World Rankings Leader Jersey to make a Comeback?

[El Imbatido]

It seems that there will soon be a World Rankings Leaders jersey ala the old UCI Pro Tour Leader jersey. BUT it will not be sanctioned by the UCI apparently.

Link Here

It is an agreement between the Pro Tour teams apparently and will be presented to Philippe Gilbert at the end of the Tour de Romandie.

What are your thoughts?

 

[maltiv]

It seems that there will soon be a World Rankings Leaders jersey ala the old UCI Pro Tour Leader jersey. BUT it will not be sanctioned by the UCI apparently.

Link Here

It is an agreement between the Pro Tour teams apparently and will be presented to Philippe Gilbert at the end of the Tour de Romandie.

What are your thoughts?

Well Philippe Gilbert won't lead the world rankings after tour de romandie. Valverde will.

 

[tgsgirl]

The jersey Phil is got yesterday evening* was just a special jersey made by Lotto to congratulate him for his stellar spring. As a result Lotto proposed to bring back a leader's jersey to congratulate the most consistent rider, and the other teams are interested in the idea. That's it so far. Just an idea.

*at least the original Dutch article I read said he'd get it Saturday evening.

 

[ingsve]

It's completely ridiculous to honor leading a ranking that noone cares about and that is fundamentally flawed.

 

[Vonn Brinkman]

It's completely ridiculous to honor leading a ranking that noone cares about and that is fundamentally flawed.

Don't agree with that. True that the Protour is not that popular, but people do care about it! It does show the most consistent rider in some of the biggest races of the year. I think it's a good idea to reinstitute the jersey, it is a nice honour and indication of a rider who is that consistent in his results.

 

[luckyboy]

It does show the most consistent rider in some of the biggest races of the year.

Ronde, AGR, Romandie, Dauphiné and a neutered Suisse are the big races. And there's nothing great after June.

Only one monument, no P-N, no Tirreno, no GT's. The World Cup was much better. 05 and 06 were the highpoint of the PT.

 

[jaylew]

Ronde, AGR, Romandie, Dauphiné and a neutered Suisse are the big races. And there's nothing great after June.

Only one monument, no P-N, no Tirreno, no GT's. The World Cup was much better. 05 and 06 were the highpoint of the PT.

I tend to agree. The PT was much better and made more sense a few years ago. Sure, it wasn't perfect and needed some tweaking but I thought it was a terrific idea and a great way to move the sport forward. I was really sad when ASO and the others won that battle. Some may disagree, but I truly think the sport has been worse off for it.

 

[Michele]

We're going OT but at first I thought PT (and its jersey) sounded like a good idea, Verbrugge was talking about "bringing the best riders to the best races" but then it showed the riders would keep doing just what they ever did and dont care of the PT calendar.
So at the end of the day it's just a way for UCI to get money from teams for the license and from the organizators of some races for be in that calendar.

A world ranking leader jersey would make much more sense, althought I was a fan of the world cup.

 

[jaylew]

A world ranking leader jersey would make much more sense, althought I was a fan of the world cup.

I'd love a world ranking leader jersey if they used a true world ranking system. Problem is, they're basing it only on the Pro Tour races.

 

[ttrider]

I believe it should be a ranking like in tennis with the evnets points lasting until it is next run so for example tour points last for a year then defended the next year at the tour

I believe the events to be scored in it should be the
grand tours
monuments + (paris tours, san sebastien, Amstel Gold Flech Wallone, Gent wevelgem, and world champs)
Paris nice, tirreno adriatico, volta catalunya, romandie, suisse, dauphine, cali, down under, poland
The one week long tour in asia, africa and south america (dont no details of any ones to use here but with equal ranking points to events like paris nice they could certainly take off and help the spread of cycling

 

[bianchigirl]

Best all rounder competition was the Super Prestige Pernod.

Agree with Michele - the PT was never anything but Verbruggen trying to secure his place in the sport's history - oh, and grab the TV rights to races that he didn't own into the bargain

 

[jaylew]

I believe it should be a ranking like in tennis with the evnets points lasting until it is next run so for example tour points last for a year then defended the next year at the tour

I do agree with the idea of it being continually rolled over. That way you always have the top ranked overall rider wearing the jersey instead of the leader of say, the Tour Down Under for a month or so. You're always basing it on a full year's body of work and at the end of the year you still have the winner being the top ranked rider for that calendar year. Very similar to how the CQ rankings work.

 

[luckyboy]

I tend to agree. The PT was much better and made more sense a few years ago. Sure, it wasn't perfect and needed some tweaking but I thought it was a terrific idea and a great way to move the sport forward. I was really sad when ASO and the others won that battle. Some may disagree, but I truly think the sport has been worse off for it.

I think it's better that the ASO/RCS/Unipublic get to invite who they want, rather than what the UCI wants, to their races. Maybe if the ProTour had less teams in, it would've worked out ok.

 

[ingsve]

In the past riders could have the World Cup as an overall goal for the season but the PT is something in the middle between the World Cup and a world ranking. That's not a good mix to do. No rider can set the goal of winning the overall PT.

 

[jaylew]

I think it's better that the ASO/RCS/Unipublic get to invite who they want, rather than what the UCI wants, to their races. Maybe if the ProTour had less teams in, it would've worked out ok.

It wasn't going to work out due to the egos, suspect motives, and self-interests involved but I thought the idea was very sound and if the parties could have put some of the above aside, really worked together and thought only of the future of the sport, something great could have come out of it.

Ah...I dream.

At any rate, I don't think participants in the very biggest races should be solely based on who the organizers want to invite because when you have events that are supposed to be "championships" of a sort there has to be some accountability or there is too much potential for corruption and a loss of credibility.

I think they are trying to strike a balance with the new criteria for 2011(17 by ranking and 5 by invite - personally, I would go 20 ranking, 2 invite), but unfortunately the UCI's ranking system is ridiculous and could undermine the whole effort.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I believe it should be a ranking like in tennis with the evnets points lasting until it is next run so for example tour points last for a year then defended the next year at the tour

Not a bad idea, but I also think that monuments should get more points as should stages. Now a sprinter or a man for the classics will never be able to win as stage races are given more points.

 

[joe_papp]

Continental Tour jerseys?

Does the UCI still give out Continental Tour points leaders jerseys? (like America's Tour leader?)

 

[luckyboy]

Not a bad idea, but I also think that monuments should get more points as should stages. Now a sprinter or a man for the classics will never be able to win as stage races are given more points.

Someone who can do hilly classics and do well in GTs will always win. Di Luca, Piti x2, Evans, AC..

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I think they are trying to strike a balance with the new criteria for 2011(17 by ranking and 5 by invite - personally, I would go 20 ranking, 2 invite), but unfortunately the UCI's ranking system is ridiculous and could undermine the whole effort.

Yea, because nobody thinks Landbouwkrediet will bring more to the cobbled classics than Androni Giocattoli. Nobody thinks that choosing which races count and then making it so inflexible on invites that it's almost impossible for teams outside of the top ranking to break into that top 20 unless they are invited to nearly every race might prove worse. You're right that it becomes open to corruption, but do you think the ASO would be keen on inviting a team like Savio's to the Tour because they had to? With a system so inflexible as to only allow 2 wildcards you're giving the ASO/RCS/Unipublic virtually no say in how to run their own races. Sure, Unipublic could still invite Xacobeo and Andalucía, but that's both wildcard slots gone, no access to them for anyone else. Great.

Basically, making the rankings events available to the top 20 teams + two wildcards ensures that those top 20 teams will ALWAYS be the top 20 teams, unless they absolutely fail on a Unibet level. Because there are too many vested interests in those wildcard slots for regional and national teams for the various race organisers.

 

[luckyboy]

The 17 by ranking and 5 by wildcard seems a good way to go.

 

[jaylew]

Yea, because nobody thinks Landbouwkrediet will bring more to the cobbled classics than Androni Giocattoli. Nobody thinks that choosing which races count and then making it so inflexible on invites that it's almost impossible for teams outside of the top ranking to break into that top 20 unless they are invited to nearly every race might prove worse. You're right that it becomes open to corruption, but do you think the ASO would be keen on inviting a team like Savio's to the Tour because they had to? With a system so inflexible as to only allow 2 wildcards you're giving the ASO/RCS/Unipublic virtually no say in how to run their own races. Sure, Unipublic could still invite Xacobeo and Andalucía, but that's both wildcard slots gone, no access to them for anyone else. Great.

Basically, making the rankings events available to the top 20 teams + two wildcards ensures that those top 20 teams will ALWAYS be the top 20 teams, unless they absolutely fail on a Unibet level. Because there are too many vested interests in those wildcard slots for regional and national teams for the various race organisers.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was really only thinking about the 20/2 for the Tour.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

But then, why only the Tour? Why not the Giro and Vuelta too? Why should the ASO bow down more than RCS or Unipublic? Although we all know that the Tour has more money in it and everything, they should at least pay lip service to equality for the other GTs. And ASO wouldn't be happy to have their hands tied more than the hands of RCS and Unipublic, especially when the Tour is already less overtly French than the Giro is Italian or the Vuelta is Spanish.

 

[jaylew]

The tour is not the vuelta or giro. The tdf wants to be, and is, the biggest race in the world. It is the one race that is seen across the world and is the face of cycling so It should be even more important to field the best possible squads.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

So, because their race is more important, they should have less say in how it's run? I'm not sure I like that direction.

In sportscar racing, the Le Mans 24hr Race is the one race which is seen across the globe. It is the absolute pinnacle, the face of international sportscar racing.

Because the FIA recognise this, they homologate their GT series based on ACO (the runners of the 24hr) rules so that their GT teams can participate. The ALMS and the LMS, two of the most prestigious sportscar championships in the world, include Le Mans in their name, and run to an approximation of ACO rules. The ACO gives out automatic invites to the winning team and runners-up in these series, but overall, the people at the ACO are given absolute control over how they want their race to be run and who they want to be there. You may quibble with their selections but, ultimately, they should be in control since it's their race that the world sportscar calendar revolves around.

Similarly, the ASO have the biggest race on the calendar. The fact that they have the biggest race on the calendar by far in the eyes of most people (mostly casual, non-cycling fans) acts as vindication of their policies to date, and that their race has not diminished in lustre is an indication of their competence to run it, therefore the control over it should not be taken out of their hands.

 

[luckyboy]

The tour is not the vuelta or giro. The tdf wants to be, and is, the biggest race in the world. It is the one race that is seen across the world and is the face of cycling so It should be even more important to field the best possible squads.

If the TdF was held now (under the top 20 automatic qualification plan), Androni & Acqua e Sapone would be in it, and the ASO would have 4 French teams to pick from for the 2 wildcards (assuming they don't care about Milram and the German market) - there'd be more Italian teams than French teams at the Tour..