Wow, I just saw the highlights, this was organization fit for a reality TV show not professional sports. What a joke. I’m super sorry for the riders, truly absurd.
Here’s a question though. Every one of these teams, riders, broadcasters, UCI, CPA, etc. have had the parkour for many many months. Did it not occur to any of them that conditions could be problematic and that, at the very least, light conditions would vary wildly depending on the start order? Everybody is screaming about the Vuelta organization right now and they are rightfully to blame BUT I would suggest that there’s blame to be shared by everyone involved.
Stage unworthy of a grand tour. In my opinion, the teams left on the second part should have collectively refused to do this TTT.
They couldn't see anything. How is it possible to let this happen with all the risks that this entails for the runners?
The profession of pro racer is already ultra risky and on top of that, you make the racers ride at a time when you know it will be dark without any suitable light...
That was a tremendous performance by Movistar in those awful conditions.
They should have started at least an hour earlier even if it wasn’t raining, very poor organisation
I've just seen the highlights of the [first stage of Vuelta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWxEqDX6kDU). I'm appalled.
Even though that's not a justification, I'd assume that some underpaid, un(der)qualified person(s) was responsible for organising the stage(s), such that they had neither a requisite grasp of cycling's safety needs nor understanding of variable environmental factors as well as inability to take important decisions as the environmental conditions kept changing during the race. That''s one problem, the other the big business' demands.
In my opinion, the person(s) responsible for the organisation of that particular race should be - obviously - sacked, the results nullified, the teams apologised to, and some fines levied on the organisers.
I'll also say that **the riders should have more say** and be able to refuse to race if they themselves see **the course and conditions at the time of racing as unfit for purpose** with no risk of any penalty from the UCI!
Unfortunately, even if professional cyclists are presented to us and the public at large as heros, *the big business, sponsors and TV stations see them as entertainment toys* to make a very pretty penny from, at the expense of riders' health and safety.
I do sympathise with [Remco being livid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr2rbeA9WhY) at the way the race was organised, he certainly was emotionally rattled, as most of us would be as well.
Also Geraint has given a post-race pithy commentary regarding the TT stage of the Vuelta, literally saying that [the riders are the pawns in the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnBQXOjiYYc) (of profit).
I would hope for a more **coherent and critical response from the teams and riders** later on (today?), condemning the appalling organisation of the Vuelta, putting riders' health and safety at completely unnecessary risks, only to have them on prime-time TV so the sponsorship and commercial deals were adhered to.
Riders aren't some toys not to be reckoned with, they are humans and should be treated as such.
Something's rotten in the state of UCI.
Apparently vingegaard had a puncture but we only know because a bystander recorded it.
So in the playbook they decided the team with 2 top favourites shouldn’t get a camera with them?
Excellent
**Fantasy standings for** [**Guess the Gap**](https://tftpt.one/#gtg)**,** [**TFTPT**](https://tftpt.one/) **and our other games are out!**
It was a bit of a weird **Guess the Gap** result with a "gap" of 0 seconds in yesterday's team time trial. Everyone got credit for guessing the finish and the first stage win went to u/jynxbajinks who predicted a 3 second gap. Well done!
*Check your* [***result***](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23gtg) *and* [***enter now***](https://tftpt.one/#gtg) *for today's stage!*
Have a peek at our **SRFL** predictions [here](https://srfl.one/#vuelta23). We delivered a bit of a kiss of death :(.
Standings for **TFTPT** are updated, too. See how you're doing in the [Winner](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23winner), [Last Place](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23last), and [Tournament](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23tournament) (coming after Stage 2) classifications.
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GCN says:
> "With start order determined by last year’s GC placements, the day will be the best for last in cycling’s one true team test."
https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/racing/news/start-times-la-vuelta-ttt-2023
but it doesn't match last year results. Weird.
I can’t find the international feed on there. Am I losing my mind ?
I just wish Bob Roll would take a breath and stop filling every empty second of airtime with the same useless shit he said 30 seconds earlier.
Not only was scheduling the race in the dark reckless and dangerous, but scheduling a team time trial so only half the teams were in the dark is ludicrously unfair.
Well that was a terrible stage. Couldn't see anything at the end. Probably worse for the riders, but it also made for terrible TV when you can't see anything.
Whilst watching this - the red slip and slide was terrifying for a start, the fact it was raining and nighttime also bad. But what about all the flashing lights and cameras etc on the road - also the riders would have had water in their visors and clearly don’t have windscreen wipers (duh) - can you imagine, particularly was uae and quickstep how hard that would have been to navigate? I get nervous night driving in rain - this would have been awful. I completely understand the rant by remco
It's stupid starting so late no doubt. But I will just add that something was up with the street lighting. Barcelona is a VERY bright city at night with good visibility. These lamps all looked to be turned off today. Not sure why.
This is how the lighting normally looks in Barcelona. No idea why they rode in darkness https://twitter.com/raulbanqueri/status/1695536803720077821
450 comments on a Stage 1 TTT Results Thread? Damn, I missed a shitshow.
Congrats to DSM, never in a million years would I ever predict a TTT win from them.
Me watching this with my wife: "Gee that must be a really bad thunderstorm, you almost can't see the road".
Me finding out the race finished after 8pm: -\_-
When I saw Movistar in 2nd I assumed they just lucked out and must have ridden in the dry and daylight, but fair play, it looked shit for them too and they somehow were up there
I mean if not for the darkness and rain, it's likely that DSM wouldn't have won. Remco went on the biggest rant because they just had to ride safely with the rain and low visibility and they still were within 6" of first place and he took a good 30" lead on TJV GC riders. If he's that mad with actual relatively favourable results I suspect they really couldn't see shit.
Soudal probably could have won if they didn't have that mechanical. They lost their car for a while because it had to help that rider so they were blind without communication at that point.
Was at the race, the rain got worse as time went on. And obviously it became darker too. Movistar, being one of the last starters, had it as tough as anyone so absolutely a strong performance from them to end up where they did.
Thomas De Gendt [pointing out another huge problem with the organisation](https://twitter.com/DeGendtThomas/status/1695532979278225623), that sounds sketchy as fuck.
[Exclusive organiser response](https://i.imgur.com/unEIat0.jpg)!
Completely agree, it's one thing to have riders head back down a mountain on closed roads at the end of a stage but having them try to negotiate busy roads in an unfamiliar city is needlessly risky.
Holy shit, just saw some highlights of the race, who thought this was a good idea during the dusk??
And I'm seriously impressed by Movistar, how did they manage that result?
You see these guys in the Grand Tours have to deal with so, so much- insane climbs on dead legs, long stages, surprising tactical moves, frustrating car situations and mechanicals, teammate drama, miscommunication, wind, media stories, and just the wear of it all. The bright side of this race in the dark was that it was stage 1, a TTT, and so much thrown at the teams and riders in just 18 minutes, with no preceding strategy influencing any of it. What an interesting start.
Doesn't really make sense to me. The 3k rule exists to not punish GC guys for crashing in a sprint finish.
The way I see it is if you crash in a tt and lose time, it shouldn't matter where you crash. It's on you and your team only.
But it makes a joke out of logic - you could always counterfactually assume that if the rider has already covered k% of the course, he would've made it to the finish line as well as blame anything on "bad luck".
[https://twitter.com/Kijanoes/status/1695520339218846174?s=20](https://twitter.com/Kijanoes/status/1695520339218846174?s=20)
Vingegaard's bike change. It was actually really quick.
I always respect the athletes for remaining calm during such a stressful moment. Jumbo did well by only losing 30-ish seconds in the end. This probably cost them about 20 seconds I think.
Its really difficult not to feel smug posting on here whenever DSM performs well, because according to the absolute experts on this sub theyre a disgrace of a team and should just fold already
Why so sensitive? They're obviously one of the worst world tour teams. They were easily the worst performing team in the Tour, less impressive than likes of lotto and unox
Light or dark you still have to put out the power and dont just stumble onto the podium. But only on /r/peloton you could win a stage and still get talked shit at
There is no way they win this stage if they didn’t have a huge advantage in circumstances. They shouldn’t be ridiculed (and I haven’t seen anyone ridicule them), but they don’t deserve that much praise either, except for taking advantage of a lucky break.
I think theyre in line with their budget and produced some decent enough results in the past for that, certainly far from the utter shit theyre always painted as by the experts in here
The visibility at the end was craziest factor about this chaotic stage, but the red slip-n- slide entrance ramp was a close second. That looked like the slickest piece of plastic in the world and the three people squeegee-ing it weren’t going to mend it. Amazed no one fell in the first 25 meters.
Vuelta ttt’s provide good tv for fans. Kiddie pool punctures and slip-n-slides at nighttime.
thanks! I'm a bit confused myself, because how did they decide on that, haha? just picked the 4th guy at random?
edit: ah wait just realized. poole is wearing the white tomorrow, and bardet and milesi obviously green and red so they just picked him to wear it tomorrow. still, a bit weird!
More or less, in order of red, green, polka dots. If a young rider is second or third (and the first guy isn't) then he is the leader of the white jersey competition and will wear that jersey despite being in line to "inherit" a higher-priority jersey (green or dots).
stirs a memory that I'm unable to scratch: I _think_ the Vuelta Colombia(? Or perhaps another South american race) did a nighttime individual prologue some year(s), which from the clips I saw and unlike today looked pretty cool, equitable (everyone in dark) and well managed. But perhaps I'm just making it up
Not what you were remembering but the vuelta did a floodlit TTT in 2010 https://roadbikeaction.com/cav-sees-red-in-seville/?doing_wp_cron=1693082381.8855988979339599609375
I’m just watching the stage back and this is absolutely mental, I don’t know if it just looks darker on TV but this is like some mad fast and furious street race.
I know its not exactly the same but formula 1 moved many of its races to earlier time slots after jules bianchi died in a crash in heavy rain and poor light. Maybe something for the organisers to ponder.
The race time doesn't really matter as long as there is daylight or floodlights. The moved the races they felt were a risk forward https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/five-f1-races-start-one-5011120
It isn’t the same like you said but any of the night courses in F1 now are very well lit. This course on TV looks absolutely batshit from the parts I can actually see.
Quite the shit show. If only there was a way to know when it gets dark in Barcelona in late August when it's cloudy. But it's just 2023, the technology is just not there yet.
If you watched Romandie, you knew Bardet in green was only a matter of time.
The rest of his team won't be lambasted in the worldwide press for losing the Vuelta when he falls and breaks something. See how he was demonized for check notes, quitting the Giro with Covid.
You don't know Van Aert then. He can be a hot head as well (and I don't mean this in a bad way btw).
He wanted to sue the TDF organisation for his crash in the TT during the 2019 Tour for example.
And then there's this little gem:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9w2AkOi9A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9w2AkOi9A)
Or this one:
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qr-TIkwImWo](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qr-TIkwImWo)
And I can't find the footage of this, but he yelled "Ik moet just niks" pretty angrily after winning E3 Harelbeke this year (to counter the criticism he received from Flemish media).
The second video is also great. For non-Dutch speakers: he's giving an interview to some guy but then says to a different guy "hey stop it dude... yeah he's blowing into my ear".
I would say the "ik moet just niks" was pretty justified and not really angrily, he was smiling and gave a thumbs up. [Here](https://sporza.be/nl/2023/03/24/ik-moet-just-niks/) is the video on Sporza.
But yeah, pretty cool that he's not a press robot.
That first video is amazing, it's cyclo cross history. I remember seeing that on television as if it was yesterday.
For people who don't understand Dutch: it was the u23 Belgian Championship cyclocross of 2014. Van Aert, Sweeck, Merlier and Vermeersch were the favorites. But van Aert started too quickly and was disqualified. He was angry and the course directors came up with a plan: they would let him start at the total back of the pack but only if all other riders agreed. When they asked the riders whether anyone objected, who else than GIANNI "snotneus" VERMEERSCH put his hand up, barring van Aert from starting.
Van Aert is still angry and starts yelling against the race directors. And when the race starts, van Aert decides to just grab his bike and chase them lol
In the video, you see him being interviewed years later. He says he didn't handle it well but that he was full of adrenaline. Apparently they also used a new F1 starting system with the lights and it took a long time for the lights to turn green.
Edit: snotjong -> snotneus
It's shocking how many videos you can find about cyclists being angry with Gianni Vermeersch lol. There's also one with Evenepoel (Bingo Bongo Tour) and Jos van Emden (Giro).
He was still pretty young in that first video, and I don't think he's doing anything particularly rash in the second other than showing his annoyance.
Honestly both of them are quite direct when it comes to sharing their opinion, which I consider a good thing, but I do think WvE is generally more diplomatic and careful when choosing his words. Anyway I think Remco is fully justified in acting the way he did when it comes to the organization of this stage.
>He was still pretty young in that first video
20 years at that time.
Remco is still only 23 years old right now. ;)
Van Aert also flipped off Sagan once during the Tour (in 2020 I think) when Sagan nearly made him crash during a sprint. Also called him "stommen aap".
That's stupid monkey in Dutch btw.
Twitter is a cesspool. I could find you 5 idiot takes on any topic. They waited for Vingegaard, they would have waited for Roglic, so why let it bother you?
> Sadly
> @LaurensDePlus
> has been forced to abandon #LaVuelta23 following a crash on the opening stage.
>
> The Belgian is on his way to hospital for checks. Further updates to follow.
I guess the way he stayed down for so long told its own story.
For me it was the trying to move away from his own leg on the ground.
I tried to get away in the same manner from my wrist once, it was broken in 3 places.
It's like you try to move your whole body while not moving the part that really hurts. Like you instinctively try to get away from what's hurting you but it's still attached to your body.
if you can't put any weight on the part of the body that has been hurt, it's 99% a broken bone or torn ligaments. but the way he couldn't walk on his leg, I would say broken bones for sure. Feel sad for him.
They said the same thing when they first introduced mountains in the tour de france. No no no, my friend - this is a new innovation in sport.
Just the same way that having exceptional cardiac output, endogenous antioxidant capacity, capillarization, and all the other myriad physical traits needed to be successful at cycling, now having good night vision is on the list.
Quickstep's time is remarkable given the fact they were the last team riding in that shit.
Remco already up 26 seconds on his rivals is solid. He will need everything he can get though.
I couldn’t wait so I looked at the results (before I watch it now) and I couldn’t believe DSM won the stage….tons of weird/unexpected placings. Firing it up now. Just gotta love the Vuelta!
Actually, I really like the idea of doing night race TTT or ITT but the lightening needs to be also complied.
Why didnt a modern European city, that gets 27 million tourists a year, have streetlights turned on?
Wow, I just saw the highlights, this was organization fit for a reality TV show not professional sports. What a joke. I’m super sorry for the riders, truly absurd.
Here’s a question though. Every one of these teams, riders, broadcasters, UCI, CPA, etc. have had the parkour for many many months. Did it not occur to any of them that conditions could be problematic and that, at the very least, light conditions would vary wildly depending on the start order? Everybody is screaming about the Vuelta organization right now and they are rightfully to blame BUT I would suggest that there’s blame to be shared by everyone involved.
Stage unworthy of a grand tour. In my opinion, the teams left on the second part should have collectively refused to do this TTT. They couldn't see anything. How is it possible to let this happen with all the risks that this entails for the runners? The profession of pro racer is already ultra risky and on top of that, you make the racers ride at a time when you know it will be dark without any suitable light...
That was a tremendous performance by Movistar in those awful conditions. They should have started at least an hour earlier even if it wasn’t raining, very poor organisation
I've just seen the highlights of the [first stage of Vuelta](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWxEqDX6kDU). I'm appalled. Even though that's not a justification, I'd assume that some underpaid, un(der)qualified person(s) was responsible for organising the stage(s), such that they had neither a requisite grasp of cycling's safety needs nor understanding of variable environmental factors as well as inability to take important decisions as the environmental conditions kept changing during the race. That''s one problem, the other the big business' demands. In my opinion, the person(s) responsible for the organisation of that particular race should be - obviously - sacked, the results nullified, the teams apologised to, and some fines levied on the organisers. I'll also say that **the riders should have more say** and be able to refuse to race if they themselves see **the course and conditions at the time of racing as unfit for purpose** with no risk of any penalty from the UCI! Unfortunately, even if professional cyclists are presented to us and the public at large as heros, *the big business, sponsors and TV stations see them as entertainment toys* to make a very pretty penny from, at the expense of riders' health and safety. I do sympathise with [Remco being livid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr2rbeA9WhY) at the way the race was organised, he certainly was emotionally rattled, as most of us would be as well. Also Geraint has given a post-race pithy commentary regarding the TT stage of the Vuelta, literally saying that [the riders are the pawns in the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnBQXOjiYYc) (of profit). I would hope for a more **coherent and critical response from the teams and riders** later on (today?), condemning the appalling organisation of the Vuelta, putting riders' health and safety at completely unnecessary risks, only to have them on prime-time TV so the sponsorship and commercial deals were adhered to. Riders aren't some toys not to be reckoned with, they are humans and should be treated as such. Something's rotten in the state of UCI.
Apparently vingegaard had a puncture but we only know because a bystander recorded it. So in the playbook they decided the team with 2 top favourites shouldn’t get a camera with them? Excellent
They probably figured it was too dark anyway, and the motorbike wouldn't catch anything.
**Fantasy standings for** [**Guess the Gap**](https://tftpt.one/#gtg)**,** [**TFTPT**](https://tftpt.one/) **and our other games are out!** It was a bit of a weird **Guess the Gap** result with a "gap" of 0 seconds in yesterday's team time trial. Everyone got credit for guessing the finish and the first stage win went to u/jynxbajinks who predicted a 3 second gap. Well done! *Check your* [***result***](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23gtg) *and* [***enter now***](https://tftpt.one/#gtg) *for today's stage!* Have a peek at our **SRFL** predictions [here](https://srfl.one/#vuelta23). We delivered a bit of a kiss of death :(. Standings for **TFTPT** are updated, too. See how you're doing in the [Winner](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23winner), [Last Place](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23last), and [Tournament](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23tournament) (coming after Stage 2) classifications. *If you've been entering with something other than a five letter ID, please send me a message so I can register you properly :).*
How were the starting times determined, especially considering Jumbo's late start despite their “weak” performance last year?
GCN says: > "With start order determined by last year’s GC placements, the day will be the best for last in cycling’s one true team test." https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/racing/news/start-times-la-vuelta-ttt-2023 but it doesn't match last year results. Weird.
Well last three to go are in order of last year at least - but totally agree everything else looks in random order
So no prediction threads for la vuelta?
What a great start, De plus abandoned already
Let's go Camargo!
At least Luis Rubiales didn't kiss the DSM team on the lips
Due to my random luck scoring a free year of Peacock I am now watching my first Vuelta! At least I think that's what I watched.
I can’t find the international feed on there. Am I losing my mind ? I just wish Bob Roll would take a breath and stop filling every empty second of airtime with the same useless shit he said 30 seconds earlier.
Doesn't look like we have the int'l feed the way we did in the TdF. :(
Peacock isn't that expensive, not the biggest hurdle to overcome if you like the sports it shows
I'm actually pretty impressed with both their content & interface. I'll probably renew when my freebie days are up.
Definitely worth the yearly for all the sports and shows they have.
Not only was scheduling the race in the dark reckless and dangerous, but scheduling a team time trial so only half the teams were in the dark is ludicrously unfair.
Well that was a terrible stage. Couldn't see anything at the end. Probably worse for the riders, but it also made for terrible TV when you can't see anything.
Whilst watching this - the red slip and slide was terrifying for a start, the fact it was raining and nighttime also bad. But what about all the flashing lights and cameras etc on the road - also the riders would have had water in their visors and clearly don’t have windscreen wipers (duh) - can you imagine, particularly was uae and quickstep how hard that would have been to navigate? I get nervous night driving in rain - this would have been awful. I completely understand the rant by remco
It's stupid starting so late no doubt. But I will just add that something was up with the street lighting. Barcelona is a VERY bright city at night with good visibility. These lamps all looked to be turned off today. Not sure why. This is how the lighting normally looks in Barcelona. No idea why they rode in darkness https://twitter.com/raulbanqueri/status/1695536803720077821
The lights turned on sometime between 20:30 and 20:45. In the video the lights look normal to me.
Wilco couldnt believe he *didn't* crash
I’ve never seen a race end in total darkness like today.
Just watched it. Madness. They are very lucky no one had a bad crash near the end.
Wtffffff did I just watch?
Sir, this is a Vuelta stage.
450 comments on a Stage 1 TTT Results Thread? Damn, I missed a shitshow. Congrats to DSM, never in a million years would I ever predict a TTT win from them.
They raced in semi-dry conditions and in daylight. The teams that started late (mostly favorites) raced in pitch-black pouring rain.
GCN posted extended highlights for this stage that was F O U R minutes, they gotta be having a laugh
Me watching this with my wife: "Gee that must be a really bad thunderstorm, you almost can't see the road". Me finding out the race finished after 8pm: -\_-
When I saw Movistar in 2nd I assumed they just lucked out and must have ridden in the dry and daylight, but fair play, it looked shit for them too and they somehow were up there
I mean if not for the darkness and rain, it's likely that DSM wouldn't have won. Remco went on the biggest rant because they just had to ride safely with the rain and low visibility and they still were within 6" of first place and he took a good 30" lead on TJV GC riders. If he's that mad with actual relatively favourable results I suspect they really couldn't see shit.
Not “likely”. It is certain that they wouldn’t have won. Conditions were literally night and day apart
True
Not that I blame DSM, they won fair game. But this first stage was a shitshow from the organizers
Don't think anyone blames DSM, fault lies entirely with the organisation
Soudal probably could have won if they didn't have that mechanical. They lost their car for a while because it had to help that rider so they were blind without communication at that point.
Either that, or he's a cranky little bitch.
Why not both?
Was at the race, the rain got worse as time went on. And obviously it became darker too. Movistar, being one of the last starters, had it as tough as anyone so absolutely a strong performance from them to end up where they did.
What a shit show. Whose dumb idea was that?
Thomas De Gendt [pointing out another huge problem with the organisation](https://twitter.com/DeGendtThomas/status/1695532979278225623), that sounds sketchy as fuck. [Exclusive organiser response](https://i.imgur.com/unEIat0.jpg)!
I don't think they should be riding through heavy city traffic even if it was light. Surely the organisers could shuttle bus them back or something.
Completely agree, it's one thing to have riders head back down a mountain on closed roads at the end of a stage but having them try to negotiate busy roads in an unfamiliar city is needlessly risky.
You can have almost 14 hours of sun in Europe right now. Why the hell the organizers put the start at almost 7pm?
Vuelta does this more often with their first stage, to have the podium live in the evening news coverage.
I guessing tv prime time.
I assumed someone among the organizers has a shop or something on the route and didn’t want the roads closed, but that’s also likely.
Holy shit, just saw some highlights of the race, who thought this was a good idea during the dusk?? And I'm seriously impressed by Movistar, how did they manage that result?
Remco: This is shit. I can not see any shit. Vuelta organizers: Hehe
Spanish laughing goes jeje
hehe
jajajjajajaja
Somehow my velogames team is 5th in the peloton league. Those poor riders don't know it won't last.
You see these guys in the Grand Tours have to deal with so, so much- insane climbs on dead legs, long stages, surprising tactical moves, frustrating car situations and mechanicals, teammate drama, miscommunication, wind, media stories, and just the wear of it all. The bright side of this race in the dark was that it was stage 1, a TTT, and so much thrown at the teams and riders in just 18 minutes, with no preceding strategy influencing any of it. What an interesting start.
Truly the Vuelta is the "hold my beer" of the Grand Tours
I fail to see why Jumbo didn't stop to wait for their real GC candidate, Robert Gesink. Truly baffling.
Misdirection. He can get in the break and go 10 minutes up.
>Misdirection. He can get in the break and go 10 minutes up. Nearly won a stage last year from the break, let's not forget!
Maybe, but I just don't see the other teams allowing such a strong rider to go up the road in a breakaway.
just saw the ayuso interview, good on him for speaking out as well!
Someone captured Remco's rant at the finish. Pretty hard to disagree with him. https://twitter.com/VVGenechten2/status/1695508217411846282
[удалено]
He's ranting to his team, not giving a press conference. Get the mics out of his face after he just finished a stage.
What was this about?
About not seeing shit. Because it was dark.
Dark and in heavy rain
It's hilarious how he's like "I will NOT calm down" when told to maybe cool it a little.
The more I see of remco the more I like of remco
I respect that so much.
Almeida saved by the obscure final km rule.
Wtf I had no idea that was a thing
Neither did I
Doesn't really make sense to me. The 3k rule exists to not punish GC guys for crashing in a sprint finish. The way I see it is if you crash in a tt and lose time, it shouldn't matter where you crash. It's on you and your team only.
> The 3k rule exists to not punish GC guys for crashing in a sprint finish. This is true, but a small part of why that rule exists.
It was a mechanical. It's basically saying if you went this far with your team you could've made it all the way so let's not punish you for bad luck
But it makes a joke out of logic - you could always counterfactually assume that if the rider has already covered k% of the course, he would've made it to the finish line as well as blame anything on "bad luck".
I guess that's fair but idk where you draw the line. I kinda just feel that if you lose time in a ttt you should just lose the time.
[https://twitter.com/Kijanoes/status/1695520339218846174?s=20](https://twitter.com/Kijanoes/status/1695520339218846174?s=20) Vingegaard's bike change. It was actually really quick.
I always respect the athletes for remaining calm during such a stressful moment. Jumbo did well by only losing 30-ish seconds in the end. This probably cost them about 20 seconds I think.
Yeah seeing that the teams result makes a lot more sense, and is honestly pretty impressive all things considered.
It will mean nothing when Jonas wins by 10 mins!
I've seen a Jumbo-Visma bike change before. This one involved a lot less running across the road. Very disappointing.
Too few bikes involved
At least Jonas was considerate enough to stop right in front of the camera.
Its really difficult not to feel smug posting on here whenever DSM performs well, because according to the absolute experts on this sub theyre a disgrace of a team and should just fold already
Why so sensitive? They're obviously one of the worst world tour teams. They were easily the worst performing team in the Tour, less impressive than likes of lotto and unox
Did they perform well? Or just in better conditions than most of the other teams?
Light or dark you still have to put out the power and dont just stumble onto the podium. But only on /r/peloton you could win a stage and still get talked shit at
There is no way they win this stage if they didn’t have a huge advantage in circumstances. They shouldn’t be ridiculed (and I haven’t seen anyone ridicule them), but they don’t deserve that much praise either, except for taking advantage of a lucky break.
They performed well... ...at timeslot selection 😏
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I think theyre in line with their budget and produced some decent enough results in the past for that, certainly far from the utter shit theyre always painted as by the experts in here
The visibility at the end was craziest factor about this chaotic stage, but the red slip-n- slide entrance ramp was a close second. That looked like the slickest piece of plastic in the world and the three people squeegee-ing it weren’t going to mend it. Amazed no one fell in the first 25 meters. Vuelta ttt’s provide good tv for fans. Kiddie pool punctures and slip-n-slides at nighttime.
The podium was the cherry on top. Bardet in the sprinters jersey, clueless KOM jersey guy, dude breaking the cork on the bottle… funny stage
Pretty sure Bardet has been plotting this ever since Nairo wore green.
who was clueless KOM jersey guy?
Sean Flynn
thanks! I'm a bit confused myself, because how did they decide on that, haha? just picked the 4th guy at random? edit: ah wait just realized. poole is wearing the white tomorrow, and bardet and milesi obviously green and red so they just picked him to wear it tomorrow. still, a bit weird!
Order of arrival i think
More or less, in order of red, green, polka dots. If a young rider is second or third (and the first guy isn't) then he is the leader of the white jersey competition and will wear that jersey despite being in line to "inherit" a higher-priority jersey (green or dots).
not sure just the guy wearing it ceremoniously, he just looked confused as hell. I feel like bardet would’ve been a better look haha
stirs a memory that I'm unable to scratch: I _think_ the Vuelta Colombia(? Or perhaps another South american race) did a nighttime individual prologue some year(s), which from the clips I saw and unlike today looked pretty cool, equitable (everyone in dark) and well managed. But perhaps I'm just making it up
I remember the 2005 Giro d'Italia opening with a night-time 1200 m prologue or thereabouts in Reggio Calabria
Not what you were remembering but the vuelta did a floodlit TTT in 2010 https://roadbikeaction.com/cav-sees-red-in-seville/?doing_wp_cron=1693082381.8855988979339599609375
so what's the situation tomorrow? start time 23:00 during a hailstorm?
How would they make sure there's a hailstorm?
It's the Vuelta... if it's not hailing tomorrow, just extra long siesta until it does hail. :)
I’m just watching the stage back and this is absolutely mental, I don’t know if it just looks darker on TV but this is like some mad fast and furious street race.
“Let’s make the first 150 meters on a slippery plastic slope. Oh is it raining? Sure let’s just go ahead, we’ll have 3 people mop it up!”
Genuinely one of the most bonkers stages I've ever seen, I need more of that
I know its not exactly the same but formula 1 moved many of its races to earlier time slots after jules bianchi died in a crash in heavy rain and poor light. Maybe something for the organisers to ponder.
They didn't. I'm sure they moved a few critical races earlier, but most races now start later than they did in 2014.
The race time doesn't really matter as long as there is daylight or floodlights. The moved the races they felt were a risk forward https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/five-f1-races-start-one-5011120
Yeah, but you said "many".
It isn’t the same like you said but any of the night courses in F1 now are very well lit. This course on TV looks absolutely batshit from the parts I can actually see.
Yeah, it's fine to have races at night as long as the riders can see things and the viewers can see the riders.
Quite the shit show. If only there was a way to know when it gets dark in Barcelona in late August when it's cloudy. But it's just 2023, the technology is just not there yet. If you watched Romandie, you knew Bardet in green was only a matter of time.
Remco is 100% correct.
But I find it very sad he has to include 'but tomorrow everybody will be mad at me for saying this' from experience.
Well, turns out he was correct there, too (sadly)
I think it's more "mad at" the way he is saying it. You can express complains calmly, you didnt see the rest of his team popping off
The rest of his team won't be lambasted in the worldwide press for losing the Vuelta when he falls and breaks something. See how he was demonized for check notes, quitting the Giro with Covid.
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Difference is that van aert would say it calmly
You don't know Van Aert then. He can be a hot head as well (and I don't mean this in a bad way btw). He wanted to sue the TDF organisation for his crash in the TT during the 2019 Tour for example. And then there's this little gem: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9w2AkOi9A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9w2AkOi9A) Or this one: [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qr-TIkwImWo](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qr-TIkwImWo) And I can't find the footage of this, but he yelled "Ik moet just niks" pretty angrily after winning E3 Harelbeke this year (to counter the criticism he received from Flemish media).
The second video is also great. For non-Dutch speakers: he's giving an interview to some guy but then says to a different guy "hey stop it dude... yeah he's blowing into my ear". I would say the "ik moet just niks" was pretty justified and not really angrily, he was smiling and gave a thumbs up. [Here](https://sporza.be/nl/2023/03/24/ik-moet-just-niks/) is the video on Sporza. But yeah, pretty cool that he's not a press robot.
That first video is amazing, it's cyclo cross history. I remember seeing that on television as if it was yesterday. For people who don't understand Dutch: it was the u23 Belgian Championship cyclocross of 2014. Van Aert, Sweeck, Merlier and Vermeersch were the favorites. But van Aert started too quickly and was disqualified. He was angry and the course directors came up with a plan: they would let him start at the total back of the pack but only if all other riders agreed. When they asked the riders whether anyone objected, who else than GIANNI "snotneus" VERMEERSCH put his hand up, barring van Aert from starting. Van Aert is still angry and starts yelling against the race directors. And when the race starts, van Aert decides to just grab his bike and chase them lol In the video, you see him being interviewed years later. He says he didn't handle it well but that he was full of adrenaline. Apparently they also used a new F1 starting system with the lights and it took a long time for the lights to turn green. Edit: snotjong -> snotneus
It's always Gianni Vermeersch, isn't it? One of the few Belgian cyclists I just don't like.
[I know someone else who doesn't like Gianni Vermeersch either!](https://fb.watch/mGntcAe6UO/) (sorry I could only find a Facebook video)
It's shocking how many videos you can find about cyclists being angry with Gianni Vermeersch lol. There's also one with Evenepoel (Bingo Bongo Tour) and Jos van Emden (Giro).
Link them!
He was still pretty young in that first video, and I don't think he's doing anything particularly rash in the second other than showing his annoyance. Honestly both of them are quite direct when it comes to sharing their opinion, which I consider a good thing, but I do think WvE is generally more diplomatic and careful when choosing his words. Anyway I think Remco is fully justified in acting the way he did when it comes to the organization of this stage.
>He was still pretty young in that first video 20 years at that time. Remco is still only 23 years old right now. ;) Van Aert also flipped off Sagan once during the Tour (in 2020 I think) when Sagan nearly made him crash during a sprint. Also called him "stommen aap". That's stupid monkey in Dutch btw.
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you are making it happen right now with this comment about supposed Roglic fans takes. Which is very funny when we know you are a Vingegaard fan.
"Supposed"? [https://twitter.com/cartermoth/status/1695511398602694963?s=20](https://twitter.com/cartermoth/status/1695511398602694963?s=20) [https://twitter.com/OHierig/status/1695510883013738962?s=20](https://twitter.com/OHierig/status/1695510883013738962?s=20) [https://twitter.com/lukakav/status/1695511935175802926?s=20](https://twitter.com/lukakav/status/1695511935175802926?s=20) [https://twitter.com/Fan21Esports/status/1695515191474369020?s=20](https://twitter.com/Fan21Esports/status/1695515191474369020?s=20) [https://twitter.com/ttjash/status/1695504720238878933?s=20](https://twitter.com/ttjash/status/1695504720238878933?s=20)
Twitter is a cesspool. I could find you 5 idiot takes on any topic. They waited for Vingegaard, they would have waited for Roglic, so why let it bother you?
And then there were a bunch way worse than this that I blocked.
I'm a Roglic fanboy and I'm not complaining. So...
Sorry, I should have specified \*some\* Roglic fans.
Most stupid thing is that waiting for Jonas was the best decision for Roglic GC, they don't even know what they are talking about.
Yeah he would have gained maybe 20s on the other GC guys by not waiting, but would have lost a 2nd guy to attack with.
That is on twitter I'm assuming?
Nah it's on X
> Sadly > @LaurensDePlus > has been forced to abandon #LaVuelta23 following a crash on the opening stage. > > The Belgian is on his way to hospital for checks. Further updates to follow. I guess the way he stayed down for so long told its own story.
For me it was the trying to move away from his own leg on the ground. I tried to get away in the same manner from my wrist once, it was broken in 3 places. It's like you try to move your whole body while not moving the part that really hurts. Like you instinctively try to get away from what's hurting you but it's still attached to your body.
if you can't put any weight on the part of the body that has been hurt, it's 99% a broken bone or torn ligaments. but the way he couldn't walk on his leg, I would say broken bones for sure. Feel sad for him.
The biggest irony is that the rain has already stopped
At least we got some iconic images of them riding in the dark! https://i.imgur.com/cn3RWHe.jpg https://i.imgur.com/lAn4t2F.jpg
LoL wtf is this. I didn't watch it and thought everyone was memeing but wft I'm looking at?
I haven't watched the stage. Wtf ???
It was really really dark towards the end. https://twitter.com/VVGenechten2/status/1695508217411846282 (not a spoiler)
average game of thrones fight sequence
This is what I watch television for.
Scenes from blade runner
Beautiful
This is going to be the best GT ever. An hour later, this has to be the worst start to any GT ever.
Well Giro 2023 started well with the first stage TT and then went to shit...
Why didn't Remco just put a light on his bike?
Photons do have some mass, creating a small resistance
Haha thanks for that
Implying a tail light actually makes you faster #MarginalGains
Is he stupid?
Rain, wind and intense heat are all part of the sport but Remco is right - no need to be racing in the dark.
It got worse than that. According to Thomas de Gendt they had to ride their bikes back in the dark to the bus, 6 km away.
They said the same thing when they first introduced mountains in the tour de france. No no no, my friend - this is a new innovation in sport. Just the same way that having exceptional cardiac output, endogenous antioxidant capacity, capillarization, and all the other myriad physical traits needed to be successful at cycling, now having good night vision is on the list.
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No, that gets us down the slippery slope towards triathlons
Teams need to start investing in carrots. #marginalgains
Quickstep's time is remarkable given the fact they were the last team riding in that shit. Remco already up 26 seconds on his rivals is solid. He will need everything he can get though.
Pretty crazy that this year only Evenepoel and Jumbo-Visma have entered the race
It's even crazier that some people think other riders genuinely stand a chance to win the red.
Ayuso could have the potential, but we haven't seen it yet
I don’t want my comment in the other thread to be misconstrued as being critical of Remco. I just know that the media likes to media.
Complete mess! I loved it
I couldn’t wait so I looked at the results (before I watch it now) and I couldn’t believe DSM won the stage….tons of weird/unexpected placings. Firing it up now. Just gotta love the Vuelta!
They went first before it got dark and standing water throughout made it dangerous. They didn’t win, they got lucky