Quote:
Originally Posted by MNoob
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Sticky wheel, he just couldn't get his fingers free.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Tonka
This is the first year i've somewhat followed the le tour. I figured since they show riders holding on to cars for bike service on broadcast TV, it must be ok or accepted rule bending. But didn't know if just blatantly holding on for a tow was a punishable thing.
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Holding onto the team car while a (very brave) mechanic hangs out a window and works on the bike is allowed. There is a limit to how long the officials will let it happen though. There is also something called 'the sticky bottle' where the bottle handoff takes longer than it really has to. Technically illegal but everybody-does-it-wink-wink. At the end of the day its really not that much advantage over the course of a multi-hour stage in a multi-stage race. You'll also see riders being paced back up to the peloton by team cars; in fact you'll see cars of competing teams pacing rivals. Basically every car will pace every rider for a short period. The objective is to get them back into the group at the least cost in energy. Usually they need this because they were involved in an accident or had a mechanical issue with the bike; the sentiment seems to be that it's 'sporting' to help them get back to where they were before the incident.
In that vein, maybe Quintana flatted and got a wheel from the neutral wheel supplier, in which case being towed back up to speed might be winked at by the officials.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MNoob
This is why I shouldn't check social media during the day while the tour is on. I've been good until now. I can go ahead and delete the recording when I get home.
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I hear that! But its only a time trial, pretty much a yawn to watch.