Froome squeezing Porte in Dauphine sprint
You shouldn't copy everything the pros do. These guys have incredible bike handling skills as a result of years and years racing and training at the highest level.
Chris Froome (Team Sky), for example, descended in the Tour de France last year seated low on his crossbar. While pedalling!
We saw what happened when a 'regular' cyclist tried this; take a look at the clip in this link if you need reminding!
But there are some things the pros do we can learn from.
And the rubbing between Chris Froome and Richie Porte at the end of yesterday's stage at the Criterium du Dauphiné is one of those cases.
After cresting the final climb of Mont du Chat, a four-man group hurtled down the other side and into the finish town of Villars-les-Dombes.
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Froome and Porte were on the lead group, as were Astana team mates Jakob Fuglsang and Fabio Aru.
It came down to a sprint between the four. And while they were fanned out across the road when the sprint began, that soon changed.
With Porte on the inside of Froome and about to pass, Froome veered to his right to close the door and prevent Porte passing.
That movement was not dangerous; it was smooth. And that's the key here.
Froome partially blocked Porte's passage for a brief moment and disrupted his sprint.
Porte quickly righted himself as Froome made contact with him. He then very discreetly deployed his left elbow into Froome's hip to move him out back into the road a little.
Top sprinters won't care about that elbow. They'll stay right where they are and keep their rival just behind them and pinned to the barriers.
But Froome took the hint and moved out to where he started the sprint; much closer to the middle of the road.
That sprint
While Porte created the space for himself to have a clear run at the line, the fact he had to hesitate for even a brief moment almost certainly cost him the stage.
Fuglsang won it by a whisker, with Porte 2nd and Froome in 3rd place.
The interesting thing about this is the way Froome closed the door. He felt Porte was his biggest threat in the sprint so he blocked him a little.
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As long as your movement is not too sudden or pronounced, it is perfectly legal to close the door on somebody like this.
In short, you can get in somebody's way to impede them, but do it as gradually as you can.
For example, it would have been totally unacceptable for Froome to veer the other way into Fuglsang and run him across the road into the barriers.
Such big switching movements are crazy, sneaky and dangerous. More subtle movements are needed.
Porte’s response to Froome is also worth considering.
It is perfectly legal to use an elbow - at any point of a race - to subtly move somebody away from you.
In very general terms, as long as you don't take your hands off the bars; using elbows or shoulders to press on people and create space is accepted.
A health warning
This kind of movement is for experienced riders with good bike handling skills. As the clock on the photo sequence below shows, this all happened in a couple of seconds.
And if somebody is passing you between you and the side of the road, you need to close the door before they get level with you.
If you close that door when they are right up alongside, you'll bump them into the barriers, kerb or crowd and you'll likely both crash.
A little bit of contact is OK. A little bit of door closing is also acceptable. But if you can’t do it with small movements, then don’t do it.
Movement in the sprint
The sprint has just begun; Porte is behind Froome and looking to pass on the inside to win the stage.
The first head-on shot as the four riders are fanned across the road. If it stayed like this, each one would have a clear run to the line.
Froome's body and bike leaning to his right as he veers into his right; that section of road where Porte is.
Porte is a lot closer to the advertising hoarding on his right than the first shots above as Froome has now moved across the road quite a bit. Froome is now very closer to Porte, even thought Porte has moved in to the right.
Now Porte is right against the barriers and there is contact between Froome and Porte.
Porte takes a wobble at this point. He is forced to slow for the briefest moment. The finish ended up being so close that this hestitation because Froome was so close almost certainly cost Porte the stage.
Porte puts his left elbow out to move Froome off him and create some space.
Froome takes the hit and in this shot he has moved back out into the road - back to where he strated. It means Porte than gets a run at the line. He very nearly beat Fuglsang. But in the end he had to be happy with 2nd on the day, with Froome 3rd.
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