# Tour of CA worst spectators?



## Bullvine (Sep 9, 2009)

Of course all tours have there share of over the top fans. The Giro this year had more than it's share. The tour of CA for me seems to be the worst while theres not as many people on the course they seem to be more mentally challenged.


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

Got any examples of bad behavior? Were you there in person?

I didn't see anything unusual watching it on TV. It looked like the typical Euro mountain race to me, just like the crowd on Zoncolan earlier today. Horner, Hincapie, and Leipheimer all said good things about the fans.


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## MJCBH (Nov 25, 2002)

I felt like I was watching the circus up Mt. Baldy - the fans dressed as sumo wrestlers, doctors holding up stethoscopes to the riders, people dressed up as bacon and eggs, the multiple speedos, the pope, the devil (and the girl that tried to give Schleck a little "push" up the climb) . The spectators seemed to really be interfering with the riders and support vehicles. It's good to see people out supporting the race and having fun, but I also felt like the spectators on TV were a bit out of control


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

MJCBH said:


> I felt like I was watching the circus up Mt. Baldy - the fans dressed as sumo wrestlers, doctors holding up stethoscopes to the riders, people dressed up as bacon and eggs, the multiple speedos, the pope, the devil (and the girl that tried to give Schleck a little "push" up the climb) . The spectators seemed to really be interfering with the riders and support vehicles. It's good to see people out supporting the race and having fun, but I also felt like the spectators on TV were a bit out of control


Agreed.


But I wonder if it was more of a lack of crowd control.

Those idiots ran free until the riders got between orange-gated barrier section of the race.


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## gh1 (Jun 7, 2008)

The bad behavior is getting in the way of the race instead of running along side and yes ATOC had some complete idiots out there yesterday. I was watching it and thought, you know it just figures that it would be an american that ends up knocking a rider over on a steep climb.


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## RkFast (Dec 11, 2004)

THANK YOU...thisiswhat I was saying in the other thread.

Fans acting up are part and parcel of the pro cycling experience. But the "me me me look at me" American idiots take it to a new level. 

ID love to see just once a rider give one of these jerks a palm to the nose as he rides past.


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## InfiniteLoop (Mar 20, 2010)

I've been to a number of European races and they've always had their fare share of idiots. Unfortunately the number of idiotness have seemed to increase over the past seven or eight years and a number of them are Americans. This isn't wholly unlike obnoxious and loud Americans in cafe's, on trains, etc.

Haven't been to ATOC, but from what I've seen on TV it certainly seems to have considerably more idiots than Euro races and, given the number of spectators, maybe ten times as many per capita.

On the other hand, there were spectators out on Mt Baldy! That's a good thing for American racing!


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

Eh, it's California, I'm not in the least bit surprised. Could be worse, if there was a Tour of Texas, gun fire would be a real possibility. It seems like the Pros really enjoy the support, even though a small percentage of the people are probably certifiable narcissists.


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## matty125 (May 31, 2010)

ARE YOU SERIOUS?????!!!!!!! One thing that Americans LACK is the ability to feel comfortable showing love for there sports and the balls to show their Enthusiasm. The Europeans GO CRAZY and its ALL in GOOD FUN!!! 
You cry about a summo dresser? Seriously? Im glad to see it, Im happy to see cycling becoming MORE an MORE popular in America. Ive lived over here in Europe for the last 10 years and its great to see how excited people get to support their riders. Crying about a FEW people who dress up, well you obviously never been to a pro tour in Europe. As if Us Americans are all high an mighty that we cant have fun. WTF ever. 
I draw a line at interference and touching the riders, but come on people, You judge people because of a costume? Really? ITS NOT GOLF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## MJCBH (Nov 25, 2002)

Wear a costume........that's all good. Jump up and down and cheer the riders........all good. But start dancing around, touching riders, jumping out in front of cars/motos, and interfering with riders lines.......NOT COOL


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## cydswipe (Mar 7, 2002)

Stand along side the route and cheer. Clap, crash cymbols, whatever. Keep your butt off the route. No running alongside the riders.


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## smoothie7 (Apr 11, 2011)

I too am glad to see that cycling is becoming more popular in America however, my girlfriend and I were watching the tour last night. She had never seen a cycling race before. I was embarassed to watch it. All the goofballs on the track made cycling look like a joke. It looked like a complete circus out there. I'm fine with people supporting the riders but they should keep them on the sidelines. No spectator should be allowed on the track. You seen some fans even touching the riders. I just don't think that is right. Kudos to the racers they maintained their focus throughout the ride.


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## Kai Winters (Aug 23, 2009)

To me it's all good fun.
I saw no one punch a rider...
I saw no blockades...
I saw a small percentage of people taking the opportunity to act silly, make a statement, etc. I thought they were a bit close to the riders but from a camera's perspective it is very hard to judge...just like a camera's view of the grade they were climbing.

I loved the pope...very funny...the doctor-meh...the guy in the Oregon kit was hilarious and got major face time...speedos are just plain hilarious.

Where were the pretty girls in bikinis??? I thought all California girls wore bikinis or see-through clothing at all times...sheesh another dream busted.


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## burgrat (Nov 18, 2005)

cydswipe said:


> Stand along side the route and cheer. Clap, crash cymbols, whatever. Keep your butt off the route. No running alongside the riders.


I agree with you here, but the majority of these d-bags were running in front of the riders to get on camera. They are seemingly unaware of the professional athletes so close to them, they just want camera time. Damn annoying, especially when there are several trying to position themselves and running into each other without regard to the race. Someone will take out a rider eventually.


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## TerminatorX91 (Mar 27, 2011)

*Really seriously*

ARE YOU SERIOUS?????!!!!!!! One thing that Americans LACK is the ability to feel comfortable showing love for there sports and the balls to show their Enthusiasm. The Europeans GO CRAZY and its ALL in GOOD FUN!!! 
You cry about a summo dresser? Seriously? Im glad to see it, Im happy to see cycling becoming MORE an MORE popular in America. Ive lived over here in Europe for the last 10 years and its great to see how excited people get to support their riders. Crying about a FEW people who dress up, well you obviously never been to a pro tour in Europe. As if Us Americans are all high an mighty that we cant have fun. WTF ever. 
I draw a line at interference and touching the riders, but come on people, You judge people because of a costume? Really? ITS NOT GOLF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Other than the costumes, it really isn't all that different in the Grand Tours. On today's Giro d'Italia I just saw Stefano Garzelli elbow a fan in the face who was running right beside him shouting in his face, and then another rider did the same thing to the same guy. And then there was the time that Eddy Merckx got punched in the Tour De France ...


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## coop (Jun 8, 2008)

I think Palomar Mountain from a couple of years ago had a much worse crowd. Some knuckle head ate it while trying to run along side and almost took out a couple riders. I even think one rider took a little "swing" at somebody who was getting too close. Nothing wrong with having fun out there, but all it takes is a couple of idiots to have people start threads like this.


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## masornia925 (Jan 14, 2011)

Did anyone see a spectator spraying water on the riders towards the end of yesterdays climb? I believe it was directed towards Horner and Levi; made me mad!


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

> Eh, it's California, I'm not in the least bit surprised.


The spectators weren't the crazy ones, the _real_ crazies are in their cars on the 5 and 405 in the valley below....
I thought it looked like a typical Euro-style race on narrow roads in the mountains.
Pretty impressive ride by Horner, Levi and the rest of the Radio Shack team on an impressive and serious race course.


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## Matador-IV (Aug 2, 2010)

I think spectators should remain seated with their hands folded on their laps. :thumbsup:

Anyone watch the Giro today, saw a couple good forearm blows to the spectators running too close to the riders.

All in all, I think it's mostly good for the sport here in the US.


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Oh they still have some interesting ones over in italy. A saw Garzelli elbow 2 fans in the face on todays stage. One guy he had to elbow twice.

Plus there was this guy.....


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## Shaba (Mar 16, 2011)

I'm watching these pro races (ATOC and Giro) for the first time and was surprised at how close the fans get to the racers. BUT, more amazing to me is the intense focus of the athletes. Aside from an elbow or two, they just ride through the craziness. In any event, I love watching and look forward to seeing a race in person some day.


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## KenS (Jan 28, 2004)

*Blame it on Didi*

You can call the Tour of CA spectators a lot of names: goofy, euro-fan-wannabes, tv-time hungry, etc. but they are not the worst. You saw the worst at the end of Stage 15 in the Giro harassing/"cheering on" Garzelli. The worst is where you make contact or impede the progress of the rider.

The guys in the sumo-wrestler suits may be just having a fun time or they may be desperate to be on TV but they weren't harassing the riders.

We can likely blame this craze on Didi the Devil (who was at Stage 15 today and who does not impede the riders.)


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## agm2 (Sep 18, 2008)




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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm not sure what motivates somebody to dress like Borat and camp out on a remote hillside, but the crowd today was from all walks of life and having a good time. And there were a lot of people there. Just what American racing needs, IMHO.

Personally, three was a time when I would not have dreamed there could be a stage race finish in front of the civic center in my home town. The crowds were huge, the local restaurants seemed to all get in the act. The "lifestyle festival" was augmented by many local vendors. It was great!

JSR

View attachment 231185


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Remember Vladimiro Belli, giving a Gilberto Simoni fan a knuckle sandwich on a Giro climb? Belli got tossed out of the race for it.


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## Lazy Spinner (Aug 30, 2009)

Passionate fans are one of the reasons I love pro cycling (and recently the Portland Timbers of MLS). I've been to too many American sporting events that are essentially boring networking mixers with a game going on. I love the folks that pay big money for really good seats only to spend most of the game sending messages on their smart phones, calling their spouse to say, "Turn on channel 8! Yeah! I'm waving at you from just left of center court!!!" or trying to drop their business card or resume on some corporate executive seated in the row in front of them.


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## alexb618 (Aug 24, 2006)

that guy with the massive moose horns which are as wide as the whole road attached to his football helmet needs to be punched


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## ronbo613 (Jan 19, 2009)

> Passionate fans are one of the reasons I love pro cycling (and recently the Portland Timbers of MLS).


Personally, I am not much of a Portlandia fan(though I live in Oregon) and I try to be a respectful spectator at sporting events, but I will say, having been to a couple Olympic Games and other upper echelon sporting events, sometimes you just get caught up in the moment; the emotions can get a hold of you, I reckon that's why people pay to watch sporting events. 
As for the Timbers, I could care less about soccer/football, but the Timber's fan's impromptu singing of the National Anthem(of the United States) on opening day was something to behold.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

alexb618 said:


> that guy with the massive moose horns which are as wide as the whole road attached to his football helmet needs to be punched



Yeah; What's with the different college team clothes on that dude? 

One day he's UOregon, the next day he's Montana.


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

cda 455 said:


> Yeah; What's with the different college team clothes on that dude?
> 
> One day he's UOregon, the next day he's Montana.



I think because Horner hails from Oregon and Levi (originally) from Montana.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> I think because Horner hails from Oregon and Levi (originally) from Montana.


Ah!

That's awesome! Thanks for the info!


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

cda 455 said:


> Ah!
> 
> That's awesome! Thanks for the info!


The guy has been all over the place and had all kinds of jerseys.

BITD he used to wear a Texas Longhorns jersey too...for you know who...


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## tbsurf (Apr 15, 2010)

I noticed 2 main type of spectators on Baldy: many, many amateur cyclists who had made the climb to watch the pros; and the oversize (read: obese) RV crowd, tailgating and drinking away the day.


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## dfltroll (Nov 27, 2006)

Probably what needs to happen is the ATOC organizers need is to enforce a dress code. All men attending the event need to be dressed in pleated Dockers trousers with a button up shirt which is tucked in at all times. I guess if it's over 70 degrees then men should be allowed to dress in pleated docker shorts with a 6" inseam, white sox, loafers and a polo shirt which is to be tucked in at all times. As for female spectators, I don't even know if they should be allowed at the event as they present such a dangerous distraction for the riders. Perhaps only married women should be allowed to attend and must remain behind their husbands and be at least 10ft away from riders at all times. They should probably wear ankle length dresses and bonnets. I think that if the ATOC adopts this policy the problems with spectators will go away.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Certainly nothing to be proud of, but I didn't find the spectators to be anything worse than any other European race. Garzelli was having to throw elbows yesterday.


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## stewartj76 (Jan 2, 2007)

Say what you want, the guys in the Sumo suits had some legs. They hung on for a couple hundred yards, it seemed like.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> BITD he used to wear a Texas Longhorns jersey too...for you know who...


Roger that :lol: !


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## Kai Winters (Aug 23, 2009)

At least there were spectators...


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## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

Oooooooh..... You're talking about the paying spectators. To park along the road and watch was $100 to park and you had to be there by 8:00 am. For what they paid, they should be able to support any way they want. At least they are showing support. This is a plus for bike racing in the US. Besides, Claremont is a college town. Think about the type of people that you find on college campuses and the kind of people who would even want to live in a college town. They are just " letting it all out" so to speak. Hopefully, this type of zeal should spread throughout the US. 

Sure a lot of it looked ridiculous, but what was even more ridiculous were all of the cyclists showing up geared up to a Pro Tour race. When you are kitted up and you are watching a race of that calibur, you look like a fred. I made sure to go riding that day as far away from the event as I could after watching it.


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## maximum15 (Feb 6, 2004)

We were near the first KOM and then on Mt Baldy watching the race and it all seemed pretty normal. Watched a recording of that stage on tv last night and was a little shocked at the quantity of people running alongside the riders and appearing to almost interfering with the race. On a side note, we were on the 2nd switchback going up to Mt Baldy and many of the riders were saying "push" as they went by. One rider in paticular seemed to be chanting "push" and my wife asked if he was asking for a push or talking to his legs?


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## shoegazer (Nov 2, 2007)

maximum15 said:


> We were near the first KOM and then on Mt Baldy watching the race and it all seemed pretty normal. Watched a recording of that stage on tv last night and was a little shocked at the quantity of people running alongside the riders and appearing to almost interfering with the race. On a side note, we were on the 2nd switchback going up to Mt Baldy and many of the riders were saying "push" as they went by. One rider in paticular seemed to be chanting "push" and my wife asked if he was asking for a push or talking to his legs?


fascinating - thanks for sharing


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## dfltroll (Nov 27, 2006)

What the riders need is not a push from the spectators but a push from their inner Jens Voigt:

http://teamjva.com/jens-voigt-soundboard/


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

The Giro was pretty bad today. I saw one fan touch Contador's arm - that's over board for sure.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

AJL said:


> The Giro was pretty bad today. I saw one fan touch Contador's arm - that's over board for sure.


Yeah, I noticed that too.


I was wondering why didn't the moto's go two-wide (Abreast) to clear the fans off the road for the riders.


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## teoteoteo (Sep 8, 2002)

alexb618 said:


> that guy with the massive moose horns which are as wide as the whole road attached to his football helmet needs to be punched


Dude showed up at TRS bus in Solvang post stage and went nuts yelling for Levi, it was uncomfortable. Having worked at the TdF and ATOC I will say the amount of people stepping in front of the riders in cali running in the middle of the road is an issue. Eventually someone is going to eat it


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

cda 455 said:


> Yeah, I noticed that too.
> 
> 
> I was wondering why didn't the moto's go two-wide (Abreast) to clear the fans off the road for the riders.


Probably out of fear of hitting the spectators, many of whom are intoxicated. That and Contador hates it when the moto's get too close.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

smoothie7 said:


> I too am glad to see that cycling is becoming more popular in America however, my girlfriend and I were watching the tour last night. She had never seen a cycling race before. I was embarassed to watch it. All the goofballs on the track made cycling look like a joke. It looked like a complete circus out there. I'm fine with people supporting the riders but they should keep them on the sidelines. No spectator should be allowed on the track. You seen some fans even touching the riders. I just don't think that is right. Kudos to the racers they maintained their focus throughout the ride.


Giro and Tour are 10,000 times worse. There are occasional idiots in costumes who try to get some attention and then you have people running next to riders, but in Mt. Baldy stage they were running next to Levi/Horner and kept their distance. Yes, one girl tried to push Schleck (unsuccessfully I think) and someone sprayed water, presumably to cool off the riders (it was hot). There was also a Pope spraying Holy water.

But none of this compares to european tifosis (aka schloogs) who get totally sh!t-faced waiting for the race, then interfere with a race, running in front of the riders, falling, grabbing them etc. Just the past few days in Giro we have seen terrible instances of schloog-interference, forcing riders (and mechanics) to slap the schloogs. 

Cycling needs to truly reach the level of superbowl in US before we can have drunken frat boys camp out on top of the mountain to do their stupid drunken pranks on TV, such as running naked into a peloton.


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## Ridin'Sorra (Sep 7, 2004)

ukbloke said:


> Other than the costumes, it really isn't all that different in the Grand Tours. On today's Giro d'Italia I just saw Stefano Garzelli elbow a fan in the face who was running right beside him shouting in his face, and then another rider did the same thing to the same guy. And then there was the time that Eddy Merckx got punched in the Tour De France ...


Agreed... What about the guy dressed like the Devil in the Tour? Through all the Mountain stages you can see people running alongside the riders (not that you'd see many people running alongside riders on flat stages ), some even slapping the riders' butt, shouting all kind of stuff. 

Up Zoncolan they had policemen and fences to keep people off the track... 

Agreed that crossing in front of the riders, cars or motos is not cool at all, but rejoice that there are spectators.


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## litespeedchick (Sep 9, 2003)

Solution: (from Velonews coverage of the Giro)
****************************************************************
Jury report

Saxo Bank-Sungard Philippe Mauduit was fined 200 Swiss francs for “incorrect behavior” and team mechanic Faustino Muñoz, who is Alberto Contador’s personal mechanic, was thrown out of the race. Jury officials said that Muñoz allegedly hit fans with the door of the team car.
************************************************************************
I've deliberately "doored" my dog before to teach him fear of cars...should work for fans as well.


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## K&K_Dad (Dec 10, 2008)

ok, I happened to watch that stage(AToC) and I actually felt embarrassed. There is a point of being all 'gung ho for your team' but there is also a line that doesn't need to be crossed. I read the thread and no one mentioned the guys running in front of the support bike and how they almost ran into it. When the guy on the back said something the 'fan and supporter' was like 'eh whatev'. I'm all for showing support, but comeon there's a point when running in front of a rider is just moronic. Would you want a nascar fan stepping out in front of a car? or a hockey fan stepping in the goal. No it's just respect. Be there to cheer your favorite rider, team, anything but don't be a douchebag about it.


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## Jaji (Nov 26, 2001)

'mericans are still new to stage racing. give them a few decades to work out the kinks.


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## boleiro (Jun 11, 2010)

Yeah there were some tools loving their time in the sun at the ATOC. But the ATOC spectators were a lawrence welk audience compared to this years Giro. Unlike the ATOC fans who just looked stupid, the Giro fans have been straight up impeding the racers, nearly causing several accidents. the guy with the bicycle on the sprint, the garzelli elbow, the contatdor toucher, and just today that guy dumping a gallon of water on capecchi. these fans are stupid and way over the line.


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## anotherguy (Dec 9, 2010)

terbennett said:


> Sure a lot of it looked ridiculous, but what was even more ridiculous were all of the cyclists showing up geared up to a Pro Tour race.


I actually came to the site to ask if that was normal. I was just watching coverage of the Giro and was shocked by the number of people dressed like they were riding. The funniest to me wasn't the clothing, it was the shoes. Who in the hell wants to walk and stand around wearing SIDI's?


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## robdamanii (Feb 13, 2006)

anotherguy said:


> I actually came to the site to ask if that was normal. I was just watching coverage of the Giro and was shocked by the number of people dressed like they were riding. The funniest to me wasn't the clothing, it was the shoes. Who in the hell wants to walk and stand around wearing SIDI's?


If the only way to get to the top of the mountain is by bike, wouldn't you kit up for it?


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## anotherguy (Dec 9, 2010)

robdamanii said:


> If the only way to get to the top of the mountain is by bike, wouldn't you kit up for it?


I was watching stage 18 of the Giro. I'm pretty sure there is only one categorized climb and the people I saw kitted up including shoes were in town in San Pellegrino Treme (if I remember correctly which city it was).

But yeah, at ATOC, that makes perfect sense if that's the only way up. That I understand.


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## MattSoutherden (Jun 24, 2009)

I guess one reason there are a bunch of loons running next to the riders is there's room to do it on the TOC. You can't run up the Zoncolan/d'Huez with 6' wide antlers sticking out of your headgear as there are 500k other people on the climb, not 500.


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## ZoSoSwiM (Mar 7, 2008)

I didn't get a chance to watch the TOC or Giro this year but from previous viewings I'll agree that my fellow Americans seem to get in the way more than the Euro fans. We have some goof balls and share of idiots but remember.. our stage race is shorter than your stage races. You have more stages to spread your idiots out over.. So less idiot density!


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

anotherguy said:


> I was watching stage 18 of the Giro. I'm pretty sure there is only one categorized climb and the people I saw kitted up including shoes were in town in San Pellegrino Treme (if I remember correctly which city it was).
> 
> But yeah, at ATOC, that makes perfect sense if that's the only way up. That I understand.


Most of them probably rode there and their bikes were a bit off the road. I know, riding places instead of driving. Insane.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

boleiro said:


> Yeah there were some tools loving their time in the sun at the ATOC. But the ATOC spectators were a lawrence welk audience compared to this years Giro. Unlike the ATOC fans who just looked stupid, the Giro fans have been straight up impeding the racers, nearly causing several accidents. the guy with the bicycle on the sprint, the garzelli elbow, the contatdor toucher, and just today that guy dumping a gallon of water on capecchi. these fans are stupid and way over the line.


exactly, I feel that ATOC fans are trying to attract attention to themselves (crazy costumes, headgear) to get on camera but generally stay fairly safe distance away and do not interfere with the race. ATOC spectators stay way on the sidelines, giving riders the whole road. Check photos of Mt. Baldy and Sierra Road - the riders have HUGE amount of space. Compare this to photos of Giro where the riders are riding in a 2-foot wide tunnel of spectator crowds that opens moments before the motor bikes and closes immediately upon passing. Riders are forced to get physical with the fans to get through. Even car mechanics get physical with crazy fans - nothing like that happened at Tour of Cali, not even close.

The annoying fans at ATOC are only a little annoying (to some) because of their silliness and their costumes, which is mostly about aesthetics. 

The annoying fans at Giro are annoying because they are safety hazard and can easily influence the outcome of the race.


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## mtrider05 (Aug 8, 2009)

55x11 said:


> exactly, I feel that ATOC fans are trying to attract attention to themselves (crazy costumes, headgear) to get on camera but generally stay fairly safe distance away and do not interfere with the race. ATOC spectators stay way on the sidelines, giving riders the whole road. Check photos of Mt. Baldy and Sierra Road - the riders have HUGE amount of space. Compare this to photos of Giro where the riders are riding in a 2-foot wide tunnel of spectator crowds that opens moments before the motor bikes and closes immediately upon passing. Riders are forced to get physical with the fans to get through. Even car mechanics get physical with crazy fans - nothing like that happened at Tour of Cali, not even close.
> 
> The annoying fans at ATOC are only a little annoying (to some) because of their silliness and their costumes, which is mostly about aesthetics.
> 
> The annoying fans at Giro are annoying because they are safety hazard and can easily influence the outcome of the race.


Mt. baldy fans are where this thread spawned from, they were running in front of the motorbikes and a few times even the riders. They were most certainly not in check.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

mtrider05 said:


> Mt. baldy fans are where this thread spawned from, they were running in front of the motorbikes and a few times even the riders. They were most certainly not in check.


I was at Mt. Baldy and it certainly wasn't NEARLY as bad as the Giro. TV cameras shorten the distance between spectators and riders too.

Many of the Giro (and TdF) tifosis are drunk moreons who can barely walk in straight line. The crowds at Mt. Baldy were almost all cyclists who have a lot of respect for riders.
The fans stand (and run) much closer at Grand Tours, the roads are more narrow.

I have not seen any spectator get pushed by cyclists in ToC. In Giro it happened constantly.


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## johnny dollar (Jul 21, 2010)

Stefano Garzelli says GTFOMW!


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