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Did you report them?
I witnessed something similar with someone riding with someone who looked far less keen on riding together. The dynamic made me uncomfortable but not to the point I did anything about it, besides they were out of GC already. It did make me realise if someone wants to ride with you not always a whole lot you can do about it and some people will find this easier than others.
It still seems quite vague the rule generally. Loosely from what I’ve gathered with Anatole they rode up part of the parcours, with someone else who has now been cut from GC.
GoatandTricycle-
If you are on a gravel parcours like the Romanian one last year where Josh Reid was moved out of GC and you have arrived on the parcours at the same time and are about the same speed, presumably it is difficult not to be riding close together.
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not always a whole lot you can do about it
I've jammed my brakes on and given them a piece of my mind. Plus then stopped. Or dropped them.
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Did you report them?
I witnessed something similar with someone riding with someone who looked far less keen on riding together. The dynamic made me uncomfortable but not to the point I did anything about it, besides they were out of GC already. It did make me realise if someone wants to ride with you not always a whole lot you can do about it and some people will find this easier than others.
It still seems quite vague the rule generally. Loosely from what I’ve gathered with Anatole they rode up part of the parcours, with someone else who has now been cut from GC.
No.
Partly because I rode a fair bit with another guy, who was more keen on riding with me than I was with him! We met by chance about half a dozen times and I quite enjoyed the occasional short chat, but I did once pretend I had to stop at a chemist to get away from him. We never started or stopped together - he rode faster but stopped more so he would catch me up then slow to my pace.
I didn't get DQ'd so I was clearly OK, but I asked Mike about it later as I wasn't sure where the line was (at the start I thought I wouldn't ride side by side with anyone at all). He said what they looked for was people taking breaks and overnight stops together, but an hour side by side was fine. And I never actually saw Karl doing more than the ride up the Giau with someone else - just pieced it together from speaking to others afterwards. I wouldn't rely on that being the rule now though - things may well have tightened up since Mike's day. Also they probably have more dotwatchers so are able to spot more things.
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if someone wants to ride with you not always a whole lot you can do about it
You can stop or take a different route or speed up or slow down or clear your nose or you tell them to do one and if they don't piss off you take a photo of them sitting on your wheel and send to orgs.
It's very easy to do something about it.
PBoynton
skinny
frank9755
hippy
It may not have been just one. In 2016 Karl Speed got a similar GC delisting. He didn't seem to have worked out a route and just rode with several other riders for navigation as well as company.
I met him a few times and rode up part of the the Giau with him, and Paul Buckley, who he was basically riding as a pair with at that point.
None of the other riders he rode with were de-classified, although maybe Paul Buckley would have been if he hadn't DNF'd.