Yeah, make an absolute mess of stage winners statistics because someone is outraged with a rider quitting a race.
And how do you define a good reason? Is feeling unwell a good reason? How are you going to prove you feeling unwell is a real thing and not an excuse? Or maybe you want to force riders to continue not being sure if they have a serious health issue ongoing? Do you penalise them afterwards if the doctors fail to find anything?
Missing on potential opportunities and prize money (I don't know about Giro but TdF gives prize money to all riders who finish the race) later in the race and not being able to start any race that takes place before the race you've abandoned ends seems like a reasonable enough prevention for riders quitting for no good reason. If someone decides to quit anyway, whell, what are you going to do? Professional sport is tough and dangerous, you should not force a rider to finish a race if they don't want to because you're never going to be sure if their wellbeing is far from optimal or they just pretend.
- Nov 16, 2013
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- May 5, 2010
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Probably the kind of knee pain that if he hadn't had an overarching plan for the season he might have tried continuing - and risked worsening the pain - but now, it simply wasn't worth the risk.
- Nov 16, 2013
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- Sep 7, 2011
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- Sep 7, 2011
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Yeah, it kind of diminishes the whole endeavour... Like the Chinese billionaire who 'conquered' everest by getting a helicopter over the khumba ice fall to camp 1.
Of course it has. There is a particular tone in these forums you have to follow if you want to be accepted. And my comment wasnt gonna fall right on that tone. I dont care.
- Nov 16, 2013
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No it hasn't. It was just a stupid suggestion which was impossible to enforce on so many levels.
- Sep 7, 2011
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- Sep 26, 2020
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Petacchi only finished the Vuelta when he did it 2003, so I certainly didn't expect Ewan to make it to Milan.
Ok, I can see that Petacchi was actually OTL in the Giro at a point where he was guaranteed to win the maglia ciclamino, so that was obviously not intentional.
- Sep 7, 2011
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If he was to drop out after stage 7 of each tour he'd have ridden the equivalent of 1 GT..... without the mountains.
In my opinion riding and finishing all three would be a more impressive achievement than picking up a win in the first couple of stages of each.
- Mar 29, 2012
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- Sep 26, 2020
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Sure, but if it ever were to be done again (Pierino Baffi did it in 1958, while Miguel Poblet didn't finish any of the GTs in 1956), I wouldn't put my money on a sprinter, who's getting his ass kicked in the mountains. 2016 Valverde definitely had a chance to do it, but were hampered a bit by having Quintana in his team.
Sagan would probably be the sprinter with the best chance, but I don't see that ever happening with all the other races you'd expect him to ride.
- Apr 30, 2011
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- May 5, 2010
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Wait... do you believe he had knee pain, or not? Are you calling it a "micro Pinot", because you think that - unlike Pinot - he didn't actually have (serious) pain?
i donot think he has knee pain. Its a publicity excuse. Pinot did the TDF stage for a long time in visible distress. Caleb didnot even try.
- May 5, 2010
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Pinot probably also had a bit more motivation to try and continue than Ewan had.
At the end of the day, Ewan is trying to win a stage in the three GT's in one year which has only been achieved three times - Reaches his target and he'll enter the record books - No one will care whether he finished any of the GT's.
Two points:
1- He alluded to probably leaving today so that puts his knee pain into question. I mean it seems strange that the day he pointed to was the day that he happened to have a joint issue. Disclaimer: maybe 'we' pointed to today!
2- All of these guys, but especially sprinters, must have knee tenderness all of the time. A little inflammation might be enough to go from "maybe I'll pull out" to "I'm out".
1- He alluded to probably leaving today so that puts his knee pain into question. I mean it seems strange that the day he pointed to was the day that he happened to have a joint issue. Disclaimer: maybe 'we' pointed to today!
2- All of these guys, but especially sprinters, must have knee tenderness all of the time. A little inflammation might be enough to go from "maybe I'll pull out" to "I'm out".
- May 5, 2010
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- 30,261
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I guess a knee is a bodypart a pro cyclist might - if he thinks really carefully about it, and gets the team doctor to whack him with one of the hammers for checking reflexes - actually have a tiny little bit of pain.
Ewan abandoning made De Buyst abandon as well. I won't be surprised if Kluge follows as well. Next to that Marczynski didn't start either today so LTS will be with 4 riders left soon.
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