Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[smutchin]

The route this year has been awful, which was glaringly obvious before they set off. Maybe the organisers wanted to limit the number of 'dangerous' roads that I see people posting about?

When the route was announced last year, Prudhomme said it was designed to make a more open, less controlled race. He seems to have ended up with the exact opposite.

 

[jarlrmai]

This route doesn't seem that bad to me, I know these guys are machines but can you really have 3 weeks of lumpy classics stages and mountains without it just being luck that decides the winner? Without sprint stages you wouldn't see the likes fo Kittel/Cav/Grieps.

No radios. No support vehicles. Riders to carry pump and patch kits. Steel frames. The one concession to modernity being that domestiques are allowed to work the bellows at the local blacksmith's if a new fork has to be forged. That would sort them out.

Every GC team has to have as a 10th member the guy from your club that has a "fat lad at the back" jersey, your race leader and his times are added together.

 

[hoopdriver]

That's a swell idea. As a tourer (not a racer) may I suggest that the 10th man be a tourer? After all this is the Tour de France - and a tenth member carrying all his own gear, panniers, tent and tools would inject a nice bit of honesty...

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

When the route was announced last year, Prudhomme said it was designed to make a more open, less controlled race. He seems to have ended up with the exact opposite.

Can I draw attention to pages 6 - 8 of this thread? Posts 87 - 113 should cover it

Mystic Marmion...

 

[Adam4868]

Boring......nah.If you dont like it.don't watch.As for sky controlling/boring/robotic or any other such things.Could it be that there good at what they do ? Go Froomey !

 

[jarlrmai]

Michael Mathews has a mud guard, purists discuss.

 

[jarlrmai]

That's a swell idea. As a tourer (not a racer) may I suggest that the 10th man be a tourer? After all this is the Tour de France - and a tenth member carrying all his own gear, panniers, tent and tools would inject a nice bit of honesty...

This would of course lead to UCI beard standards.

 

[hoopdriver]

Flat pedals and sandals required...

 

[brommers]

When's Stevo going to make his move?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I suggested in another thread that once or twice during the tour there are pursuit days, where the riders get set off at their over-all time. So the leader would go first, followed, at the moment, by Aru 18 seconds later, Bardet 33 seconds after him, and so on. The leader on the road is the leader of the GC, and sprinters wouldn't get the chance to be anywhere near the front of the race if they hadn't kept their over-all time within reach of the front of the race. If nothing else, it would force a change of tactics by the teams in the days leading up to the pursuit day, because they couldn't afford to have big gaps between their riders if they wanted to work together.

The thing is, so many people see the Tours as perfect as they are, and even mentioning the prospect of doing something to break up the Sunday-club-ride-with-sprint routine is seen as an anathema. Watch the snide comments follow........

Wouldn't the GC contenders then have no interest in racing until after the final pursuit day, given that any time gained would equal time lost in the pursuit?

 

[jarlrmai]

Being at the front of a 200km race alone is not a reward.

 

[Adam4868]

When's Stevo going to make his move?

Soon !

 

[MikeG]

Being at the front of a 200km race alone is not a reward.

It's not aimed at the leader. It's aimed at providing an incentive for everyone to keep their overall time competitive. The support riders would have to keep their times sharp, otherwise they wouldn't be able to ride together as a team to support their leader, leaving him alone and vulnerable on the road. It would also force the sprinters to get up the mountains as quick as they could, because they wouldn't be able to win the sprint on the Pursuit day/s if they started 2 hours behind the leaders. Further, all rounders, or even sprinters, could win the GC title if they got their tactics and team support right.

 

[MikeG]

Wouldn't the GC contenders then have no interest in racing until after the final pursuit day, given that any time gained would equal time lost in the pursuit?

It wouldn't be time lost in the pursuit. Also, you could easily have a couple or more of these, including a very late one. What about having such a day the day before the parade into Paris? It would effectively decide who wins the TdF.

 

[jarlrmai]

When's Stevo going to make his move?

Descent and last little climb