The Crash Heard Round The World

Submitted by Adam Myerson on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 14:34.

Here's the video, expertly captured by Colt at CyclingDirt:

My analysis here is pretty straightforward:

Whether Johnson was retaliating for previous aggressive riding by Page against Driscoll as rumored, or not, he was absolutely not intentionally trying to crash Page. Intentional crashing in pro bike racing happens very, very rarely. Taking someone to the tape, chopping them in a turn - things like that happen all the time. But pros always leave each other space and options. You always back off when you get to the curb, or you always leave room for the other rider to use their brakes and back out of a situation.

That said, Timmy crashed Jonathan. There is no question. He absolutely mugged him, removed him from his bike, and then rode off. There is an etiquette that says that there's a time and place for a pass like that. This was neither. Jon had control of the turn, he was set up, no one was battling for it. The move Tim made was appropriate for the last lap of a criterium, or a point in the race where the shit was hitting the fan. This was neither. Dive bombing Jon in this case was a sucker punch, and it left Jon none of the exits or options I talked about above. Again, I'm positive Tim did not intentionally crash Jon. But he did definitely crash him, and with a pass that was inappropriate, unnecessary, and unsportsmanlike.

When two riders are so evenly matched, all it takes is a mistake by one of them to make the gap and then the pursuit was on. Tim won this pursuit, but the way he got the gap has clearly left a bad taste in people's mouths. You only have to listen to the jeering of the fans in the video shouting "LAME!" as Tim rides away to get a sense for what happened on the spot. How much more exciting would the race have been if the fans had been able to watch the Cyclocrossworld.com trio taking turns attacking Jonathan, and watching Jonathan try to respond? This isn't the way it should have gone down.

If you want an example of someone who gets it, and whose sense of fair play and personal ethics are more important than winning bike races, just listen to Jeremy Powers telling Driscoll not to attack and to wait up for Page after the crash. That is classy, classy riding, and it's why Powers is such a popular rider in and out of the peloton. As pros, we all have to see each other at work each weekend. It's a traveling office that touches down in a different city each week. You want the respect of your coworkers, and you don't want conflicts like this to continue into the next race. The record shows Jeremy will get that respect. Tim may not, at least not from Jonathan.

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Comments
Submitted by Colin Reuter on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 15:43.
If you want to get your slow-mo replay fix on, cyclocosm has it. I pretty much agree with your analysis, but I'm curious -- let's say JP had taken the lead, say, 4 times thus far in the race by dive bombing turns and forcing the other guy to back off. Does that make this move any more legit? This is purely hypothetical. I just think the appropriateness of such a move is directly tied to the tone of racing that had been going on, and let's face it, neither you nor I were anywhere close enough to that group to know how it was going.
Submitted by Adam Myerson on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 16:03.

If there was a back and forth battle going on and a certain tone had already been set, then I would be more ok with a move like that.

Further, if they were side-by-side racing for the turn at the same speed, I would also have been more ok with a move like that.

My understanding was that this was an escalation, and you can clearly see Tim making a very late move and overtaking JP for the turn, regardless of what happened or who was leading in the turns before.

There's another aspect of etiquette that says you don't pass on the inside in a situation where you will take both yourself and the person you're passing down. It's ok to take risks for yourself, but not put the person you're passing at risk, unless it's the last lap. Tim nearly went down himself, and clearly took Page with him.

Not ok.

 

Submitted by Dan Vaillancourt on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 17:26.
A few things: If a more dangerous move is acceptable in the last lap of a criterium, couldn't this be cyclocross's equivalent? A cross race progresses at a different speed and it seems like this was the defining moment of the race. Tim rode away for the win, so do the ends justify the means? Not trying to start a rivalry that might not exist, but if Tim did show JP a lack of respect, would it be completely unwarranted? "I don't want to take anything away from him, he won the race, but I was the best rider today. I was just unlucky – but that seems to be my season this year." JP at 2007 Nats after crashing alone and getting second to Tim http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/cross/2007/dec07/UScrossnats07/?id=result... Cross is so awesome
Submitted by Adam Myerson on Mon, 10/05/2009 - 17:31.

I think the timing matters here, too. It seems like things escalated quickly. If it was the defining moment, it was forced, prematurely. It was too far from the finish, in my opinion, for that kind of move, especially in a 3-on-1 situation.

You're not wrong, though, Dan. I think your point is valid and defendable.

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