2016 'PRO' cycling discussion.

[maquisard]

Good to see Dan Martin make it through the three weeks without a major bad day. That is a massive step forward and he can build on that.

Deserved win by Froome, but really a win for Team Sky, have never ever seen a team ride so strongly and consistently.

Hero of the race for me is Bardet in 2nd.

Not really a vintage year, one of the worst in recent memory along with 2012.

[xena]

Worst tour since Wiggins victory.
All those climbers failed to deliver i.e. their climbing and attacking was non existent. It may as well been mountain-less. What a shambles 2nd rate riders and a 2nd rate tour.
Froome was the only rider to deliver anything and he didn't look that good. Shambles . Nibs will be wishing he never rode the Giro and Bertie would have won this tour with one attack. If this is the future its sh%%
climbers who can't climb Non event, shambles of a shambles and I feel let down by the whole thing and seriously contemplating visiting my local crack den

[Skylark]

To those complaining about how boring the tour was or is. There are many ways that the organisers can level the playing field of the event. The way to make the tour more interesting is to have more of the playing field at the same level from the outset. The organisers could start with a qualification system of their own. At the moment only the teams address their qualification requirements internally. ASO's own qualification system, if introduced, could ensure that contestants have all performed an X number of events (or Y number of hours) in the season thus far, prior to allowing participation in the tour. This would eliminate those cases of contestants who turn up fresh with the only intention of winning the tour in the driest manner possible.

Also a long standing issue with the pro-peloton is the question of equipment. Namely, bikes, apparel, and (ahem..) shoes. In order to have a fairer game the equipment must be completely standardised across the board. That means everything the same. Same bikes, same clothing, same shoe/pedal system etc. By that token same training, same nutrition, same hours of work/rest etc across the entire peloton, you get the drift. Sounds like F1 but given what we have at the moment, it's a mess. Let's start with homogenising bicycle equipment for a start.

If people want a more exciting tour where everything is cut throat then the playing level field must be levelled out further. This will allow for greater focus on the individuals in the tour duelling with each other. Clearly given this tour, Sky has had the upper hand. It's not as if the other 21 teams were less capable. OK maybe a few, but the principle would still apply to the upper echelons of the GC contenders.

[KB]

Wonder what the gap was on the stage Froome/Porte/Mollema between Yates (who was in front) and Quintana (who managed to close the gap) due to the crash. Would be interesting!

[KB]

Good to see Dan Martin make it through the three weeks without a major bad day. That is a massive step forward and he can build on that.

...
Not really a vintage year, one of the worst in recent memory along with 2012.

Agree with your points. Very pleased for Martin. For me it was a poor Tour because nobody put any real pressure on Froome.

[jeffy]

i get the impression that it was only Froome would had thought in depth about "How do i win the Tour?"

Although the reality is probably that the Sky train is too strong.
Credit to British Cycling / Brailsford on answering the question "How do we win the Tour?" ... but it's getting a little boring.

Standardising equipment, or at least bikes will never work ($ponser$hip) & wouldn't likely not make much difference.

Capping wages, a la a fantasy team system where the team can only bring riders with a total wage packet of X would significantly level the playing field.

[Skylark]

Agree with your points. Very pleased for Martin. For me it was a poor Tour because nobody put any real pressure on Froome.

We've seen this affliction before. Usually happens when there's an overwhelming favourite to win. Same thing with LA. In some of the tours [2000-2005] there was limited pressure applied by the rest of the peloton.

Had CF shown more weakness than he did then others would have been embolden to attack more. Seems a lot like psychology is at play here. Or the the subconscious. Take your pick. This leads to the points I made in my earlier post.

[defride]

No one was strong enough to beat Froome, period...

There were times when the Sky train blew, for the most part the other GC riders could have sat on Sky, did they really need their teams with Sky doing all the work anyway? If strong enough they might have sat on and picked off Froome at the end of mountain stages. The only guy that could go away at will and cover all the significant moves was Froome himself, what's more he was strongest of the GC contenders in the TT's as well, kudos.

Biggest surprise was no one was willing to take a risk to move themselves up the GC over and or down the Joux Plane, damp squib of a stage.

[taylorpetie]

Why not just kill it without mercy, what is there to lose? Tradition? Respect? "IT'S A RACE" right?

Would be great if Yates can knock Quintana off the podium in the last stage.

[maquisard]

Although Quintana didn't live up to expectations I don't get why people are so down on him. He was clearly having issues with his condition throughout the Tour. He seemed okay on Arcalis but then his attacks on Ventoux didn't stick.

He is third on GC and deserves to be on the podium, Yates doesn't as he cracked.

[ave]

I only wonder what could Poels do, had he not conceeded time early in the race. I think he would have been just as strong.

[maquisard]

Same here, Poels should be allowed leadership of Sky in the Vuelta or Giro. Landa had his chance.

He even said he wanted that opportunity in an interview.

[martinko]

...
If strong enough they might have sat on and picked off Froome at the end of mountain stages. The only guy that could go away at will and cover all the significant moves was Froome himself, what's more he was strongest of the GC contenders in the TT's as well, kudos.
...

As I said before, I don't see much place for such attacks. Descending to finish, especially with some longer flat at the end, that is the way to ruin otherwise mountain stage even with 5 climbs. Check this year's Vuelta - 5 stages with finish at top of the climb before first rest day. Climber's races are Giro and Vuelta, TdF is just a TV show. Thanks to its last stage as well. It should be a RACE not a TV show.

[maquisard]

If you want constant uphill finishes then watch the Vuelta or Giro, it works, but only if one rider is not super-strong. Froome has been in years past and it has allowed him to show his climbing prowess. This year they tried to add descents to shake things up and he exploited that as well.

What I would like to see is more of the shorter 100-150km stages thrown in. The one on the Semnoz in 2013 or Alpe d'Huez in 2011 spring to mind. I would also like to see more racing in other ranges. My personal gripe with the pyrenees is that the race goes over the bloody Tourmalet nearly ever year and it is boring. Ditch the Pyrenees completely one year and use the Vosges, Bauges, Chartreuse or Vercors to add some excitement one year. I also like the inclusion of the cobbles and a short sharp mini-summit finish in the first week to mix things up.

This years Tour was pretty dire the more I think about it. Not a comment on Froome's win, just the racing.

[prendrefeu]

I do agree with the previous proposal that participation in le TdF, for all riders regardless of position on the team, should have a requirement of a minimum number of races finished in the same season prior to the start. That number shouldn't be too high but also be much higher than "rider did the tours through the arab countries then the dauphine"... perhaps a minimum number of one-day classics as well. The riders must finish the race, not start-then-abandon-after-50km.

Same equipment for all teams? Disagree there.

However teams should have a 'cap' limit on their budgets (including racer/roster salary). Not only would this slowly generate a little more parity across the teams but it may also entice new or existing sponsors to continue to support this sport. Currently when a new sponsor comes in they may be thinking "I want to have my logo on the top podium of the Tour!" but they look over to Sky's budget and personnel then think "why bother at all?"