About Those Crashes
In a report about Australian cyclist Cadel Evans, the ABC notes the problems on the first stage of Le Tour:
Evans’ main rivals for the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, both lost a minute and twenty seconds after being caught-up in a massive crash triggered when a cyclist hit a spectator.
Nine kilometres from the finish line, Kazakh Maxim Iglinskiy rode into a spectator on the roadside and crashed, halting more than half of the main pack.
The spectator was unhurt.
…The second big crash involved other favourites such as Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, Briton Bradley Wiggins and Dutchman Robert Gesink, but it took place less than three kilometres from the finish, meaning they were awarded the same time as the first bunch.
When I mentioned that Le Tour is like NASCAR, I should have noted that it would be if they ran races on the two center lanes of the I-405 and allowed spectators to use the other lanes.
There are no grandstands, fences, ropes, or any other barrier or separators between the riders and the spectators. The average speed yesterday was in excess of 25 mph, and it was uphill at the end.
4 comments
Spectators constantly get in the way, run with the bikes, create distractions and hazards. How about fining the dope several hundred dollars if he/she was at fault?
Can’t do that, or local officials might want to start charging the race to provide security.
If you take action against the spectators, them someone might decide to take action against the riders. Where Le Tour is concerned everything is ‘an act of G*d’.
It really is totally unbelievable for Americans the way the thing is organized, or, more accurately, unorganized. We have more traffic control for local funerals down here than this race.
Of course, France does have universal health coverage, so medical bills aren’t the problem they are in the US.
The other issue is insurance. The small town I live in doesn’t allow parades, even though it would be a lot easier if the annual parades could use our main street. The reason is the cost of liability insurance if we permit them. No one can remember the last time anyone was injured as the result of a parade, but the insurance companies all want thousands to cover the possibility. It is weird, but that’s the way it is.
What’s more American than denying a parade because of money issues?
When the town only has 300 residents and the bill is in the thousands, the money becomes an issue.
We did it before Walmart moved in with a ‘supercenter’ and sucked away all of the local business, because the town’s share of the sales tax revenues would pay for it. There’s is no spare cash these days.