2017 Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, March 20-26, WT

[Lexman]

Canty, Domont & Bol have counterattacked but bunch is reducing the advance

 

[rick james]

Re:

I would have zero problem with TTT's like this if there was less salary disparity among teams.

lol...what???

 

[therhodeo]

Re: Re:

I would have zero problem with TTT's like this if there was less salary disparity among teams.

lol...what???

Basically a salary cap like US football. Levels the playing field. Its not about how good the top rider is. Its about being able to afford a full lineup of top talent.

 

[Lexman]

lotto soudal working for Greipel

live broadcast

http://sebn.sc/sebn-5.php

 

[deValtos]

I don't mind TTT's in smaller stage races, just adds a bit of character and uniqueness in events that don't matter so much. TTT's in Grand Tours I am not as keen on ...

 

[rune1107]

How can a WT race be this poorly produced? Just heli-shots, and they have already mistaken a Wanty rider for Kiserlovski.

 

[rick james]

Euro sport saying its not a flat run along the sea front

 

[Lexman]

all together

 

[Alexandre B.]

Did the TTT neutralize this stage?

 

[DNP-Old]

Sebastian Molano to win this bike race.

 

[SKSemtex]

Re: Re:

I would have zero problem with TTT's like this if there was less salary disparity among teams.

lol...what???

Basically a salary cap like US football. Levels the playing field. Its not about how good the top rider is. Its about being able to afford a full lineup of top talent.

It is a good idea. I like American model of doing sport business so much. But it can be done only in countries where it can be controllable. We have discussed this problem several times.
I can imagine only a few European countries where it can be done. How on earth can you control the salary cup in countries like Russia or even Italy. Only a dream.

 

[wirral]

Re:

How can a WT race be this poorly produced? Just heli-shots, and they have already mistaken a Wanty rider for Kiserlovski.

I take it you are unfamiliar with the normal tv coverage of Catalunya. Frankly we are fortunate to have any pictures at all.

 

[Lexman]

Gautier to attack at 5 kms

 

[rick james]

nice beach

 

[rick james]

photo finish

 

[Scarponi]

That FDJ sprint style lolol

 

[Carols]

Nacer?

 

[rick james]

Re:

Nacer?

don't think so

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Cimolai wins

 

[Alexandre B.]

Excellent sprint by Cimolai.

 

[Lexman]

Cimolai
Bouhanni
Sbaragli
Smith
Greipel

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Re: Re:

I would have zero problem with TTT's like this if there was less salary disparity among teams.

lol...what???

Basically a salary cap like US football. Levels the playing field. Its not about how good the top rider is. Its about being able to afford a full lineup of top talent.

Salary cap is a soft-cap in football and it has been unsuccessful partly due to disparity in tax rates and other regional perks and partly because you can always shift the money around in unintended ways to subvert the system. Many NFL teams are not competitive even while they are far over the cap. Then some teams make the playoffs virtually every season. Once you fall behind in managing the cap, the only way to come in under or close to the cap is to sign contract extensions you wouldn't want to sign but you take the long term loss as it transfers towards the next season's cap once signed.

These types of things would be multiplied on an international scale. Some salaries would be taxed 0-1% others 40%. Also, a mandatory minimum rider salary would still be required to be competitive with Diet Sky. This would put an enormous pressure on most teams.

The bottom line is that after Salary Cap in the NFL the top tier salaries continued to rise exponentially and they just started filling the roster with more and more rookies driving the average career down to less than 2 seasons. The contracts signed are always optimistic estimates of what will happen and so when it comes time for the team to terminate the contract a few years early all the money they owe suddenly counts towards this years salary cap. Its a nightmare for all but the privileged few teams that manage to keep their operating cash on hand equal to their cap utilization by balancing dozens of prorated forms of payment (signing bonus, roster bonus, performance incentives, etc) all with random due dates.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Cimoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Stage top 10

 

[LaFlorecita]

http://www.edosof.com/carrera/112/etapas#cajaetapas

Results

First BMC and Trek quite far down. That could mean they'll have to start early tomorrow

Edit: apparently FDJ will start last and before that the reverse order of the team classification.
Trek are 21st in the team classification, BMC 18th