SwissVan Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 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? Stupid rule indeed...fact is Porte (Sky?) is not popular in Italy for some reason...saw a headline about this a few days ago but did not bother reading or noting where. A rider cannot accept mechanical help from a different team rider but he / they can ride in another teams slip all day.... makes a lot of sense
GrumpyOldGuy Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Remember this...http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/jul/18/tour-de-france-stage-18-chris-froome? Chris Froome extends Tour de France lead despite penalty in stage 18 thriller• Christophe Riblon first Frenchman to win stage this Tour • Closest rival Alberto Contador drops further minute behind • Froome penalised 20 seconds for taking illegal late feed Indeed, my point as well, they have broken the rules before to their advantage,incidents like this happen all the time, poor Gatto suffered the same issue just yesterday, Andy lost his chain and a possible TDF win, Millar broke a chain in the final run and hurled his bike in the bushes, they all lost time and possible podiums but they didn't accept wheels or bikes from opposing teams, thats called cheating, and it has consequences.Sky management know the rules, they have some of the most experienced management around, and even if Porte didn't know, the Sky race manager should have been yelling in his ear not to accept the wheel.Its my opinion they took a gamble on their choices, take the wheel and get Porte to the finish with as little time loss as possible and argue the possible penalty later, or, wait for the team car and risk losing more time, they opted for the former and the Giro Commissaires slapped them with a penalty. I say good for them for not rolling over and sticking to the rules. Can you imagine the outcry if say 'Berto had broken a chain and taken a bike from Hernandez from Movistar just cause he is Spanish, SKY would have been howling "Foul" from the tallest buildings.No, they dont have a leg to stand on, they gambled and lost, Porte and Uran can tussle it out for fourth and fifth,... It is what it is!. That said, it has boosted an ominously strong Landa from Astana into third, and I recon if Aru and Landa can maintain this position after the TT 'Berto will have his hands full in the mountains, these, and in my opinion especially Landa, are two in form individuals and they will attack 'Berto ceaselessly. Look for 'Berto and Tinkoff to try and get some time over Aru this week, and look for Astana to pull like a train to keep Porte out of contention. As always, the Giro is turning into another immensely entertaining race.
HappyMartin Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Agree with the above. Sky going on about marginal gains like they invented that decades old concept used in countless other activities. Sorry but they annoy me. They must have known about the rule and decided to take the risk. Have the sky team standing by to draft him back and use some else's wheel. A calculated risk that didn't pay off. What really gets me chuckling though is how annoying for them that if Porte hadn't been crowing about Ozzie loyalty all over Twitter they would have been home dry. Flipping funny that. Porte can only blame himself. I mean we bitch that the commisairs turn a blindfold eye to all sorts of infractions but then grow a brain and don't post it all over the web. Imagine Armstrong who everyone thought was doping had posted a pic of himself mid race chilling in a hotel with a bag of blood being transfused into his arm. The UCI would have been forced to do something. Well this is the same level of dumb.
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Hey I am just watching the highlights. . Did they penalise the 2 first sky riders for drafting behind that car while pacing Porte back? I am not 100% sure about that rule.. but isn't it the first 2 riders that get penalised. . Come you roadies tell me asb?
HappyMartin Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Hey I am just watching the highlights. . Did they penalise the 2 first sky riders for drafting behind that car while pacing Porte back?I am not 100% sure about that rule.. but isn't it the first 2 riders that get penalised. . Come you roadies tell me asb?Tweet Porte. Apparently he is up on all the rules
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Tweet Porte. Apparently he is up on all the rules[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Just watching pre race interviews. . They asked Michael Rodgers about wheelgate.. he says good sportmanship they asked him if the rule is welll known, he replied that he doesn't think it is well known, but he was aware of it, because of an incident years ago... Porte is still going with ignorance, added rules are rules though... and some other bla bla.. had to stop paying attention as I had to quiz my son quick
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Oh and as stated before the only reason they got the sanction was because of Porte bringing everyone's attention to it via twitter.. no rider laid a complaint.
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Tinkoff on the front it seems, astana checking those wheels tinkoff wheels
SwissVan Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 Just watching pre race interviews. . They asked Michael Rodgers about wheelgate.. he says good sportmanship they asked him if the rule is welll known, he replied that he doesn't think it is well known, but he was aware of it, because of an incident years ago... Porte is still going with ignorance, added rules are rules though... and some other bla bla.. had to stop paying attention as I had to quiz my son quick I think posting the picture live on the internet (twitter) pretty much proves he was ignorant of the rule. I've been following cycling and cycling in semi anger for about 26 years and never knew that the opposing pro's could not lend each other a wheel. Yeah its a rule and he broke it, imo its a silly rule in a sport full of much worse situations which in some cases endanger riders lives but these are ignored (just look at some of the roads they have to race on). Instead of discouraging friendly sportsmanship they should encourage it (helping another rider) Anyway...rules are rules, living in switz I can understand Now I'm really going to be rooting for Porte, altho his chances of winning now are highly unlikely.
Gen Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 KOM points coming up... Bentancur takes 7 points, intxausti 4 and Kruijswijk 2..
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