Let’s pretend that you’re an important rider on an international pro cycling team finishing off a multi-day stage race closing in on the final four kilometers of a hard day in the saddle. Heck, we’ll go ahead pretend that you’re Theo Bos riding for Rabobank in the Tour of Turkey and say that the race leader is Darril Impey of Barloworld.
You’re probably thinking “I wonder if there are any dirty race tactics I could use to both help my team win a stage race and commit a felony at the same time? Preferably something that will be caught on camera.” As the final kilometers tick away you’ve got a plan. Why not just grab the race leader and throw him into the barriers?
And that’s exactly what Bos did, in a move that has yet to be even sanctioned.
The YouTube clip is astounding, the action starts about the 3:30 mark. Be sure to watch the bottom left of the screen as the announcer starts to yell about the move as he sees it developing. There’s a bonus pile up in the finish as well.
Thanks to the lack of UCI action, we’re looking forward to seeing all sorts of racers thrown around in the Grand Tours this season.
Follow us on Twitter
Fan us on Facebook
Suffer Faces on Tumblr
Picking on Mulu
Find us on Instagram
Read us on Android and iOS with the Currents app
Subscribe on Kindle 
Disgusting… he should be permanently banned and then subject to civil suit.
We’ve seen punching, pushing, shoving, elbowing, and all that. I think it was “the crab” that got ejected from the Giro for punching a fan, but nothing so egregious as this. Do watch how grabbing a racer by the back of the jersey will make them crumple, like grabbing a puppy by the scruff. Dudes have been known to take guys off the back of a pack that way, but I’ve never seen tossing them into the barriers. Must’ve been so grudge going on between those two for that.
Recently, I saw a video of an 8 yr old boy get his arm run over by a car for stealing a loaf of bread in a country close to Turkey. He’ll surely never race a bike in his lifetime.
So, if this is the justice for a simple loaf of bread, the culprit in the video should expect his right arm choopped off for pulling the racer into the barriers.
sounds like good Turkish discipline to me. If the UCI does nothing about this crime, then I say off with his arm!!!
And there’s no percentage in it for Bos—since it was in the last 3k (and even in the last kilometer, but the rule now is 3k), Impey gets the same time as the pack, and wins the overall.
Here’s a Podium Cafe thread with links to comments by Bos and his coach. One thing they say that makes perfect sense is “Why would Bos want to pull Impey down such that it would also take Bos out?” It’s unbelievable that Bos would think he could pull another rider and bike across his path without his own front wheel getting smacked and Abdoujaparov-ing along the barricades.
Of course, the video doesn’t seem to back up their alternative, that Bos was interfered with and grabbing the nearest thing as he fell, either.
Abdoujaparov-ing!
I can’t see it that Bos would have done that on purpose. He’s got a rider on one side, barriers on the other, so he grabs the rider and pulls him into his path?
Bos was a top keirin and match sprinter a few years ago, both disciplines that involve a fair bit of physical contact. I don’t know how he could have thought that would work as an intentional move.
The barriers weren’t super straight and the camera wasn’t centered on the two riders in question immediately beforehand. The announcer saw something and then shouts dirty play, thereby colouring everyone else’s perception of the events. But it wasn’t like he was an omnipotent eye.
It doesn’t make sense to pull a rider into your path, unless you’re on a Kamikaze mission. Take someone off the back or off your leadout guy’s wheel, sure, but pulling someone across you no.
Colored by the commentator’s comments or not, that looks like a vicious move—FAR more than merely grabbing at something for support. Bos takes hold of Impey’s jersey and swings his arm left to right violently, effectively throwing Impey into the barrier.
Doesn’t make much sense, though, because Bos went down due to the move, too. ‘Roid rage?
I watched the video about 10 times and I think the guy shuold be banned. But his explanation plus the UCI’s inaction or agreement with Bos, it makes me think maybe he is telling the truth. That maybe Impey was moving into his lane, forcing him into the fence. Also, why would he pull Impey down, knowing it would insure his own (Bos’s) gnarly crash as well?
Playing devil’s advocate ...
How pathetic, they should remove this bozo from any further bike racing, and TEAM RABOBANK should be penalized as well, he is a representative of that team. Boes needed to be removed in handcuffs. Can’t wait to see what comes of this.
I read about people saying it wasn’t deliberate before I watched it, but I can’t see it any other way.
I mean maybe, just maybe he was extending his hand forward to push the leader’s back as a sign of saying “hey, give me some room here” and maybe at the moment he touched the jersey he got sketchy and ended up slowing and grabbing the jersey instead of pushing it, which pulled the guy into the barriers, but that’s super far-fetched.
Why in the last few k of a finish would you ever take your hands off the bars (ignoring the victory salute, of course)?
The Impey/Bos crash may have some conjecture concerning intent, but if you want to see hardcore, you should check out the Cipollini/Baffi incident from the 1994 Vuelta.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Y_KOwa5pA
Back then the Vuelta was early spring before the Giro. Teammates Baffi and Cipollini prove to be too many lions in the pride. Baffi drives him into the barriers. The camera angle is so good that you can see Baffi flick him with an elbow as the coup de grace. Then you can watch Mario’s helmetless head bounce off the pavement. Brutal.
Now we need a “when cyclists” attack video. Also, remember that Giro punching incident.