# Cause of Zabriskie crash?



## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

Anybody read what Zabriskie says about it?

I just watched it and I don't think there is anyway he touched wheels. There appeared to be a good gap between him and the rider in front and his body motion didn't suggest he touched a wheel and was trying to save it. It looked like his rear wheel suddenly snapped out from under him. Broken chain or slipped gear would seem to be a more likely explanation. Except those usually happen when coming out of a corner or something, not on a straightaway when power should not be at an extreme. Very odd. Can't blame it on the cop either as Z was already on the ground by the time he got to him.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*they'd just came out of the turn and the guys*

in front had hit the gas. DZ jumped up to close gap and went down. looked like a chain slip similar to Tyler's Giro crash a few years back. he was standing on the pedals trying to bridge back up.
I'm blaming God on this one.


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## Fredrico (Jun 15, 2002)

*It was a skipped chain.*

http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s18/e7203/sport_lng0_spo18_evt7203_sto738968.shtml

Apparently, Z. pulled the chain off the cog when he accelerated. Blame God, or the mechanic who last fine tuned the 10 speed shifter, or the maker of the 10 speed shifter. Bummer. Should have never happened.


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## Utah CragHopper (May 9, 2003)

atpjunkie said:


> looked like a chain slip similar to Tyler's Giro crash a few years back. he was standing on the pedals trying to bridge back up.


I thought Tyler's crash was caused by the pawls not engaging on a wheel that had either been recalled or had been lightened by removing the other pawls.

Hard to say what happened to DZ. We'll probably have to wait for an interview about it. He didn't hit the rider in front of him, so it could have been some sort of mechanical like ATP says. DZ is not known as a great bike handler, so maybe that's part of it.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*while the cause of the skip in Tylers was*

as you stated and the cause of DZ's unknown, both crashes had a similar look, guy stands, back end goes squirrely SLAM.
I'm sticking to my guns, all God's fault.


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## Fredrico (Jun 15, 2002)

*Yellow jersey puts on alot of pressure.*



Utah CragHopper said:


> I thought Tyler's crash was caused by the pawls not engaging on a wheel that had either been recalled or had been lightened by removing the other pawls.
> 
> Hard to say what happened to DZ. We'll probably have to wait for an interview about it. He didn't hit the rider in front of him, so it could have been some sort of mechanical like ATP says. DZ is not known as a great bike handler, so maybe that's part of it.


Didn't Alex Steida also crash early in a TDF after surprising everyone by earning the yellow jersey? That's some incredible pressure, knowing you' re the race leader, and wondering when you'll lose it! May as well hasten the process!

I think it was a nervous rider with a badly adjusted derailleur cable. If you don't get those 10 speed shifters just right, they'll do that, especially in a stand-up sprint.


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## RodeRash (May 18, 2005)

That's not the way I need to see the Mailliot Jaune change hands. 

Zabriskie really got beat up on this crash. Huge rip on the left leg of his shorts. Huge abrasion under it. He landed on his shoulder and all the way down the left side. Ouch! 

Let's just hope he can patch it up and put in a decent ride tomorrow. DZ is fast becoming the man to watch in this Tour.


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## divve (May 3, 2002)

It was those crappy Zipp wheels again.


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## Spoke Wrench (Aug 20, 2001)

Fredrico said:


> http://www.eurosport.com/home/pages/v4/l0/s18/e7203/sport_lng0_spo18_evt7203_sto738968.shtml
> 
> Apparently, Z. pulled the chain off the cog when he accelerated. Blame God, or the mechanic who last fine tuned the 10 speed shifter, or the maker of the 10 speed shifter. Bummer. Should have never happened.


Time to stoke the flames: Campy or Shimano?


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## ClimbElYunque (Jun 21, 2005)

*DZ - winner of Stage 20*



RodeRash said:


> That's not the way I need to see the Mailliot Jaune change hands.
> 
> Zabriskie really got beat up on this crash. Huge rip on the left leg of his shorts. Huge abrasion under it. He landed on his shoulder and all the way down the left side. Ouch!
> 
> Let's just hope he can patch it up and put in a decent ride tomorrow. DZ is fast becoming the man to watch in this Tour.


I felt bad for him this morning. He really looked disappointed. I will be one
rooting for him in the final ITT if he recovers from the today's fall. He will
be sored and unconfortable the next week. I hope he does not retire,
and and leave the TdF on a positive note with a win in Stage 20, because it will be tough to 
forget the fall after the one state win and 3 days in yellow. With
another stage win it will make a bitter/sweet story sweeter.


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## wzq622 (Aug 3, 2004)

report says a skipped chain which, in my worthless opinion:


is why 10 speed is ****.


try adjusting a derailleur on those bastards and youll start to wonder why the **** they sell em in the first place...which is also why a double chainring shifter has 3 clicks on 10 speed and makes people wonder if it's for a triple. theyre not. It's cuz the chain wont shift accurately.

can you say Overhyped, unnecessary, and a waste of $$$ on useless things?


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## shabbasuraj (May 14, 2005)

DZ fell on his own accord.......

he should feel lucky he did not do a header over the steel barriers and into the crowd...

Funny thing is if I was in his position I would blame a skipped chain also...(wouldn't you).....


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## culdeus (May 5, 2005)

wzq622 said:


> report says a skipped chain which, in my worthless opinion:
> 
> 
> is why 10 speed is ****.
> ...


Sorry off topic, but don't all shimano sti shifters have three clicks? My 9 speed does. I thought it was so you could clear the bracket when in the small ring in front and small ring in rear. CMIIW.


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## dagger (Jul 22, 2004)

*The film showed*

his front wheel turning abrubtly like he lifted one arm off the aero bars causing to go out of balance....Also his jersey had some kind of black substance(like oil) where it contacted the road. THe OLN crew also mentioned him lifting an arm(like maybe to shift gears) when the accident happened.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*more speculation*



dagger said:


> his front wheel turning abrubtly like he lifted one arm off the aero bars causing to go out of balance....Also his jersey had some kind of black substance(like oil) where it contacted the road. THe OLN crew also mentioned him lifting an arm(like maybe to shift gears) when the accident happened.


Phil and Paul said this morning that it looked to them like, with the low time trial setup, his knee hit his elbow, which cause the front wheel to swerve abruptly, causing the crash. Z said in an interview that he flat out did not know what happened. My guess is that he doesn't want to admit to doing something stupid like that or that he's covering up a mechanical problem for benefit of a sponsor. Or, I guess he could have banged his head and doesn't remember squat.


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## SantaCruz (Mar 22, 2002)

Fixed said:


> Phil and Paul said this morning that it looked to them like, with the low time trial setup, his knee hit his elbow, which cause the front wheel to swerve abruptly, causing the crash.


The knee to the elbow scenario seems plausible, as he was clearly trying to accelerate to close a small gap in the paceline and the bike went sideways abruptly. When you're maxed out as he must have been, stupid mistakes come easily.


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## olr1 (Apr 2, 2005)

....and the black stuff is what you get when you slide down a road at 30 mph. It was the best JRA crash I've seen for a while.


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## wzq622 (Aug 3, 2004)

culdeus said:


> Sorry off topic, but don't all shimano sti shifters have three clicks? My 9 speed does. I thought it was so you could clear the bracket when in the small ring in front and small ring in rear. CMIIW.



true, but try shifting on a 10 speed. there's a very distinctive click where it will confuse those who aren't familiar with the system.


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## wzq622 (Aug 3, 2004)

or....


he fell on cue cuz he was keeping the jersey warm for Lance while catapulting Basso up the GC overall while placing himself back into a domestique role for the rest of the Tour.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*well if you've ever been standing up hammering*

and your chain skips, breaks, jumps, freewheel comes loose, etc.. and all the resistance of the chainline disappears, funny things happen to your arms, legs and wheels.


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## Dwayne Barry (Feb 16, 2003)

atpjunkie said:


> and your chain skips, breaks, jumps, freewheel comes loose, etc.. and all the resistance of the chainline disappears, funny things happen to your arms, legs and wheels.


That's certainly what it looked like to me. It looked like he lost his back wheel first as it hopped up in the air. I don't know why touching a wheel, or kneeing your elbow, or slipping on grease or whatever that would cause your front end to wash out or wobble crazily would suddening cause your back wheel to become airborne.


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## B2 (Mar 12, 2002)

*"Elbowed by a Spectator" ?*

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002359408_tour06.html 

"He may have been elbowed by a spectator," said Bryan Nygaard, a spokesman for Zabriskie's CSC team. 

First I heard of this..... Could this be in reference to the Gendarme mentioned above? Funny how rumors can get the best of all of us.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

*It was the Cubans.*

They don't like our boycott. The pictures don't show it, but there is a grassy knoll behind the spectators and a mob hitman threw a zefal frame pump into the front wheel. The cop wasn't jumping out of the way, he was getting the pump and hiding it from the media. Castro is a Lance fan.


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## goloso (Feb 4, 2004)

*I blame the jersey...*

It makes you do crazy stuff like maybe taking longer pulls in the front. He was probably completely cross-eyed at that point and made a small error from which he couldn't recover. 

-G


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## tempeteOntheRoad (Dec 21, 2001)

*Zabr"s Crash...*

He clipped out.


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## yanksphan (May 18, 2005)

wzq622 said:


> report says a skipped chain which, in my worthless opinion:
> 
> 
> is why 10 speed is ****.
> ...


Just curious - where did you get your engineering degree, and how long have you been studying/designing bicycle componentry?


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