Pyranees stages-Boring!!

[Wolfpengap]

The Pyranean stages were useless and boring! How can a major part of the race go by with no real changes in GC? Ok, so Canc lost the yellow, we knew that was coming. Contador makes up 19 seconds. Other than that, the entire peloton rides tempo over 6 mountains in the Pyranees! This is terrible course set up by the Tour! 70 km to the finish of the stages basically nuetralized all the mountains. It seems they want the race to be all together to the Annency TT and the Ventoux will be a free for all. IMHO, a boring way to make a race. Now we get a week of Cavendish stage wins.......boring!

 

[Alex99]

The idea is indeed that the last stages are to decide the outcome of the Tour, not the first mountain stage(s).
Now imo one possibility would be to ban the radios! If riders were to rely more on instinct (not completely, as their team managers can still communicate with them from within the car), then it would be possible that one rider/team loses 3 minutes today and makes up 5 minutes the next day. Epic rides such as Landis did in 2006 would certainly be much more common, and not just because someone can't count the minutes or takes an escapist too lightly.
I really think this would be a tremendous remedy for such "problems"!

 

[ilillillli]

The idea is indeed that the last stages are to decide the outcome of the Tour, not the first mountain stage(s).
Now imo one possibility would be to ban the radios! If riders were to rely more on instinct (not completely, as their team managers can still communicate with them from within the car), then it would be possible that one rider/team loses 3 minutes today and makes up 5 minutes the next day. Epic rides such as Landis did in 2006 would certainly be much more common, and not just because someone can't count the minutes or takes an escapist too lightly.
I really think this would be a tremendous remedy for such "problems"!

In my opinion...

3 well-designed, thrilling weeks > 2.5 weeks of minimal GC change and 2 good stages in the alps.

there won't be a GC shakeup until stage 13! really?! that's nearly 2 weeks of warmup. agreed, boring.

 

[Alex99]

In my opinion...

3 well-designed, thrilling weeks > 2.5 weeks of minimal GC change and 2 good stages in the alps.

there won't be a GC shakeup until stage 13! really?! that's nearly 2 weeks of warmup. agreed, boring.

I agree - the only thing is just that with all the analytical planning and riding, it's almost impossible to devise such a script. Therefore, leave it more to the riders to make the decision on how to ride!

 

[Bluebeard]

I think folk are a bit too caught up with the maillot jaune.

Friday was great - huge break, the "Will they / won't they" of the breakaway, would Feillu, the kid manage to stay the pace for the last of the mountain and by doping so, take the maillot a pois, then the question of whether Nocentini would pull on the yellow. Add to that, the drama behind with the regular attacks of Evans, Wiggins and Schleck, only for us all to be dazzled by Contador.

Saturday saw the green jersey change when Hushovd managed to break away and snatch it form under Cavendish's nose - so much for the Columbia machine procession to the Champs Elysée - and set up the sprints this week for a bit more excitement. Similarly, Kern did enough to take the shirt of Feillu's back too. There was the drama as Evans tried to lead the break and was shooed back by no less than Cancellara - a wise move considering that the four clear went on to win it, in an exciting and edgey contest of wills. And Efimkin's break saw AG2R break another of the strangleholds we were expecting from Astana on the leading team competition - like Nocentini, they are not expected to win it, but they'll hold on as long as they can.

Sunday was another long break, with a real sense of impending doom, as it was only really in the final three kilometres that it seemed as though they really would hold on. Composed of Voigt, Pelizotti, Fedrigo and Duque, from the off, it had the class to stay clear, but you just couldn't tell. Behind that break you had the combination of team tactics from BBox, with Voeckler hold and disrupting and there as a backup plan, Efimkin playing to advance the team lead of AG2R, and Martinez drinding out his way to be the third polka-dot wearer of the weekend. The wind up was admittedly not so wholehearted from the chasing peloton, but the duel between Fédrigo and Pelizotti swung back and forth, and led to the second French winner of the weekend, not a regular occurence.

Given all this, I would probably not be able to keep up with an exciting weekend...

 

[ilillillli]

I think folk are a bit too caught up with the maillot jaune.

i'll confess to that. typically in a race i'm watching to see who wins. i don't feel like i'm wrong in feeling that way. side-plots aside there was no selection. which really should be the point of a race... to select a winner.

 

[The_Z_man]

I think folk are a bit too caught up with the maillot jaune.

But isn't that what the race is all about? I must have been looking at the wrong jersey for the past 21 years.

The problem, in my opinion, with the stages in the Pyrenees is that only one of them had a mountaintop finish. There are rarely big GC shakeups on stages without one. Yesterday, even if someone had tried something on the Tourmalet, there would have been too much stage left to make it stick.

When you've got a stage where it's all or nothing on the final climb, that's when I think it gets exciting. Ventoux has a chance to be the biggest stage in years.

 

[ilillillli]

next year's tour to include a mountain-top start! oooh, can't wait!

 

[Robert Merivel]

But isn't that what the race is all about? I must have been looking at the wrong jersey for the past 21 years.

The problem, in my opinion, with the stages in the Pyrenees is that only one of them had a mountaintop finish. There are rarely big GC shakeups on stages without one. Yesterday, even if someone had tried something on the Tourmalet, there would have been too much stage left to make it stick.

When you've got a stage where it's all or nothing on the final climb, that's when I think it gets exciting. Ventoux has a chance to be the biggest stage in years.

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet? I suspect logistics plays a large role regarding mt top finishes. Personally, I would prefer to see more of them in the tour, but then, would that sway the race too much in favor of the climbing specialist?

 

[ilillillli]

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet? I suspect logistics plays a large role regarding mt top finishes. Personally, I would prefer to see more of them in the tour, but then, would that sway the race too much in favor of the climbing specialist?

then add more km of flat time trials... or something! anything! because having a no-name domestique wearing yellow into stage 13 seems a little borring. if there's no selection, it's not a race.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet?

Errmm....La Mongie 2002, Lance (admittedly almost blown out by Heras and and 2004, Basso, just beating Lance.
Technically, not the top of the Tourmalet, but certainly on it and good enough.

 

[mambo#5]

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet? I suspect logistics plays a large role regarding mt top finishes. Personally, I would prefer to see more of them in the tour, but then, would that sway the race too much in favor of the climbing specialist?

do you not remember the famous Lance crash at the base of the tourmalet?

 

[Nick C.]

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet? I suspect logistics plays a large role regarding mt top finishes. Personally, I would prefer to see more of them in the tour, but then, would that sway the race too much in favor of the climbing specialist?

Is La Mongie considered a finish on Tourmalet? Its a shame because its 2-2 1/2 weeks of waiting for the last half-week or so. I think the Giro this year was more entertaining even without any of the mythical mountains.

 

[Mellow Velo]

do you not remember the famous Lance crash at the base of the tourmalet?

Probably not....since it was on Luz Ardiden.

 

[The_Z_man]

Has there ever been a finish on Tourmalet? I suspect logistics plays a large role regarding mt top finishes. Personally, I would prefer to see more of them in the tour, but then, would that sway the race too much in favor of the climbing specialist?

I realize that. However, in years past, the Tourmalet was not the last climb of the day. Lots of times it finishes at Luz-Ardiden. Last year it finished at Hautacam.

 

[mambo#5]

Probably not....since it was on Luz Ardiden.

oh, I stand corrected.

 

[Mellow Velo]

oh, I stand corrected.

Not to worry.
The spelling police are constantly after me for using the i before e rule for non English words! I was going to say foriegn foreign!

 

[frizzlefry]

Not to worry.
The spelling police are constantly after me for using the i before e rule for non English words! I was going to say foriegn foreign!

Kind of like the title of this thread?

 

[Amsterhammer]

The spelling police get particularly upset when people still can't spell Freire correctly.....and when they get names of riders or mountains wrong in titles of topics.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The spelling police get particularly upset when people still can't spell Freire correctly.....and when they get names of riders or mountains wrong in titles of topics.

Yup,that's me, I hold my hand up in shame. Not as if I don't know it's Freire, either.
Sue, the boss, told me off for Frieburg/Freiburg, in the clinic.
Pyranees? Is that where pyranha's come from?

It's a good job Djamolidine Abdoujaparov isn't riding anymore!

 

[Cobblestones]

Yup,that's me, I hold my hand up in shame. Not as if I don't know it's Freire, either.
Sue, the boss, told me off for Frieburg/Freiburg, in the clinic.
Pyranees? Is that where pyranha's come from?

It's a good job Djamolidine Abdoujaparov isn't riding anymore!

Try Scheirlinckx then.