geneman

So Tyler withdrew from Eneco today as expected. He's contending the Vuelta and wanted a couple of days to rest ahead of it. He sat in second place on GC.

To me, this is total weak sauce and a slap in the face of the Eneco organizers. It's very likely he would have maintained his second place overall and there was even the outside chance that he could have won the stupid thing. Obviously stage wins in grand tours are his #1 priority, but who throws away second place in an important stage race?!?

?

YMCA

After a brilliant Eneco, this is quite surprising.
My guess is that he is very tired, or coming down with a bug.
Skipping a small TT is BS otherwise.

botto 

the eneco tour is small beer. the vuelta isn't.

carpediemracing 

I was thinking the same thing, i.e. he should have stayed in the race.

However, I don't think he could have maintained his second place. Just a feeling.

On the other hand, a short TT (8 miles), he could just soft pedal the sucker and finish way down on the standings. I don't think he'd lose over 3 minutes (that would put him in 36th place), and I think it's possible he could stay within 2 minutes (still 36th). A minute down would put him 13th place or so. There'd be some headline like "Farrar gets crushed in final TT", but that's better than "Farrar disses Eneco race".

He also walked away from a guaranteed second in the points classification, which has got to be worth something also, both in money and points.

(For his sake, I hope they don't give bonuses based on UCI points or classification in jerseys or stage races, since he walked away from all of those.)

The fact that he pulled out seems to indicate that things aren't quite right. If it wasn't Farrar or a Garmin rider, I'd say that he just got a letter regarding a dope control. However, because it's Garmin, and I have some faith in that team, I figure he's getting sick, or already is sick. The Vuelta starts this week so he doesn't have a lot of time to recover. It seems like a huge gamble, especially considering how short the final TT is. I mean, 8 miles, that's not very far.

I don't know how far down they offer UCI points, but withdrawing while sitting at the top of GC is not good for UCI pointage. Even a poor TT may keep him in the top 10 (meaning a soft pedal TT). If he was sick he could bundle up and go easy - which to him would be 25 mph or something - and lose the 2-3 minutes. He could even ride to avoid the time cut and still keep the 2nd in points.

cdr

dmotoguy

I think he has totally crushed himself in the last few stages.. the vuelta starts in 4 days... i think he's making the correct decision..

Creakyknees

I tend to trust the judgement of Matt White, over that of BF posters.... sorry guys.

classic1

Matt White has a face like a smashed crab, speaks english so poorly that even I - a fellow Australian - can't understand him, uses too much hair product and has a pair of sunglasses perched on his head at all times making him look like a complete tosspot.

I'll take the BF posters.

nitropowered

Well when you all can race a 7 day stage race, take 4 days off, then race a 3 week grand tour, then you can complain.

classic1

Not that old chestnut

YMCA

"not that old chestnut"

Is that Aussie for, "sheesh, not that old line again?"

carpediemracing 

I don't know if they want Farrar to finish the Vuelta, but 5 potential sprints in the first 10 days sounds like maybe after that 10th day they won't care.

I'm still surprised at the fact that he pulled out with literally 8 miles to go. I mean, okay, I haven't finished a stage race ever because I always failed a time cut (with respect to nitro's comment which I think it valid, esp since Farrar's already done the Tour and the Giro I think), but still, 8 miles is a short effort. Then get all the UCI points, prize money, etc.

SPOILER ON ENECO for stage 7, the final TT (I'll type in white font so you have to highlight to read)

It rained that last day, and as soon as it rained, Wiggins turned off the power and turned off the course, not even registering a finish time (only DNF of the day). I wonder if Garmin didn't want to risk losing anyone to a crash before the Vuelta. Or, on the other hand, I wonder if the riders didn't think the team did the right thing by Farrar so they protested in their own way. Maybe contract talks? Maybe an argument with the race organizers? Some dissension in the ranks? I have no idea.

Incidentally, virtually all the racers finished within 3 minutes of the winner, so if Farrar had ridden as slowly as the other slow guys, he'd have finished 36th. Cozza finished last at 5:50 down and was given a finish time, so Farrar could have ridden 22.5 mph and gotten second in points classification. Heck, even I can go 22.5 mph for 8 miles. Well, if it's flat anyway.

Whatever the reason, Garmin looks kind of amateurish in their actions.

In the Tour of PA the organizers neutralized the last race, a crit in Pittsburgh, due to a tornado watch or warning. They restarted the race, but it would not count towards GC and all prize money would be donated to some charity, and in fact the racers weren't required to finish to maintain their GC places. Only a few teams soldiered on - Kelly Benefits, the Felt team (Garmin's feeder squad), Waste Management (Jelly Belly's feeder squad), a few others. They were professional in their attitude, doing a good race, really going for it. There were multiple crashes towards the end of the race, yet the guys kept going. Why? TV coverage for one thing (a TV viewer said he didn't realize that 2/3 of the field had dropped out after the restart). I suppose another was doing a race for the folks that had showed up to watch. And finally, at some level, this gave back to the promoter. The main sponsor's headquarters were just down the road (well, across the bridge) and there were a bunch of VIPs around. I'm sure those VIPs will remember who didn't bail out.

Oh well. I hope we get to learn what happened there because I'm curious about it.

cdr

carpediemracing 

update: Garmin has something on their site. But it's very non-descript.

tomatl411

My initial reaction was that it showed a lack of class and a lack of respect for the race itself--"oh thanks for the stage wins, but a little work to maintain 2nd overall.....meh, I'll pass your race ain't worth it." I like Tyler, based on his race interviews he sounds very down-to-earth and very squared away, but I think the decision is a bad one--when they signed him up for Eneco they new that Vuelta would be hard on the heels of Eneco. If he's hurt injured I could see it skipping the last day, but I don't see how soft-pedaling through an 8 mile TT is going to hurt his sprint in one week. I say finish what you started if you have the legs. He probably did a recovery ride of at least 8 miles the day he skipped out.

bodaciousguy

I too tend to trust the decisions of professionals who have 10+ experience at a high level than Cat 5-2 riders and especially those who can't spell Farrar correctly. I know I'm in a pissy mood but I'm posting anyway.

daytonian

+1