Gentlemans/womans Agreements

[Mac66]

In light of the recent Tdf race neutralisation, are team and even individuals agreements a good or bad thing in cycling?

Are they just a romantic ideal that has no place in modern sport? After all shouldnt the aim be to win? Winning "fairly" may have the moral high ground, but a win is a win. No awards for "fairest" cyclist/team.

Are they just self serving and hypocritical? It could be argued that a large number of teams had an interest in seeing the stage neutralised on grounds of time losses. Boassen-Hagen was attacked during his comfort break not so long ago. Where is the consistency in decisions about whether it is good form to attack or not? There doesn't appear to be any.

Lady luck doesn't play favourites. If you are attacked during a misshap, you will get the chance to attack when someone else is in trouble.

Don't these just cheat the fans?

As for me, well on the whole I am for them. Rose-tinted romantic duffer? Probably .

 

[Chuffy]

Show of hands?

 

[laurence]

i think it's easy for spectators and commentators to criticise, whereas the riders are there in the thick of it.

it's also nice there there is some romance in the sport, any sport. Fab 'robbed' Thor of points one day, yet gives him a free ride to the finish and a great lead-out the next day. Pantani smashes Ullrich off the mountains one day and the next, jan beats him in a sprint at the end of another climb (i swear Il Piratta put the brakes on). It's good to see honour (although certain riders have shown none during their entire careers).

the decision to ride tempo on stage 2 was taken in the heat of the race when most riders had hit the deck and teams were in disarray. in hindsight, it may have been wrong, but at the time the riders made a decision and they stuck with it. some may have moaned, but they held firm - their honour still held, despite their beliefs.

as for Higgs-Boasen-Hagen being attacked on a pee break - that was because the previous day the Sky team had attacked in the feed zone. what comes around...

 

[Chuffy]

Yup. What grebe boy said.

 

[NickM]

...Fab 'robbed' Thor of points one day, yet gives him a free ride to the finish and a great lead-out the next day. Pantani smashes Ullrich off the mountains one day and the next, jan beats him in a sprint at the end of another climb (i swear Il Piratta put the brakes on). It's good to see honour...

But some (me included) consider it better still to see the best rider win. Or even the luckiest.

If Hushovd got a lead out on stage 3, maybe Geraint Thomas was done out of a deserved victory. And what about other riders who were in a position to sprint at the end of stage 2? They didn't get any subsequent payback, did they?