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Deleted member 4366
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Did anybody watch it today? It was about the most exciting stage I've seen for a long while. Highlights on ITV4 at 19:00.
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Deleted member 4366
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It was nice to see that there's still a bit of sportsmanship in some racing. Chris Froome lost his gears, so needed a bike change. There's a sort of unwritten rule that if the guy in the yellow jersey has a mechanical problem, they all let him catch up again afterwards, which is what they did, except one guy (Aru), but none of the others would help him form a break-away group, so he had to comply too.
Later, there were some ructions between Aru and Froome, but in the end, they had to cooperate as a team to catch up the guy in lead.
It always amazes me that after racing all day for nearly 200km up and down mountains, the winner is only 1cm ahead of the second guy. Yesterday, it was about 2mm.
Later, there were some ructions between Aru and Froome, but in the end, they had to cooperate as a team to catch up the guy in lead.
It always amazes me that after racing all day for nearly 200km up and down mountains, the winner is only 1cm ahead of the second guy. Yesterday, it was about 2mm.
Watched it all today..don,t really understand the rules an what goes on..but they were belting it today...horrendous crash..hope that dude is ok..he was conscious an talking so...anyways..apart from that very enjoyable...
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Deleted member 4366
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It took me about three years to understand the rules and strategies and tactics. It's extremely complicated because riders are in teams, and they have different roles in their team. At times, they separate from their teams, and make ad hoc alliances with members of other teams to form a temporary team for their mutual benefit.
You can ride with 30% less power if you're following another rider, which is the difference between working hard and cruising, so they take it in turns to lead the team.
A potential tour winner is called a general classification (GC) rider. The domestiques in the team have the job of riding in front of the GC rider/s to pull him along and keep him fresh until he needs to do his own specialist activity, which might be climbing or sprinting.
The GC riders are more interested in gaining time on the other GC riders than winning the race, though they get a time bonus if thet come first, second or third. The domesiques go like work-horses until they run out of energy. They normally drop out when their job is done.
You can ride with 30% less power if you're following another rider, which is the difference between working hard and cruising, so they take it in turns to lead the team.
A potential tour winner is called a general classification (GC) rider. The domestiques in the team have the job of riding in front of the GC rider/s to pull him along and keep him fresh until he needs to do his own specialist activity, which might be climbing or sprinting.
The GC riders are more interested in gaining time on the other GC riders than winning the race, though they get a time bonus if thet come first, second or third. The domesiques go like work-horses until they run out of energy. They normally drop out when their job is done.
Do you remember when there was some controversy about whether some riders were using hidden electric motors and batteries? Wouldn't it be interesting if there was an electric bike class with "anything goes"? We might find some innovative motors, batteries and regenerative braking systems being developed then.
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Deleted member 4366
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they got motors and system out now its just the cost and then there is the waight of the batt for the amount of power you want as you add more of that and the batt gets more heavy.
you can get 200bhp motors to fit in a frame for 10k but its not viable due to the size and waight of the batt.
you can get 200bhp motors to fit in a frame for 10k but its not viable due to the size and waight of the batt.
That's just the point though, competition improves the performance. Look at Formula One where they have all sorts of interaction with the batteries which eventually finds itself onto road cars. If there was an E-Bike class then we'd see some rapid improvements in all kinds of things.
I was wondering about an e-bike competition the other day. I think all teams could be supplied with the same 36 V battery (ies) and everything else is up to them.
Say a race on a nice hilly course with a decent straight: prize for those who go the furthest, prize for highest speed on straight, best average speed over set distance or time...
Say a race on a nice hilly course with a decent straight: prize for those who go the furthest, prize for highest speed on straight, best average speed over set distance or time...
Sorry don't understand 'the respect for the yellow jersey'
Why should the guy with the yellow jersey be given a better chance to win than anyone else,aren't they racing each other ro win?
My sport was yacht racing,if a boat lost its mast or was in trouble you stopped to check everyone safe,you normally got a time allowance for the time lost. But if you saw a boat couldn't get a sail up or had a mechanical failure that was your opportunity to roll your competitor.
Are we saying that if say Aru had a mechanical failure but wasn't wearing the yellow jersey the others would ride away,but because Froome had the yellow jersey they should slow down and wait for him to catch up.
Ridiculous....Can you imagine if Vetell had a mechanical problem and had to go back to the pits for a spare car then Hamilton and the rest of the grid would slow down and wait for him to catch up,just because Vetell is currently the F1 current leader.
To my mind when Froome had his mechanical problem that was the moment the others should have attacked the yellow jersey,
In the end Froome extended his lead,he didn't stop when Porte had his nasty crash on the downhill?..
KudosDave
Kudos,
Its not like that at all Dave, it's more akin to a sense of fairness agmonst the pelonton,if a disastrous mech problem befalls a rider, or a serious crash happens amongst the top leaders,sometimes ,not every time, the race slows down,it's just ettiquite and show of respect from other riders, news spreads through the pelonton quickly as to how or what happens.
It's very much a show of sportsmanship not gamenship amongst the riders. In the case of a serious crash ,they slow down to hear if the rider is likely to re join ,if not they race on ,otherwise the leading team gains advantage.
Call it like a minority Government,alliances are made for every team to have a chance of the win of the day.
I haven't watched the tour for some time now, but do follow the press for its progress.
I generally watch the highlights show at 7pm, but yesterday I sat down at 12:00 to have some lunch and thought I'd watch the race live for 20 minutes or so. At 4pm I realised I'd been so hooked on the racing that I'd lost a quarter of my weekend! Definitely on of the most absorbing stages for a while. It helps that a big chunk of that stage was raced a couple of weeks ago in the Criterium du Dauphine so many of the riders had a good idea of what to expect.
I do get out to watch the Tour de Yorkshire each year - and there's talk of that extending to become a four or five day event. And we've got the World Championships coming to Harrogate soon too.
I do get out to watch the Tour de Yorkshire each year - and there's talk of that extending to become a four or five day event. And we've got the World Championships coming to Harrogate soon too.
Basically the difference is that the Tour de France is about finding the best rider, and there's effort in both rules and rider conduct to ensure the machine doesn't get in the way. That's why they can have spare bikes on following cars and use as many as they need. There's a strict set of rules to ensure the bikes in use are very similar in any one stage, ensuring a bike design advantage doesn't affect the result. Hence no recumbents allowed for example, and no disc brakes as yet.
The yellow jersey rider has already shown themselves to be the best to date in what is a competition to find the best cyclist, so they shouldn't lose that status solely due to a bike problem.
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Deleted member 4366
Guest
Yes, but in that case, the rider didn't stop to change his bike. Why would the others stop for him, only to see him disappear in the distance?
Let's be brutally honest,Froome is a fit guy but it's Team Sky that wins the Tour de France. Geraint Thomas said it all when he said that Sky paid him £400k to do his job,that job was to pull Froome up the hills.
There are some very strange etiquette in bike racing....
1. If there is a crash the peloton slow down and wait for the riders to catch up?
2. If a rider has to seek help from a team car,maybe just for water,the car will drag him back to the peloton or even attached by the 'sticky bottle'
3. It is obvious that the major teams don't usually put GC rides into a breakaway,when that happens,which is rare,it means that they have to race all day,the teams don't want that. They are looking for seconds at the top,if a GC rider is in a successful breakaway he could take minutes out of the leaders but they have an agreement not to do that.It means that for 100 plus kms they are out for a Sunday afternoon ride.
I wonder what would happen if say Sky decided to make a breakaway with Froome,that would force all teams to race all day,real racing that would be.
4. The yellow jersey within a top team seems to have unfair respect that stops junior teams from attacking the yellow jersey,it's why Froome keeps winning the Tour.
If I was in bike racing I would put a strong team in a breakaway and force the rest to chase all day.
Having said the above I love watching the Tour,the scenery is fantastic and the tactics very interesting.
KudosDave
There are some very strange etiquette in bike racing....
1. If there is a crash the peloton slow down and wait for the riders to catch up?
2. If a rider has to seek help from a team car,maybe just for water,the car will drag him back to the peloton or even attached by the 'sticky bottle'
3. It is obvious that the major teams don't usually put GC rides into a breakaway,when that happens,which is rare,it means that they have to race all day,the teams don't want that. They are looking for seconds at the top,if a GC rider is in a successful breakaway he could take minutes out of the leaders but they have an agreement not to do that.It means that for 100 plus kms they are out for a Sunday afternoon ride.
I wonder what would happen if say Sky decided to make a breakaway with Froome,that would force all teams to race all day,real racing that would be.
4. The yellow jersey within a top team seems to have unfair respect that stops junior teams from attacking the yellow jersey,it's why Froome keeps winning the Tour.
If I was in bike racing I would put a strong team in a breakaway and force the rest to chase all day.
Having said the above I love watching the Tour,the scenery is fantastic and the tactics very interesting.
KudosDave