Cadel & the TDF

[Foo]

So what do you blokes think?

Me for one thinks it fantastic and the best I've seen him ride and at least the team around him, worked for him and not against!:bike3: :2tsup:

[Jim Carroll]

:2tsup:

[d5k]

Absolutely fantastic!

[kiwigeo]

One of the Fillipinas working out here on the the oil rig I work on made the comment that Cadel doesn't even live in Australia in response to a Sky news clip of Cadel on the podium in Paris. The guy came that close to being lynched by the Aussies and Kiwis in the room.

Sure he spends the European racing season living in Europe but so do a majority of the other non-European pro cyclists. Cadel also has an Italian wife. Hard to see how any of this makes him any less an Australian.

[mic-d]

Last few months I've been thinking of pulling my old racing bike off the wall and going back to cycling since I feel that running is now starting to do more harm than good. Last week a cycling mate organised to give it the once over and get it back into a roadworthy condition... today. Now if I suddenly start riding again I'll cop flak that my motivtion is Cadel winning the TdF, so I'm a bit dark at him:; Good on him tho.

[derekh]

Having watched the TDF for the past few years, all the lost sleep finally seems worth it. A great effort and a great race.

[Jim Carroll]

One of the Fillipinas working out here on the the oil rig I work on made the comment that Cadel doesn't even live in Australia in response to a Sky news clip of Cadel on the podium in Paris. The guy came that close to being lynched by the Aussies and Kiwis in the room.

Sure he spends the European racing season living in Europe but so do a majority of the other non-European pro cyclists. Cadel also has an Italian wife. Hard to see how any of this makes him any less an Australian.

Thats like saying that Mark Weber and Casey Stoner are not Aussies.
Have a look at their helmets and see how proud they all are to be aussies.

[Waldo]

All hats off to Cadel. :2tsup:

But like the LeMans 24 Hour , I think the TDF is a farce. When I heard on the news before the final stage that the winner had been decided. What? :? I just don't understand it. A race means the competitors race right up until the first person crosses the line and then only finished when the last competitor crosses. But then the sports update said that traditionally no-one challenges the Yellow Jersey in the final stage.

That to me is a total joke. So why have a final non-competitive stage? Sorry, but I don't get logic. I watched the 3rd last stage, the one where they go into the mountains etc. I also watched a Lemans once, but when the teams all got together to parade around the track for the last half hour I turned it off in disgust.

Is it a French thing? :shrug: I'm not putting any competitor down, I just can't understand the reasoning. So by the idea that the no-one overtakes the Yellow Jersey, I wondered to myself what if Cadel just decided to jump off his bike and sit on the road, would everyone else do it and wait for him to have a coffee break?

I would have loved to seen it happen as it would have exposed the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

Rant off, now flame me.

[Geoff Dean]

I'm kinda with Waldo on this one. Without fully understanding how it works, my observations are thus:

When there is a big bunch finish, everyone is given the same time, as long as there are no discernible gaps between riders, even if you cross the line a minute behind the first person. My take on this is that it is done for a safety reason. You can only fit x amount of riders abreast on the road and there could be awful carnage if everyone was trying to fit into that tiny space.

As to the last stage, Cadel still had to finish the stage to win the race, and he had to be in the bunch. With the way that the last stage is configured, the possibility of any rider being dropped of the back is very small, so the chances are that everyone will finish with the same time.

It is a sprint stage, so all the sprinters will be protected during the stage and then lead out at the end for the stage victory.

They have a 3km rule for the final stage, so if there is a crash inside the last 3 km, everyone involved in the crash gets the bunch time, effectively meaning that once the leader passes that point, regardless of whether they finish or not, they will be declared the winner.

There has always been a gentlemans agreement that no one will attack the leader on the final stage, however I would like to see what would happen if someone was only 2-3 seconds behind on the final day, would they sit back or have a crack. Probably not, because the peleton has a long memory, and anyone seen to be doing the wrong thing can be easily isolated and dealt with. Also, because of how the stage finishes, there is rarely a breakaway, it usually finishes in a bunch sprint. If there is a breakaway of a small group of riders, they are generally sprinters anyway, and do not usually figure in general classification contention.

Mark Cavendish, who won the final stage, as well as 4 others on the way, finished 3 hrs 15 mins and 5 seconds behind Cadel. He shouldn't have even been contesting the final few stages. He finished outside the time limit on one of the mountain stages, and should have been eliminated, but due to a quirk in the rules, which give the commissaires the ability to allow riders to continue, he was instead docked 20 points from his green jersey (sprint) total and allowed to continue. I guess you don't want the leader of the points classification to be eliminated before the end.

Whilst I think Cadel (and anyone who has won previously) have done an absolutely marvelous job, I can't help wondering how they would go without the help of teammates that in some cases do everything for them other than pick them up and carry them around.

I'm not suggesting that that happened for Cadel, he did as much or more than any previous winner that I can remember, he had a lot of good luck when in the past he had bad, and there were other contenders for the win that had bad luck where in the past they had good. His preparation for this tour was the best it had ever been, he spent more time training and less time racing than he had in the past. It all worked out for the best in the end.

Nothing left to say other than "Well Done, Cadel".

[MatMann]

in 2010 the gap between 1st and 2nd was 8 sec
in 2008 the gap between 1st and 2nd was 7 sec to third was 8 sec

so pretty close
as has been said its tradition not to attack the leader on the last stage, the last competitive stage on the last day was in 89 when the time trial was held. he won by 8s from 50s behind the leader

As for teams and help, Cadel had a lot less help from his team mates than Contador, Voeckler or the Schlecks.

[kiwigeo]

As for teams and help, Cadel had a lot less help from his team mates than Contador, Voeckler or the Schlecks.

I would disagree on this one. Hincape did some hard yards supporting Cadel through the Pyrenees and The Alps. Note what happened when Cadel had problems with his bike on a couple of stages.....some of his team rode back to get him back into the peleton.

Re the last stage of the Tour.....this is the way the Tour de France has been run since 1903.

[kiwigeo]

Whilst I think Cadel (and anyone who has won previously) have done an absolutely marvelous job, I can't help wondering how they would go without the help of teammates that in some cases do everything for them other than pick them up and carry them around.



Because of it's length and also because of the cost of running the race the TdeF is a team event....even though there are individual winners. For an individual to ride the race with the necessary support vehicles and personnel the cost would be prohibitive. A team event makes the race much more exciting IMHO because the race becomes more dynamic and team strategy becomes critical.....the race becomes a test of mental skills as well as physical strength and endurance.

[kiwigeo]

Last few months I've been thinking of pulling my old racing bike off the wall and going back to cycling since I feel that running is now starting to do more harm than good. Last week a cycling mate organised to give it the once over and get it back into a roadworthy condition... today. Now if I suddenly start riding again I'll cop flak that my motivtion is Cadel winning the TdF, so I'm a bit dark at him:; Good on him tho.

Stop thinking and get pedalling mate! :)