Bring back the time bonuses!

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But at a 9/10% slope they are not going 24 km/h

Not even Contador.

Maybe a doped up Riis.

 

[Mambo95]

I don't think GC riders care nearly as much about winning a stage... not if time doesn't come with that. Last year on Grand Bornand, Contador was willing to give away a stage win to get the Schlecks to help him put time into everyone else. This year he was willing to give Andy the last mountain win to gain time on Menchov (and to redeem his attacking when Andy was stopped with a mechanical). Would he still make those deals if it meant giving away 8-14 seconds in the GC. I don't believe he would... they might still decide to work together, but they'd sprint for the bonus seconds.

I HATE, HATE, HATE "gifting" a stage. Just annoys the heck out of me.

Last year Contador may have come to a deal with the Schlecks, but only because he knew he was outnumbered and didn't fancy needlessly chasing down attacks just for show.

This year, if he had beaten Schleck, he knew he would really go down in people's opinion, even with people who defended him, like me. (I remember Voigt giving up a Giro stage in similar circumstances as he felt he didn't deserve it).

These are exceptions. Almost all other mountain stages have been raced for. Witness Contador v Rasmussen in 2007, where Rasmussen had a big enough lead on GC to take it to Paris.

 

[The Hitch]

Damn right.

Bring back time bonuses.

Make racing so much better.

Not a good news for antagonists of valverde though. He will be able to challenge in the tdf with them i think.

 

[nowhereman]

Once again, it never fails. A simple issue gets all convoluted. This time we've got the "purists" who seem to think that any time bonuses would make the race phony. But then we hear others(could it be those very same "purists"??) shout that they don't want to see riders gift stage wins away like ac did the other day at the to of the Tourmalet.
Well, no matter how much they howl, why is it that they are unable to see that you can't have it both ways. No bonus available= AC won a larger PR victory by appearing to be gracious enough to allow Andy, who did all the leading( I'd say work, but AC did plenty of work up that hill, he just didn't lead up the hill because he didn't need to. Andy needs the time, going into the ITT, not him) up the hill, to end up with the stage victory, and it cost AC nothing- absolutely free.
If a time bonus was in place, it would have completely changed the whole dynamic of that mano a mano climb up the Tourmalet. To deny this is ridiculous, and blindly convoluted. That change would have been to the more exciting side. There might have been a real sprint to the line by Andy in an effort to gain a real time difference, and then add the bonus seconds on top of that too. It would have been worth the risk, he could have ended up riding the ITT in Yellow, like he wanted to. A lifetime ago, Lance did that against Basso, when time bonuses were in place. And it made for exciting summit top finishes.
Man, this "purist" philosophy is so "conservative" in nature, and seems to come from the same place this "unwritten rules" nonsense comes from. And as far as I'm concerned, it's outdated and useless. It only causes fabricated drama and contrived controversy. If I wanted to watch subjective soap operas, that would be one thing, but I (and I feel I'm not alone) want to watch an exciting sports event. This years event was marked by too much charity, because everybody was marking everybody else. Let's make it better, not just keep it stuck in a mode that is not working. REINSTATE THE TIME BONUSES!
There is nothing artificial about giving the racers incentive to provide an exciting finish, day after day.
________________________________________________________________
Better to ask for forgiveness, than to ask for permission.

 

[roundabout]

Pfft, Contador would probably ride even more defensively with a bonus at the line.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

If you want to give bonusses, give 45 minute bonusses on flat stages


Then they will HAVE to ride from the first mountain to drop Cavendish and co.

 

[The Sheep]

give seconds for every cat 1 climb and hc climb

 

[The Hitch]

Even though i am for time bonuses, for those who make the point that time bonuses, stop riders from giving away stages, this isnt neccesarily true. thinking back to the giro, nibali and basso let scarponi have that mortirolo stage, because he had helped them all through the day, create a big enough gap.

Another point against time bonuses is, thinking back a few days previous, to the monte grappa stage, when evans and scarponi towed basso to the line, and he took extra seconds on them. I know basso had the right to not work because his teammate was up the road, but taking the 12 seconds was just unfair.

 

[The Hitch]

give seconds for every cat 1 climb and hc climb

now this i like

 

[La Vie Claire]

Yes to time bonuses. Wasn't everybody complaining yesterday how boring this TdF is? It will certainly make the race more exciting. ASO can also change the parcours.

 

[clashb02]

Yes to time bonuses. Wasn't everybody complaining yesterday how boring this TdF is? It will certainly make the race more exciting. ASO can also change the parcours.

Agreed. Since 2007, there haven't been many REALLY exciting stages. You have to reward the person who races for the line instead of giving him and everyone within a bike length of the guy in front even 30 seconds back the same time.