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[mombus]

How many stages will the French win? With more then double the amount of riders from any other country but Spain how will they fair? The Tour start list shows 44 French riders Spain 26 followed by Belgium 15 on down the list.

Wow, I'm surprised Italy doesn't have 15 riders in the Tour.

 

[Polish]

What's the record for a "comeback" at the Tour?

Lance was down by 35 minutes in 2001.
Great Tour that one.

And Greg was down quite a few minutes to Coppachino once and came back to win.

 

[The Hitch]

Big question. Why didnt EE and Saxo and Garmin appeal. They got totaly robbed of a good 40 seconds.

If Cancellara could convince the comissars to stop the race IN RACE because Schleck was down it shouldnt be too hard to argue the case, even if only in the media, that its not a fair race if you take time from some riders for no reason.

 

[Woody22]

No sprint points on offer in the TTT so if (or should I say when) Gilbert loses the Yellow Jersey will he take over the Green Jersey for the start of Stage 3?

 

[zigzag wanderer]

Big question. Why didnt EE and Saxo and Garmin appeal. They got totaly robbed of a good 40 seconds.

The only other time I remember this happening was the Vuelta 2009. Dan Martin had crashed and was chasing back on when virtually the whole field went down with 3km to go. (stage 4?) He faced the same situation as yesterday with riders, mechanics etc blocking the road.

Garmin did appeal his time loss but were told it's just unlucky. So while it's tough to take there is at least a precedent and some consistency with the rules. I don't remember there being a massive outcry on this forum at the time.

Crashes within 3km are easy - you get the same time as the group you were with. Crashes outside 3km the jury would have to start inventing times.

Contador's group was 40sec down at the time of the second crash - but who do you think covered the last 2km quicker - the group with Gilbert and OPL or the group with Contador and Euskaltel?

So do you want the jury to say "we think you'd probably have lost 1 minute so that's the time gap" - without anyone actually having that time?

That would be seriously unfair in my opinion - more so than yesterday where the rules were followed and some lost out.

 

[Gubby Allen]

Crashes within 3km are easy - you get the same time as the group you were with.

What is "with" though?

What if you'd lost contact - even by a few yards, with the peloton inside (or outside) the last 3km prior to a mass crash?

 

[zigzag wanderer]

What is "with" though?

What if you'd lost contact - even by a few yards, with the peloton inside (or outside) the last 3km prior to a mass crash?

I guess they'd say if there are no cars between you and the group then you're still "with" the group and you get lucky.

 

[Gubby Allen]

I only get to follow half a dozen or so races a year, so anybody able to account the reasons for the following missing, whether it be not good enough, injured, resting etc;

Ballan - BMC
Dessell & Nocentini - AG2R
Haussler - Garmin
Anton - Euskatel
Freire & Breschel - Rabobank
Larsson - Saxo

Any of about 6 from Katusha - guessing all mainly due to wanting an all Russian roster.

Cofidis & HTC both missing a few riders I'd have expected to see too.

 

[wirral]

OK, easy question, for those that know.

Let's say Garmin waste the opposition on the TTT and Thor Hushovd is in the top 5 but David Millar crosses the line first. Who would wear the yellow? They would both have the same time but Thor got a better position on stage 1 and he would have more points but Millar would have had a better nominal position on stage 2. So, who would get the jersey?

Similarly, Radioshack have 5 riders sitting on 6 seconds down in the GC!!

 

[Gubby Allen]

OK, easy question, for those that know.

Let's say Garmin waste the opposition on the TTT and Thor Hushovd is in the top 5 but David Millar crosses the line first. Who would wear the yellow? They would both have the same time but Thor got a better position on stage 1 and he would have more points but Millar would have had a better nominal position on stage 2. So, who would get the jersey?

Similarly, Radioshack have 5 riders sitting on 6 seconds down in the GC!!

Whoever is highest on GC this morning as I understand it. The order they finish in today is irrelevant, so long as they cross the line with the 5th placed rider.

 

[wirral]

Whoever is highest on GC this morning as I understand it. The order they finish in today is irrelevant, so long as they cross the line with the 5th placed rider.

Thanks.

So, in my first example, it would be Thor Hushovd in yellow and in my second, it would be Andreas Kloeden, nicht wahr?

 

[*Falze*]

I only get to follow half a dozen or so races a year, so anybody able to account the reasons for the following missing, whether it be not good enough, injured, resting etc;

Ballan - BMC
Dessell & Nocentini - AG2R
Haussler - Garmin - have struggled all yearAnton - Euskatel - Rode the giro and is targeting GC in the VueltaFreire & Breschel - Rabobank - Freire has just had an op i believe & Breschel has niot got full fitness from InjuryLarsson - Saxo - just not selected i think
Any of about 6 from Katusha - guessing all mainly due to wanting an all Russian roster. - correct
Cofidis & HTC both missing a few riders I'd have expected to see too.

it the problem with only nine spots for the larger teams, not everyone can race

 

[Gubby Allen]

Thanks.

So, in my first example, it would be Thor Hushovd in yellow and in my second, it would be Andreas Kloeden, nicht wahr?

According to ITV4 - which isn't the most reassuring statement, find the highest placed rider from each team and so long as they win the TT, that rider comes trhough with them (and were in the 0.06 group) they'll be in yellow - and potentially for a week if they can negotiate some winds & stage 4 finish.

 

[Finn84]

I think they count their total positions. There is quite a few riders between top two of many teams, but I would imagine if there was riders on P6 and P7, then one on P7 finishes first in TTT and P6 fourth, P7 takes the jersey.

Not sure though, I remember in 2007 Giro the jersey swapping between di Luca and Gasparotto in the first few days.

 

[Fus087]

No sprint points on offer in the TTT so if (or should I say when) Gilbert loses the Yellow Jersey will he take over the Green Jersey for the start of Stage 3?

He would.

OK, easy question, for those that know.

Let's say Garmin waste the opposition on the TTT and Thor Hushovd is in the top 5 but David Millar crosses the line first. Who would wear the yellow? They would both have the same time but Thor got a better position on stage 1 and he would have more points but Millar would have had a better nominal position on stage 2. So, who would get the jersey?

Similarly, Radioshack have 5 riders sitting on 6 seconds down in the GC!!

Quote from The Rules:

The general individual time ranking is established by adding together the times achieved by each rider in the 21 stages, including time penalties.
In the event of a tie in the general ranking, the hundredth of a second recorded by the timekeepers during the individual time trial stages will be included in the total times in order to decide the overall winner and who takes the Yellow Jersey. If a tie should still result from this, then the places achieved for each stage are added up and, as a last resort, the place obtained in the final stage is counted. [bolded for emphasis]

As I understand it, if Garmin win (and are at least six seconds faster than Omega Pharma - Lotto), it's down to the combined placings of both stages. Hushovd was 3rd yesterday, Millar 16th. So wherever Hushovd finishes, he'll get a lower sum than Millar.

It could be though that they consider everybody not dropped from the winning team as being 1st on today's stage, thus only taking yesterday's position into account.
The rules aren't clear on that.

 

[RedheadDane]

Got a bit of a technical question. Those blue vest thingies some of the riders were wearing while they were warming up, what were they for?

 

[Gubby Allen]

Not just for the tour but in races, particularly with huge fields - how do the authorities know exactly where every rider is like yesterday at the times of the 8 & 2.5km crashes?

There were roughly 100 in each group after the first one. Would it have been possible - even in a tour of Britain or equivalent race, that they could've credited a rider with having been in the first group, when they were in the second, given by 2.5km most were back together again?

 

[valentius borealis]

Not just for the tour but in races, particularly with huge fields - how do the authorities know exactly where every rider is like yesterday at the times of the 8 & 2.5km crashes?

There were roughly 100 in each group after the first one. Would it have been possible - even in a tour of Britain or equivalent race, that they could've credited a rider with having been in the first group, when they were in the second, given by 2.5km most were back together again?

In major races, every rider has a GPS transponder on their bike, which allows the commisaires to know where the riders were. There can still be confusion if it falls/is cut off or when riders have bike changes.

 

[thehog]

In major races, every rider has a GPS transponder on their bike, which allows the commisaires to know where the riders were. There can still be confusion if it falls/is cut off or when riders have bike changes.

This is not true.

They have a metal plate in the number which only records when they cross the line.

Failing that that they use video.

 

[valentius borealis]

This is not true.

They have a metal plate in the number which only records when they cross the line.

Failing that that they use video.

OK, my mistake. I just remember it having to be cut off Vino's bike on a stage to Briancon a few years ago because it had come loose and was in danger of getting caught up in his spokes.

 

[JRTinMA]

OK, my mistake. I just remember it having to be cut off Vino's bike on a stage to Briancon a few years ago because it had come loose and was in danger of getting caught up in his spokes.

That was a program they ran with a company, Polar I believe, it was only on certain riders. The hogs answer is wholly correct either since where they crossed the line wasn't really the question. All Officials vehicles, most motorcycles and many other have a relay system and they use it to keep track of groups. This link kind of explains it and debunks the live gps myth as well.

http://goandtrack.com/live-gps-tracking-of-tour-de-france-2011-riders-not-quite.html

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

This is not true.

They have a metal plate in the number which only records when they cross the line.

Failing that that they use video.

I'd love to believe that they had good enough video to identify every rider who avoided the Iglinski incident on stage one, so that they could be certain who should have been treated as Schleck was, and who treated like Contador. I'd like to, but I really don't. So where did they get their 78 names from?

 

[Peccio89]

They had data from a minus 3km checkpoint, that's what the chief of the jury told to the italian television yesterday.

 

[Anonymous]

Is this really silly season?

 

[LazyBigDog]

I've seem some inconsistencies in the times reported by the official website of the TDF (letour.fr).

For example, the website reported Ryder Hesjedel had a time of 4:43:26 for stage 1 and his team did the TTT in 24:48 today (for a total time of 5:08:14). But, if you look at the total time for Ryder after Stage 2, it says his total time is 5:07:39.

I've also seen this with other riders too (Sandy Casar and Christain Vande Velde for example).

Was his (and other riders) time just reported wrong for Stage 1 or is there something else I'm missing? Were these riders part of the late crash and got the same time as others (since they were within the last 2K) and the website just didn't correct Stage 1 numbers?

Just curious.....

LBD