The 3km rule.

[Ferminal]

To me the 3km rule is also about people not suffering from brainless riding of others.

I don't agree with that. If the MJ crashes @ 3.1km to go in Paris they lose the race, but another 100m and they win. This is in no way fair, it's just arbitrary.

Re: Uphill finishes - if there's a reasonable possibility for time gaps, the GC riders have to maintain position at the front. That is exactly what the 3km rule is trying to remove. So 3km rule or not, you have dozens scrapping at the front and mixing it with the specialist puncheurs because they don't want to drop any time.

Flat finishes the 3km works because there's no real chance of time gaps appearing, so the GC contenders can happily drift away from the chaos at the front.

But we are still seeing way too many crashes on the flat finishes, and not surprisingly. I don't know what the solution is, but if you are going to do something drastic like neutralise time @ 3km, there are better options.

 

[JRanton]

I think your argument is backwards.

It isn't encouraging guys like Cadel and Wiggins to be crazy/dangerous. It encourages dangerous sprints/leadouts and banging that used to not be there as badly.

But, one reason they implemented it is to not penalize guys who are not wanting to sprint and get involved in the madness for getting caught behind a crash and the risky behavior that happens today.

I think the rule is just fine. If guys like Cadel and Wiggins want to sit up near the front while the sprint is getting near, they need to just be aware and ready to go down themselves, otherwise, at 3km, go to the back when it is a flat stage, you won't lose time.

When hilly at the finish, they have no choice to be up front, or they will lose time, the typical sprint craziness is less likely then.

If you're near the back inside the last 3km then you can still risk losing a good 20 seconds or so if there's a split in the bunch not caused by a crash. Hence the GC riders like to be up inside the top 40-50 riders at the finish.

I like Catwhoorg's idea of giving everyone the same time at say 5km to go on the big flat bunch finishes. Let the sprinters fight it out whilst everyone else can sit up and roll in.