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Simon Yates among those taken aback by “pitch black” tunnels in closing kilometres of stage seven of the Giro d’Italiasimon_yates_via_youtube.jpg

Simon Yates among those taken aback by “pitch black” tunnels in closing kilometres of stage seven of the Giro d’Italia

Racing through the dark
by Alex Bowden
Sat, May 12, 2018 12:34
10

“We had a couple of pitch black tunnels there in the final just to spice things up, Giro-style,” said race leader Simon Yates, in Mitchelton-Scott’s latest video, covering stage seven.

The team’s sporting director Matt White said there had been “a couple of sketchy tunnels” in the closing kilometres of the stage.

Speaking about the experience of riding through them, Ireland-raised Danish rider Chris Juul-Jensen gave a wry smile and said: “A lot can happen in the Giro.”

Other riders have been rather more outspoken.

Katusha-Alpecin’s Alex Dowsett tweeted:

 

Team Sky’s Wout Poels went further still.

Simon Yates
2018 Giro d'Italia
Alex Dowsett
Wout Poels
tunnels
Alex Bowden

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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10 comments

Avatar
The_Vermonter | 6 years ago
1 like

No matter how hard RCS tries, Giro gonna Giro.

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Zebulebu | 6 years ago
11 likes

I can't speak for the rest of the 'mugs' but this 'mug' certainly gets it - as someone who races crits, road races and TTs I can tell you with absolute fucking certainty that there is a world of difference between some fucking chopper like me or you going through a dark tunnel at speed on our own, and 140 people doing it faster than that less than six inches from each others' wheels, ten minutes from the end of a grand tour sprint stage. Having read a lot of your comments on here (and peoples' reactions to them) I think genuinely a lot of the time people just have a go at you because they think it's fair game to do so, and sometimes it's unfair - but fuck me sideways you don't help yourself sometimes.

Avatar
NorthEastJimmy | 6 years ago
7 likes

Haha BtBS comparing riding with a few mates (poor guys yes) to riding in a full on peloton with no extra wiggle room.

You're just trolling now on this site

Avatar
fukawitribe | 6 years ago
7 likes

The two situations are entirely different - if you can't understand why, don't bother. I'll also take the opinion of the World Team riders over yours, sure you understand.

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
1 like

Meh, I've ridden darker between Chamonix and Martigney, I was doing 46mph when I went into the tunnel and a few weak sodiums so you could barely see the road surface.

You keep yur form, position and trust to those around you same as when descending in a pack, for pros this should be no big deal.

#stopgriping

Avatar
alotronic replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
9 likes
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Meh, I've ridden darker between Chamonix and Martigney, I was doing 46mph when I went into the tunnel and a few weak sodiums so you could barely see the road surface.

You keep yur form, position and trust to those around you same as when descending in a pack, for pros this should be no big deal.

#stopgriping

Another 'no one knows anything but me' classic from BtBS. 

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to alotronic | 6 years ago
0 likes
alotronic wrote:
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

Meh, I've ridden darker between Chamonix and Martigney, I was doing 46mph when I went into the tunnel and a few weak sodiums so you could barely see the road surface.

You keep yur form, position and trust to those around you same as when descending in a pack, for pros this should be no big deal.

#stopgriping

Another 'no one knows anything but me' classic from BtBS. 

you and the other mugs don't get it do you, because you know fuck all about riding a bike/bike racing.

Did anyone crash, no, is it the first time a peleton has gone through an unlit tunnel, no, a group of riders that are close together going at the same speed and are used to doing that so they don't see the road ahead and for the most part are effectively following the guy in front/side.

They can still see the people around them and are skilled riders aware of where everyone is, so should not be having any problem in a tunnel like that as they are effectively static. Obviously if someone at the front brakes hard for no reason or touches a tyre riders in the middle/back are effected, this would happen on a clear day/open road because they cannot see what the very front people are doing/don't have enough time to react due proximity, the tunnel makes jack shit difference in that case and the tunnel is not in complete darkness in any case.

They're making a mountain out of a molehill and a couple of riders are moaning, if it was such a big issue why didn't any of the teams say something BEFORE the race/stage, that's right because it wasn't that big a deal.

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nigerian prince replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
0 likes

;

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fixation80 | 6 years ago
2 likes

Well they were going like 'bats out of hell' !

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wycombewheeler | 6 years ago
0 likes

The teams (and presumably riders) knew the route at the start of the stage, maybe it would have been prudent to fit lights.

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