Leaving the Grand Tours early

[Mambo95]

The only issue I have is they can leave the Giro today and start another race tomorrow. that shouldnt happen. If you sign up for 3 weeks then you either finish or you sit it out .


OOPS giving Pat ideas.

Er, that already is the rule. They won't be able to do a UCI race until the Giro is over. In some circumstances, the rule can be broken with the UCI's permission and the race organiser's blessing, but these circumstances need to be pretty unusual (Leopard/Farrar would probably be allowed, but certainly not Cav/Petacchi)

 

[thirteen]

would somebody remind me again why the time cut is so severe?

i think if it was a little more lax, more riders would stay in to get in shape for the Tour... or am i wrong in thinking that?

it doesn't bother me, really, but i have always wondered about the time cut rule...

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Robbie McEwen did this for years when he was at his peak. It makes no difference if they drop out now, if Cav and co don't get eliminated on Stage 13, it's almost certain that they won't make the time cut for Stages 14 or 15. I personally think AZ went overboard in the final week, a nice flat stage would have been nice, a chance for everybody to rest up for Stages 19 and 20 which are rather brutal.

Stage 19 is far from brutal.

 

[Bavarianrider]

Well, it's not the ebst thing in the world, but it's more then understandable. Why should the sprinters stay?

 

[Anonymous]

Thing is, if they dont pull out today, they will mostly be eliminated on saturday anyway.

Looking at someone like Appollonio for Sky, hes 21, in his first grand tour, got 5 top 6 finishes, and ridden 12 stages which is probably the longest hes done in his career.

Is there any benefit at all to making him climb Crostis, Zoncolan etc. Not really. Let the kid go home.

 

[Mambo95]

Is there any benefit at all to making him climb Crostis, Zoncolan etc. Not really. Let the kid go home.

But he wants to stay. He says he's keen to try and finish. (It might not be the best idea, but there you go).

 

[Christian]

A course like this is basically a giant middle finger to the sprinters ... I'm sure they all have better things to do than this. Seriously I know we all hate sprint stages and so on but this is over the top, it's like telling them "don't even bother showing up"

 

[nobilis]

So most of the srpinters go home but Chicchi one of the worst climbers among the spinters decides to stay? What is he trying to prove? He will get eliminated today anyway.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Seriously I know we all hate sprint stages and so on

You're wrong.

 

[Chuffy]

You're wrong.

Every sandwich needs some dull bready stuff on the outside, otherwise the tasty filling just falls out. Sprint stages are the bread in a GT sandwich. A GT with nothing but MTFs would soon get tedious.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

would somebody remind me again why the time cut is so severe?

i think if it was a little more lax, more riders would stay in to get in shape for the Tour... or am i wrong in thinking that?

it doesn't bother me, really, but i have always wondered about the time cut rule...

I don't know either but 2 advantages would be...

1. Organisation, you don't have riders spread all over the countryside until all hours.

2. That everyone puts in a similar level of effort to complete each stage. Otherwise tomorrow's stage hunters would dawdle in hours and hours after the race has finished today.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

...
Some would say, "yes, they've got to be able to get over the hills if they're real bike riders", and others would say it's better to have the sprints with all the top guys still in the race.

Me, being a sick son-of-a-something, would have made them toil. But I understand why the organisers wanted Cav-Ali.

Steve

No reason you can't have both, 2 or 3 sprints each week. There's no problem with running two sprints on the same day if they're having difficulty squeezing them into the route.

 

[Ferminal]

Ventoso didn't start?

Do we have a full list of the non-starters?

 

[Cobblestoned]

Ventoso didn't start?

Do we have a full list of the non-starters?

DNS
Mark Cavendish (THR)
Mark Renshaw (THR)
Alessandro Petacchi (LAM)
Danilo Hondo (LAM)
Manuel Belletti (COG)
Francisco Ventoso (MOV)

 

[craig1985]

Cav got it spot on when he said that he sad to leave the Giro, but he is a professional, he is paid to race and win on his bike, not as a hobby where he pays to enter, there is no point staying in only to tire himself out for the Tour, the Vuelta, and the World's.

If you can't make the final stage in Milan a road stage, hold the finish somewhere else, or give the sprinters a flat stage somewhere in between.