# Stage 4. Pancake flat. Bunch sprint. Do they coast along all day in to the sprint?



## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Tour de France 2017: Stage 4 Preview | Cyclingnews.com


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Yea...I'm thinking I'll get up at a reasonable hour and go ride my bike....then come back by around 10 or 1030 to watch the sprint.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

I have no intention on watching anything more than the last 3 to 5 KMs. Get up at a reasonable hour and go get a few jobs done. Probably 2 to 3 hours worth of work although about half of that is drive time.
Marc your bike ride sounds better.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

just gonna watch "Final Kilometers" on Steephills to see Kitel winning. That's about all there is to watch an otherwise mundane boring flat stage


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

KoroninK said:


> I have no intention on watching anything more than the last 3 to 5 KMs. Get up at a reasonable hour and go get a few jobs done. Probably 2 to 3 hours worth of work although about half of that is drive time.
> Marc your bike ride sounds better.


Just waiting for the interesting stuff to happen while surfing here. I have the NBC sports app on my laptop, so I can always see the highlight later. Seems that the TdF coverage is an excuse to keep playing the same 3-4 ads over and over again.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

Sagan elbowed Cavendish into the barrier in the sprint. Cavendish still down. Demare wins. Earlier pile up but inside 3 Km. Early reports say Cavendish has a broken shoulder


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

coldash said:


> Sagan elbowed Cavendish into the barrier in the sprint. Cavendish still down. Demare wins. Earlier pile up but inside 3 Km. Early reports say Cavendish has a broken shoulder


I suspect Sagan at a minimum is getting relegated for that. Very blatant and caught on multiple angles


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

Marc said:


> I suspect Sagan at a minimum is getting relegated for that. Very blatant and caught on multiple angles


Sagan saying he didn't see Cavendish - so why the elbow?


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

coldash said:


> Sagan saying he didn't see Cavendish - so why the elbow?


Keenan thought with the sprinting weaving Sagan brushed Sagan's hip...

[sarcasm]Because the natural thing when someone brushes your hip, is to suckerpunch them with your elbow[/sarcasm]


I'm more interested in the crash that took Froome to the pave at this point...


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

I think that the Lotto-Soudal manager has just said that Sagan also 
caused the first crash by elbowing / shouldering Greipel !


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)




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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Word is Sagan is relegated.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

click pause.
click the gear icon.
click speed.
click 0.25.
click play.

watch Cav follow AD's wheel.
watch Sagan decide to take Cav's spot.

The elbow is real at this angle.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

Cavendish has said he understands sprinting and that he gets on well with Sagan but he wants Sagan to explain the elbowing. Seems a very mature and non-confrontational reaction given the circumstances


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

He did go over to explain and apologize.

He accepted responsibility.


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## Old Man (Apr 8, 2012)

This said, I can see both sides, but emotions are raw, and most said on coverage right now is reactionary and not thought out..


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

coldash said:


> Cavendish has said he understands sprinting and that he gets on well with Sagan but he wants Sagan to explain the elbowing. Seems a very mature and non-confrontational reaction given the circumstances


Cav has done a great deal of mellowing out over the years....rewind the clock back and there were tours where a first fight would have precipitated if he could raise one.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Looking like a 30 second penalty for the Saginator.










And last place on the day.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

"Sagan removed from 2nd to 115th in stage results. 30 sec penalty. #TDF2017"


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## Old Man (Apr 8, 2012)

That photo is a tad misleading.. Cav had already leaned into Sagan and was on his way into the barrier. I looked at the overhead and it seems his elbow didn't touch Cav.


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## dcb (Jul 21, 2008)

That's what I saw as well. Cav's elbow is into Sagan and his wheels are almost underneath Sagan's bike. Bad position. Sagan's elbow action is still odd though. I'd say they're both at fault.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

Watch the whole sprint and see how much Sagan moves across the road. It was a deliberate act and he is lucky not to get DQed. IMO, Demare was lucky not to get a penalty for his move on Bouhanni

Edit. Seems the jury see Sagan as guilty. He has had 50 points deducted from the Green jersey competition.


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## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

coldash said:


> Watch the whole sprint and see how much Sagan moves across the road. It was a deliberate act and he is lucky not to get DQed. IMO, Demare was lucky not to get a penalty for his move on Bouhanni
> 
> Edit. Seems the jury see Sagan as guilty. He has had 50 points deducted from the Green jersey competition.


30 points came as a result of the relegation I suspect....he otherwise would have been 2nd and awarded 30 today...don't know where the other -20 came from.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

> he has lost the 30 points for his second place finish, and been docked another 50 on top of that.





> "I just heard news that Sagan lost 80 points," says Demare.
> "The jury showed guts to sanction the world champion, today's star of cycling. Now I've got a chance for green."



Going to have to fight for that green now son.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

Marc said:


> 30 points came as a result of the relegation I suspect....he otherwise would have been 2nd and awarded 30 today...don't know where the other -20 came from.


I think the -50 is an additional penalty

Edit. Beaten to it!


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

Got home from work just in time to see the replays. I do need to go catch from the 3K to go since they were only showing the 2nd crash on replays. That was a nasty crash for Cav. It looks like his shoulder is messed up again.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

See Cycling News. Sagan has been DQed and sent home

Added link
https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/882283734728417280


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Marc said:


> I'm more interested in the crash that took Froome to the pave at this point...







Thomas went down, Froome dog escaped without much incident.


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## coldash (May 7, 2012)

At least the Green jersey competition has opened up a bit!


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

coldash said:


> See Cycling News. Sagan has been DQed and sent home
> 
> Added link
> https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/882283734728417280


This is bull. not that he is thrown out but that they keep changing the decision.


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Damn.

Sending the big dog home.

Well...


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## Old Man (Apr 8, 2012)

This is a bad and wrong decision IMHO..


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## Migen21 (Oct 28, 2014)

Yep,

I'm out on the TdF. I'll catch up in a few weeks and see how the parade is going.


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## KoroninK (Aug 9, 2010)

den bakker said:


> This is bull. not that he is thrown out but that they keep changing the decision.


This is the 2nd time this year they couldn't decide on a penalty. Remember at Catalonia at the beginning of the year they changed the penalty they gave to Movistar 3 times before settling on a 1 minute penalty to the entire team. 
I agree they need to make one decision and stop changing decisions 2 or 3 times.


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## spdntrxi (Jul 25, 2013)

This certainly takes the headlines off the tour organization from the "safety" or lack thereof after stage one. Makes you wonder


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