Originally Posted by
rubiksoval
So would that be allowed in the letter of the rules?
A mechanical incident or crash warrants assistance. Even in WT stage races within the last 3k no GC penalty is given.
That's a really interesting (unfortunate) scenario.
I'd say hella kudos to the teammate for being heads-up, and double kudos to the both of them to drive hard enough to regain a field closing in on the finish.
I'm curious as to whether or not that would be allowed within the "spirit of the rules" if an official protest was made.
My "feeling" is it should be allowed - in the "spirit of the rules", but it is against the letter of the law. I may check with a higher authority in the future. I just thought it interesting about lapping.
You cannot help a teammate someone on a different lap. Had the teammate dropped back to help him up before he had lapped the field, it is clear he should have been penalized. Once he lapped the field you could argue he was on the same lap. Except he isn't for scoring. The rule didn't account for such a situation. IMO that is when a human decides best and uses rules as guidelines. In this case I do not know if the officials were aware of it, and it was not protested, no one that I know asked. This was not a UCI race.
The thing about mishaps in cycling is they are part of the sport and the risks the cyclist took or experience. A rider that crashes was likely going too fast, or behind the wrong rider, chose to ride in a more risky spot, or selected equipment a bit too on the edge. This goes against my preference as a spectator to have the rules enforced and that rider just race another day. But the amount of exceptions being given all the time at the UCI level puts this one well within the control of human judgement.