Throwing tacks

[TucsonTele]

It actually looked like a variety. Carpet tacks in the riders' tires and what looked like roofing nails in the tires of the motorcycles and chase cars.

Reprehensible. Someone must have seen who did it since the ten stage leaders that cleared the last mountain top had no damage, but when the peleton came through all of the sudden riders were getting flats during a dangerous descent. One Astana rider crashed and is out.

Hope they find the perp. Let them try that at a NASCAR race.

[simonc]

it boggles the mind that someone would do such a thing, its lucky noone was killed...
I wonder what the fallout for this will be, Evans wouldn't have gained any time on the GC contenders on the descent imo, so theres nothing lost there - but I want to know what happens to the person/s who did this...such a low act, I've never seen before in any sport.

[w3stie]

Despicable!

[trev333]

Sacre Bleu!.... I just heard the story on the noon news...

I watched the first part of last nights stage up until the first major climb into the clouds....

the tacks most have come on a later stage....

Cadel copped tacks 3 times, he said?... geez.... sky will do anything to win .. smirk..;)..

shame really... and dangerous!!... sabotage LIVE!... (obscure john Cale reference,lol)

[1955]

Some people are just evil.

[felis]

It has happened before, mainly in the early years of the Tour. The last time this occurred was in 1996.

[afungus amungus]

I agree that it was lucky no one was killed. A motorcycle or rider could have crashed into the crowd. I like how the spectators are allowed so close but at the same time I don't like it for this reason. They need to have the spectators a bit further away. I know, it will be impossible to make happen due to the length of each leg of the race.

I can see it now..miles of yellow "do not cross" police tape

[simonc]

They should sick "the badger" onto any spectator acting up like this again. He'd sort them out...

[SpiderWeb]

Originally Posted by afungus amungus

I agree that it was lucky no one was killed. A motorcycle or rider could have crashed into the crowd.

During this morning's Tour coverage Phil Liggett just said that a cameraman riding on the back of a motorcycle was injured (broken arm, broken arm, broken pelvis) because of the "nails." They also said that the assessed damage to all of the equipment was $10,000.00.

[afungus amungus]

Holy crap! I didn't see the news of the injury. It's such a shame that a great tradition as lining the streets to see a race has to turn into that. Some people are just stupid. One day it is all going to change and then people will cry about the change. I would say that the crowd has a responsibility to monitor themselves but I can see that turning into a bad situation too. One guy throws nails and the crowd beats him senseless and then the crowd would be the ones getting in trouble.

[felis]

Originally Posted by TucsonTele

It actually looked like a variety. Carpet tacks in the riders' tires and what looked like roofing nails in the tires of the motorcycles and chase cars.

Reprehensible. Someone must have seen who did it since the ten stage leaders that cleared the last mountain top had no damage, but when the peleton came through all of the sudden riders were getting flats during a dangerous descent. One Astana rider crashed and is out.

Hope they find the perp. Let them try that at a NASCAR race.

Guy Dobbelaere (UCI) confirmed that there are images of the perpetrator.

[TDPRI]

I removed the post (and quote) about the "French President" and his policies. ALWAYS keep in mind that the way to keep politics out of the TDPRI is to NEVER -- not even in a joke -- mention politicians or their policies.

Thanks

[TDPRI]

Wiggins sure did the right thing in controlling the peleton and having people wait for Cadel. I noticed that Cadel was not available for an interview after the race on Sunday.

The whole affair is horrible, but it showed even more weakness in the BMC team. Not only did TeeJay not stop. But there were no other BMC riders up with Cadel at the time.

Also, when Wiggins flatted, his car was right there and they gave him a new bike in seconds. When Cadel flatted each time they changed the tire only. It was quicker to give a new bike than to change the tire. Especially the rear tire.

[TucsonTele]

Originally Posted by TDPRI

Wiggins sure did the right thing in controlling the peleton and having people wait for Cadel. I noticed that Cadel was not available for an interview after the race on Sunday.

The whole affair is horrible, but it showed even more weakness in the BMC team. Not only did TeeJay not stop. But there were no other BMC riders up with Cadel at the time.

Also, when Wiggins flatted, his car was right there and they gave him a new bike in seconds. When Cadel flatted each time they changed the tire only. It was quicker to give a new bike than to change the tire. Especially the rear tire.

Yes, BMC is appearing very weak in support. TeeJay did himself no favors by saying that while he heard Cadel he thought there were other BMC riders there to help him. Sounds as though TeeJay sees the writing on the wall and is intent on keeping the White Jersey over Pinot, who isn't that far behind him.

[Picton]

Is it possible they haven't yet tracked down the perp? I've got a hard time believing nobody saw nothin', but the coverage here in the US isn't exactly in-depth.

Somebody's going to talk sooner or later.