Don't reduce the number of teams , reduce the number of riders. Thus unables the teams to control the punch. More solo breakaways,... Only 7 or 8 riders per team means a reduction of 20 to 40 riders and maybe no dominating team in the peleton.
Bernie Spannagl That is a good idea, I´m just not sure it´s easy to do, it would depend on the kind of injurie and how bad it is, which is already alot of things do cover. And ontop of that, it might be difficult to advise on what can be recovered from, and what needs professional attention... But if they can, I would love to see it too :)
aDotFromTheFuture I´m only able to find one actual treatment, video, the road-rash Vuelta-thing- the rest are how to avoid injuries, as far as I can see :P but I might be searching wrongly
Erm, there is literally no reason that 9 riders per team is the magic number. Absolutely no reason this can't be reduced. More teams means more competition, BMC's obviously getting scared of the little guys.
Aero doesn't make you faster per se, just more efficient. You will go faster, for a given amount of effort. I don't see how that equals more crashes? The two most important factors that you identify here are: 1. Incentives - everyone wants to be at the front 2. See number one. That's why there's crashes every year, and that's why there'll continue to be crashes every year, no matter how big the peleton is.
broleur lead-outs before sprints, accelerations before key points on a course are all done at near maximum effort. So, if the effort is still the same, which I think it is, then the speed will be higher. Higher speeds at equally close proximity to others = less time to react/brake/avoid crashes etc. Dan
Global Cycling Network Do not forget that brakes are far more better too. Frames are stiffer and therefore also more reactive. That does not impact reaction time but I can tell you that I have avoided multiple crashes in racing recently which I simply couldn't avoid 10 years ago.
great to have inside commentary on why the race seems so frenetic and harried in the TdF each year. It can't be just the desire to win.... the pressure of sponsorships and a "public racetrack" make a lot of sense. Thanks GCN.
This was surprisingly insightful, especially on strategy i.e. Bulldozers up front. I'd love to watch a video you guys make about how to win the Tour. I'm not an avid fan, but when it's going on I enjoy the adrenaline, however how the bloody thing is won by a singular team/person is confusing!!! It's more than just be first in more instances than anyone else I assume... Or a video on how successful teams have either dominated, or won from being the underdog.
I think the main reason for so many crashes, is the rule that there is no time loss in the last 3 km of a stage. Every team tries to move their GC riders in front. You can't ride with 200 men in front of the peloton. Some stuff that could be changed: - ban earplugs - no time loss in the last 10 km of a stage (less nervous peloton) - smaller teams (7 or 8 riders)
Of course the manager of a wealthy team as BMC can say there should be less competitors. Let's just reduce to 20 teams then and they can get all the attention. Maybe someone with no particular agenda could give a different answer.
Dirceu Corsetti There are too many teams, not just because of crashes, there are teams there that just make up the numbers for the sake of sponsorship and wealth creation. I know it seems easy for BMC to say this as big team but even the bigger teams are scraping the barrel on worthyness of grand tour status sometimes
Dirceu Corsetti Quite so. "This is our sport, we do it with nine people." Easy to forget, especially when you're justifying your own existence as the manager of a team, that this is fundamentally an individual sport. Orica Greenedge have been down to 6 since Stage 6 - have they not been 'doing the sport'?
Just some background figures that may (or may not!) add to the discussion on the number of riders and teams. In the earliest years of the 'Modern Era' between 1947 and 1952 the number of riders in each team varied but the fields were between 100 and 120. Between 1953 and 1986 teams consisted of 10 riders (11 in '61, '64, '72 and '73) and between 10 ('77) and 21 ('86) teams competed giving fields of 100 to 210. From 1987 teams have consisted of 9 riders and between 17 (2000) and 23 ('87) teams competed giving fields of 153 to 207. The current 22 teams of 9 riders giving a field 198 has been 'standard' since 2009.
I doubt that BMC'S general manager would even suggest such an idea if his team's participation was affected.It would be the wildcard teams like MTN and Cofidis that would be affected and for me these teams help make the race. Just my thoughts :) great fan of the channel!
I'd like to know Mat's take on the injury/abandonment toll 'back in the day'. Were teams depleted in numbers like we see in this years race? Were teams keen to surge to the front, or just happy to get to Paris?
Do you think there are more crashes on an opening stage that isn't a TT? Whoever wins the stage is in yellow. I would imagine that could escalate tension even more.
Hi GCN! Great vids every day! Question for you. The BMC gentleman said there are jobs for nine guys on a team. What are those jobs? Team leader and sprinter are the only ones that I can name. Are there really roles for seven domestiques?? or am I missing something? - from a confused wannabe XC rider :) love y'all!
3:08 Matt: "Faster for free" as one of MTM-Qhubeka's beautiful (and extremely pricey) Cervélo bikes flashes on the screen. Faster maybe, but certainly not "for free"!
if statistically this year has been no different from other years in terms of the rate of crashes then logically its got to be the perception of crashes in the peleton that is bringing the issue to attention. In the 1960's coverage of the entire race was probably limited now you can watch the race from one of the onboard cameras. Warren Barguils crash into Gerraint Thomas and him hitting a lampost was spectacular and made headlines.But it only did so because the coverage of the race was so extensive. Fifty years ago I doubt whether similar incidents would have been seen by more than a handful of people.
reduce the number of riders from each team and ban team radio, i also think that they could do with less cars because on the flat stages there is serious risk when people crash off the back and there are 15+ vehicles charging up there arse
I don't see anything wrong with limiting number of riders on teams. The teams wont be able to shelter their leaders as well, but that may actually make for a more interesting race!
Agreed. Let's stop the new era of wheelsucking leader's jersey riders. I'd love to see less numbers of riders on teams. It will definitely change the dynamics and make racing much more interesting.
Reducing riders on every team would mean that it would be a smaller chance for teams to dominate the race, and it would then become more exciting. Oldschool to say that we can`t do that beacuse that`s just how it`s done. Removing teams would also mean that the smaller teams would get less chances.
Doping in the peloton may be a cause of crashes. The Cycling Independent Reform Commission (reporting to the UCI) uncovered stories of cyclists using both banned and non-banned substances for performance enhancements (ie: pain-killers, go pills) that may cause impairment of judgement leading to crashes. (this was the opinion of several riders!). Personally, I would not conclude that doping is the leading cause of crashes in the first week of the TdF, but I would suspect it does account for some of the variance.
Jim Ochowicz looks extremely similar to Gordon, a fisherman from my nearby harbour...I was expecting him to start moaning about the cost of anti-fouling and swearing about beam trawlers smashing up his trammels. Sadly, it wasn't actually Gordon.
Simple if rather callous-sounding hypothesis - at the start of the Tour, the riders who are most likely to be involved in a crash - and the riders who are most likely to make a mistake (due to fatigue, unnoticed illness, comparative inexperience or plain crummy luck) and cause a crash in a 200-strong bunch - *are* riding. By the rest day, some of them are in the hospital and not riding any more. After that, the skill level of the peloton is more uniform, and probably higher, by a sporting 'natural selection'. As a result, the crash rate and size should both go down even ignoring terrain.
Cities will always want to be part of a stage. They can afford to make temporary road changes prior to the stage for the benefit of the tour visiting their city. We cannot reduce the peloton size we need jobs in cycling.
Are there any stats for the last 10 years verses 20 years ago? Bikes handle faster and riders don't use rollers to warm up (rollers smooth out a riders line). I am amazing to watch and some of the guys look like they can't hold a line.
Just out of curiosity what would happen if after a crash a cyclist got up to carry on but they took the wrong bike(a bike from a rival team)...? And let's say they raced on and won the stage with that bike?
Ochowicz wrote a viral article about how the uci needs to get rid of wildcards because the teams are weak and cause crashes. How ironic. Mtn qhubeka is currently 2nd and has a points jersey for the mountains. Oh yeah. And no one on the team has crashed or dropped out. These are all things Ochowicz team haven't been able to do with a world tour sized budget.
Jim wants to have less teams in the race. Jim already has a team in the race. Lets make cycling more exclusive. Sorry MTN-Qhubeka! Sorry Bretagne-Séché! Sorry Orica-GreenEdge! Now there will be the right number of crashes for Jim and his team!
The guy from BMC, is he wrong? It shouldn't be less teams it should be less riders per team. Give all the teams chance to compete at the highest level, not just the richest teams. Why nine riders per team? Five per team would produce winners who are the strongest riders. As he states, he needs nine riders to block the natural competitive pace of the peloton, thereby allowing a weaker rider an advantage. GCN, investigate the issue, analyse the results and ponder the conclusions.Oh, almost forgot: Please!
Wildcard teams are fun to watch... like mtn qhubeka... they have guys up front every day, hunting for stage victory. still rmb back in 2011. the Wildcard Europcar leader Thomas Voeckler held on the yellow jersey for 10 days and nearly won that yr's tour.... why would we want to get rid of wildcard teams....
I agree with everything, especially BMC's suggestion to reduce the number of teams. I mean, Bora, IAM, Cofidis and Trek, what's the point (joking...ish). There aren't more crashes because we see the same crash multiple times, there are more crashes in quantity (regardless of how many times you see each crash) #seniormoment
Paul Liptrott The Tour is a Competition between Cyclists which has evolved. I disagree and I am at loss for words with regards to Jim Ochowicz's suggestion to reduce the number of teams. Inexperience is the cause if you look at Warren Barguil's track record as an example.
I disagree to to a point with the Mr. Ochowicz. If it was a density/road furniture problem, then the crashes would occur when peloton was bunched up or around the "stuff" in the road. Can he prove that? Yes, I will grant him that some of the crashes are larger because there are more riders, but are there more crashes? Until somebody does a statistical analysis of where, when, why, and how many riders involved, it is all conjecture and selective opinion making. Heck, let's get more teams out there so the quality of the peloton will decrease and they we spread out more and go slower.
why not reduce the cyclist per team from 9 to 7 or even 5 then. make the others reserve for specific courses. fresh legs? it would diminish points per cyclist but teampoints will be sustained. it should not restrict the number of teams that would be insane. 2 main riders, 1 domestique and 2 up front to cut the wind for the main riders. reserves would be used for specific stages.
Less teams = less pro conti guys. I don't really want to watch all the WorldTour guys all the time in the big races. IMO the pro conti teams makes these big races since their budgets are as huge and they're usually in the breaks.
please don't give Ochowiz a platform, his lack of willingness to talk about his involvement in the Armstrong issues discredits him, as does his previous assertion that ASO should remove the wildcard teams, I mean what do you want someone with the bike handling skills of ..... Oh I don't know, Steve Cummings floating round the outside of of 2 Frenchies to win a stage ? No positive messages for cycling from that team, just stick with the big budget guys eh, Premiership here we come
Inexperienced bike handling, not knowing the terrain,fatigue,stupid fans....and of course the motorbikes causes the crashes. Teams are not the problems...because things get separated in the peloton usually base on the skill of the riders anyway.
Perhaps if Jim didn't start the trend of bulldozers on the front on the peloton also? - That guy would think of any other excuse of that his own 'pro' riders.
Perfromance enhancing drugs don't just make you go faster or longer, they can make your reactions faster, your alertness better, etc.. They aren't doing that as much now. They don't see it and when they do they can't react in time to avoid the crash.
JLP Design In most cases that is true. It is easy to say that everyone needs to ride more carefully, but I wonder if some penalties for unsafe riding would assist in reinforcing the message.
How Quintana Can Win The Tour. Quintana is in the best position to overthrow Froome, but he only has two shots left; stage 19 & 20. Stage 18 is a wash because of the finish. On stage 19, Quintana has to use his team mate, Valverde to attack Froome on the base of the Le Corbier. This will force SKY to react. That will burn out his team. Froome has to be isolated. If Valverde is reeled in, then Quintana attacks. They have to force Froome to work and try to burn him out. Quintana has to chip away at that deficit in order to be ready for stage 20. On stage 20, Again, Valverde attacks and force a reaction. Then Quintana delivers the Final blow. Otherwise, Quintana needs to throw in the towel now and just enjoy 2nd place.
1AmericanInAsia that will not work... if Valverde attacks with full power and Froome and Quintana hold his wheel, Quintana is way more "burned out" than Froome - and then Froome goes and Quintana will fade away. You can not ride away from a guy who is much stronger than you - and Froome is by far the strongest in this TDF. I thought today there could be a small chance with the descent of Col Allos and the climb to the finish - but even in the descent he rode with the fastest guys... no chance to beat him this year!
filmevoncosima So should Quintana throw in the towel? No. Froome is not expecting Valverde to attack. The other teams will be trying to gain time and win stages. Froome is on the defense but will not attack when he has such time on his rivals. Quintana has to attack and do it in stages in order to gain time on Froome. Sure he can not do it in one go, but if he hangs out on Froome wheel all day while Sky chase down other hot favorites, then Quintana will have a chance to gain time. He must use his men to attack. Never lay down your arms unless the enemy surrenders! Today, Quintana needs to watch Frooms reaction to the other attacks coming his way. That is Quintana's weapon; use Froome against Froome!
1AmericanInAsia froome is obviously expecting a valverde attack - movistar have been doing it every stage - all that happens is valverde attacks and then one of skys men slowly brings him back over the next km. I think quintana should send a few men in the break then go early in the stage behind valverde who can bridge him over to the break where his teammates can basically race skys train to the foot of the mountains then hope quintana can hold him off
Jamie Philpott It is all or nothing. Quintana has been holding back and riding conservative. He has to think like Pantani and Merckx; attack and keep attacking until the enemy or he himself cracks. That mean even if he puts his place on the Podium on the line. Looking at today's stage, Quintana must throw his entire team to the wolves. That means a mass attacking effort at the base of Glandon. It will need to be a hard, decisive, and explosive attack. As Sky reacts, Moviestar will have to use three guys to block their efforts in order for Quintana to gain time. Valverde will block Froome and two Moviestar riders will take Thomas, You see, they have to use Froome against himself. When Froome reacts to the attack, Valverde has to block and keep blocking. They are not going to ride Froome off their wheel, so blocking his efforts is the only way to try and gain time. Well, that is my take. Quintana has said he believe he can win. I think he can too, but he must be willing to take a huge risk.
1AmericanInAsia During the 1995 Pro Worlds race, everyone thought Big Mig was going for gold. Pantani was keeping his eyes on Mig and reacting to all his moves. However, Big Mig had other plans for the race. His plan was that Spain takes Gold. It did not mater to him who on Spains team took that medal. During the last lap, Big Mig attacked and Pantani reacted. When Pantani bridged the gap, Big Mig attacked again. Pantani reacted again. After that effort, Pantani was done. That is when Olano attacked. Pantani tried to react and Mig blocked his efforts. It was fantastic! That allowed Olano to ride to victory on a flat back tire! Big Mig took Silver and Pantani took Bronze. During the awards ceremony, I could see that Pantani was devastated. I mean he was broken over that loose. That is what I mean. It can work for Quintana, but he has to be willing to put his entire team on the line.
Lmfao how are you going crash with a 14 kg bike with 30 km hr head wind you will be looking like a turtle lol. There should zero crashes on the flat areas and only crashes on the downhill fast sections. Give everyone only 3 extra bikes and zero crashes will occur since they would take their positions more careful . Also for the first 5 stages teams will start at different times 5 minutes apart this will make it very easy to break up large groups of riders and since it is all time based if your team started 5 minutes after if your team arrives 4 minutes late that means you have a 1 minute overall lead . I started this on our Crit Club due to those same exact issues. We have had zero crashes since we started doing these time difference road races.
You'd think that with Matt leaving the peloton a few years ago, there would be a lot less crashes than there are.
Ethan Sandstedt Few years?
***** Not to mention the smoke-breaks.
Thomas Albrecht And instead of lycra they wore tophats and overcoats... Smashing...
Don't reduce the number of teams , reduce the number of riders. Thus unables the teams to control the punch. More solo breakaways,...
Only 7 or 8 riders per team means a reduction of 20 to 40 riders and maybe no dominating team in the peleton.
kona6812 shut up..
Well here we are
How about a video on how to recover from crashes/injuries?
Bernie Spannagl That is a good idea, I´m just not sure it´s easy to do, it would depend on the kind of injurie and how bad it is, which is already alot of things do cover. And ontop of that, it might be difficult to advise on what can be recovered from, and what needs professional attention... But if they can, I would love to see it too :)
Bernie Spannagl They have a video on that subject already.
Bernie Spannagl go to a doctor. get prescription and explanations, go with findings to a physiotherapist and get treatment ;)
aDotFromTheFuture I´m only able to find one actual treatment, video, the road-rash Vuelta-thing- the rest are how to avoid injuries, as far as I can see :P but I might be searching wrongly
Bernie Spannagl Just don't watch matt for a couple minutes and he'll so you can film it.
Erm, there is literally no reason that 9 riders per team is the magic number. Absolutely no reason this can't be reduced.
More teams means more competition, BMC's obviously getting scared of the little guys.
The team dynamic would change by decreasing the number of riders per team.
Aero doesn't make you faster per se, just more efficient. You will go faster, for a given amount of effort. I don't see how that equals more crashes?
The two most important factors that you identify here are:
1. Incentives - everyone wants to be at the front
2. See number one.
That's why there's crashes every year, and that's why there'll continue to be crashes every year, no matter how big the peleton is.
broleur lead-outs before sprints, accelerations before key points on a course are all done at near maximum effort. So, if the effort is still the same, which I think it is, then the speed will be higher. Higher speeds at equally close proximity to others = less time to react/brake/avoid crashes etc.
Dan
Global Cycling Network Do not forget that brakes are far more better too. Frames are stiffer and therefore also more reactive. That does not impact reaction time but I can tell you that I have avoided multiple crashes in racing recently which I simply couldn't avoid 10 years ago.
Perhaps riders being more aero, allows less strong riders to also jostle for position
great to have inside commentary on why the race seems so frenetic and harried in the TdF each year. It can't be just the desire to win.... the pressure of sponsorships and a "public racetrack" make a lot of sense. Thanks GCN.
This was surprisingly insightful, especially on strategy i.e. Bulldozers up front. I'd love to watch a video you guys make about how to win the Tour. I'm not an avid fan, but when it's going on I enjoy the adrenaline, however how the bloody thing is won by a singular team/person is confusing!!! It's more than just be first in more instances than anyone else I assume... Or a video on how successful teams have either dominated, or won from being the underdog.
How about a video showing the difference between tour winning bikes through the decades? So we can see how far technology has advanced?
I think the main reason for so many crashes, is the rule that there is no time loss in the last 3 km of a stage. Every team tries to move their GC riders in front. You can't ride with 200 men in front of the peloton. Some stuff that could be changed:
- ban earplugs
- no time loss in the last 10 km of a stage (less nervous peloton)
- smaller teams (7 or 8 riders)
Of course the manager of a wealthy team as BMC can say there should be less competitors. Let's just reduce to 20 teams then and they can get all the attention.
Maybe someone with no particular agenda could give a different answer.
Dirceu Corsetti There are too many teams, not just because of crashes, there are teams there that just make up the numbers for the sake of sponsorship and wealth creation. I know it seems easy for BMC to say this as big team but even the bigger teams are scraping the barrel on worthyness of grand tour status sometimes
Dirceu Corsetti Quite so.
"This is our sport, we do it with nine people." Easy to forget, especially when you're justifying your own existence as the manager of a team, that this is fundamentally an individual sport. Orica Greenedge have been down to 6 since Stage 6 - have they not been 'doing the sport'?
Love the Tintin Rocket at the shelf behind them both, it looks gorgeous :D
Nice touch there gents
Just some background figures that may (or may not!) add to the discussion on the number of riders and teams.
In the earliest years of the 'Modern Era' between 1947 and 1952 the number of riders in each team varied but the fields were between 100 and 120.
Between 1953 and 1986 teams consisted of 10 riders (11 in '61, '64, '72 and '73) and between 10 ('77) and 21 ('86) teams competed giving fields of 100 to 210.
From 1987 teams have consisted of 9 riders and between 17 (2000) and 23 ('87) teams competed giving fields of 153 to 207.
The current 22 teams of 9 riders giving a field 198 has been 'standard' since 2009.
I doubt that BMC'S general manager would even suggest such an idea if his team's participation was affected.It would be the wildcard teams like MTN and Cofidis that would be affected and for me these teams help make the race. Just my thoughts :) great fan of the channel!
how about some orange gcn t-shirts? since we started in the Netherlands this year and all...
I'd like to know Mat's take on the injury/abandonment toll 'back in the day'. Were teams depleted in numbers like we see in this years race? Were teams keen to surge to the front, or just happy to get to Paris?
Do you think there are more crashes on an opening stage that isn't a TT? Whoever wins the stage is in yellow. I would imagine that could escalate tension even more.
Hi GCN! Great vids every day!
Question for you. The BMC gentleman said there are jobs for nine guys on a team. What are those jobs? Team leader and sprinter are the only ones that I can name. Are there really roles for seven domestiques?? or am I missing something?
- from a confused wannabe XC rider :) love y'all!
I love the TinTin moon rocket on the shelf in the background....
i have to go there and show the guys how to ride!
3:08 Matt: "Faster for free" as one of MTM-Qhubeka's beautiful (and extremely pricey) Cervélo bikes flashes on the screen. Faster maybe, but certainly not "for free"!
Matt's wearing short shorts. Is he planning on presenting the yellow Jersey or something
I see Matt is preserving the tan lines with the Daisy Duke shorts
if statistically this year has been no different from other years in terms of the rate of crashes then logically its got to be the perception of crashes in the peleton that is bringing the issue to attention. In the 1960's coverage of the entire race was probably limited now you can watch the race from one of the onboard cameras. Warren Barguils crash into Gerraint Thomas and him hitting a lampost was spectacular and made headlines.But it only did so because the coverage of the race was so extensive. Fifty years ago I doubt whether similar incidents would have been seen by more than a handful of people.
Matt is looking sharp in his Daisy Dukes.
Ochowicz basically giving the Velon talking points. His presence was not necessary and not interesting at all. Your insights though were interesting.
The reason is that in the latter weeks there's more climbs so you're going slower and there's less chance of falling when going slower
That's an interesting red "rocket" on the shelf in the back. . .
reduce the number of riders from each team and ban team radio, i also think that they could do with less cars because on the flat stages there is serious risk when people crash off the back and there are 15+ vehicles charging up there arse
Weather has a big thing to say as well if it rains ALOT more crashes happends becouse the roads gets really slippery.
I don't see anything wrong with limiting number of riders on teams.
The teams wont be able to shelter their leaders as well, but that may actually make for a more interesting race!
Agreed. Let's stop the new era of wheelsucking leader's jersey riders. I'd love to see less numbers of riders on teams. It will definitely change the dynamics and make racing much more interesting.
Reducing riders on every team would mean that it would be a smaller chance for teams to dominate the race, and it would then become more exciting. Oldschool to say that we can`t do that beacuse that`s just how it`s done. Removing teams would also mean that the smaller teams would get less chances.
Doping in the peloton may be a cause of crashes. The Cycling Independent Reform Commission (reporting to the UCI) uncovered stories of cyclists using both banned and non-banned substances for performance enhancements (ie: pain-killers, go pills) that may cause impairment of judgement leading to crashes. (this was the opinion of several riders!). Personally, I would not conclude that doping is the leading cause of crashes in the first week of the TdF, but I would suspect it does account for some of the variance.
Flip the stages. Mountains first to tire everybody out and separate them before the sprint stages.
Jim Ochowicz looks extremely similar to Gordon, a fisherman from my nearby harbour...I was expecting him to start moaning about the cost of anti-fouling and swearing about beam trawlers smashing up his trammels.
Sadly, it wasn't actually Gordon.
Simple if rather callous-sounding hypothesis - at the start of the Tour, the riders who are most likely to be involved in a crash - and the riders who are most likely to make a mistake (due to fatigue, unnoticed illness, comparative inexperience or plain crummy luck) and cause a crash in a 200-strong bunch - *are* riding.
By the rest day, some of them are in the hospital and not riding any more. After that, the skill level of the peloton is more uniform, and probably higher, by a sporting 'natural selection'. As a result, the crash rate and size should both go down even ignoring terrain.
Is that Greg Lemond's brother at 3:58 lol
Cities will always want to be part of a stage. They can afford to make temporary road changes prior to the stage for the benefit of the tour visiting their city. We cannot reduce the peloton size we need jobs in cycling.
sprint stages are boring and dangerous, finally this year the tour has decide to do like the giro
What's the best bike brand gcn
The last picture of the intro was one of Vandenbroeck who isnt riding the tour this year... Shame, shame :)
Cut-off denim shorts? On a guy? Oh....
Matt, you should pair those jorts with an American flag tank top and say "Mailman" again
Denim shorts?! Sort it out Matt!
Can we split them up into two waves?
Are there any stats for the last 10 years verses 20 years ago? Bikes handle faster and riders don't use rollers to warm up (rollers smooth out a riders line). I am amazing to watch and some of the guys look like they can't hold a line.
Matt in denim shorts, never !
Just out of curiosity what would happen if after a crash a cyclist got up to carry on but they took the wrong bike(a bike from a rival team)...? And let's say they raced on and won the stage with that bike?
Hypothetical situation that just wouldn't happen - but I'd imagine it'd be treat more strictly than Porte's wheel change at the Giro
Matt. Whats with the denium hot pants?
Ochowicz wrote a viral article about how the uci needs to get rid of wildcards because the teams are weak and cause crashes. How ironic. Mtn qhubeka is currently 2nd and has a points jersey for the mountains. Oh yeah. And no one on the team has crashed or dropped out. These are all things Ochowicz team haven't been able to do with a world tour sized budget.
No but they have been able to win 3 stages, wear the yellow jersey, control the race and would likely have podiumed on the gc...
Jim wants to have less teams in the race. Jim already has a team in the race. Lets make cycling more exclusive. Sorry MTN-Qhubeka! Sorry Bretagne-Séché! Sorry Orica-GreenEdge! Now there will be the right number of crashes for Jim and his team!
The guy from BMC, is he wrong? It shouldn't be less teams it should be less riders per team. Give all the teams chance to compete at the highest level, not just the richest teams. Why nine riders per team? Five per team would produce winners who are the strongest riders. As he states, he needs nine riders to block the natural competitive pace of the peloton, thereby allowing a weaker rider an advantage. GCN, investigate the issue, analyse the results and ponder the conclusions.Oh, almost forgot: Please!
Monged out from the Tramadol
Wildcard teams are fun to watch... like mtn qhubeka... they have guys up front every day, hunting for stage victory.
still rmb back in 2011. the Wildcard Europcar leader Thomas Voeckler held on the yellow jersey for 10 days and nearly won that yr's tour.... why would we want to get rid of wildcard teams....
Why is dad wearing jeans and a hoodie and Matt rocking it in a t shirt and shorts...strange
I agree with everything, especially BMC's suggestion to reduce the number of teams. I mean, Bora, IAM, Cofidis and Trek, what's the point (joking...ish). There aren't more crashes because we see the same crash multiple times, there are more crashes in quantity (regardless of how many times you see each crash) #seniormoment
Paul Liptrott The Tour is a Competition between Cyclists which has evolved. I disagree and I am at loss for words with regards to Jim Ochowicz's suggestion to reduce the number of teams. Inexperience is the cause if you look at Warren Barguil's track record as an example.
Gt George Not sure why you are telling me this
Gt George I will try and have a word with Jim for ya though dude
I disagree to to a point with the Mr. Ochowicz. If it was a density/road furniture problem, then the crashes would occur when peloton was bunched up or around the "stuff" in the road. Can he prove that? Yes, I will grant him that some of the crashes are larger because there are more riders, but are there more crashes? Until somebody does a statistical analysis of where, when, why, and how many riders involved, it is all conjecture and selective opinion making. Heck, let's get more teams out there so the quality of the peloton will decrease and they we spread out more and go slower.
so many hard dystrophics
Holy jean-shorts Mattman
Every Pro should watch your video, how to corner like a pro,because the pros cant corner like the pros.....
Some people say that Matt Stephens house is split into two distinct microclimates, one in the deepest winter, the other the hottest summer.
why not reduce the cyclist per team from 9 to 7 or even 5 then. make the others reserve for specific courses. fresh legs? it would diminish points per cyclist but teampoints will be sustained. it should not restrict the number of teams that would be insane. 2 main riders, 1 domestique and 2 up front to cut the wind for the main riders. reserves would be used for specific stages.
Less teams = less pro conti guys. I don't really want to watch all the WorldTour guys all the time in the big races. IMO the pro conti teams makes these big races since their budgets are as huge and they're usually in the breaks.
Double clicking works. It won't make youtube play it twice, but it will get you to the video.
noooo reduce the number of riders
Short answer: Gravity
please don't give Ochowiz a platform, his lack of willingness to talk about his involvement in the Armstrong issues discredits him, as does his previous assertion that ASO should remove the wildcard teams, I mean what do you want someone with the bike handling skills of ..... Oh I don't know, Steve Cummings floating round the outside of of 2 Frenchies to win a stage ? No positive messages for cycling from that team, just stick with the big budget guys eh, Premiership here we come
Jesus what happened in the '96 Tour?
That guy in yellow shirt sounds like Gordon Ramsay.
What happened in 1996?!
Matt trying to cut back the years and wear little boy shorts to make him look 12 again?
Inexperienced bike handling, not knowing the terrain,fatigue,stupid fans....and of course the motorbikes causes the crashes. Teams are not the problems...because things get separated in the peloton usually base on the skill of the riders anyway.
Anybody see the Rocket from the Adventures of Tintin on the shelf at the back?
Yup!! Brought back all those childhood memories. Blistering barnacles =D
Perhaps if Jim didn't start the trend of bulldozers on the front on the peloton also? - That guy would think of any other excuse of that his own 'pro' riders.
Perfromance enhancing drugs don't just make you go faster or longer, they can make your reactions faster, your alertness better, etc.. They aren't doing that as much now. They don't see it and when they do they can't react in time to avoid the crash.
The crashes are due to riders' incompetence.
JLP Design In most cases that is true. It is easy to say that everyone needs to ride more carefully, but I wonder if some penalties for unsafe riding would assist in reinforcing the message.
Ochowicz got a lot of flack for those views. Contentious discussion with J.O. Rules could be made ie dangerous riding docked time or what ever...
or BMC declines an invitation of TDF.
Matt, please refrain from bringing back a "denim cycle shorts era" nobody wants that.....
How Quintana Can Win The Tour. Quintana is in the best position to overthrow Froome, but he only has two shots left; stage 19 & 20. Stage 18 is a wash because of the finish. On stage 19, Quintana has to use his team mate, Valverde to attack Froome on the base of the Le Corbier. This will force SKY to react. That will burn out his team. Froome has to be isolated. If Valverde is reeled in, then Quintana attacks. They have to force Froome to work and try to burn him out. Quintana has to chip away at that deficit in order to be ready for stage 20. On stage 20, Again, Valverde attacks and force a reaction. Then Quintana delivers the Final blow. Otherwise, Quintana needs to throw in the towel now and just enjoy 2nd place.
1AmericanInAsia that will not work... if Valverde attacks with full power and Froome and Quintana hold his wheel, Quintana is way more "burned out" than Froome - and then Froome goes and Quintana will fade away. You can not ride away from a guy who is much stronger than you - and Froome is by far the strongest in this TDF. I thought today there could be a small chance with the descent of Col Allos and the climb to the finish - but even in the descent he rode with the fastest guys... no chance to beat him this year!
filmevoncosima So should Quintana throw in the towel? No. Froome is not expecting Valverde to attack. The other teams will be trying to gain time and win stages. Froome is on the defense but will not attack when he has such time on his rivals. Quintana has to attack and do it in stages in order to gain time on Froome. Sure he can not do it in one go, but if he hangs out on Froome wheel all day while Sky chase down other hot favorites, then Quintana will have a chance to gain time. He must use his men to attack. Never lay down your arms unless the enemy surrenders! Today, Quintana needs to watch Frooms reaction to the other attacks coming his way. That is Quintana's weapon; use Froome against Froome!
1AmericanInAsia froome is obviously expecting a valverde attack - movistar have been doing it every stage - all that happens is valverde attacks and then one of skys men slowly brings him back over the next km. I think quintana should send a few men in the break then go early in the stage behind valverde who can bridge him over to the break where his teammates can basically race skys train to the foot of the mountains then hope quintana can hold him off
Jamie Philpott It is all or nothing. Quintana has been holding back and riding conservative. He has to think like Pantani and Merckx; attack and keep attacking until the enemy or he himself cracks. That mean even if he puts his place on the Podium on the line.
Looking at today's stage, Quintana must throw his entire team to the wolves. That means a mass attacking effort at the base of Glandon. It will need to be a hard, decisive, and explosive attack. As Sky reacts, Moviestar will have to use three guys to block their efforts in order for Quintana to gain time. Valverde will block Froome and two Moviestar riders will take Thomas, You see, they have to use Froome against himself. When Froome reacts to the attack, Valverde has to block and keep blocking. They are not going to ride Froome off their wheel, so blocking his efforts is the only way to try and gain time.
Well, that is my take. Quintana has said he believe he can win. I think he can too, but he must be willing to take a huge risk.
1AmericanInAsia During the 1995 Pro Worlds race, everyone thought Big Mig was going for gold. Pantani was keeping his eyes on Mig and reacting to all his moves. However, Big Mig had other plans for the race. His plan was that Spain takes Gold. It did not mater to him who on Spains team took that medal. During the last lap, Big Mig attacked and Pantani reacted. When Pantani bridged the gap, Big Mig attacked again. Pantani reacted again. After that effort, Pantani was done. That is when Olano attacked. Pantani tried to react and Mig blocked his efforts. It was fantastic! That allowed Olano to ride to victory on a flat back tire! Big Mig took Silver and Pantani took Bronze. During the awards ceremony, I could see that Pantani was devastated. I mean he was broken over that loose.
That is what I mean. It can work for Quintana, but he has to be willing to put his entire team on the line.
Tintin rocket!
1EdmundDantes Matt Stephens gets instant rock star status from me just for being a Tintin fan ;)
What a waste of time. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Why don't you two have a pint or two of beer and do a retake.
Have a nice day
Lmfao how are you going crash with a 14 kg bike with 30 km hr head wind you will be looking like a turtle lol. There should zero crashes on the flat areas and only crashes on the downhill fast sections. Give everyone only 3 extra bikes and zero crashes will occur since they would take their positions more careful . Also for the first 5 stages teams will start at different times 5 minutes apart this will make it very easy to break up large groups of riders and since it is all time based if your team started 5 minutes after if your team arrives 4 minutes late that means you have a 1 minute overall lead . I started this on our Crit Club due to those same exact issues. We have had zero crashes since we started doing these time difference road races.
Jorts.
First
Oh actually I'm not.