Why isn't there a Jersey for TTs in the Grand Tours?

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The Tour de France has Jerseys for GC, Sprint, KOM, combatative, and young rider classification, but not for the best TT. Why not? Although Combatative rider, isn't actually a Jersey.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Not a bad idea, but there are only a few TT's so not a jersey that could be challenged on a daily basis. Also the leading GC riders are usually the best TT riders as well, so might not be worn by the actual leader in the category.
 

winjim

Straddle the line, discord and rhyme
The TTs on a grand tour are just a bit of fun really aren't they? And there's no way of maintaining a cumulative ranking when it's just one or two stages.
 

MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Aren't there only 2 TTs this year?

I reckon there ought to be one or two days where riders are set off according to their cumulative time. So today, for instance, Froome would go off 12 seconds ahead of Thomas and 54 seconds ahead of Qintana, to pick out a couple at random. The position on the road would therefore be the actual position in the race. It would break the peloton up massively, and leave the GC leaders isolated from their teams. Knowing days like this were in the mix would force some of the domestiques to keep their overall time sharp, otherwise they could find themselves an hour behind their man on the road and unable to help. With a formula for cut off time it could force the sprinters into working a bit harder in the mountains, too. Whoever wins the stage is automatically the race leader.
 

Bollo

Failed Tech Bro
Location
Winch
TTs probably don't really deliver on TV, but they stretch out the action for the spectators on the course. Unless you're lucky enough to be at an important mountain stage or a freak stage where weather and/or surface play a role, then the actual cycling component for supporters is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it experience.

I've been lucky enough to be at some great tour stages in recent times, including the cobbles stage in 2014 where Froome retired, but the best atmosphere ever was the 2015 depart TT in Utrecht. Just nuts.
 
OP
OP
Racing roadkill
Not a bad idea, but there are only a few TT's so not a jersey that could be challenged on a daily basis. Also the leading GC riders are usually the best TT riders as well, so might not be worn by the actual leader in the category.
And that's where it gets interesting. The GC riders tend to have to be the best hill climbers, and TT ers, and frequently the overall GC classification topping riders have been KOM holders somewhere along the line, but rarely do they hold the Green jersey.
 
OP
OP
Racing roadkill
And there should be a classification for best 'riding technologically blind' rider. A rider who doesn't use power meters or HRM's ( and isn't permitted to by a new regulation, to qualify for this classification/ jersey perhaps). And give them a huge money prize, to try and discourage the use of such voodoo.
 

Beebo

Firm and Fruity
Location
Hexleybeef
Aren't there only 2 TTs this year?

I reckon there ought to be one or two days where riders are set off according to their cumulative time. So today, for instance, Froome would go off 12 seconds ahead of Thomas and 54 seconds ahead of Qintana, to pick out a couple at random. The position on the road would therefore be the actual position in the race. It would break the peloton up massively, and leave the GC leaders isolated from their teams. Knowing days like this were in the mix would force some of the domestiques to keep their overall time sharp, otherwise they could find themselves an hour behind their man on the road and unable to help. With a formula for cut off time it could force the sprinters into working a bit harder in the mountains, too. Whoever wins the stage is automatically the race leader.
It wouldn't work unless you had a no drafting rule.
 

MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
It wouldn't have to be a 200k stage. Waiting for everyone else would be a gamble, depending on where the rest of the team was. What if most of the teams were 20, 25, 30 minutes back down the road? I just reckon it would liven the dull days where nothing much happens.........the GC contenders stroll through the countryside chatting on the sprint days, and the sprinters do the same in the hills.
 
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