What would have improved this tour...

[dsut4392]

Edit: Oh, and get rid of the radios once and for all.

This. And get rid of the frequent time checks while you're at it too.

 

[Merckx]

- A short (20-25k?) Prologue TTT.
- An uphill finish TT on Alpe D'Huez.
- Less "neutralized" stages..
- more "Ardennes Classics" style stages.
- Time bonifications reintroduced.

 

[icefire]

if cancellara hadn't neutralized one of the beginning stages AC would have won the race before the pyrenees.

erader

Don't forget that Berto also crashed in stage 2, and the only contender at the front was Menchov. There was another Rabo man (Gesink?) and Sastre with Hushovd in the front group. Lance was caught in the second group, Berto in the third one and the Shrek bros were further behind.

So if Fabo hadn't neutralised the stage, Menchov could have been closer if not ahead of Berto and Andy after the Alps.

 

[michaeld]

Okay, this has not been mentioned yet:

7 man teams. Opens up the race considerably.

 

[timmarshall]

How about the last stage before Paris being an ITT up a mountain, where most guys are released at 3 min intervals, but the contenders are released at their time gaps, ie. this year schleck would have been let go 8 seconds after Contador, then menchov & sanchez a couple minutes later. Essentially, first to the top wins

 

[nickel999]

How about the last stage before Paris being an ITT up a mountain, where most guys are released at 3 min intervals, but the contenders are released at their time gaps, ie. this year schleck would have been let go 8 seconds after Contador, then menchov & sanchez a couple minutes later. Essentially, first to the top wins

I agree

When was the last time the TDF had an mountain ITT? Indurain days?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Johnny Hoogerland

 

[Mellow Velo]

I agree

When was the last time the TDF had an mountain ITT? Indurain days?

Chamrousse 2001
Alpe D'Huez 2004

Reintroducing time bonifications for the MTFs only. Give the winner 30 seconds.
That would stop the freebies.

 

[nickel999]

Chamrousse 2001
Alpe D'Huez 2004

Ah yes, the Basso and LA duel in 2004

 

[Crunchy Frog]

I never liked time bonuses when we had them, but I was wrong and I'd like them back. Please.

Also, time bonuses for the first (and only the first) rider over a climb, not just on MTFs, but during stages: graded for cat, e.g. 3 secs for a cat two, 10 for a cat one, 20 for an HC. A GC contender holding a slim lead/deficit could send out one of his climbing domestiques to snaffle the bonuses, obviously, but would then risk being left short-handed further on.

No radio communication with team cars.

The seven man teams idea mentioned above is very good, and would also allow more teams to be invited i.e Skil, Saur, Vacansoleil wouldn't have missed out undeservedly this year.

OK, whacky stuff now ;-

Winning or finishing in the top five on a flat stage grants a time bonus to all of the winner's etc teammates. Might get rid of the current nonsense of teams entirely set up to support their leaders in the GC if they'd miss out by not fielding a sprinter.

Automatic fifteen minute bonus for any rider who's completed the Giro, or five of the Spring Classics, during the current year. This would hopefully do something to what might be called "The Uniballer's Plan For The Season", and at any rate should make things a bit less predictable late on.

Free podium girl for any rider winning a stage by more than ten minutes. If you want to choose one of the nice ones you'd better win by fifteen.

 

[Anonymous]

I never liked time bonuses when we had them, but I was wrong and I'd like them back. Please.

Also, time bonuses for the first (and only the first) rider over a climb, not just on MTFs, but during stages: graded for cat, e.g. 3 secs for a cat two, 10 for a cat one, 20 for an HC. A GC contender holding a slim lead/deficit could send out one of his climbing domestiques to snaffle the bonuses, obviously, but would then risk being left short-handed further on.

No radio communication with team cars.

The seven man teams idea mentioned above is very good, and would also allow more teams to be invited i.e Skil, Saur, Vacansoleil wouldn't have missed out undeservedly this year.

OK, whacky stuff now ;-

Winning or finishing in the top five on a flat stage grants a time bonus to all of the winner's etc teammates. Might get rid of the current nonsense of teams entirely set up to support their leaders in the GC if they'd miss out by not fielding a sprinter.

Automatic fifteen minute bonus for any rider who's completed the Giro, or five of the Spring Classics, during the current year. This would hopefully do something to what might be called "The Uniballer's Plan For The Season", and at any rate should make things a bit less predictable late on.

Free podium girl for any rider winning a stage by more than ten minutes. If you want to choose one of the nice ones you'd better win by fifteen.

Wow.

That would pep the race up a bit.





Didn't Hincapie get one of those?

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Wow.

That would pep the race up a bit.





Didn't Hincapie get one of those?

Yes he did. Lucky George.

Lucky girl, too, BTW. Under my plan she could have ended up with The Chicken.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes he did. Lucky George.

Lucky girl, too, BTW. Under my plan she could have ended up with The Chicken.

I guess she dodged a bullet then....

 

[ericthesportsman6]

Personally I think they should add more days in which it's not just 150km of flat, and then a summit finish, but instead more climbing throughout the day and leading to a summit finish. Also, pay more homage to the classics. They had the stage to Arenberg, and they should continue with cobbled stages, along with having stages that are similar to ardennes classics.

 

[El Pistolero]

Personally I think they should add more days in which it's not just 150km of flat, and then a summit finish, but instead more climbing throughout the day and leading to a summit finish. Also, pay more homage to the classics. They had the stage to Arenberg, and they should continue with cobbled stages, along with having stages that are similar to ardennes classics.

If they added more cobbled stages guys like Boonen and Cancellara could gain a lot of time on GC contenders. And falling and flat tires are pretty common in cobbled stages, so it could easily ruin someone's hope...

I don't think cobbled stages belong in the Tour.

 

[Jukebox]

Mountain ITT, that way we can see who really is the best climber. No games, no attacks, just a brutal tempo from everyone.

 

[ericthesportsman6]

If they added more cobbled stages guys like Boonen and Cancellara could gain a lot of time on GC contenders. And falling and flat tires are pretty common in cobbled stages, so it could easily ruin someone's hope...

I don't think cobbled stages belong in the Tour.

I didn't mean more than one stage of the kind, and it's not like Boonen or Cancellera could ever finish top 20, even with a 40 minute headstart. This year's cobbled stage wasn't too severe, yet it was exciting. You don't think bike handling should be an area a TDF champion should be good in?

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

If they added more cobbled stages guys like Boonen and Cancellara could gain a lot of time on GC contenders. And falling and flat tires are pretty common in cobbled stages, so it could easily ruin someone's hope...

I don't think cobbled stages belong in the Tour.

The Tour is a bike race. It's not just a race for climbers. If that were all it was, they'd just have mountain TTs.

Put cobbles in there and put stages like the Monte Paschi. If you're getting paid 2 mil a year to ride your bike, b!tch, you better be able to ride some cobbles.

 

[VeloGirl]

1) Bring back time bonuses. It encourages racing instead of "just stay in the pack, no worries".

2) No opening time trial or prologue. I really like the start of the 2008 Tour, and with time bonuses brought back, the finish will be contested.

3) 1 mountain top finish ITT and 1 50k-ish ITT (optional: a 3rd shorter ITT - 20k to 25k)

4) More rolling stages instead of pancake flat stages (kind of like it was this year).

I really liked Stage 3 and think they should include something along those lines every couple years or so.

I also liked the idea of increasing the intermediate sprint points.

Not sure what to do about the KOM - that would take too much thinking.

 

[Polish]

Get rid of the GC classification, and pay the Big Bucks for the Team Classification.

Seriously, all the REAL sports are Team Sports.
Futball, Football, Rugby, Basketball, Baseball, Cricket.

The wussy sports are individual winner sports.
tennis, golf, bowling, darts, cycling, figure skating.

 

[blaxland]

A sixteen man breakaway on stage 3 with some favourites in it..Evans,Sastre,Leipheimer and Rogers gaining some 15 minutes...now that would have shaken the race up a little bit.....

 

[ustabe]

A third serious GC contender.

 

[redtreviso]

Frank Schleck

 

[movingtarget]

Two time trials and not having so many mountain stages where the finish of the stage is so far from the top of the last climb. Although the riders probably prefer it the way it is. Maybe that idea is too cruel.

 

[onetofifteen]

How about the last stage before Paris being an ITT up a mountain, where most guys are released at 3 min intervals, but the contenders are released at their time gaps, ie. this year schleck would have been let go 8 seconds after Contador, then menchov & sanchez a couple minutes later. Essentially, first to the top wins

This is a fantastic idea. I wonder would the organisers ever go for it. Even if they just did it for one year it would be amazing.

The only problem is that there is a chance two riders will finish with the same time, which would mean whoever came second would probably try something on the Champs Elysees.