Macca's cable – a true race-ender?

Everyone knows 2007 Kona champ Macca DNF’d this year with a mechanical on the bike. The question is, did the mechanical really have to end his race? A picture of his front derailleur cable shows that the end is frayed and flattened.

To my eyes it looks like the bolt was probably a bit loose and the cable stripped out. It is possible that the derailleur either jammed or was set or slipped too low causing it to jam against the chainring. If he tried to shift to the big ring he could’ve easily pulled the cable out if it was a bit loose.

The big question is, why did this end his race? Neutral support could’ve fixed this in seconds. Absent support or a 5mm allen, the front derailleur could’ve been jammed into the big ring position with a stick or stone or even the cable itself. The bike could’ve been ridden in the small ring with no repair until support was available. So there were options to quitting for sure.

When you look at what some other athletes overcame, you have to wonder if it just wasn’t Macca’s day. Chrissie spent 10 minutes fixing a flat yet won handily. Rutger Beke was hit with an arguably over-zealous drafting call and likely lost 5 minutes, yet he ran himself back into third only 3:38 behind Crowie.  Torbjorn, after running side by side with Crowie at mile 10 imploded on the run but stuck it out and finished in 9:14.

What say you Macca?