Posted on 07/15/2010 2:36:05 PM PDT by Todd Kinsey
Cavendish stamps his authority over the top sprinters in the world taking his third stage in this year’s Tour and the thirteenth in his very young career. His lead out man Mark Renshaw was ejected from the Tour by race officials for head-butting Garmin Transitions rider Julian Dean in the closing kilometer.
Personally I didn’t have a problem with the head-butting although he probably could have just put a shoulder into Dean and accomplished the same thing. That being said, I did have a problem with him coming off his line and pushing Tyler Farrar into the barrier. At 70 KMH+ that was an extremely dangerous move and could have resulted in a horrific crash. While I don’t think either of these offenses warranted his ejection from the race, I think a more prudent decision would have been to relegate Renshaw to last and impose a fine.
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I saw the head-butt and agree he should have been ejected. What they do; at the speeds they do it, is very dangerous.
Jerk
Like other pro sports, there’s a “whatever you can get away with” element. I knew an amateur racer years ago, and he told me how nasty some of those riders were. Spitting, throwing elbows, etc. Also worked with a former bmx racer, who told me he got so mad at another racer for throwing elbows at him, he kamikaze’d him and took both of them out.
Trust me I know. I’ve broken both collar bones, my wrist, and 3 vertabrae in cycling crashes. I am recovering from surgery now which is why I have so much free time to post.
Thanks for reading. TK
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