Weight Weenies

I think the top contenders should be made to juggle whilst descending.

Look, frankly the issue in recent years at the tour has been a lack of competition, at least in part due to Sky outspending (some will say out-doping, whatevs) the competition
Reducing rider numbers, and, god forbid, the UCI doing something like instigating a salary cap (or mandating a certain % of spend has to go to development teams), banning race radios and even power meters, would offer IMHO a better route to more competitive tours than messing around with the stage profiless.
Im hoping with this new French chap at the helm of the UCI there will be more aligment between the UCI and the race organizers but I wouldnt bet my chips on it.

But I like summit finishes. They are cool .

banning race radios is probably the 2nd oldest WW postulate

as for SKY - there will always be a dominant team, no matter what shape it takes. altering the route a bit could open things up just a bit - it's a lot harder for a team to just sit back and power through a twisty rolling road than a wide open highway. same with stage lenght - a lot more serious moves are made when stages are shorter and 'punchier'. ASO can not undercut teams like SKY, but they sure as hell can make things harder for their "riding style".

Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com

Agree with all your points, but I guess my point was that many of the things to make the race more competitive perhaps lie in the hands of the UCI, not the ASO

Leviathan wrote:Agree with all your points, but I guess my point was that many of the things to make the race more competitive perhaps lie in the hands of the UCI, not the ASO

ehhh... sort of. The ASO still holds the chips. If the UCI gets drastic and really alters things, the ASO can just pull out and decide to run the race and be Non-UCI. They've threatened to do it in the past. The fact that they are the biggest race and the only race that even some non-cycling fans watch or are aware of gives them that pull... additionally, the teams all build their schedule around the Tour and for many of them, the sponsor dollars are contingent on taking part in the Tour, so even if the ASO pulls out from the UCI, the best teams will still all be there... ASO has the control.

Well this is interesting. On a Belgium website Thierry Gouvenou says the 65km stage will start in the cyclocross way. All riders lined up at the foot of the Peyresourde with the highest GC guys in the front row and the last one in the GC at the back.
source: http://www.dhnet.be/sports/cyclisme/thi ... ab3694e202

Not ideal for break away guys, but then again in a stage like this the breakaway rarely has a chance of succeeding.

It's going to be very entertaining, you would hope that the Dauphine will feature a similarly short stage as a test to figure out any issues arising.

Rondje wrote:Well this is interesting. On a Belgium website Thierry Gouvenou says the 65km stage will start in the cyclocross way. All riders lined up at the foot of the Peyresourde with the highest GC guys in the front row and the last one in the GC at the back.
source: http://www.dhnet.be/sports/cyclisme/thi ... ab3694e202

Not ideal for break away guys, but then again in a stage like this the breakaway rarely has a chance of succeeding.

why not introduce cyclocross racing for one of the stages? maybe make a downhill stage as well

Lance Armstrong already did a bit of cyclocross on the descent into Gap in 2003.

maquisard wrote:It's going to be very entertaining, you would hope that the Dauphine will feature a similarly short stage as a test to figure out any issues arising.

Maybe.

Or if the intention is to mix things up, maybe it would be better that the teams didn't have a rehearsal to work out their tactics.

I'm talking about logistics, not tactics. See the women's staggered start TT in Marseille this year.

Cycling is too nostalgic and romantic to do innovative things that would modernize the race. Going from 9 to 8 rider teams and a few novelty stages isn't gunna do it.

maquisard wrote:I'm talking about logistics, not tactics. See the women's staggered start TT in Marseille this year.

It could be as simple as the riders getting called to mass at the startline in GC order. I don't think ASO would do anything like staggered or handicapped starts in any TdF stage.

I don't think there's any reason to have a rehearsal stage in the Dauphine. In fact, if they didn't it might well make the TdF stage that much better since no one will have had a practice run to work out tactics and how they deploy them.

KWalker wrote:TTT contributes nothing to a GT but giving someone who would otherwise likely never wear the leader's jersey a chance to feel special for a few days.

I think it makes teams bring a well rounded group of riders so they don't get hammered in a TTT. I like the event. It doesn't need to be run over a great number of km's but I like it in there for the spectacle more than anything.

IIRC, the UCI began in 1900, and the Tour 1903. So the TdF was always under UCI rules?

I can't wait for the Giro

Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com