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Random TdF Hypothetical

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pmtg99

Oct 5, 2010
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If Tour de France rules were changed to allow one extra team mate in each team (making there 10 in total), what rider would you select (based on 2011 rosters and not including the 9 that participated in this years Tour) and what role would you assign them?


Seems an interesting topic that people might find cool uses for the tenth rider, so yeah...


One that I would choose would be someone like Rasmussen from HTC-Highroad to sit on Cav's wheel to force other teams to make their own trains and such.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Personally, i dont think a tenth man would make any difference to most squads, the nine that are there are assumedly the best nine for the job.

I cant see a tenth man would offer anything.

Id rather see squads reduced to 7 or 8 personally and more teams invited.
 
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on3m@n@rmy

Jun 17, 2010
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TeamSkyFans said:
Personally, i dont think a tenth man would make any difference to most squads, the nine that are there are assumedly the best nine for the job.

I cant see a tenth man would offer anything.

Id rather see squads reduced to 7 or 8 personally and more teams invited.
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1 extra rider per team... 21 extra riders in the peloton... I'd hire big-bodied assassins to cause strategic pileups to trim the size of the peloton down for the flat to middle mountain stages. JK. :D

But, seriously, 7 or 8/team would be interesting. That would allow about 2 to 4 extra teams to be invited. I could see two extra teams, so 8/team might be a good number.

EDIT: Heck, this year many of the teams were at 8 or fewer riders remaining anyway due to attrition by the half-way point.
 
ImmaculateKadence

ImmaculateKadence

Oct 29, 2009
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Heinrich Haussler at Garmin Cervelo to help lead out Tyler Farrar.

Vincenzo Nibali at Liquigas. I know hindsight is 20/20 but given Contador's lack of form and Basso's training crash, Nibali could have won the Tour this year, if he had focused his season on that.

EDIT: That's assuming neither crashes out because of the larger peloton. :rolleyes:
 
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Rouetheday

Jun 9, 2011
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I think there should be ten riders per team, but only five competing on each stage. You rotate your riders according to the type of terrain with only the GC guys being required to complete each and every stage. This way you could have 30 teams competing with only 150 riders on the road at one time, likely reducing the number of crashes. As a bonus, I dare say this scheme would annoy the Jonathan Vaughters of the sport with their 'cycling must expand upwards instead of outwards' BS. :D
 
Richeypen

Richeypen

May 3, 2011
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Rouetheday said:
I think there should be ten riders per team, but only five competing on each stage. You rotate your riders according to the type of terrain with only the GC guys being required to complete each and every stage. This way you could have 30 teams competing with only 150 riders on the road at one time, likely reducing the number of crashes. As a bonus, I dare say this scheme would annoy the Jonathan Vaughters of the sport with their 'cycling must expand upwards instead of outwards' BS. :D
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Possibly the worst idea I've ever read on this board.
 
Richeypen

Richeypen

May 3, 2011
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hrotha said:
It worked for the Challenge de Mallorca (which of course never was an official race anyway).
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And is not the biggest cycling event in the world. A Grand Tour is the pinicle of pro bike racing with every man crossing the finish line having undergone 21 days of intense effort and hell. Im sure we would all love to see the first 10 over the line on the champs elysees being riders racing their first stage.
 
hrotha

hrotha

Jun 10, 2010
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Richeypen said:
And is not the biggest cycling event in the world. A Grand Tour is the pinicle of pro bike racing with every man crossing the finish line having undergone 21 days of intense effort and hell. Im sure we would all love to see the first 10 over the line on the champs elysees being riders racing their first stage.
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I didn't say it's a good idea or that it would be an improvement, but it's doable and would probably be an interesting experiment.
 
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Rouetheday

Jun 9, 2011
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Richeypen said:
And is not the biggest cycling event in the world. A Grand Tour is the pinicle of pro bike racing with every man crossing the finish line having undergone 21 days of intense effort and hell. Im sure we would all love to see the first 10 over the line on the champs elysees being riders racing their first stage.
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Can I assume that most of you have the phrase 'Bataan Death March' programmed into your DVR's search engine? :p
 
ImmaculateKadence

ImmaculateKadence

Oct 29, 2009
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Rouetheday said:
I think there should be ten riders per team, but only five competing on each stage. You rotate your riders according to the type of terrain with only the GC guys being required to complete each and every stage. This way you could have 30 teams competing with only 150 riders on the road at one time, likely reducing the number of crashes. As a bonus, I dare say this scheme would annoy the Jonathan Vaughters of the sport with their 'cycling must expand upwards instead of outwards' BS. :D
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Rouetheday said:
...and this would be the worst idea ever because...?
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How did you come up with such an idea? That would virtually eliminate surprise GC guys like Tommie Voeckler or super domestiques with small GC potential. What if your sprinter is in the MJ with a medium mountain stage looming, would you give it up? Or have him fight for it like Hushovd did this year? It would destroy the dynamics of the race.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Rouetheday said:
I think there should be ten riders per team, but only five competing on each stage. You rotate your riders according to the type of terrain with only the GC guys being required to complete each and every stage. This way you could have 30 teams competing with only 150 riders on the road at one time, likely reducing the number of crashes. As a bonus, I dare say this scheme would annoy the Jonathan Vaughters of the sport with their 'cycling must expand upwards instead of outwards' BS. :D
Click to expand...

And the five unused riders could ride in the teamcars and be used as substitutes coming on to replace other riders as needed. Each team could have two substitutes per stage, but I would also bring in yellow and red cards for doing stupid stuff.

Yes, I know that ideas silly, but no less silly than the idea i Quoted.
 
Midnightfright

Midnightfright

Mar 6, 2011
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TeamSkyFans said:
And the five unused riders could ride in the teamcars and be used as substitutes coming on to replace other riders as needed. Each team could have two substitutes per stage, but I would also bring in yellow and red cards for doing stupid stuff.

Yes, I know that ideas silly, but no less silly than the idea i Quoted.
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Maybe we could introduce water jumps and score zones. Spice the sport up a bit.
 
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Mambo95

Jul 2, 2009
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Midnightfright said:
Maybe we could introduce water jumps and score zones. Spice the sport up a bit.
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I have to say, when they started the Giro in Venice and stage 1 wasn't a pedalo race, I was deeply disappointed.
 
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Rouetheday

Jun 9, 2011
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First off, I'd like to point out this is the first thread I've ever managed to hijack. What an amazing feeling! :D ...anyway...I'm surprised no one has yet taken offense at my 'Bataan Death March' crack. My point was that while there are, let's call them 'sado-masochistic' elements to endurance sports, for too many followers these seem to be the primary appeal of these sports. I can still remember, thirty years later, over-hearing my high school track coach boasting to an assistant about his glory days coaching a girl's swim team. He wasn't doing his job right, he said, laughing, if those girls climbed out of the pool and weren't puking up their guts. The Tool!!
 
ImmaculateKadence

ImmaculateKadence

Oct 29, 2009
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Why is everyone arguing teams should be reduced? The point of the original post was asking who is that one rider you would like to see if they were allowed one extra rider. He wasn't arguing that the Tour should expand to ten member teams. Am I the only one that has picked up on this?
 
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