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Explain Sean Kelly To Me.

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points jersey hadn't yet fully morphed into the best sprinter's jersey. the point system still rewarded placing consistency throughout the race. Not so tilted to flat stages, etc...

sagan found his own version of the old system by getting over one mountain in order to collect the sprint points to make up for the fact that he might not rival the pure sprinters.

i kind of wish it returned a bit to the more even system where it might reward a rider with Kelly's qualities. WvA would likely be a shoo-in, but who more deserving than a rider who can place in a sprint, a TT, and a mountain stage?

it depends on what you want to reward, i suppose. however, the history of the green jersey is not specifically the best "pure sprinter".

Good chance Pog wins all four jerseys.
 
points jersey hadn't yet fully morphed into the best sprinter's jersey. the point system still rewarded placing consistency throughout the race. Not so tilted to flat stages, etc...

sagan found his own version of the old system by getting over one mountain in order to collect the sprint points to make up for the fact that he might not rival the pure sprinters.

i kind of wish it returned a bit to the more even system where it might reward a rider with Kelly's qualities. WvA would likely be a shoo-in, but who more deserving than a rider who can place in a sprint, a TT, and a mountain stage?

it depends on what you want to reward, i suppose. however, the history of the green jersey is not specifically the best "pure sprinter".
Throughout the 70s and 80s the green jersey was won by one of Merckx, Hinault, Kelly, or a host of Belgian and Dutch sprinters. From the early days of the green jersey it was something that sprinters (like Darrigade, Ockers, etc) could definitely win, even if they didn’t always manage it. It’s never been a jersey for JUST sprinters, but at the same time, its always been someth they could contest.
 
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He is. He has the knowledge that comes with being one of the greats of the sport without having the insane ego that makes most of the other greats very dubious judges of the sport.
Yep. And he clearly worked really hard at it. When they first got him in, probably hoping for a like-for-like substitute when Stephen Roche left, he was just obviously not comfortable and had to be prodded along by the main commentator to say anything much at all. Totally lived up the Irish stereotype of being a Tipperary country bumkin compared to Roche the smooth Dublin city slicker. The difference then-to-now is incredible, some superb insights and a confident lack of patience for the nonsense from some of his younger colleagues. I suspect that says a lot about his work ethic, drive to improve, and professionalism that powered his career on the bike as well.
 
Throughout the 70s and 80s the green jersey was won by one of Merckx, Hinault, Kelly, or a host of Belgian and Dutch sprinters. From the early days of the green jersey it was something that sprinters (like Darrigade, Ockers, etc) could definitely win, even if they didn’t always manage it. It’s never been a jersey for JUST sprinters, but at the same time, its always been someth they could contest.

don’t disagree with any of that. It’s just tilted steadily in one direction over the past decades.
 
Throughout the 70s and 80s the green jersey was won by one of Merckx, Hinault, Kelly, or a host of Belgian and Dutch sprinters. From the early days of the green jersey it was something that sprinters (like Darrigade, Ockers, etc) could definitely win, even if they didn’t always manage it. It’s never been a jersey for JUST sprinters, but at the same time, its always been someth they could contest.

Points jersey in TdF (or any grand tours) goes through evolutions times to times. From 1953 in TdF that simply copied old GC method during early days of TdF to points system that favor sprinters. But, the main point of points classification is always consistency in picking up points.
 

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