Just out of curiosity, I calculated the time differences if the TTT rules were in place last year. As you can see, all but one of the time differences would have been less than a minute. Jan would have picked up 13 seconds on Lance, for example.
Code:
Place Team Old Time New Time Difference
1 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 1.18.27 (52.77 km/h)
2 O.N.C.E.-Eroski 0:00:30 0:00:20 0:00:10 Gained
3 Team Bianchi 0:00:43 0:00:30 0:00:13 Gained
4 iBanesto.com 0:01:05 0:00:40 0:00:25 Gained
5 Quick.Step-Davitamon 0:01:23 0:00:50 0:00:33 Gained
6 Team Telekom 0:01:30 0:01:00 0:00:30 Gained
7 Vini Caldirola-SO.DI 0:01:32 0:01:10 0:00:22 Gained
8 Crédit Agricole 0:01:34 0:01:20 0:00:14 Gained
9 AG2r Prévoyance 0:01:38 0:01:30 0:00:08 Gained
10 Team CSC 0:01:45 0:01:40 0:00:05 Gained
11 Gerolsteiner 0:01:49 0:01:50 0:00:01 Lost
12 Fassa Bortolo 0:01:53 0:02:00 0:00:07 Lost
13 Alessio 0:02:05 0:02:10 0:00:05 Lost
14 Cofidis 0:02:06 0:02:20 0:00:14 Lost
15 Brioches La Boulangère 0:02:30 0:02:30 0:00:00 Same
16 Rabobank 0:02:41 0:02:35 0:00:06 Gained
17 Team Saeco 0:03:02 0:02:40 0:00:22 Gained
18 Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:03:22 0:02:45 0:00:37 Gained
19 FDJeux.com 0:03:29 0:02:50 0:00:39 Gained
20 Jean Delatour 0:03:37 0:02:55 0:00:42 Gained
21 Kelme-Costa Blanca 0:03:49 0:03:00 0:00:49 Gained
22 Lotto-Domo 0:04:53 0:03:05 0:01:48 Gained
Personally, I don’t see what the big deal is
Everyone knows what the rules are, they just happen to be different than last year. Big deal! The difference in the race will be minimal IMHO.
-murray