Did they think they would get away with it? How dumb can you be? I think they should be suspended for the rest of the season.
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31 riders now. Plus 4 DS’s and their team cars all kicked out
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watch the video, it’s egregious lol
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Why???
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I’m stumped…
This is a clearly defined and well known rule. People get DQ’d for holding onto bottles for too long.
Just… why?
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It was a zone 2 rest day. 
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I can only image being that young and in such a big race, hurting and maybe at a perceived risk of not finishing and making good on this huge opportunity—and then adults and police say it’s OK to grab on.
They’re not going to think quite so logically or independently in the moment.
I’m sure some fear took over for some and then group-think for others.
Hopefully this will live in lore for a long time as a warning.
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Because its blatant cheating.
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This was certainly a little over the top but I think you guys have zero perspective. This has been done in cycling for generations. The only difference is now someone on the road with a phone camera will post it on social media. The stories of Cippolini being towed up mountains by the team car are legendary.
Do you guys not realize that all these riders are way off the back just wanting to make the time cut? Nobody is being cheated out of a prize because none of these riders are winning anything.
Only when it’s caught on camera and posted to social media does the UCI feel the need to react. Yet, you can clearly see in the Netflix Tour de France docudrama leaders being towed back to the peloton by team cars after crashes or mechanicals. One could say that Wout should have been stripped of the green jersey and DQ’d for doing that and Vinnegard should also back his yellow jersey because he clearly “cheated” after his crash too.
Note that WVA is actually drafting the officials car, not even a team car!
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I agree with everything you’re saying, but did you watch the video? It’s hilarious. There’s like 20 guys hanging off one car.
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I totally agree that it’s over the top and hilarious. Usually they try to be a little less obvious. But I see nobody on the forum calling WVA a cheat.
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I agree with you here… but it’s not ok to cheat if you are off the back. Cheating is also not ok just because others have done it or have gotten away with it.
Cheating is cheating.
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I propose that it’s not cheating if the UCI has let it happen for decades. It’s only a problem now that it gets posted to social media and then the UCI looks bad. If the UCI thinks it’s cheating, the race officials shouldn’t be towing WVA back behind the red car.
Is it cheating if none of these guys win anything and it doesn’t change the outcome of the race? These riders are just domestiques that will be sheltering team leaders on the next stage.
Personally, I think the UCI should change the rules and say that it’s ok to be towed back to the group after a crash or mechanical issue. All the rest of the cases should be small fines unless they truly affect the outcome of a race.
I also think there should be a rule where unless the UCI spots an infraction when it happens that they can’t retroactively sanction a rider. Then they wouldn’t have to respond to every post on social media. They could just ignore them.
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TIL I can make it up a pass at the same speed as a group of pro-dev U23s
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Maybe even faster, if there’s no traffic!
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Being in the running for the race and being helped back after a crash or mechanical that was out of your control is
TO TALLY
DIFFERENT
than what happened in that video dude. This is not a good hill to die on imo.
“Why should you go to jail for a crime someone else noticed?”
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It’s not totally different. It’s the exactly the same “cheating”. Both are against the rules.
Agreed…its cheating, its wrong. No if, ands, or buts about it.
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Towed, in the draft of a car to get back is completely different than literally being towed like Marty McFly on a skateboard holding on to a truck. It’s not the biggest deal in the world, but they deserved to be DQ’d.
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