this tours supersprints

[Ryo Hazuki]

one of the best ideas ever!! I hope they keep this, adds a lot to this tour imo. also that sprint not too far from finish was great to see tactics between riders who want to win green and win the stage.

 

[Midnightfright]

one of the best ideas ever!! I hope they keep this, adds a lot to this tour imo. also that sprint not too far from finish was great to see tactics between riders who want to win green and win the stage.

I completely agree were all quick to complain at bad Descions and changes but not with the positives. Well done

 

[gilbertador]

Yeah im a big fan of these, spices up a flat day for sure

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

also you can go many ways with this, in a mountainstage lay it just before the first big col and it will be hard racing until the col and then attacks all over the place on the col.

 

[cyclopeon]

a bit on the fence

I do like the added excitement and interest of these new format sprints.

But I have one reservation, which is how they affect the contenders and teams for the GC. Before a sprint finish there is the 3km rule, to protect GC positions from the carnage of the field springs, but there is nothing in place to protect them from any side-effects of the mid-stage springs. In time I suppose the peloton will figure out a way to let the Sprint Point contenders and their trains (and the opportunists) pull ahead in good time, which will involve some degree of trust that someone won't then use the sprint as a springboard to launch another breakaway. But until some informal peloton etiquette gets established I fear these Points Sprints have the potential to affect the GC more than the Green Jersey! (Or maybe I'm just being an old woman about it.) Obviously I'm more interested in GC and climbing performances than I am in Green and sprints.

I'll avoid getting into a discussion of whether or not some of the crashes of the first week might have been created or exacerbated by these sprints,but it did seem to me that the pressure came on to the peloton further before the sprints than I would have expected (I'm naive, perhaps), and that the existence of the sprint point prevented the peloton from slowing to allow crash victims to return even if the peloton had that will.

 

[YoRUsh]

I got to agree with Cyclopeon. While the sprints are really entertaining, the peloton seems to struggle a bit with how to handle them. I think it added to the growing nervosity in the pack. However it does make for a great way to keep some action going in the otherwise pretty boring stages. I'd like to know how the riders feel about it, because they sure seem to make al the finals longer and harder. I read a tweet of someone, I think Hincapie, complaining about them, because they make every stage that much harder for the whole pack.
So I think it is a really good idea, but it seems like a lot of riders are still working on the best way to cope with them.

 

[jens_attacks]

this intermediate sprint thing was a brilliant idea.it makes stages harder which we all want.

 

[AussieGoddess]

yeah Im a fan too.

As far as the peleton goes - some of the issues have simply been Where the sprints are .... either where there have been major cross-wind complications or towards the end of the stage where the main GC guys want to be at the front to start racing etc.

They do need to keep them out of the last 50 km's I think.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

also yesterday I loved how they put the sprint on a bit of a climb so gilbert won and cavendish had to dig deep

 

[YoRUsh]

yeah Im a fan too.

As far as the peleton goes - some of the issues have simply been Where the sprints are .... either where there have been major cross-wind complications or towards the end of the stage where the main GC guys want to be at the front to start racing etc.

They do need to keep them out of the last 50 km's I think.

Good point, its true that some of them have been placed badly. But what I love about the late sprints is that the break gets caught too early and that leaves another chance for fresh riders to try it, like Voeckler and Roy (?) did earlier..

 

[Ferminal]

Definitely been enjoying it so far. Would be nice to have a few more after big climbs/at the top of small uncategorised or Cat 3 or 4s.