the TDF last year when Froome crashed out and then AC.

 

Naturally I know that this is what sport is all about -- sh~t happens and you need to be able to handle disappointment along with the good times. I'm sure Team Sky and Ritchie have this attitude and will come out with a new strategy to get back in the game.

 

But that doesn't help me. Like last year's TDF I was really looking forward to a straight shoot-out between the top guys in the final week. I was hoping against hope that we'd get to the 3rd week with everyone there and ready to duke it out in the big mountains. 

 

Ok, I've got that out of my system and now need to move on. I'm hoping that this is the last of the bad luck for everyone. Here's hoping they all make it to week 3 in one piece and without any more issues.

[Gen]

Last night, Giro director Mauro Vegni spelt out the rule regarding getting support from a rider on a rival team:

 

“Art. 12.1.040. Non regulation assistance to a rider from another team, stage races. 200 CHF fine and 2 min penalty”

 

“They maintained the penalty was unfair but that’s the rule and the commissaires have put out a communique where the rule is outlined clearly,” Vegni said. “For the first offence, it’s 2 minutes, for the second it’s 5, for the third it’s 10 and I believe for a fourth offence, the penalty is expulsion. So it’s not like they can say: ‘We’ll give you a discount, we’ll give you 1:30.’

 

However...

 

Reading some of the twitter responses from pro cyclists and coaches tells me that they don't know about this rule.

 

 

 

Time for the teams to get out the rule book and start studying it properly.

Ignorance is no excuse.

 

Like I said earlier, it may be a doff rule, but it is one nonetheless. . And it is their responsibility to be aware of these rules, they are professionals.

 

At the start if each marathon I've done we get told very clearly not to give any assistance to any elite riders in the case of a mechanical. . Not even a bomb or a push.. nada.

[tombeej]

Ignorance is no excuse.

 

Like I said earlier, it may be a doff rule, but it is one nonetheless. . And it is their responsibility to be aware of these rules, they are professionals.

 

At the start if each marathon I've done we get told very clearly not to give any assistance to any elite riders in the case of a mechanical. . Not even a bomb or a push.. nada.

 

Read my last line again. That's what I said.

[Gen]

These guys are always bending some rule.. a sticky bottle here.. drafting behind cars there... clearly they though ag never mind y2hey won't do anything yo us, I don't buy that they didn't know about it. . And they bend rules cause they are always getting away with it.. enforce all rules finished and klaar.

[Pure Savage]

This they enforce, but they look the other way when granting Astana a pro license. How about taking no nonsense when it comes to punishing teams that constantly in the news for doping. Ugh. Feel meh about the giro now a bit.

[Jay_B]

My thoughts while watching yesterday as Porte was struggling to get back in was that AC or Aru send there guys to the front and slow the pace down and wait for sky and Porte to get back in... it was clear by then that they weren't going to catch the break away.

 

I remember watching years ago when Lance did it when Jan Ulrich had an issue and Ulrich then in-turn did it when lance hooked a spectator and fell... There battle for GC is in the mountains and that's where you prove who is best... just my feeling on the issue.