Tour de Nez - When is a Win Not a Win?

Written by Bob Cullinan

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

In the womens's Northstar circuit race at the Tour de Nez, it looked like TIBCO's Alison Starnes had the field covered. Starnes roared away from the pack, and won the race going away. ...but there was a problem. In some short-course races, there's the "free lap" rule...if a rider has a crash, or a mechanical problem, they can get things back together, then wait for the pack to come around again, and rejoin in the group. Starnes had a mechanical, got it fixed, took a free lap, and went on to win. But after the race, before the podium presentation, Alison was informed that there were no free laps at this race. She was put one lap down, and the win...and the overall Tour de Nez title...went to her TIBCO teammate Amber Rais. Sound complicated? Alison explains it all, in the following CycleTo video.

 

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