garyynwa said:
Saw a brief programme yesterday that showed a little bit about team sky earlier in the year and who would be chosen to challenge for the title, Wiggins or Froome, but I dont understand, why cant they just race and whoever was the fastest wins? why does it have to be alrady decided who wins, I like watching the tour when i can but clearly dont know anything about the rules or team strategies etc
Cycling may appear to be an individual sport, but it's really team based (not only at pro level, but also in important races at state, regional and local levels amongst amateurs).
As a result, in order for the team to have the best chance of winning, someone needs to be the leader and the primary rider that the others work for.
Designating the leader helps determine who will take turns pulling the peloton (or just the team), where each rider will sit in order to make best use of drafting (and hence saving energy until it's really needed), who goes back for food, drinks, team orders, etc., when should members of the team drop back to help a rider who has had a mechanical, puncture, crash, who goes off the front in a break, etc., etc. etc.
Essentially, knowing in advance who is leading the team determines a whole range of strategies and tactics for a race; and helps with the many in race decisions that are then required in a stage race.
EDIT: Should also add, it's a team sport because it's been demonstrated that over time, a team of riders can go faster than an individual on their own; so in order to get the fastest possible time, it's best to take a team approach. If everyone just went on their own, they would need every other team in the race to work the same way. As soon as a team of riders work together, they will go faster than the individuals in the long run.