# Quintana's interview



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

hopefully this is not too much of a spoiler, the race has long since aired.

Quintana's description of the crash:

"Before the turn, I was tightening my shoe, which was a little bit loose, but I think that didn’t have an effect on my crash.

“The thing is that I kept braking for quite long, but it wasn’t enough because the bike didn’t stop, and I crashed. Fortunately, I could avoid having a bigger crash and I did not hurt myself really badly.”

Ok, why is it so hard to admit that you were distracted fiddling with the shoe going into the turn, overcooked it, almost saved it by last-second braking and then crashed?

To anyone watching the footage it is clear what happened - he wasn't paying attention, riding on the right side, and moving only a bit into the middle (too late) going into the right corner, braking too late and at too high of a speed, already too close to barriers, finally locking it up, almost saving it but not quite - dropping into the crack where the paved road ends and barrier begins, and doing a flip over handlebars?

"Brakes didn't work", "Bike didn't stop" and "tightening the shoe had no effect on the crash" are bogus excuses. He picked a terrible line and went in too "hot" and overcooked it, that's all. Braking when he did was already too late.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

the alternative explanation would be something like:

"I was an idiot messing with my shoes. I was an idiot taking the wrong line because I messed with my shoes. I was again idiotic for locking up the rear."

But hey, it's always easier to blame the equipment. After all, equipment can't argue against even the dumbest chump.

People's recount of an accident is often... wrong... and inaccurate. Ask any accident lawyer.


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## 9W9W (Apr 5, 2012)

aclinjury said:


> the alternative explanation would be something like:
> 
> "I was an idiot messing with my shoes. I was an idiot taking the wrong line because I messed with my shoes. I was again idiotic for locking up the rear."
> 
> ...


and now every time my brain tells me to reach for my bottle for "just a quick sip" as I'm bombing down something, I think of Alberto. 

(oh come on maaan! just one quick sip, you got time!)


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

For the amount of miles these guys ride, simple mistakes are going to happen from time to time. All I know is that Quintana's crash could have been much, much worse. His bike was destroyed and he didn't break anything on his body. Whatever the cause, he is damn lucky to still be in the race at all.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Contador was able to be honest without being so self-effacing.



aclinjury said:


> the alternative explanation would be something like:
> 
> "I was an idiot messing with my shoes. I was an idiot taking the wrong line because I messed with my shoes. I was again idiotic for locking up the rear."
> 
> ...


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

I've watched this over a few times in slow motion, and I believe him. I believe that the mechanic ****ed up his bike in one of a few ways and the brakes didn't grip tight. He can bee seen pulling the brake levers all the way the bike hardly even slows at all. 

After watching it a few times I don't think he overcooked it, I think he was just fine. Granted, he carried a lot of speed but not too much in my opinion. And when he pulls his brake lever the bike does not slow. He tries to brake well before the crash, at the correct time, and he actually did a fantastic job stopping the bike if you ask me.


And you missed the first part of the interview process, the best part: When he was first approached by reporters and asked if he was okay, he responded:

"I'm ****ed."


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## n2deep (Mar 23, 2014)

Wow, that was a nasty crash and I bet it hurt like hell. I hope that he recovers quickly/completely.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

MMsRepBike said:


> ... He tries to brake well before the crash, at the correct time, and he actually did a fantastic job stopping the bike if you ask me....


lulz.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

watch the footage including him riding prior to the curve.
The best way to take this turn is to start on far left (which also allows you to see the curve a lot better), setup a line - by reducing the speed gently prior to the turn - that turns smoothly across to the right and past the turn, then cut through apex on the right and continue back to left side of the road. You want to use entire road and look through the entire turn (which unfortunately for Quintana kept turning right), and not use brakes once you setup the line and go into the turn.

Quintana starts too far on the right (while fiddling with shoes), only to notice last moment there is a right turn coming up and move a bit to the left just before the turn (too late in my opinion), sets up a line that goes way too straight and ends way too far left, and when the road keeps turning to the right, he almost goes into the barriers - this is when he locks it up, and by then it's too late of course.

Basically, his positioning before the turn and his line through the turn are way off.
Brakes have nothing to do with this.
By the time he was grabbing the brakes, hard (and he is able to lock it up and "almost" save it quite nicely) it is really too late.


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## evs (Feb 18, 2004)

Any pics of his bike after the crash? it must be destroyed the way it came to an abrupt stop like that.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

foto said:


> lulz.


... 



55x11 said:


> watch the footage including him riding prior to the curve.
> The best way to take this turn is to start on far left (which also allows you to see the curve a lot better), setup a line - by reducing the speed gently prior to the turn - that turns smoothly across to the right and past the turn, then cut through apex on the right and continue back to left side of the road. You want to use entire road and look through the entire turn (which unfortunately for Quintana kept turning right), and not use brakes once you setup the line and go into the turn.
> 
> Quintana starts too far on the right (while fiddling with shoes), only to notice last moment there is a right turn coming up and move a bit to the left just before the turn (too late in my opinion), sets up a line that goes way too straight and ends way too far left, and when the road keeps turning to the right, he almost goes into the barriers - this is when he locks it up, and by then it's too late of course.
> ...


There's several problems with your take on it. I'll provide pictures as evidence.

As I stated, I did watch the footage as you ask, of course that included prior to the curve.


He did not "notice last moment there is a right turn coming up" his head was looking forward the whole time. He knew full well there was a turn approaching.


















What you're missing, which is what I commented about, is that he pulled his brakes full on well before the turn. See below:









^This is where he reaches for his brakes first.










^You can see here he's pulled them about half way









^Here they're almost bottomed out and he's not slowing at all. His right hand looks bottomed out, they might both be at this point with no slowing.

At this moment... he knows he's ****ed. He's pulling his brakes full on and he's not slowing down. He doesn't have a choice but to stay too far left, he can't slow down.

Edit:
He tried stopping/slowing the bike by squatting down and forcefully sliding the back tire. He did it once successfully but ran out of road on the second push. I believe him and I give him credit for doing his best to avoid disaster. Also give him credit for getting on another bike and continuing.


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## thechriswebb (Nov 21, 2008)

It is more necessary than it has ever been to take perfect lines while descending in pro cycling. I remember during the Tour that Greg Lemond was commenting that people didn't crash going downhill in races nearly as much as they do now when he was racing. He attributed it to the inferior braking on carbon rims. You can take it with a grain of salt and I didn't really think a whole lot about it then but after hearing Quintana's explanation for his crash, it was what came to mind. Braking on carbon rims is not as good and riders using them don't really have the luxury of bombing downhill at 10000 miles per hour with the intention of taking anything less than perfect lines and correcting errors with strong braking.


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## love4himies (Jun 12, 2012)

Don't they take a spin in the morning on their bikes to check out the course and then warm up just prior to the TT? If so, shouldn't Quintana have noticed his brakes were not working well?


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

everyone else navigated the turn fine.

He took the turn too hot, and he took a shitty line. That much is obvious from the video. 

Whether or not his breaks worked, that's hard to say. He managed to lock up his bike and almost highsided over the guard rail, breaks need to work to do that...


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

love4himies said:


> Don't they take a spin in the morning on their bikes to check out the course and then warm up just prior to the TT? If so, shouldn't Quintana have noticed his brakes were not working well?


His brakes worked fine on all the previous corners when he was *not* messing with his shoes. Then on the corner that he messed with his shoes, his brakes suddenly failed (or so he said)? What I see is a noob mistake. 

Post this video on a motorcycle racing forum and what the moto guys have a good discussion about how the spandexters have no skills.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

MMsRepBike said:


> ...
> 
> 
> He tried stopping/slowing the bike by squatting down and forcefully sliding the back tire. He did it once successfully but ran out of road on the second push. I believe him and I give him credit for doing his best to avoid disaster. Also give him credit for getting on another bike and continuing.


lulz, do you even ride bikes?


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

MMsRepBike said:


> ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Really? With just a few still shots, and with zero telemetry data regarding lever pressure, regarding temperature of the rims, and with zero post-accident failure analysis of equipment, you were able to come up all those detailed and specific reasons leading to the induction of the brake failure as the cause of accident? Your description sounds more a bit like trying to cobble a bunch of presumptions into a theory. 

But what I saw was a rookie mistake made by a pro. It happens. It's well known that people's recount of an accident is often sketchy, and wrong, especially if they're at fault.


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## dnice (Jul 12, 2012)

looks like he's got too much push entering the corner. 

[nascarspeakon]need to take 'er back to the garage have fatback, slim and the boys dial in a little wedge.[/nascarspeakoff] 

then i bet she should be good for the race. :thumbsup:


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## Winn (Feb 15, 2013)

dnice said:


> [nascarspeakon]


I have no idea what you said so I'm not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure you just violated some rule somewhere. No NASCAR speak is allowed these bikes turn both directions.


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## thalo (Jul 17, 2011)

love4himies said:


> Don't they take a spin in the morning on their bikes to check out the course and then warm up just prior to the TT?


And from the ride, was this the point on the course sheet they tape to their top tubes, at mile whatever, to mess with his shoes?

4.2 K start up hill/Alcalá de Moncayo
11.2 summit hill/Alto del Moncayo
12.1 mess with shoes
26.6 Ambel
29.0 Bulbuente
36.7 Finish/Borja


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

Only on RBR does one find so many couch x-spurts. It couldn't be that his wheels took a couple more revolutions then normal to squeegee the grit off the rims or that his pads were infused with grit on the previous turns or that wear had taken it's toll and his brakes needed adjustment or that he misread the turn. It has to be that he's a lying bass turd who refuses to admit that adjusting his shoe 100 yards before the turn was to blame because those who kill time here on RBR know. After all, they regularly show their x-spurtese by kicking his ass in the mountains every time they ride with him. 

Edit: Foto, I apologize as this was directed at all of the x-spurts here and I meant to hit "reply to thread"


foto said:


> everyone else navigated the turn fine.
> 
> He took the turn too hot, and he took a shitty line. That much is obvious from the video.
> 
> Whether or not his breaks worked, that's hard to say. He managed to lock up his bike and almost highsided over the guard rail, breaks need to work to do that...


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

MMsRepBike said:


> ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is all guessing on your part. I never realized you are "guessing" that his brakes failed him well before the turn, then he rides another 100 feet or so (with no brakes) until finally brakes start working again? This is your theory, seriously?
He locked up his wheels just as he was about to hit the barriers, with his rear wheel fishtailing - so your theory is that the brakes worked fine on all previous turns, then failed before and during the turn (without Quintana freaking out - he is smoothly sailing through a badly picked line before panicking as he gets too close to the barriers), and then the brakes magically working again? You really don't see how ridiculous this is?


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

Here's the point I am trying to make, in images.
Pink path shows the line taken by Quintana.
Green path shows the line he should have taken.

View attachment 299851
View attachment 299852


for the record, I am not jumping on Quintana for making a mistake. This stuff happens to everyone. I believe that when he was fiddling with the shoes that distracted him and he obviously didn't set up properly for the turn, picked terrible line and went into the corner too fast for that line. I am just commenting on the fact that Quintana wouldn't own up to making a mistake and instead decided to blame equipment.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

55x11 said:


> This is all guessing on your part. I never realized you are "guessing" that his brakes failed him well before the turn, then he rides another 100 feet or so (with no brakes) until finally brakes start working again? This is your theory, seriously?
> He locked up his wheels just as he was about to hit the barriers, with his rear wheel fishtailing - so your theory is that the brakes worked fine on all previous turns, then failed before and during the turn (without Quintana freaking out - he is smoothly sailing through a badly picked line before panicking as he gets too close to the barriers), and then the brakes magically working again? You really don't see how ridiculous this is?


how was the front brake doing through all this?


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Yawn. 

By the way, swiffy. Instead of editing your post to add that post-script about how you suck at posting, you could have just deleted the quote.

Anyway, please carry on with your lesson for us couch neo-phytes.



SwiftSolo said:


> Only on RBR does one find so many couch x-spurts. It couldn't be that his wheels took a couple more revolutions then normal to squeegee the grit off the rims or that his pads were infused with grit on the previous turns or that wear had taken it's toll and his brakes needed adjustment or that he misread the turn. It has to be that he's a lying bass turd who refuses to admit that adjusting his shoe 100 yards before the turn was to blame because those who kill time here on RBR know. After all, they regularly show their x-spurtese by kicking his ass in the mountains every time they ride with him.
> 
> Edit: Foto, I apologize as this was directed at all of the x-spurts here and I meant to hit "reply to thread"


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

There is evidence that Quintana really screwed this turn up. Let's see if I can dig up some pictures from somewhere to illustrate.










Not on the brakes, wrong line.










Still not on the brakes, wrong line.










Just getting on the brakes, wrong side of the road.











Still on the brakes, still on the wrong line.










Entering turn, still on the wrong line.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

MMsRepBike said:


> ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Your silly picture post simply shows exactly what 55x11 pointed out: he took the wrong line because he was dicking around with his shoe covers. On a sweeping right like that, he should have been hugging the left side of the road, ready to scrub speed and cut into the apex.

In that last photo he's barely left of center. He's never going to make that curve.


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## SwiftSolo (Jun 7, 2008)

It's good to have folks here that know every detail of what he saw or thought he saw, considered, and experienced going into that turn.

It clearly can't be that his brakes didn't work as well as expected. 



robdamanii said:


> Your silly picture post simply shows exactly what 55x11 pointed out: he took the wrong line because he was dicking around with his shoe covers. On a sweeping right like that, he should have been hugging the left side of the road, ready to scrub speed and cut into the apex.
> 
> In that last photo he's barely left of center. He's never going to make that curve.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

SwiftSolo said:


> It's good to have folks here that know every detail of what he saw or thought he saw, considered, and experienced going into that turn.
> 
> It clearly can't be that his brakes didn't work as well as expected.


It's not a matter of what he saw or experienced. It's basic physics of cornering and descending. 

The line was clearly bad. You don't even need that much descending skills to see that.

Even with perfectly working brakes the line was just terrible. 

It seems pretty straightforward to blame his fiddling with shoes for him being so far to the right and not setting up for the turn properly, as normally Quintana is very good descender, as he demonstrated in Giro.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

SwiftSolo said:


> It clearly can't be that his brakes didn't work as well as expected.


Further proof that even TT bikes should have disc brakes? 










Yo dawg, I herd you like discs, so I put a disc brake on your disc wheel so you can.....


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

being a "couch expert" on murky issues with no evidence and without any real-world experience in the matter is one thing. And I agree it's annoying.

But I hope most people who cycle, even relative beginners, can tell a good line from bad line descending around corners. Can't you? DO you really think he took a good line? Would you set up your line like that?

Even people who watch a bit of motor sports can tell good line from bad, without ever racing themselves.

I am also happy to take pros on their word, except when there is clear and direct evidence that directly contradicts their claims. As is the case here.


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## foto (Feb 7, 2005)

Here's a real time clip of the crash, he clearly didn't get on the brakes until the entrance to the turn.

Quintana s vuelta dream comes crashing down | News | SBS Cycling Central

I think that says it all. Even if his brakes worked 100%, he took that turn way too hot.


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## BacDoc (Aug 1, 2011)

Quintana is a great climber, has superb endurance and the dedication of a pro but his bike handling skills are his weak point. The best riders have the bests all round skills as well as fitness. Guys like Contador and Valverde are pretty dialed in with climbing and descending skills and you can really see their form and bike handling skills compared to Quintana.

As far as descending goes, one of the best examples is the recent Tour of Utah with Cadel Evans on the last 2 stages. His technique and line selection on the Big Cottonwood Canyon road was one of the best examples of how to do it perfectly. For those who haven't seen it definitely worth watching. A search on YouTube will probably get results. One of those stages he comes from behind and nails a fast, sketchy left hand turn, smokes the leaders and sprints to the finish like poetry on motion. Really a sight to behold for any level of cyclist.

As far as perfect descending goes, that's how you do it!


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