It’s the same incident. Hernandez went into Cory into that turn, Cory nearly lost his front wheel and overcorrected to keep it up which put Hernandez into the gutter. Cory wasn’t even clipped in when that happened.
ETA: Not sure about this anymore. Gotta go look more.
It would be nice to see the full incident from start to finish, for some reason I thought Hernandez made his move in turn one and Williams in the final turn, but either way, the fight at the end isn’t the way to go about it.
Edited: actually looks like the video you’re referencing was a different point in the race as Hernandez’s move was in turn one like you said. Back to the reddit machine for me! 
Edited again:
Nope, it is the same incident as far as I can tell. Out of turn one, just not the final turn.
In that one vid there were so many other go-pros on other riders helmets that could answer a lot of these questions…wonder where the other footage is.?
So any bets on what’s on Rapha and Specializeds PR meeting agendas today? Big companies don’t like this kinda press no matter how good you are.
is that because of this incident? Did he lose the Rapha sponsorship?
When I played hockey, I would literally want to murder someone on the ice if I got hit from behind or slashed. Like the most anger I have ever felt. But you leave it out there, going after someone off the ice is one of the most unacceptable things you can do; I had a teammate get banned for life for getting into a fight after a game.
Similarly, crits are physical, intense, and adrenaline filled. There is going to be contact, and if you (like legion) are physical and push it to the limit, someone is gonna push back. But in all sport, you leave it out there. Everyone involved here crossed the line, regardless of who pushed/punched/yelled first.
No, that’s a parody on the release that they issued with the Colin Strickland gravel jersey.
Maybe the real drama was the arguments we had with internet strangers along the way
Thanks for a link to the video. My first thought was “how did no one fall down despite being in bike shoes?”
I guess I’m not as up in arms about it as others. Not a great look for either rider or team. But I’ve lost count of how many scuffles like this I’ve seen over the years in other sports. This isn’t uncommon in the NBA, NFL, MLB, etc etc. No one got hurt which is good.
A phrase comes to mind “tall poppy syndrome”.
I was able to race the 3’s and the 1,2,3’s on Saturday in SLC. I think that part of the problem was that it was stupid hot, like a bazillion degrees hot, and the road was a little tore up making for frayed nerves, even without the preceding issues. I can definitely see how an elbow and a lean in that area would become a “mountain out of a mole hill” situation.
On another note, I’ve met both Cory and Justin before, and they have both been nothing but kind. Last year my 8 year old daughter wanted to say hi to them, but was shy… Cory saw her, pulled her over the barriers, took his own hat off, found a marker, signed it, then took her to see Justin, made him sign it as well and they chatted with her while the press etc just sat behind the barriers waiting. This was after racing at Holladay in 105f weather. She has it up her shelf.
Doesn’t excuse punches, but a 1yr ban is way excessive in my mind.
Nah, the reason this doesn’t happen in road racing more often is that we’re all too weedy and it’d look silly.
“Today was marred by a post-race scuffle which resulted in ten punches being thrown and ten broken wrists”
It’s taking all my strength to NOT post several silly cat fight gifs 
Not sure if its been posted, not going to read the whole thread,really dont care. Just came up on my news feed
Good on him.
Regarding that magazine… I imagine it’s VERY hard to not get a big head when labeled the “worlds most important bike racer”
I’m a huge fan of the Williams’, on a personal level. Both Cory and Justin faced overt and some systemic racism trying to come up through the USAC dev program. Sponsors (up until the Williams’ and legion) sort of shrugged at the idea of someone like the Williams representing their brands. Even Rahsaan couldn’t really make it work a decade or more ago. But Rahsaan certainly paved the way for the Williams and others.
They have been huge for inclusion in cycling. They have highlighted how and why so many cyclists of color have been kept out of cycling, discouraged from excelling in cycling or simply felt that maybe their talents would be better used in another sport that is more inclusive of people who don’t look like what most euro pros look like.
For that N. American cycling is so much better off. I used to live in Atlanta…I would see very few road cyclists out ten years ago. I was back last year for training and every time I rode I would pass scores of cyclists and almost none of them were Lilly white like me. that shift is just huge. And so many people’s lives will be improved for getting into the sport, and if you ask me our sport is being improved.
The issue here is Legion. Yes it is the Williams’ creation. It is their monster. But their success domestically and their ability to finally attract sponsors allowed them to basically build out the Yankees. They had the money and momentum to attract some of the top domestic talent that wasn’t already in Europe or didn’t want to go.
That is the double edged sword here. Are they pushing other teams around in the peloton now? IDK. I think someone really needs to ask the riders on other teams. That is the journalism that needs to happen. Maybe it is a push pull situation and it has just gotten out of control. But the cycling media is regurgitating press releases of the largest player on the field right now and doing NO due diligence, no reporting. Its embarrassing frankly. I’ll attach a screenshot from the above article, which I think is just a syndication of a VeloNews article (but I digress).
The issue I feel as though everyone should have is that the L39gion statement takes no responsibility for the fisticuffs. Moreover, it tacitly defends it as ‘we are the victims here and even though we threw punches last night we are taking our ball and going home because you guys are dangerous’. Don’t @ me here, this is just how it comes off.
Again, unless you are riding in these races (I’m not) its hard to tell where the truth lies. Its important to remember that it could well be old school racism coming up against legion in the peloton, it could be everyone hates the Yankees mentality…it could be a lot of things. My point is that the cycling media needs to get on this and do some damn work. Access journalism is how this industry has worked since I started riding bikes in the 80’s…maybe its time for a bit of a change?
All this said I think we can all agree that things are often more complicated than they seem. Back stories often times contribute more to what you see on a film clip than you would like to believe. Sometimes the villain you want to see is actually the hero and vice versa. The truth will eventually out here, give it time. But I would beg anyone in the cycling media to get on this and do some less fulsome reporting and get down to brass tacks. Do some damn interviews in the bunch, anonymize it if you must. But the story, I can guarantee, is weirder and more complicated than any of us see.
