Tour de France

[thirdcrank]

Pro bike racing is a spectacle and the TdeF is arguably pro cycling at its most spectacular. The various competitions within the main event - stage wins, intermediate sprints, team competition, Grand Prix de la Montagne, points jersey, young rider, most aggressive, lanterne rouge and probably some more - are all intended, sometimes contrived, to increase the spectacle and spectator interest. It's hardly surprising that specialists have developed within the different specialities and a good thing too IMO.

At a practical level, how could you legislate against the tactical withdrawal, even if it were desirable? Disregard all the results and prizes of riders who DNF? As well as causing utter confusion, that would be a harsh penalty for riders forced to withdraw through injury or illness. Only punish riders who abandoned when they could have continued? How would you prove that? In any case, somebody who wanted out would just ensure they were eliminated for arriving outside the time limit.

There may be things wrong with pro bike racing in general and the TdF in particular but Mark Cavendish is not one of them