2021 PRO thread

[Dan Gerous]

Tricky for QS this year, I assume they'll have a bit more of a tilt at GC with Alaphilipe, Almeida, Evenepol in the team, which cuts down the sprint side of the pack. Certainly if Bennett is fit you'd expect him to go but Cav has done all he can to be considered

Almeida and Evenepoel are not going to the Tour, but apprently Alaphilippe spent a lot of time on his TT bike during training this year which implies he may be taking the GC seriously.

The thing is, Cav didn't want to be considered for the Tour from what I gather, he made it clear with the team that on his minimum wage, he wouldn't start any grand tour as he doesn't earn enough to justify the time away from his family and the prep for it... That's why Lefever said he can only take him if he can sign another contract with him in the next few days.

[bikewithnoname]

Interesting. Makes sense, it's all a business after all

[Cycomanic]

Yes, saw that too. I was just trying to say that the bigger issue seems to be rider positioning rather than an equipment violation.
Forearms are just one of the many contact points that have lately found their way into the rules.
UCI still wants everyone to ride like Merckx, not just use his equipment.

The issue is that normally the position violation should be a fine and warning and only disqualification on repeat if I remember correctly. But we all know how consistent the UCI is about applying their rules. It really is a bit of a joke. I am just waiting for some rider to take the UCI to court over some of these rulings, I think most of this would get ripped apart by a proper judge.

[flying]

Side note on Tour De Suisse...Rigaberto Uran

Quiet/effective...he was looking quite good

[maquisard]

He is a great rider, but has had some bad luck in the past. However he showed that he is still worthy of being a leader. EF also look better this year as a team.

This year of the Tour de France looks like it will be a great battle!

[flying]

He is a great rider, but has had some bad luck in the past. However he showed that he is still worthy of being a leader. EF also look better this year as a team.

This year of the Tour de France looks like it will be a great battle!

Yes agree !

[TobinHatesYou]

The issue is that normally the position violation should be a fine and warning and only disqualification on repeat if I remember correctly. But we all know how consistent the UCI is about applying their rules. It really is a bit of a joke. I am just waiting for some rider to take the UCI to court over some of these rulings, I think most of this would get ripped apart by a proper judge.

I'd be surprised if riders didn't waive their rights to sue over rule infractions and other small claims.

[Cycomanic]

The issue is that normally the position violation should be a fine and warning and only disqualification on repeat if I remember correctly. But we all know how consistent the UCI is about applying their rules. It really is a bit of a joke. I am just waiting for some rider to take the UCI to court over some of these rulings, I think most of this would get ripped apart by a proper judge.

I'd be surprised if riders didn't waive their rights to sue over rule infractions and other small claims.

Often these clauses are illegal in Europe. There have certainly been cases where athletes sued against sport rules, the Bosman ruling is probably the most famous one.

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[TobinHatesYou]

Often these clauses are illegal in Europe. There have certainly been cases where athletes sued against sport rules, the Bosman ruling is probably the most famous one.

Surely you see the difference between wage / contract disputes (Bosman case) and disputing rules enforcement.

[Cycomanic]

Often these clauses are illegal in Europe. There have certainly been cases where athletes sued against sport rules, the Bosman ruling is probably the most famous one.

Surely you see the difference between wage / contract disputes (Bosman case) and disputing rules enforcement.

Yes the cases are not exactly the same, but saying the Bosman case was a wage/contract dispute is quite a simplification. In particular the Bosman ruling removed two restrictions that were common in soccer at the time:
1. Clubs having a right within some federations to prevent players who were out of contract to move to another club unless they paid a release fee.
2. The quotas restricting how many non-national players could be in teams.

IIRC both these restrictions were found to violate EU freedom of movement rules.

I'm not a lawyer, but I don't consider it far fetched that a rider could sue the UCI for a ban (which essentially equals a restriction on how she/he can work), if they can show that the rules are arbitarily enforced. Why would this be any different from other work contracts, employers can not put arbitrary clauses into their contracts which prevent you to go to a proper court either.

[maquisard]

Good to see Froome being selected on ISN team for the Tour de France. Even if his form is bad it is still good to see him racing again, maybe he will be alowed on a long escape some day in the mountains.

[Alfus]

Good to see Froome being selected on ISN team for the Tour de France. Even if his form is bad it is still good to see him racing again, maybe he will be alowed on a long escape some day in the mountains.

The problem is that now Froome does not race, he crawls.

[ms6073]

It is difficult to see someone like Froome struggle, but he is not a machine, and while many riders faced with similar debilitating injuries may simply give up, he is at least trying to get back on par with his peers. I suspect that while he will spend his time as a 'super' domestique at this years tour, there will come a point where ISN will have to make a decission as to whether he can continue to improve or has reached a plateau and will likley never get back on par with his former level.

[renoracing]

Regarding Froome, I've got little faith that he'll ever be back to the level he was when he was so successful. WIth that said, he deserves a spot on the Tour roster... My complaint is that they're going after the GC with Woods.... I understand the financial incentives of teams and their sponsor relationships, and their future goals of winning a grand tour. But surely it would be better publicity, and much more rewarding to fans to see Froome, Dan Martin, and Woods in the break on mountain days(and heck, Greipel on the flatter days), where they each have a great chance of being one of the strongest riders in the group. Instead we'll watch Woods go from a promising looking top 5 in the first week, to more than 8 minutes off the podium by the end of it all, and as a result, he'll drag down his team from any of their own stage win ambitions.

[spud]

unfortunately, I think you are optimistic. Given what we've seen so far this year, there's no reason to expect that Froome will be in the first selection of 30 climbers, much less the 8-10 that tyically comprise the final/elite group. Even getting into a break is going to be a tall order for him, I'm afraid.