Clearly the Tour organisers the world round disagree with your views on the Points jersey.
I'd have liked to have seen more attacking in the mountains this year - it seemed to be all a bit controlled and people werent taking risks. Maybe because its cleaner and nobody has the energy for mad attacks a la Pantani ?
Wiggins achievement was amazing - 4th place overall - we couldnt have expected that. We were sure of a few wins from Cav based on last years performances.
agree Cougs - the mountain stages were a bit bland from the riding POV.
I reckon that Andy Shrek should have taken a punt at Contador up the Ventoux - nobody would have caught them and it would have been a reprise of the LA/Pantani battle of old and been a much more fun spectacle than what happened.
Got into this in last year's tour, never seen it before, but had some time on my hands. Not by design, watched some of it again this year. Still find it amazing the distance they cover and the speed they travel, especially up those mountains.
How did people feel about the experiment in banning radio communications? Worth trying or just a retrograde step? Would that spice things up in the mountain stages? They picked a fairly flat stage to try it out, so I'm not sure it was necessarily a fair trial of the idea.
wow, I actually agree with Zanzinger on one or two points. Time bonuses would definitely make for some more interesting finishes with more riders taking their destiny in their own hands rather than relying on team orders.
There was an interview with David Millar after the day of the radio ban and he said that everyone he'd spoken to was in favour of getting rid of them. While watching the peleton slowly, clinically drag back the breakaway groups is exciting in the same way as watching a leopard stalk its prey, it would be nice to see a few more breakaways survive.
Okay - looking to raise the level of this discussion a notch - I have had a bit of a crush on Bradders for a few years. Loved his autobiography. But what really disturbs me is that I think he looks a bit like Candy Ollier and I just can't reconcile that in my head.
Don't know why but Cav leaves me cold. I always seem to catch him acting like a spoilt brat in front of the media and although he's won a few stages his overall positioning was dismal. No desire to read his autobiography yet.
Writer, Zanzinger but I might have been a tad sarcastic
I would love to see a ban on radios and stage points for wins. Would make it more interesting. Although it is very much a team sport this does detract from a one on one battle I'd like to see more of and, i think, goes against human nature to an extent. I can't think of many other sports where it is essentially an individual sport i.e. you get individual rankings but where the contestants are forced to race in teams - can anyone think of others? (waits for floodgates to open).
I see Contador has come out and said his relationship is "zero" with /armstrong, got to be the worst kept secret in sport, will be intersting next year if LA does have his Nike sponsored money no object Livestrong team, wondering if the Shrek brothers will join
Must have been some ego in the Astana team bus, Z agreed about the Shreks he might call on Levi and Hincapie though, how long before ever club rider has a Team Livestrong jersey on
Comments
I'd have liked to have seen more attacking in the mountains this year - it seemed to be all a bit controlled and people werent taking risks. Maybe because its cleaner and nobody has the energy for mad attacks a la Pantani ?
Wiggins achievement was amazing - 4th place overall - we couldnt have expected that. We were sure of a few wins from Cav based on last years performances.
I reckon that Andy Shrek should have taken a punt at Contador up the Ventoux - nobody would have caught them and it would have been a reprise of the LA/Pantani battle of old and been a much more fun spectacle than what happened.
Got into this in last year's tour, never seen it before, but had some time on my hands. Not by design, watched some of it again this year. Still find it amazing the distance they cover and the speed they travel, especially up those mountains.
How did people feel about the experiment in banning radio communications? Worth trying or just a retrograde step? Would that spice things up in the mountain stages? They picked a fairly flat stage to try it out, so I'm not sure it was necessarily a fair trial of the idea.
How about bringing back the "all rounders" quartered jersey ?
plus ca change and all that
wow, I actually agree with Zanzinger on one or two points. Time bonuses would definitely make for some more interesting finishes with more riders taking their destiny in their own hands rather than relying on team orders.
There was an interview with David Millar after the day of the radio ban and he said that everyone he'd spoken to was in favour of getting rid of them. While watching the peleton slowly, clinically drag back the breakaway groups is exciting in the same way as watching a leopard stalk its prey, it would be nice to see a few more breakaways survive.
Okay - looking to raise the level of this discussion a notch - I have had a bit of a crush on Bradders for a few years. Loved his autobiography. But what really disturbs me is that I think he looks a bit like Candy Ollier and I just can't reconcile that in my head.
Don't know why but Cav leaves me cold. I always seem to catch him acting like a spoilt brat in front of the media and although he's won a few stages his overall positioning was dismal. No desire to read his autobiography yet.
Writer, Zanzinger but I might have been a tad sarcastic
I would love to see a ban on radios and stage points for wins. Would make it more interesting. Although it is very much a team sport this does detract from a one on one battle I'd like to see more of and, i think, goes against human nature to an extent. I can't think of many other sports where it is essentially an individual sport i.e. you get individual rankings but where the contestants are forced to race in teams - can anyone think of others? (waits for floodgates to open).
So Hinault didn't get gifted wins by Lemond ?
The question was asked 3 weeks ago who was the most dangerous person in the Astana team, And Sastre answered ...............
......Brunyeel....
Team tactics have ALWAYS dictated how the tour is raced, Even Mercx picked his team mates so they weren't threats.
As an aside who was the only continental pro to go to Tom Simpsons funeral...
I thought the best rider did win ???
Number of stages wins V Position in GC ?
Interesting debate,
Depends on which you think is more important, Lance "gave away" several stages, Basso, Pantani etc Because he was after GC.