The combination classification is hard to understand, generates no fan interest and is always won "in passing" as an indirect consequence of fighting for the overall. Do you agree it should be replaced with a young rider's classification?
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Libertine Seguros said:...Is the best young rider jersey really any more fought for? It's something that a young rider almost accidentally gets while fighting out the GC usually, no different to the combinada...
Libertine Seguros said:Short answer? No.
Long answer? The combinada is a long-standing thing, nearly every Spanish race has one. Since ASO bought its stake in Unipublic, while I am happy with the red jersey rebranding, at the same time the conversion of the secondary jerseys to closely reflect the Tour has been somewhat disappointing; as although the Vuelta's secondary jerseys have never really had the same long-standing coherent identity as the Tour's, and the Giro has changed its own secondary jerseys recently (the Giro Rosa retains the traditional scheme), changing to a mere facsimile of the Tour just serves to accentuate the status of the Vuelta as a lesser race. I wish the Giro went back to the Intergiro instead of the best young rider's jersey too, mind. I would honestly rather a metas volantes jersey than the best young rider's jersey (in fact, if they had a metas volantes jersey it could automatically reinvigorate the combinada because it wouldn't just be something won by accident by a GC contender). Is the best young rider jersey really any more fought for? It's something that a young rider almost accidentally gets while fighting out the GC usually, no different to the combinada. And as long as the combinada gives us a slightly unique, different flavour of Spanish cycling that helps the race keep its separate identity, I'm all for it.
SergeDeM said:I can't be bothered to understand how the combinada or the metas volantes work. Best young rider white jersey is clear cut and gives me names to cheer for for years to come.
RedheadDane said:I can see how that could make sense.
Maybe for starters they should find another colour for the jersey, gets a bit confusing when guys like Valverde and Horner has the white jersey. Can't count how many times I've heard commentators remind people that the white jersey is not for the Young Rider Classification.
The Giro toyed with a points-based combined, which gave something like 15 down to 1 points for the top riders in each of the three major classifications each day. Because Savoldelli won the initial prologue, and that prologue had a hill in it, he led all three major competitions for the first two days, which opened up a big lead in the competition before other GC contenders started to pick up results.roundabout said:SergeDeM said:I can't be bothered to understand how the combinada or the metas volantes work. Best young rider white jersey is clear cut and gives me names to cheer for for years to come.
Combinada is easy. The points are the sum of positions in all other jersey competitions.
At least for the Vuelta.
Now how Savoldelli managed to win the combined classification in the 2006 Giro is still a mystery to me.
Sure... as long as these features make the race unique and different in a positive way.Libertine Seguros said:Yes, let's homogenize everything. After all, that's what cycling needs more of. The metas volantes competition is too complicated to understand? Let's scrap the points and KOM competitions then, since they're calculated the same way, usually more complicated actually since you have differing categorizations. I already resent how much ASO's organizatorial hand is turning the Vuelta into the Tour-lite from that side of things, and don't feel that we should be aspiring to get rid of unique and different features that give the Vuelta its Spanish identity, just so that fans don't have to think when they see a distinctive classification jersey. Let's put polka dots on the Giro GPM while we're at it. Why not? It would simplify things.
Chava, la leyenda!roundabout said:RedheadDane said:I can see how that could make sense.
Maybe for starters they should find another colour for the jersey, gets a bit confusing when guys like Valverde and Horner has the white jersey. Can't count how many times I've heard commentators remind people that the white jersey is not for the Young Rider Classification.
I still remember the days when the mountains jersey in the Vuelta used to be white.
roundabout said:RedheadDane said:I can see how that could make sense.
Maybe for starters they should find another colour for the jersey, gets a bit confusing when guys like Valverde and Horner has the white jersey. Can't count how many times I've heard commentators remind people that the white jersey is not for the Young Rider Classification.
I still remember the days when the mountains jersey in the Vuelta used to be white.
Cannibal72 said:Young riders' jersey is irritatingly pointless: see Quintana winning twice. Should be best debutant.