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July 20, 2007
Rodriguez blames Stage 11 crash on poor Tour planning
Active.com | Tour de France: Fast Freddie Rodriguez: Stage 11...Where Do I Start?
Three-time US champion Freddie Rodriguez has been vocal about his concerns that Tour organizers should give more weight to rider safety when choosing the finish line of Tour stages.
Rodriguez says the crash that took him out of Stage 11, along with Tom Boonen, Francisco Ventoso (still hurting), Julian Dean, and Fränk Schleck, was clearly the planners' fault:
Once again, they’ve proven to have little respect for the rider’s health in this race. As a pro for over 10 years, I just don't get their ignorance in thinking that the peloton, coming in at 65 km/hr, was going to make it in one piece through an S-turn like that. I would have bet money that a crash would have happened in that corner.What the organizers keep forgetting is that we have no idea how dangerous the road is ahead at many points. We again put our lives in their hands, and again they have let us down. I guess the saddest part is that I have been trying to be vocal about their mistakes, but they seem to just choose to ignore.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 20, 2007 in About the Tour, Frank Schleck, Fred Rodriguez, Julian Dean, Tom Boonen | Permalink
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Comments
I've never won the lottery. Must be the attendant's fault.
Posted by: Mike Linnane at Jul 20, 2007 10:22:17 PM
"What the organizers keep forgetting is that we have no idea how dangerous the road is ahead at many points."
Because actually discussing the last couple of miles of the race on the team bus never happens? I would assume it important to discuss this at it is clearly where "everything" happens in the flat sections. Bizarre.
Posted by: Mistlefoot at Jul 20, 2007 11:33:42 PM
Hmm, I am mixed on this. The course is know for quite some time, so teams can see there would be a tricky set of turns coming into town.
On the other hand Freddie is right, the organizers should try to find a better run in to the finish without going through risky twists and turns that might take out some of the top sprinters.
Posted by: Marcello at Jul 21, 2007 6:02:47 PM
