The Domestique

I happened to catch this crash in a recent crit. I am glad to have avoided it. But, it sparked a debate as to who was at fault.


You have a

• lapped rider (Orange Stripe, bigger guy) drifted back as through the middle of the field as he is lapped again
• another rider in blue who swerves to miss him
• another rider (orange stripe, skinnier) who has an overlapped wheel, head down and goes down.

What do you think?

*Sorry. Should be "whose" not "who's."

Elevation

guy swerving should have looked where he was going? and guy overlapping wheel shouldn't have been overlapping wheel?

Nerull

Passing a guy and then swerving in his direction seems like bad form to me. His other side was clear.

The Domestique

Less than a second from the time the drifter became visible until he swerved. No time to look.

Dheorl

The guy in blue shouldn't have swerved so quickly infront of a rider he had only just overtaken. IMO there was no reason why he needed to swerve that way.

The guy dropping back wasn't hogging any sort of "racing line" and the other guy in orange was just holding his line.

Nerull

No, but he knew he was in the process of passing the guy on the right. Should assume he hasn't vanished into thin air.

shoota 

Definitely that dingleknocker in blue.

Vlaam4ever

I thought in Crits, if you were lapped, you were pulled.

Ferrous Bueller

guy in blue should be flogged

The Domestique

No fault for the rider who went down? He had his head down.

Nachoman

I agree. Dingleknocker's fault.

Spartannia

What was he going to do? The guy in blue swerved far too quickly for that rider to react. Should've gone to the left of the lapped rider, it looked like that's where his line was taking him anyway.

escarpment

3rd the dingleknocker.... wait thats not a word?

kenji666

20 lashes for the guy in blue

cvall91

Yea definitely the guy in blue. The left side was wide open and there was no reason to cut in between both riders like that. At least he pulled that cute stunt in the back rather than the middle of the pack.

The Domestique

We can teach without calling people names, right?

Jakedatc

not sure why you are defending the guy in blue so hard... he pulled an unnecessary move that may have caused an injury. he should be apologizing to the guy he took out. Hopefully if it is a series then he'll be remembered and avoided

edit: from here and the comments it seems like the guy in blue is actually you or a teammate because you're defending against reason way too hard. Unless a TRUCK was coming from the left there is no reason to go right.

bianchi10

Guy in blue is at fault IMO. When racing you are expected to be able to hold a line. If you decide to go out of that line you are responsible for looking before you move out of it because you might be moving into someone else's line.

"Marcus, watch your line!!!" -American flyers

RoadMike

Definitely the guy in blue. That almost looked malicious.

Silvercivic27

I'd say the skinny dude who went down shouldn't have been overlapping wheels like that. If he hadn't been half overlapped, he wouldn't have gone down, no matter what the dude in the blue did. That being said, the guy in the blue made a totally sketchy move.

https://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2011/03/crash-prevention/

meh, watched it again, and the dude in the blue passed, then cut across before he was clear. I'd say he's at fault, but the skinny guy should have still been aware of his surroundings and protected his front wheel, expecting shenanigans.

beatlebee 

I’d be upset at the blue guy.

eddiepliers 

Yes, the guy in the blue should have went left instead of right.

The Domestique

Nope, not a teammate. I agree he should have moved left, but he reacted without thinking and moved right. I am surprised there is not more blame on the guy who was coasting though the field 5+ mph slower than the rest of the field lapping him.

bianchi10

That happens all the time though. Lead outs pull off and fade back after doing their job. It is your job to be aware of your surrounding space and react accordingly. At the end of the day I doubt it was intentional, but he did take someone out, so hopefully he is aware of what he did (He didn't seem to act like he even knew) and will make an attempt to apologize and then try be more aware next race out.

It comes along with the territory. Part of a reason i chose not to race after only a couple attempts. You cant always control your environment and it usually seems to be a crash caused by someone else.

botto 

wrong forum.