pacing in the caravan

On 06/08/2005 04:04 AM, in article
[email hidden], "amit"

Quoted message said:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2005/may05/wachovia05/?id=/features/2005/jitte
rywachovia

<<Ten minutes into the 91-mile event team leader Tim Johnson flats and
gets a wheel from neutral support. Jonny Sundt and Evan Elken drop back
to escort Johnson to the peloton weaving through the caravan at 30 mph.
Elken struggles to keep pace and drafts off the team car. A commissaire
pulls up alongside director sportif Ken Mills, puts his arm out the
window and rubs his fingers together, the team will be fined 50 Swiss
francs for motor pacing.

Mills is not pleased: "Teams in Europe do that for like 10 kilometers
and get away with it." >>

not exactly. just because you see riders pacing in the caravan in euro
races doesn't mean it's always accepted.

johnson had the mishap and the two others dropped back to help him. an
official is going to have less sympathy for the riders pacing in the
caravan who haven't had a mishap than for a solo rider who's had a
mechanical and is trying to get back on.

JFJ probably did what they had to, but they tried to have their cake
and eat it too. USPS was dinged for the same thing last year in TdG (i
think ?) and they had the same excuse.

And, at least it was just a fine, and not a disqualification like George
Hincapie in the 1997 USPRO Championships ...

--
Steven L. Sheffield
stevens at veloworks dot com
bellum pax est libertas servitus est ignoratio vis est
ess ay ell tea ell ay kay ee sea eye tee why you ti ay aitch
aitch tee tea pea colon [for word] slash [four ward] slash double-you
double-yew double-ewe dot veloworks dot com [foreword] slash

Steven L. Sheffield said:

And, at least it was just a fine, and not a disqualification like George
Hincapie in the 1997 USPRO Championships ...

Eddie B had to work very hard to get the DQ for George. It wasn't
easy. It took extra effort.

50 CHF = 40 USD so it probably hurt more to have to stop motorpacing.

Bob Schwartz
[email hidden]