The Green Jersey

[jpembroke]

Does anyone else think that there should be more points for a stage win? They doubled the points for mountain top finishes; why not do something similar with stage wins for sprinters? This is not a case of sour grapes because Cav didn't get the green jersey; I've always found it a little odd that you can go win a whole bunch of stages but not win green. With the current system there seems little incentive for the green jersey wearer to go all out to win stages. Or am I missing the point?

 

[marinyork]

I don't know. 35pts is a great deal more than 6pts. One could say there was a large disparity the other way.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

the points jersey is for the most consistent finisher, not the best sprinter. chippo never won it either…

 

[Chuffy]

the points jersey is for the most consistent finisher, not the best sprinter. chippo never won it either…

Cippo never bothered to finish...

 

[JamesM]

Is Cav really only 3 TDF stage wins behind Cippo already?!?

 

[jpembroke]

the points jersey is for the most consistent finisher, not the best sprinter. chippo never won it either…

Well, I know what you mean but surely completing the tour with 6 stage wins including winning on the Champs-Élysées demonstrates fairly consistent finishing, doesn't it?

 

[mr-marty-martin]

to contest primes and stage wins shows a pure strong sprinter..., just like when thor climbed those two mountains to get points for te green, that was a class act...

although i think cav is the only pure sprinter out there atm tbh...

 

[jpembroke]

to contest primes and stage wins shows a pure strong sprinter..., just like when thor climbed those two mountains to get points for te green, that was a class act...

although i think cav is the only pure sprinter out there atm tbh...

Yes, I agree with that. Thor was awesome on that stage, a class and gritty piece of riding. No leadout train, just hard riding. Fair point.

 

[mr-marty-martin]

you see cav lead out today, i wonder if his lead out man could of even contended the win with cav...

i wonder if thor was in the team cav is and cav in thor's wether cav would still win, i would say yeah, as thor uses cavs train anyways when you think about it, by sitting on cavs wheel...

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Mark Renshaw, who leads out Cav, used to be Thor's lead-out man. But, even then, Thor wasn't as fast as Cav. Renshaw would perhaps be the world's third of fourth fastest sprinter in another team. But he's probably figured that being part of the world's fastest team is better than being a nearly man.

I think the Green Jersey is fine as it is. It just shows Cav needs to improve as an all-round rider. What I would like to see perhaps is a Combined classification (as I think they do in the Giro), where the results in all the other competitions are combined together - giving you the most 'complete' rider. Someone like Nicholas Roche, who deserves some recognition, would do very well in that kind of competition, I think.

 

[dellzeqq]

At 24,000 euros a stage win, Renshaw has played a huge part in bringing in 144,000 euros for the team. I imagine that will provide some satisfaction.

I think the green jersey system is just dandy - it livens up flat stages along the way.

 

[JamesM]

Mark Renshaw, who leads out Cav, used to be Thor's lead-out man. But, even then, Thor wasn't as fast as Cav. Renshaw would perhaps be the world's third of fourth fastest sprinter in another team. But he's probably figured that being part of the world's fastest team is better than being a nearly man.

I think the Green Jersey is fine as it is. It just shows Cav needs to improve as an all-round rider. What I would like to see perhaps is a Combined classification (as I think they do in the Giro), where the results in all the other competitions are combined together - giving you the most 'complete' rider. Someone like Nicholas Roche, who deserves some recognition, would do very well in that kind of competition, I think.

Surely there's already a jersey for the most complete rider - a lovely yellow one!

 

[NickM]

Surely there's already a jersey for the most complete rider - a lovely yellow one!

I would say no; recent TdF winners have not also won Classics to any significant extent, so cannot be considered "complete" in the sense that champions of an earlier era occasionally were.

But that's what classics are for, after all - to give the best one-day riders a chance to shine.

 

[LOGAN 5]

Did anybody get the impression that nobody wanted to contest yesterday's sprint? Was anybody good enough to get even near him or were they giving it to him. Thor didn't even try or was he content with the Green Jersey so allowed Cav the glory of the stage?

 

[dellzeqq]

I think, as the spoiler thread on sate 21 has it, Columbia HTC picked a great line, and there just wasn't the room.