Including Femke Gerritse, current polka jersey. Apparently rim brakes are not bad when climbing!
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There was an article, or Pod, where this was mentioned. I think by Ronan McLaughlin.
A lot of the team’s do change to Thru Axle with QR handle for the cobble/gravel stages. The cars get so spread out.
I also think it depends on bike size etc. i.e if Ludwig had been the same size as her teammate, would she have just taken her bike. She was exceptionally calm and I think that is a part of it too.
Garcia changed wheel first, then changed bike the second flat because the car was right there.
Was looking at Lorena Wiebes’s sprint from that head on angle and her sprint just looks so different than the rest of her competition… she just seems to be at a completely different level… Wish Velon CC would have some of her power numbers for her sprint… would be interesting to see
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No comments on the specifics, but I have found this to be very enjoyable racing to watch. My wife even said, “The men’s races are predictable; these it seems like anything can happen.” First five days, I’d have to mostly agree with that. Been some crazy stuff going on, and people winning who aren’t even being talked about, which is always cool, people taking wrong turns, crazy crashes (which suck) and some truly impressive finishing sprints. (Granted you’re the Danish national champ you’re no slouch).
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One of the rare moments when I prefer the non-pro equipment 
The cameras have been good at avoiding people’s butts so far, but I did see one rider use the grab-the-short-and-pull method the other day, which let her stay semi-straddled on the bike. Seems like it’d take some finesse but it’d be way faster than the alternative.
Can anyone explain how/why that rider was disqualified? Very unclear to me as to what happened and why they took it out on the rider instead of fining the team. I’ve never seen such a thing before. Seems outrageous
Edit nvm I found a good writeup of it
Really terrible situation but the rules do seem clear. I feel so bad for that kid who did absolutely nothing wrong…
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It’s bizarre that the rules penalize the rider and not the team or the DS. The rider doesn’t have anything to do with where the service happens, they just tell her where to go and she goes there. I hope the UCI takes another look at that one, seems dumb.
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In this case, it seems more about the rider riding up through the peloton, then stopping, and not so much the stopped car. Although you can’t do that either? At least that’s how I understand the verbiage that was released.
Good explanation here:
So, if she would have waited 5 seconds for the peleton to pass and then accept the new bike it would have een fine?
I get that they have rules, and one free pass here might encourage others to exploit this, but it doesnt seem like she had any advantage over the other in this case. Especially harsh since they are only allowed one follow car for the whole team.
The rules were clear, as was the punishment. I can’t fault the commissaries here.
Now…that said. The rules are complete BS and need to be changed. As noted in the article, there are plenty of situations where riders get assistance from team cars ( sticky bottles, etc) and it is either ignored or resolved with a small fine.
There was no competitive advantage gained here…it was a safety issue. And for the rider to take the brunt of the penalty and not the team is completely unfair.
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Curious to why they would call it a safety issue? It’s no different then a follow car having to drop back behind the peleton if the leading group gets caught by it.
She received assistance from a car that had been in front of her group…as a result, she ended up having to cross from one side of the road to the other to get to the car, raising the potential for a crash. There is also the issue of a car not being able to fully get off the side of the road.
And now that I think about it, it could also have gained a competitive advantage as a car servicing from the front could, in theory, get to their rider faster since they don’t have to make their way past other team cars while their rider waits.
Again, I don’t agree with the rule, but it has been there and both it and the penalty were clear.
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It isn’t hard to imagine all sorts of unsafe ways to do this in front of the group - blocking part of the road, cutting across the front of the group to get to the other side of the road, multiple riders stopped to pace somebody back, car pushing to the front to give assistance … So it is easier to just make a rule that says “assistance behind your group”
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No question the team unknowingly broke the rule, and the rule makes sense to me aside from the rider DQ. Totally unfair to put the onus on the rider to know that rule. A fine and a time penalty if they feel there was a time advantage seems like a more appropriate punishment.
The rule was written for the mens peloton with (2 cars). With only one car maybe HPH did the safe thing maybe not. We weren’t there. But, the rule is written against what they did. Total BS to DQ the athlete.
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The discussion they just had on the peacock coverage about the DQ was interesting, pretty clear gap in the rule book for the women’s race vs men’s. It makes sense when you have 2 team cars that the one behind you has to service the rider, but when you only have one it kind of throws a wrench in the whole deal.
How long does the team car have to follow in the convoy before it is considered being serviced from behind the peloton?
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Total agree with the rule on safety grounds but do not agree on the DQ, but then is a fine too much of a let off?
It’s stunning to watch the positioning of Vos heading into a bunch sprint. I think she was 2nd wheel for the last 3km always finding some room to find the wheel as different women cycled onto the front. Even managed to split the leadout from ELB keeping even with Balsamo. Then of course she has the power to win. But wow, that positioning today was just stunning. Stunning.
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Fantastic ride by Vos!
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