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Cavendish hits pace car in neutral zone (WTF)
Last Post 02/21/2018 11:41 AM by Orange Crush. 2 Replies.
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79pmooney

Posts:3178

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02/21/2018 11:16 AM
"The crash occurred in the neutral zone section of stage 1. VeloNews confirmed with the race organization that the race director’s car braked and caused the crash, in which four riders went down." 

( http://www.velonews.com/2018/02/news/cavendish-out-of-abu-dhabi-tour-following-stage-1-crash_457682 )

So, for the World Tour, UCI sends the peloton to a land where there are no spectators (OK a few dozen at the finish) and the race start isn't as safe as a Cat 4 race.  And funny, Cycling News has a photo captioned "Mark Cavendish makes his complaints" like he is being a wise-*** to have the nerve to complain about being concussed by a ham operated pace car.  I suppose I should give the driver a break.  It is entirely likely that the only dog outdoors that day in the entire country could well have darted in front of the car.

I guess I should just get used to the idea that to land a UCI race, all you need is enough money.  Nothing else is required.

Ben
Orange Crush

Posts:4499

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02/21/2018 11:31 AM
Ben posts same topic seven times (LOL).

As far as Abu Dhabi goes, us fans may not understand it but a lot of riders and teams are on record as really digging this race as preparation towards Giro etc. While some UCI decisions on races in far away places can be questioned, this one has earned its place. And between lines I read that its run by Italians (RCS)

As for the incident, the consequences aside, it is actually thoroughly funny...the smart features of car were not switched off.

"I didn't see it happen, but there was word going around that a lot of the cars have the automatic braking system, and if they don't disengage that, then as soon as a bike rider comes close, it brakes," Renshaw told reporters who had congregated by the Dimension Data team cars after stage 1 of the Abu Dhabi Tour.

That theory was confirmed shortly afterwards by RCS Sport race director Stefano Allocchio, who was a passenger in the Mercedes that led the bunch through the neutralised zone. When the riders behind the car moved close enough to trigger the sensor, the car's brakes were automatically applied.
Orange Crush

Posts:4499

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02/21/2018 11:41 AM
What happened actually begs a good question about real world situations. So you have a car that is trying to pass a riding group but only makes it part way. The proximity of riders in front of car can trigger the car to brake automatically causing the riders behind to crash into it...interesting.
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