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2015 Tour de France


Frosty

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I think this is an important rule in stage racing but particularly a grand tour. The cost to a team of providing motor homes for the riders is pretty high when there are many teams struggling to earn enough to continue racing. In the past few years the peloton has lost a few teams due to lack of budget and more follow this year with Europecar pulling the plug.

 

The rule has been in place for a long time to protect teams by forcing organisers to provide accommodation. Now Sky come along with their ridiculously large budget and want to start a new arms race....do we really want to watch another sport where the team with the most cash wins? I already watch soccer.

I see that side of it....

 

BUT are the organisers going to be giving all teams the same quality accommodation though. ?

 

 

And surely a matress on the floor isn't at all quality. Ag nee imagine them telling Messi tonight you sleep on a bunk bed. .

 

I can't see that smaller stop over towns on any tour has enough quality accommodation for the entire peleton not to mention rest of the team staff, or do they have to crash in the team bus?

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I think this is an important rule in stage racing but particularly a grand tour.  The cost to a team of providing motor homes for the riders is pretty high when there are many teams struggling to earn enough to continue racing.  In the past few years the peloton has lost a few teams due to lack of budget and more follow this year with Europecar pulling the plug.

 

The rule has been in place for a long time to protect teams by forcing organisers to provide accommodation. Now Sky come along with their ridiculously large budget and want to start a new arms race....do we really want to watch another sport where the team with the most cash wins? I already watch soccer.

 

Crab mentality.

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I think this is an important rule in stage racing but particularly a grand tour.  The cost to a team of providing motor homes for the riders is pretty high when there are many teams struggling to earn enough to continue racing.  In the past few years the peloton has lost a few teams due to lack of budget and more follow this year with Europecar pulling the plug.

 

The rule has been in place for a long time to protect teams by forcing organisers to provide accommodation. Now Sky come along with their ridiculously large budget and want to start a new arms race....do we really want to watch another sport where the team with the most cash wins? I already watch soccer.

 

 

Maybe the UCI need to do their job and look after the cyclists taking part in the worlds toughest sporting event?

 

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At 25, Quintana is a toppie now. Won't be eligible for the white jersey.

 

The polka dot jersey is also one of the most coveted jerseys in world cycling, so probably even more competitive than the white jersey with lots of experienced senior climbers targeting it.

 

Either way, it's going to be a baptism of fire for the lad.

 

I'm sure he is eligible for White jersey. Age limit is under 26 and not under 23. 

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I think this is an important rule in stage racing but particularly a grand tour.  The cost to a team of providing motor homes for the riders is pretty high when there are many teams struggling to earn enough to continue racing.  In the past few years the peloton has lost a few teams due to lack of budget and more follow this year with Europecar pulling the plug.

 

The rule has been in place for a long time to protect teams by forcing organisers to provide accommodation. Now Sky come along with their ridiculously large budget and want to start a new arms race....do we really want to watch another sport where the team with the most cash wins? I already watch soccer.

 

That is fair in a perfect world. Problem is we are not in a perfect world. Do you want a grand tour to be determined by who got the luck of the draw in hotels or who is stronger.

 

I have been to a world champs in another sport where we had two separate hotels in which to stay and the teams that were in the 1 got bed bugs. Hence they were not happy campers and lost games they probably should of won. (To our benefit :ph34r:  )

 

Next the UCI will say all teams have to eat at the hotels provided and not use their own chefs, as this is also excessive spending.

 

It is a professional sport and therefore more money normally does win unfortunatly.

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I'm sure he is eligible for White jersey. Age limit is under 26 and not under 23. 

 

I've just checked and I see you're right. My bad.

 

Unlike other races like the Giro where the age limit is under 25, the TDF is different - their age limit is riders under 26.

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Let's not stop at the sleep issue where everyone must stay in the same hotels. To be completely fair, we need to ensure everyone sleeps on the floor on mattresses, because if you get a bed then that's an unfair advantage for those sleeping on the floor.

 

Actually let's go a step further. Mr. Bartram has a good idea....

 

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Maincheese is in for the experience of his young life, kind of like the old days when you had to go to the army after matric, its very rare that roofies got anything but a roofie ride for the first 6 months.... I guess he will have to earn his stripes in the TDF peloton first, expecting to much from him so soon will only lead to disappointment.

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It's worked for the past however many tours, even Armstrong accepted it. Now Sky come along with their BS and it's not acceptable.

 

BTW, the mattress on the floor is a rider preference, not a hotel thing. Stop sensationalising tweets against a long standing rule, these guys know the rules. Or in Sky's case they only know some rules.

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I see that side of it....

 

BUT are the organisers going to be giving all teams the same quality accommodation though. ?

 

 

And surely a matress on the floor isn't at all quality. Ag nee imagine them telling Messi tonight you sleep on a bunk bed. .

 

I can't see that smaller stop over towns on any tour has enough quality accommodation for the entire peleton not to mention rest of the team staff, or do they have to crash in the team bus?

Why don't you read how the accommodation at Grand Tours is allocated to teams? There are plenty of articles around this subject.

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All of a sudden I'll be feeling quite luxurious in my motorhome at the tour, smug in the knowledge that I'll have a more comfortable bed than any of the riders....

 

Anyone looking for said luxury for a few nights near stage route? Just drop me a line. Excluding Sky fans. MTN Qhubeka clad riders welcome. Or Etixc Quickstep clutching some produce from the top left shirt sponsor.

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I'm sure he is eligible for White jersey. Age limit is under 26 and not under 23. 

 

 

So many in contention for White:

 

Kelderman

Quintana

Meintjies

Kwiatkowski

Who else?

 

Gonna be a hot sub-contest, I reckon.

Not to mention the chase for Green.

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So many in contention for White:

 

Kelderman

Quintana

Meintjies

Kwiatkowski

Who else?

 

Gonna be a hot sub-contest, I reckon.

Not to mention the chase for Green.

Go SagaaaaaaaaAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!

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So many in contention for White:

 

Kelderman

Quintana

Meintjies

Kwiatkowski

Who else?

 

Gonna be a hot sub-contest, I reckon.

Not to mention the chase for Green.

 

The Yates Bros, Roman Bardet, Tibault Pinot (previous winner)?

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It's worked for the past however many tours, even Armstrong accepted it. Now Sky come along with their BS and it's not acceptable.

 

BTW, the mattress on the floor is a rider preference, not a hotel thing. Stop sensationalising tweets against a long standing rule, these guys know the rules. Or in Sky's case they only know some rules.

 

Not correct.

 

This is an amendment to article 2.2.010, therefore making it a new rule.

 

The existing article 2.2.010 reads as follows (I highlighted the relevant text in bold):

 

"In all road stage races on the international calendar, the organisers must cover the subsistence expenses of the teams from the night before the start to the final day; team support staff will be covered up to a number equal to the number of riders per team determined in the specific regulations for the event.

 

"The organisers of the UCI WorldTour or UCI Europe Tour HC and class 1 races must cover the expenses for one more night at the hotel where a team cannot return home on the same day because of the time of arrival of the race.
 
"Teams taking part in a UCI WorldTour race must compulsorily stay in a hotel at the start venue the night before the start."
 
---------------------
The amendment now says that 'all riders will now be required to stay in their designated team hotels through the “duration of the race"'.
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Anyway, throughout the history of this race (and all other sporting codes known), over the years antiquated rules are dropped for the benefit of moving a sport forward. There used to be a rule in the TDF that you weren't allowed to change your bike throughout the event - you finished on the bike you started with. So if it broke, you needed to find a blacksmith to forge the steel bits together again. And you couldn't get any support for a puncture or any other mechanical. Those - and many other - antiquated rules are long gone.
 
Why? Because they held the sport back and it needed to move forward.
 
I haven't seen one single comment from any rider or team that has come out in support of this rule. Neither have I seen a positive comment from anyone else in the media, etc. The general consensus is one of confusion and puzzlement about this rule. It's holding the sport back, not taking it forward.
 
You are the only one who I've seen saying there's nothing wrong with it.
 
But I'll drop this subject now. It's done, no need for me to spend any more energy on it.
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You are the only one who I've seen saying there's nothing wrong with it.
 
 

 

You should expand your reading a bit. I'm certainly not a lone voice.  But so be it.

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