europa

Yes, I know some will be upset with the spoiler but in this sort of situation, it's warranted.

Richie Porte crashed heavily on the final descent and remains on the deck minutes after the accident. No news of how bad the injury is at this stage, but he's talking but hasn't really moved.

Left hand corner. Porte and another rider missed the apex. Porte went onto the dirt, back onto the bitumen and straight across the road into the cliff, taking out another rider (who I won't name).

Nasty, nasty crash.

DLBroox

Horrible crash. He did look like he moved around before they got to him.

europa

They just carried him in a makeshift stretcher to a car to get him out of there.

stlcowboyfan

he literally took Dan Martin out like a bowling pin. Really glad Richie didn't go down that hill on the left side.

europa

I was amazed Martin got up, let alone raced on. These riders are tougher than I am.

HardyWeinberg

My 1st thought was that RP would tell Dan Martin as they lay tangled on the ground that he was glad DM had them slow to wait for Froome. But I am a bad person...

Bandera

No, spoilers are Never "warranted".
I had this crucial TdF stage recorded to enjoy later while I was out Cycling, but you just went ahead to spoil it for anyone else doing the same in your thread title.

Read the stickie:

https://www.bikeforums.net/profession...ad-titles.html

DLBroox

Porte has a broken collarbone and a broken pelvis.

HardyWeinberg

Ouch. Still, could have been worse slamming into that wall the way he did.

Shadco 

.

1. Spoilers suck.

2. Wonder if Martin will ever wait for Froome again

.

TCR Rider

No good deed goes unpunished.

Ken Brown

??? The thread title says Stage 9 spoiler. Why did you click on it? The spoiler is not in the title. (or was the title subsequently changed?)

Bandera

Ever use the "New Posts" feature on BF?

Oddly enough it will display all of the post titles that are "new" since your last visit like when one was out Cycling while recording Stage 9 of the TdF today.

And what did I see on doing so earlier today in the Title of the OP's thread, since "fixed" by mods?
A Spoiler, hence my post at 11:54 AM CDT.

And yes, "or was" occurred via mod in this thread.

https://www.bikeforums.net/profession...ad-titles.html


-Bandera

GeneO 

Martin cushioned the blow - sort of. Good thing it is not more serious. That was some hair-raising descent,

bauhaus92

At that point in the race Romain Bardet was too far ahead to let him go. Froome may have put the yellow in Jeopardy if he waited for Martin especially considering he had no idea what condition Martin was in.

Pemetic2006

I almost wonder if Porte rolling down the hill to his left would been better than body slamming the rock wall.

thin_concrete

Into a tree? I don't know if that's any better, but it would have spared Dan Martin.

Shadco 

So it's OK for Froome to ignore the old unwritten rule while it's not OK for Aru?

shouldn't rules be one size fits all?


.

bauhaus92

An accident is quite different from a simple mechanical. In the case of an accident it may have taken minutes to find out what Dan Martins condition was. A mechanical is usually a quick fix and If you noticed when Uran had a mechanical Froome held back until Uran's problem was fixed.

HardyWeinberg

It's been done in the past (neutralize for an accident when it's in the interest of the team in yellow)

As tensions mount in the Tour de France, Cancellara emerges as the peloton's patron | VeloNews.com

Andy_K 

It's actually Bardet whose actions were most similar to Aru's. He was behind the accident so definitely aware that it had happened when he attacked. Of course, he had no way of knowing that Martin was going to be getting up and (like Aru) he was running out of time to make a move. Also, waiting for Martin would have given time back to Quintana. It's just bad luck for Martin.

I will say that in Aru's case it was pretty clear that he attacked because of Froome's mechanical, not just at that time. Bardet probably had planned to attack on the descent when he got the chance.

Pemetic2006

Yes, possibly into a tree. Seems to be potentially better than bouncing across the road and body slamming a rock wall. But, maybe not.

Kevindale

I noticed that Froome et al. did seem to hold back for a moment, but my thought was he/they knew it would be pointless to attack, since Uran was holding onto the neutral car while the mechanic tried to fix things, and if the group sped up, I'm guessing the driver of the car would have sped up a bit, too.

Plus, the problem wasn't fixed, and I'm guessing none of that group thought it was possible Uran could beat them all with a busted RD.

txags92

You and me both. As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife "so is this where Froome stops to wait for Porte and Martin to get up?"

TCR Rider

I was thinking about that myself but after watching the replay this morning I saw that the drop off down the hill was really steep. If he didn't hit a tree he could have been falling for a long time.
I was also thinking about that unwritten rule to sit up if the Yellow Jersey has a mechanical and I came to the conclusion that bike racing is a combination of man and machine. If a rider suffers a mechanical that's a tough break but the race goes on. Uran overcame his mechanical and won the stage. That's bike racing
A rider should be able to take advantage of any opportunity he gets. Sky is such a strong team that if anyone plans on challenging them they can't be affording them courtesies and expect to contend.