The Role of TTTs in Stage Races

[just some guy]

Mod Edit: These posts have been split away from the 2013 TdF thread

Following the Corsican stages which will set in motion the 2013 Tour de France, the pack will travel to Nice for a team time trial which will inaugurate the "mainland" stages of the 100th edition of the race.


http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/us/actus.html#zone184937


le:

4th STAGE
Tuesday 2nd July
Nice > team time trial

After the Grand Depart of the 100th Tour de France in Corsica, it is at Nice that the race will make its re-entry to the mainland. The 4th stage will be a team time trial on the streets of the capital of the French Riviera. The starting point is yet to be determined, but the finish, as was the case in 1981, is already booked for the Promenade des Anglais. The length of the stage will be around 20 km.

5th stage
Wednesday 3rd July
Cagnes-sur-Mer > …

The race will kick off at Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town to the west of Nice, playing host to the Tour de France for the first time. The peloton will then head towards...

TTT @ 20 is too short 35 about right IMO.

Hitch will be a long soon to complain about the TTT

 

[Descender]

I'm sick and tired of the stupid *** TTTs.

 

[cineteq]

I'm sick and tired of the stupid *** TTTs.

That's your opinion. Others feel is a great thing.

 

[Descender]

That's your opinion. Others feel is great thing.

Seriously?

And who exactly do these others think they are that they feel smug enough to hold opinions different from mine??

 

[taiwan]

I'm sick and tired of the stupid *** TTTs.

seconded.
...

 

[will10]

I'm sick and tired of the stupid *** TTTs.

Ever ridden one?

 

[cineteq]

And who exactly do these others think they are that they feel smug enough to hold opinions different from mine??

All I know is that those people are very smart and very knowledgable.

 

[The Hitch]

Hitch will be a long soon to complain about the TTT

Of course.

Im glad that you associate me with the crusade for fairness.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The Team Time Trial has no place in road cycling and the sooner it p*sses off back to the track where it belongs the better.

 

[Angliru]

That's your opinion. Others feel is great thing.

Not I. While it may be nice to look at, it puts the contenders on the less moneyed teams at a serious disadvantage. It seems they usually have it in the first week, taking those riders out of contention even before the mountains arrive. The big budget teams with contenders get to ride defensively the rest of the Tour, not allowing anyone off the front that could be a threat or at least not giving them too much rope. I accept that it is a part of the sport but I don't have to like its effect.

 

[cineteq]

The Team Time Trial has no place in road cycling and the sooner it p*sses off back to the track where it belongs the better.

Glad you don't make the parcours decisions for GTs

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Glad you don't make the decisions for GTs

Yup, it was SOOOO boring in the Tour from 2006-8 with no TTT. Thank god they brought it back for the festival of excitement that was the 2009 edition.

 

[The Hitch]

Glad you don't make the parcours decisions for GTs

GT Parcors made by LS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Gt Parcors made by Prudhomme -

 

[LaFlorecita]

Seriously?

And who exactly do these others think they are that they feel smug enough to hold opinions different from mine??

Oh, how good I feel to share the opinion of the almighty Descender.

No, seriously, it's beautiful to watch, but it's just too unfair for certain talented riders (*cough* Samu *cough*)capable of riding top 5/podium in a GT, but don't have a good team for the TTT.

 

[cineteq]

Oh, how good I feel to share the opinion of the almighty Descender.

No, seriously, it's beautiful to watch, but it's just too unfair for certain talented riders (*cough* Samu *cough*)capable of riding top 5/podium in a GT, but don't have a good team for the TTT.

For that matter, the Giro 2011 was very unfair because it has too many hard MTFs, it didn't play fair for the rest of the riders

 

[El Pistolero]

For that matter, the Giro 2011 was very unfair because it has too many hard MTFs, it didn't play fair for the rest of the riders

Yet the guy without a team still dominated all the mountains.

 

[Descender]

Ever ridden one?

No. Your point?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

For that matter, the Giro 2011 was very unfair because it has too many hard MTFs, it didn't play fair for the rest of the riders

The Giro 2011 was too unbalanced in favour of climbers.

But you can always redress the balance in a fairer way, rather than making it so that the GC could hang on the TT capabilities of Juanjo Oroz, David López or Kristijan Koren, by doing something else to take the balance away from the lightweight pure climbers, like, I don't know, an individual time trial.

 

[auscyclefan94]

That's your opinion. Others feel is great thing.

Great to watch or Great for the event/race itself? I like watching TTT's as a spectacle. It takes a lot of skill and I enjoy the team aspect of the race but it is not remotely fair. The tdf gc is an individual race therefore it makes no sense for a team race to be counted in an individual classification.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

GT Parcors made by LS >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Gt Parcors made by Prudhomme -

Thank you very much, but I will throw Prudhomme a bone - I'm not beholden to any sponsors, so I don't have to go where the money is. I'm certainly more likely to be guilty of Zomegnan's flaws than Prudhomme's.

 

[LaFlorecita]

For that matter, the Giro 2011 was very unfair because it has too many hard MTFs, it didn't play fair for the rest of the riders

A rider's GC shouldn't depend on the TT capabilities of his teammates. Whether one loses or wins time on a MTF primarily depends on oneself.

 

[cineteq]

The Giro 2011 was too unbalanced in favour of climbers.

But you can always redress the balance in a fairer way, rather than making it so that the GC could hang on the TT capabilities of Juanjo Oroz, David López or Kristijan Koren, by doing something else to take the balance away from the lightweight pure climbers, like, I don't know, an individual time trial.

I like short TTTs because is yet another hurdle for GC riders among many others, but as long as the GT has a balanced parcours and possibilities for different riders to shine. It adds to the tactics. I definitely would hate that it can be too decisive for the final outcome. Lastly, it gives all the team riders the opportunity contribute to the overall victory of their GC guy.

 

[cineteq]

A rider's GC shouldn't depend on the TT capabilities of his teammates. Whether one loses or wins time on a MTF primarily depends on oneself.

So why should teams exist in the first place? Shouldn't be better to have individual participation instead?

 

[The Hitch]

Thank you very much, but I will throw Prudhomme a bone - I'm not beholden to any sponsors, so I don't have to go where the money is. I'm certainly more likely to be guilty of Zomegnan's flaws than Prudhomme's.

Even if you were severely restricted, Id trust you to include a good enough balance between tts and mountains. To be fair I think half the forum could manage it but Christian seems as yet, incapable.

For that matter, the Giro 2011 was very unfair because it has too many hard MTFs, it didn't play fair for the rest of the riders

A rider's GC shouldn't depend on the TT capabilities of his teammates. Whether one loses or wins time on a MTF primarily depends on oneself.

its as if some people havent worked out that the ttt punishes riders based on their teammates abilities.

No wonder they think a ttt is fair While PR is presumably unfair because its too biased to those cobbled riders.

 

[craig1985]

Yeah but some teams have had a CBF attitude to TTT's in the past though.