Cycling UK Forum

One of the worst images of the tour was watching Jimmy Casper in tears when he was eliminated from the tour for not finishing the stage in the allocated time.
Mark Cavendish won four stages then quit because he was tired. What would have happened with mark if the mountain stages had come at the beginning of the tour.
Can Hull City refuse to play Man Utd next season Because its to hard
Daley Thompson had to compete in his worst event
I do not know another sport where you can give up at halftime and still keep your winning results.
Surely the Tour is all about the tour not a certain stage

Some people ride for the GC, some people ride for the points or mountain jerseys, some for stage wins, some use it a training for the Olympics. It's a great race with lots of different battles and contests, which is what makes it so interesting.

I agree. Mark Cavendish quit because he had nothing more to gain from Le Tour but everything to gain from the Olympic Games. A diary clash, and he made a rational decision.

frank wrote:One of the worst images of the tour was watching Jimmy Casper in tears when he was eliminated from the tour for not finishing the stage in the allocated time.
Mark Cavendish won four stages then quit because he was tired. What would have happened with mark if the mountain stages had come at the beginning of the tour.
Can Hull City refuse to play Man Utd next season Because its to hard
Daley Thompson had to compete in his worst event
I do not know another sport where you can give up at halftime and still keep your winning results.
Surely the Tour is all about the tour not a certain stage

It's difficult to compare different sports - the one that always gets me is how a bit of rain forces a draw in cricket (even if one side would so obviously have won if the rain hadn't arrived). With regards to Cav, I think in a non-Olympic year he would have carried on to Paris, and I think in future years he will, as he must now yearn to win the famous last-stage sprint. He may have quit the Tour, but that is the nature of stage-racing. To some, each stage is a race in itself, to others the whole Tour is the race. The point at which Cav went home is hardly wimping out. He had the choice to 'survive' the Alps in a totally non-competitive manor, just to get to contest the Paris sprint (not the best preparation for an Olympic track event) or to get back home to prepare for the track. He made the right decision at the expense of not being able to contest cycling's most coveted sprint finish! Before that he had finished all his stages in their allocated time, even in the Pyrenees, finally retiring 7 stages further into the race than 2007's Tour. Riding the Tour a few weeks before an Olympic track event is like asking a track n field sprinter (e.g. 100m, 200m, 400m) to prepare for their sprint event by running a marathon - absolute madness. But then cyclists are mad!

The TdeF time limit thing is sometimes a bit of a fix - if a lot of riders finish outside, then a way is found of letting them back in. That's perhaps understandable if it happens in grim conditions, but it also sometimes happens on relatively easy days. In modern conditions, where there are no riders completely out of their league, the time limit is really a way of preventing sprinters with no interest in GC taking all day every day, except on a day where they have a chance in the sprint. It only really affects sprinters because nobody else wants to lose a load of time on GC anyway.

The occasion when all this seemed to me to be really unfair - yet there seemed to be no comment from anybody at the time - was 3 or 4 years ago (cannot remember the year) when O'Grady, normally a points jersey contender, was in a small break with a huge time advantage and took yellow. He was no threat to Armstrong so there was no chase. Everybody not in the break just stayed with L.A. knowing they were safe, as the organisers were not going to eliminate most of the field. This included the sprinters who had an easy day. O'Grady put in a huge effort all day which cannot have helped his chances for the points competition which was eventually one by Zabel I think.

The whole tour has become a farce with so many doping scandals the ludicrous teams, radio controlled robots and circus of support cars. It is outrageous that Cav was allowed to pull out.

I don't see how anyone can object when Cav kept within the rules of the event.

If the World doesn't want cyclists to drop out when they want, change the rules so no benefit can be got from any stage they did ride in. In this case, I doubt Cav would of entered this years TDF then.

Lawrie9 wrote:The whole tour has become a farce with so many doping scandals the ludicrous teams, radio controlled robots and circus of support cars. It is outrageous that Cav was allowed to pull out.

1. The doping scandals are because there is a relatively strict regime. So how much dope testing is there in professional football, or motor racing for starters?
2. How do you propose to stop people dropping out? What about people who have taken a heavy fall...wait until they pass out? If you have a time limit to eliminate them will you force them to enter the next stage if you think they didn't try hard enough? Surely if you protest about riders being robots you should allow them the free will to leave the race if they see fit. Do you really want people to ride to the point of exhaustion and ruin a season's form?

Cav won stages, but was DNF on the GC. Fair enough to me. He didn't get some kind of bogus finish time or position.

What is your proposal then?

Lawrie9 wrote:The whole tour has become a farce with ...... the ludicrous teams ..... and circus of support cars..

sounds like the tour as a concept is just not for you. No worries then, just a pity you ridicule something that millions adore and admire.

Lawrie9 wrote:The whole tour has become a farce with so many doping scandals the ludicrous teams, radio controlled robots and circus of support cars. It is outrageous that Cav was allowed to pull out.

No more doping scandals than quite a few other sports. Indeed, in some you can miss 3 tests and still be allowed to compete.

You obviously don't like Le Tour but why let that stand in the way of debate.

Euskadi wrote:Some people ride for the GC, some people ride for the points or mountain jerseys, some for stage wins, some use it a training for the Olympics. It's a great race with lots of different battles and contests, which is what makes it so interesting.

my highlight..!

Perfect answer....!

+1 from me....

I personally think cav did a great job and his achievement did not get the credit or coverage it deserved by the papers or the major t.v stations.

Luckily the T.D.F has a great future with the young riders coming up we have our own Mark cavendish surely at least a future green jersey winner

Alberto Contador is due back next year he has already proved what he is capable of

Andy schlek a massive prospect could he go on to equal the achiements of the tour greats . I would not bet against him going close to armstongs record.

The tour is the greatest sporting event of the year I can not wait until next years..Its just a pity its hidden away on the Sattelite chanels

Whilst pleased to see a British cyclist winning stages I had a sneaking suspicion it was a tad unfair. He knew he didn't have to conserve any effort for the whole race and could put everything into a few days and then go and almost literally rest on his laurels.

On the road once I was delighted to meet up with and pass a cyclist on a top road bike and me on my tourer. It was a bit deflating to be told later he was nearing the end of a 12 hour time trial!

Let us hope that Cavendish can show us what he's really made of by doing the whole thing next year. I'm sure he'd still do exceptionally well.

Cav went through the previous tour, the Giro. His country called him to ride in the Olympics. He also had a duty to his team and sponsors. He did what he had to. Not unfair, all within the rules.

2 stage wins in Giro?

4 stage wins in TdF?

Well done Cav. Respect.

It's the way cycle racing works isn't it? He's a sprinter, (and in 08 also prioritising for Bejing)!

Shouldn't we just be grateful of the profile he is giving GB cycling rather than trying to find a negative?

I have to keep racing my little lad (7 years old) up and down the road as he announces he is Cavendish! Wonderful!

So Cipo was rubbish as well was he?