im wondering how much difference it would actually make having 2 riders dropped for each team... how many teams actually utilise all 9 riders seriously...
columbia would be effected, with a train 2 riders lighter, but apart from that, each team has two disposable riders..
as a side note and i dont know why, but riders who quit the tour last year.. ive no idea what relevance this has... but i did it anwya..
skil - Piet Rooijakkers (st5) Piet Rooijakkers (st6) Kenny Robert van Hummel (st17)
Agritubel - David Lelay (st8) Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (st8) Romain Feillu (st12)
Caisse - Oscar Pereiro Sio (st8), Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (St12)
quickstep - Jurgen Van De Walle (st3), Tom Boonen (st14)
Saxo - Kurt-Asle Arvesen (st11) Jens Voigt (st16)
AG2R - Vladimir Efimkin (st14) Cyril Dessel (st17)
Eskatel - Koldo Fernandez (st8) Alan Perez Lezaun & Amets Txurruka (st19)
FDJ - Sébastien Joly (st7)
Lampre - Angelo Furlan (st12)
FdJ - Jérôme Coppel (st12)
Milram - Peter Wrolich (st13)
Astana - Levi Leipheimer (st13)
Cervelo - José Angel Gomez Marchante (st17)
anyway.. 7 riders.. i think the key effects would be...
a) teams would have to decide on their focus, GC, Pts, stage wins etc, as there probably wouldnt be enough depth to go for both.. this certainly leaves the sprinters teams in a predicament, and i think we could almost see the tour split in two with 8 or 9 teams contesting the GC and maybe 5 or 6 contesting the points competition.. unless someone like Hushovd is willing to go for the pts on his own without team support..
b) The addition of more wild card teams would undoubtedly make things more exciting, more riders attempting to breakaway and get stage wins, and with this, i think its highly likely that more breakaways would be succesful... how many of the big teams are going to be willing to commit 4 or 5 riders to chasing down a breakaway when the team is only 7 strong.. that for me makes much more exciting and unpredictable racing
c) however, i think some of the other grand tours could be weakened, with two lesser riders perhaps missing out on tour spots they are likely to be moved to the giro or veulta squads perhaps diluting the quality of those tours..
d) i can see the tour being ruined a bit as it almost splits in two with the gc contenders in the main feild, and the wild cards, pro cont teams left to attack for stage wins, or form the grupetto on mountain stages..
i think there would have to be some sort of countermeasure to control teams being wiped out early on as well.. for instance the cobbled sections this year, bad weather we could see crashes galore.. perhaps if a rider crashes and is forced to retire in the first 7 days, a replacement can be brought in, to prevent situations where in the first week a team is reduced to 3 riders or something, (lets face it very often in crashes its one team that bears the brunt of it)
im talking rubbish..
