one of the directors of the tour said they had made things easier for cavendish to win the green jersey,he didnt say they had made it impossible for him to avoid the cut off times in the mountains though
for 88 riders who failed the time limit on a horrendous 6 hour uphill torture trek,was something like 30 minutes
this means they expect sprinters and average climbers to get up the verticals less than 10% slower than the best riders in the world ,
the clue is in the number 88 riders couldnt do it ,so why set the limit so hard who are they trying to get rid off,its an insult to the field who in the main are getting up the ascents to the best of their ability,it would of been interesting if 88 riders said okay we arent good enough,bye bye
cut off times,ridiculous
posted on 23/7/11
It's 20% above the winner's time and they missed it by about half a minute.
I's very unlikely they were even trying to get there in time.
The fact that 88 riders were happy to ride in outside the limit shows that péloton has made a mockery of cut-off times in recent years.
They race at a relatively 'comfortable' pace (nothing can be really comfortable, I know), knowing that all they need is to form a large enough group (I think the rules state over 20% of the riders I think) and they'll be spared the chop.
I would very much doubt that at least 1/2 of those riders did not have an extra 30 seconds in them. There were plenty of climbers in that group, time triallers like Cancellara or Tony Martin, who are more than capable of holding their own but obviously saving energy for today's TT...it's a mockery.
There are a number of things they could do if the basic issue is that the cut-off point is too tough (e.g. increase the % allowed or use the avg time of top third of the pack instead of the stage winner's), but as it stands it makes you wonder why have a cut-off time at all.
The matter is that the race was launched by Contador at the foot of the climb. They set a pace that eliminated the leaders' habitual pace-setters and made the entire stage a leader vs leader affair.
In those circumstances a lot of the riders that would normally have got to the bottom of the AdH with the leading pack had given up over 60km earlier.
Plus, if Cav had needed that extra 30secs he'd simply have got himself by one of the race cars, a habit that both Gilbert and Rojas have pointed out during the race.
posted on 24/7/11
all the riders have their own agendas and if some get nothing from trying flat out in the mountains why should they,its too tough,most just want to get to Paris
They have to collude to avoid elimination because it would be wrong to join the last group ,get the help ,and then break it up later
posted on 25/7/11
That's the whole point mate - it's not that it's too tough, not for the majority - they're pro riders for heaven's sake. The issue is that being capable of achieving the targets they're set, a great many riders aren't even bothering - which is what we saw on the Alpe d'Huez.
Take Tony Martin for example: he's more than capable of holding his own in the mountains. He's won the KoM jersey in the Tour de Suisse or Paris-Nice races, he's won mountain top finishes on Crans-Montana, yet he missed the time cut in both the Galibier and the Alpe d'Huez stages. Finishing even 15 minutes behind the winners would have been more than acheivable for him, yet he came in over 1/2 an hour later.
Thanks to taking it easy in those two stages (and probably pacing Cav to make sure he got home) he saved enough energy he to beat Evans in the final ITT - that for me is adulterating the competition. In my eyes, he cheated Evans out of a well deserved stage win there.
The rules need to change, but not because they're too tough but because the riders are bending them and making a mockery of them.
It's the Tour de France, not the Tour of France's flat roads. I've been watching the TdF and other grand tours for over 30 years. The whole point made by getting to Paris was that the rider was tough enough to endure three weeks of racing on all kinds of terrain, in all kinds of weather, going through all kinds of hardships. I've seen stages where 20, 30 or more riders were sent home because they couldn't hack it, but generally you'd rarely see more than a couple of riders missing the cut-off. And it's not because the races were any easier - back in the mid-80s they were covering almost 1,000Km more than they do now.
The riders who made Paris were heroes.
Nowadays, it seems as if riders can decide what is a a part of the race and what isn't.
If they want to get to Paris and can't do it racing with the best of the best, then let them cyclo-tour it in their spare time.
And as for Cavendish, cut-off times or no he doesn't deserve to be in Paris at all. Several riders said they'd seen him holding onto team cars to get towed up the toughest climbs in the Pyrenees - hell, why don't they just let him catch a train between each of the flat stages?
Until he gets to Paris the hard way, I for one won't consider him a worthy winner of the green jersey that great riders like Sean Kelly or Laurent Jalabert gave blood, sweat and tears to wear on the Champs Elysées.