Daft questions about TdF from colleagues

[Teamfixed]

And perhaps the best of all for me.......

"Are you going to enter?"

 

[Dogtrousers]

And perhaps the best of all for me.......

"Are you going to enter?"

And are you?

I would, but it's hard to get the time off work.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I was entered for the TDF, but when they saw my recumbent, I was told I couldn’t start. Very lucky for that years GC winner.

 

[Teamfixed]

For me it was a lack of carbon and way too much leather

 

[Arrowfoot]

That prompts me to wonder how often the Yellow Jersey winner, also wins other Jerseys?

Teams will typically protect their GC (yellow jersey) candidate like gold and avoid any risks. So it intentionally done for the ultimate prize. There are unplanned exceptions where Tadej Pogcar who won KOM(polka dot) and Young rider (white) plus the Yellow last year. Froome won KOM once together with TDF in 2015. On the other 3 wins he only took the TDF, nothing else. Egan Bernal and Alberto Contador both won TDF and and the white once. Other than these 4, no one has taken the TDF and other jersey for the last 20 years.

 

[Saluki]

Not really. Here's Sam Bennett on the Champs-Élysées in 2020
View attachment 596577
I think he was quite chuffed to be winning.

He definitely looks chuffed, it’s true

 

[matticus]

Teams will typically protect their GC (yellow jersey) candidate like gold and avoid any risks. So it intentionally done for the ultimate prize. There are unplanned exceptions where Tadej Pogcar who won KOM(polka dot) and Young rider (white) plus the Yellow last year. Froome won KOM once together with TDF in 2015. On the other 3 wins he only took the TDF, nothing else. Egan Bernal and Alberto Contador both won TDF and and the white once. Other than these 4, no one has taken the TDF and other jersey for the last 20 years.

Quite a few peeps have suggested a KOM prize based on aggregate times on certain "special" climbs (i.e. not a points prize). This would reflect the nature of climbing better, and perhaps stop the modern time bonuses on summit finishes skewing the prize towards GC contenders.

Of course everything has unintended consequences, so ... who knows ...

 

[Dogtrousers]

Quite a few peeps have suggested a KOM prize based on aggregate times on certain "special" climbs (i.e. not a points prize). This would reflect the nature of climbing better, and perhaps stop the modern time bonuses on summit finishes skewing the prize towards GC contenders.

Of course everything has unintended consequences, so ... who knows ...

Like Strava you mean

 

[matticus]

Like Strava you mean

Exactly.

And like the internet.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Quite a few peeps have suggested a KOM prize based on aggregate times on certain "special" climbs (i.e. not a points prize). This would reflect the nature of climbing better, and perhaps stop the modern time bonuses on summit finishes skewing the prize towards GC contenders.

Of course everything has unintended consequences, so ... who knows ...

I actually felt the same. My guess is UCI is afraid that KOM will be dominated by the same climber and the others Teams and their sponsors won't be happy. This happened in the 90s. Since they introduced this format, consecutive domination has stopped. The Green jersey was never meant for sprinters but it ended up as an unintended consequence. Sagan made it his own and made a fortune for himself and his entourage.

 

[matticus]

I actually felt the same. My guess is UCI is afraid that KOM will be dominated by the same climber and the others Teams and their sponsors won't be happy. This happened in the 90s. Since they introduced this format, consecutive domination has stopped. The Green jersey was never meant for sprinters but it ended up as an unintended consequence. Sagan made it his own and made a fortune for himself and his entourage.

To be fair, Sagan is a pretty f*cking special rider! He has the right to dominate in a contest that he dedicates himself to. (Bennett nicking the jumper was possibly healthy.)

Were the KOM rules the same in the 90s? (all I remember from that era was Robert Millar winning it - I wasn't a dedicated cycling fan).

 

[Arrowfoot]

To be fair, Sagan is a pretty f*cking special rider! He has the right to dominate in a contest that he dedicates himself to. (Bennett nicking the jumper was possibly healthy.)

Were the KOM rules the same in the 90s? (all I remember from that era was Robert Millar winning it - I wasn't a dedicated cycling fan).

Agree on Sagan, he help raise the profile of the sport. I have seen fans mob him at race locations including grandmas. All want to take him a pic with him.

They revised the rules I think 3 times for KOM in the last few decades.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I seem to remember an edition of the ToB recently that had both a "points jersey" and a "sprinters jersey" I noted the fact but I wasn't interested enough to find out the rules.

Some early editions of the Tour were decided on points gained from winning stages. I think they may have flip flopped between aggregate times and points for a while as Desgrange tried to decide which was more unpleasant for the riders. Then they kept both, and the points competition became a way to maintain some variety and entertainment in the race.

 

[Bazzer]

You would have even more crashes. The fact that everyone in the bunch gets the same time stops the need for jostling at the front.
It’s exactly what the protest yesterday was about.

And that would generate another crash thread on here.

 

[Beebo]

Quite a few peeps have suggested a KOM prize based on aggregate times on certain "special" climbs (i.e. not a points prize). This would reflect the nature of climbing better, and perhaps stop the modern time bonuses on summit finishes skewing the prize towards GC contenders.

Of course everything has unintended consequences, so ... who knows ...

The points on offer for smaller climbs makes for more exciting racing as a couple of riders tend to breakaway early to pick up the points. Before being swept up by the pack as they tire.
Without that everyone would wait for the final climb.