Wiggo

purch

This TdF marks the first grand tour where Alberto Contador has an official result which is neither 1st nor DSQ :eek:

I wondered if the fact Froome grew up riding a bike at altitude may have helped

That must certainly be a big part of his athletic ability, however it is the methods of the British cycling machine that have harnessed that natural talent and turned him into a winner.

N.B. The 20 second penalty for the energy gels is a bit of a joke, it should be bigger, not that the overall result would have changed.

N.B.2. Changing bikes during a stage even without a mechanical problem is allowed, however the push that Froome from the mechanic after the change in the time trial shouldn't and gave him and the others who did so, an unfair advantage. If you choose to change bike rather that being forced to do so, then you should take whatever time penalty that ensues.

N.B.3.

Saying there was no need to humiliate Contador is a bit like suggesting that if England are 3-0 up in the ashes after 3 tests they should stop trying so hard because it would be a bit nasty to beat the Aussies 3-0. Crush them into the dirt

It's not normally the way things are done in the sport, when a rider has gained a lead and is in control they normally just stay in control.

Generali

purch wrote: »

N.B. The 20 second penalty for the energy gels is a bit of a joke, it should be bigger, not that the overall result would have changed.

I don't know about this one TBH. It's a pretty technical infringement, having what amounts to a couple of tablespoons of sugar a few hundred meters after you should isn't that big a deal.

purch wrote: »

N.B.2. Changing bikes during a stage even without a mechanical problem is allowed, however the push that Froome from the mechanic after the change in the time trial shouldn't and gave him and the others who did so, an unfair advantage. If you choose to change bike rather that being forced to do so, then you should take whatever time penalty that ensues.

The push to get going again looked completely normal to me.

purch wrote: »

N.B.3.
It's not normally the way things are done in the sport, when a rider has gained a lead and is in control they normally just stay in control.

I agree with you here. If Froome had punctured or been caught up in a crash in the last few kms on a later stage then he'd be kicking himself for not drinking when the well was full.

chucknorris

chewmylegoff wrote: »

Saying there was no need to humiliate Contador is a bit like suggesting that if England are 3-0 up in the ashes after 3 tests they should stop trying so hard because it would be a bit nasty to beat the Aussies 5-0. Crush them into the dirt.

I must admit I too was also thinking along those lines, although I do cycle for fitness I don't actually race (except privately against the clock) so I don't tend to watch the tour and I thought perhaps I was missing something until I read your post.

Kennyboy66

purch wrote: »

It is probably not a good comparison, but Froome looked almost "Armstrongesque" in the way he always seemed to want to take every second he could out of his rivals, when it was clear that he was destined to win anyway. I think the way he humbled Contador was not necessary.

I really can't agree with this.

Contador is great tactically as illustrated on stage 13, and is street wise which Froome will never be.
I also don't have much time for Contador after he attacked Schleck who had droppped his chain in 2010 (he also claimed that he didn't know that Schleck had a mechanical despite several long looks round).

I personally was delighted to see Contador dropped on stage 20.
Quintana was much more deserving of second overall than him.

Kennyboy66

Generali wrote: »

I don't know about this one TBH. It's a pretty technical infringement, having what amounts to a couple of tablespoons of sugar a few hundred meters after you should isn't that big a deal.

The rule is more about keeping team cars out of the way on the final stage of a climb rather than trying to make riders bonk.

Stephen Roche was penalised 10 seconds (I think) at La Plagne in 1987 when he clawed a deficit of approx 90 seconds back to 4 seconds on the final climb after taking food outside the permitted zone.

This is one of my favourite 10 sporting moments - and also a great advert for riders not having ear pieces linked to their team director. Delgado had no idea Roche was closing so fast - and Roche didn't either.

When asked if he was ok after having been given oxygen at the finished replied "Oui, mais pas de femme toute de suite" .

Kennyboy66

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Merely pointing out that all team leaders are allowed 2 bikes to be carried on their team cars. Nothing in the rules to say that their bikes have to be identical.

I think the point is that there is a suspicion that Contador was riding an under-weight bike on the Alpe D'uez stage, which would be against the rules, and would be the best day to ride an under weight bike.

It seems peverse to ride the same bike on a time trial where there was a clear advantage to change bikes half way through (shouldn't be allowed in my view but that's irrelevant), but change bikes on a stage after it was announced a weigh in would take place.

purch

Have you seen the route of La Vuelta this year ?

13 mountain stages, with 11 mountain top finishes :eek:

In other news Sir Wiggo has said that he will not be riding in the Vuelta this year !!!

purch

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

I also don't have much time for Contador after he attacked Schleck who had droppped his chain in 2010

Yes, I also don't have much time for Schleck and his "holier than thou" team, after they attacked and put minutes into Contador in an earlier stage in the 2010 Tour (Stage 3) over the cobbles in Northern France after Contador was held up by a large crash in the peleton.

princeofpounds

N.B. The 20 second penalty for the energy gels is a bit of a joke, it should be bigger, not that the overall result would have changed.

---

I don't know about this one TBH. It's a pretty technical infringement, having what amounts to a couple of tablespoons of sugar a few hundred meters after you should isn't that big a deal.

I agree. It's not about getting the rider juiced up on sugar. There is nothing to prevent a rider collecting food prior to the feeding deadline and sticking it in their pocket. The eating is totally permitted as I understand it, it's just the collection that's the issue.

I think it's mostly to keep team cars out of the way and prevent disruption prior to the stage end.

20 seconds is not a small penalty in TDF. The average winning margin since 2006 has been just 125 seconds. That's 16% of your lead gone.

So all in all I think it's been dealt with pretty fairly on balance.