What a bunch of dopes!

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From Velonews:

Merckx, Van Summeren victim of helmet ruling
Axel Merckx and Davitamon-Lotto teammate Johan Van Summeren were

kicked

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out of Paris-Nice following Friday's climbing stage up Mont Faron

after

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the pair took off their helmets on the final climb.

According to new ProTour rules, riders will not be allowed to remove
helmets on summit finishes longer than 5km. When the UCI instituted

the

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mandatory helmet rule following the tragic death of Andrei Kivilev in
the 2003 Paris-Nice, riders were still allowed to ride without helmet
on longer summit finishes.

That's changed under the ProTour, but many riders evidently were
confused about the ruling. Riders in other recent races, including

the

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Tour of Langkawi, were still allowed to take off helmets, but those
weren't ProTour events.

"I didn't realize the rules had changed," said Merckx. "When I got to
the bottom of the climb, the bus driver was there and I handed him

the

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helmet. The horrible thing is that I always wear my helmet, even when

I

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am training."

My question is why did he take off his helmet then? If he wears it

all

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the time, why not wear it to the finish? Their argument has been

that

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it's too hot, well PN has been cold, so what on earth was his need to
remove his helmet. I really have no sympathy for these guys because

it

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just isn't that bad to weat a helmet.

CH

Hi Chris
My thought when I read this was that the UCI and the officials had
their heads up their asses. They were told that at Langkawi they could
toss them, now they get tossed for it. The officiating and rider
information was screwed.
Bill C

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Why if you wear it all the time would you take it off at the finish on
a cool day?

Because the bus driver (actual team bus) said to them while they passed:
"Gimme your helmet!". In Axel's words, he then didn't think about it, he
just gave him the helmet.

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Bill C said:

My thought when I read this was that the UCI and the officials had
their heads up their asses.

That may be true but this ...

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They were told that at Langkawi they could
toss them

.... is not
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2005/jan05/langkawi05/index.php?id=stage8/IMG_8090
(final 20 kms climb)

Same in Andalucia, where Merckx rode
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=photos/2005/feb05/ruta_del_sol05/ruta_del_sol051/cimg2542
(7 kms climb)

Jenko

Bill C said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

From Velonews:

Merckx, Van Summeren victim of helmet ruling
Axel Merckx and Davitamon-Lotto teammate Johan Van Summeren were
kicked out of Paris-Nice following Friday's climbing stage up Mont
Faron after the pair took off their helmets on the final climb.

According to new ProTour rules, riders will not be allowed to remove
helmets on summit finishes longer than 5km. When the UCI instituted
the mandatory helmet rule following the tragic death of Andrei
Kivilev in the 2003 Paris-Nice, riders were still allowed to ride
without helmet on longer summit finishes.

That's changed under the ProTour, but many riders evidently were
confused about the ruling. Riders in other recent races, including
the Tour of Langkawi, were still allowed to take off helmets, but
those weren't ProTour events.

"I didn't realize the rules had changed," said Merckx. "When I got to
the bottom of the climb, the bus driver was there and I handed him
the helmet. The horrible thing is that I always wear my helmet, even
when I am training."

My question is why did he take off his helmet then? If he wears it
all the time, why not wear it to the finish? Their argument has
been that it's too hot, well PN has been cold, so what on earth was
his need to remove his helmet. I really have no sympathy for these
guys because it just isn't that bad to weat a helmet.

CH

Hi Chris
My thought when I read this was that the UCI and the officials had
their heads up their asses. They were told that at Langkawi they could
toss them, now they get tossed for it. The officiating and rider
information was screwed.
Bill C

They certainly didn't take there helmets off on the Genting stage of TDL.- I
was there. :-)
Jan