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news
Richard Carapaz in supertuck at Liege-Bastonge-Liege 2021.PNGRichard Carapaz disqualified from Liege-Bastogne-Liege for riding in 'supertuck' position
Richard Carapaz has become the most high-profile rider to be disqualified from a race under new UCI rules that ban the ‘supertuck’ riding position, after he used it in yesterday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
TV footage showed the Ineos Grenadiers rider descending in the banned position from the day’s penultimate climb, the Côte des Forges, after he had launched a blistering solo attack. To open up a 20-second gap on his rivals.
The position sees riders perch on the top tube while keeping low over the handlebars to try and get as much as an aerodynamic advantage as possible when riding downhill.
It was employed to devastating effect by Chris Froome during his Stage 8 victory at the 2016 Tour de France, his win at Bagneres-de-Luchon putting him into the yellow jersey.
Yesterday, Carapaz would be caught ahead of the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, the last climb of the race, which was won by Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates.'
> Tadej Pogačar outsprints rivals to win Liège-Bastogne-Liège
The 27-year-old was disqualified after finishing in 21st place, 1 minute 21 seconds behind the winner.
The Ecuadorian isn’t the first rider to have been sanctioned under the rules on riding position, which came into effect on 1 April and are aimed at improving rider safety.
The week before last, the Jumbo-Visma rider Gijs Leemreize was disqualified from Brabaantse Pijl for riding in a banned position.
The same week saw the British rider Alexander Richardson of Alpecin-Fenix rider thrown out of the Tour of Turkey after he was shown on camera resting his forearms on top of the handlebars and holding his brake levers with just the little fingers of each hand.
Announcing last December that the UCI planned to ban the supertuck position, the governing body’s president David Lappartient said: “The measures announced today enable us to take an important step forward in the reinforcement of safety at road races, which has been one of the major priorities of the UCI for several years.
“All professional road cycling families have shared their concerns and proposed solutions, and it is on this basis that the announced measures were drawn up before being approved by the different competent bodies, including the Professional Cycling Council, which brings together representatives of teams, organisers and riders. Cycling now has a solid plan of action, which we will continue to improve in consultation with all concerned.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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12 comments
Never saw any of the racers in the 70s/80s use the supertuck.
They seemed to get on just fine....
Aside from the observation that their top-tube was often up around their bollocks anyway - you do understand why that's kinda circular, don't you?
Why dont they just eliminate the downhill part of thr climb or the sprint finishes If there afraid of the speed and rider safety. I like how crazy fast the pro go and when there in a supertuck and still peddinling trying to go faster thats just crazy.
The most pointless thing out of all of this is its not going to stop me or anyone else riding their own bikes from doing this tucked position. I know it will help my descending speed and ill take the risk. And kids who ride will still do the same. Its not a secret that getting low and aero = faster. You dont need to be a pro or watch the pros to understand that concept.
On another subject, I lose count of the amount of times I see kids cycling down the road (usually on mountain bikes) pulling wheelies and being a pain to other road users. Peter Sagan watch out!
But it will, I assure you...
I 'learnt' my aero tuck from watching the pro's race, as do so many others. Until the 'super tuck' became popular in the pro peloton, it was rarely seen anywhere, now its the 'go-to' aero tuck.
Remove it from out TV screens and within a relatively small period of time, it will also disappear from the club scene. Other aero tuck options are still available...
I personally dislike the position due to the manner in which someone in the supertuck needs to move their weight further forward when vacating the supertuck... i.e. shift their bum around and back on to the saddle. Naturally if you never have to change positions quickly, or respond to an object in your path, you're fine, but outside all the bravado, your control window is actually pretty low whilst in the tuck.
Quite rightly, its been recognised that its one thing a pro using the position in a pro race, but that's very different to a 16year old, learning his craft on an open road, convinced that the longer s/he uses said position, the faster they will be.
An enthuisiast faces far more risks, in a less controlled environment, generally with less experience / skill than the pros... by all means, continue to take the risk if you like, but that risk should not be forced on to aspiring cyclists coming in to the sport.
But it won't
1. I've been doing a similar tuck if maybe not as extreme certainly enough that would the UCI would disqualify a rider for.
2. Genies out of the bottle. It is there for all to see. There's this thing called YouTube and social media. You can't unsee it. It's out there.
Apparently Canyon asked the UCI to ban the supertuck position because they were getting too many warranty claims for cracked top tubes 😂😂😂
I do find the whole rule a waste of time ....its been bought in for safety...and mainly to avoid inexperienced or young riders emulating the professionals....as if there aren't plenty of other things that are risky for mere mortals...but isn't that the point of being a professional and learning the skills....sometimes it goes wrong and you learn.
On the evidence of that picture alone, I'm not convinced he's in a super-tuck position. His knees are nearly at the same hight as the top-tube and he seems to be (just about) making contact with the tip of his saddle. Maybe it looked worse on other shots though?
It was fairly clear in the live footage shown on Eurosport. I was surprised the commentators didnt mention it.
It doesn't look as though he's sitting on the top-tube, but it does look like he may be gripping the top tube between his thighs, and potentially may have his chest resting on the tops briefly, either of which would be an equally illegal 'contact point'. I wouldn't exactly say it's clear enough to be sure though.
It doesn't matter. The commissaires decided that he was. Dem's de rules, whether we like it or not.
I guess moaning about the ref and the rules takes far less effort than trying to work out why, year after year, Sky/Ineos underperform in one day races despite their ridiculous budget and resources (new boy Pidders not withstanding).