Nobody looks good whinging about a route they've known for a year.
Quite. I understand EBH had actually been out to recce the route of yesterday's run-in well in advance. Good for him.
*OK, I suppose sprinting will always have a large element of nerve vs skill.
Unless you're in a sprint with Abdoujaparov, when it becomes a bit of a lottery...
There was a story in the local papers recently about a man who suffered serious head injuries after coming off his bike in a race that was part of a "fun day out" organised by his employer. He tried to sue his employer for not carrying out adequate risk assessment
(the angle was lack of recommendation to wear a helmet, but let's not go there) but was rejected on the grounds that he'd caused the crash himself by deliberately riding in front of a rival.
It makes you realise that when the top sprinters complain about rivals coming off their line, they do so for damn good reason. These riders know how to sprint safely and probably take far fewer risks than amateurs on fun days out organised by their employer.
Same goes for the downhill bits. These are highly skilled bike handlers. They
know how to negotiate these descents safely. Afaics, crashes are generally caused by riders pushing beyond the limits of their abilities, as Voeckler did yesterday.
If Rider A is more skilled at descending than Rider B, then Rider B is faced with either losing time or taking excessive risks to keep up. If they choose the latter, that's their own lookout. As the Schlecks showed yesterday, there's actually not much to be gained by taking excessive risks, and as Voeckler showed, there's plenty to lose.
d.