KOM competition

[platypus]

Who's the challenger for The Chicken (Micheal Rasmussen) in the KOM competition this year? It doesn't look like there's any significant climbs until stage 10, so I'd expect anyone seriously looking for the polka-dot jersey to hang well back and lose lots of GC time so that they're not perceived as a threat when the HC climbs come along.

Who are your KOM picks?

[platypus]

Jerome Pineau still holds the Maillot a Pois by 3 points over David de la Fuente, but the real KOM doesn't start until the Pyrenees.

[ed073]

There's more points up for grabs on the first 1 or 2 climbs in the first Pyreneean stage than the whole first week.

[platypus]

Pineau increased his lead today, and now holds an 11 point lead over De La Fuente.

[platypus]

In case anyone else is wondering how the points break down, here's an excerpt from the ASO rules:


c) General best climber ranking
(art. 2.6.017)
The general best climber ranking is established by adding together the points obtained on all passes and hills, according to the following tables:

•“Non-graded” passes: 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively for the first 10 riders to finish;
• Category 1 passes: 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 8 riders to finish;
• Category 2 passes: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points respectively to the first 6 riders to finish.

Points awarded for the category “non-graded”, 1 and 2 passes are doubled for the final pass of the stage.

• Category 3 passes: 4, 3, 2 and 1 point, respectively to the first 4 riders to finish;
• Category 4 passes: 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively to the first three riders to finish.

In the event of a tie between two riders in the general best climber ranking, the rider
with the most first places at non-graded pass summits is declared the winner. If the
riders are still tied, the first places obtained in the category 1 passes will be used to
determine the winner. If necessary, the first places achieved at the summits of category
2, category 3 or category 4 passes will be taken; as a last resort, the final general time
ranking will be used.

Riders must finish the Tour de France in order to appear in the best climber ranking.

[platypus]

When they're talking about the "final pass of the stage", does that just mean the last climb of the day or is it specific to an uphill finish?

[Moochers_Dad]

Did you read that De La Fuente punched a teammate (Walter Beneteau) of points leader Jêrome Pineau?

Jen Voigt described the scene this way, writing on sports1.de: "Today the two were riding next to each other and all of a sudden, the Spaniard hits Beneteau full in the face! It was really loud, just like in a boxing match! Beneteau's helmet and glasses practically flew off his head! He swerved, because of course he hadn't been expecting anything like that."

"Behind them everyone was shouting, 'Hey, are you crazy? If you're going to fight, go to the side of the road! Leave us out of your problems!' Beneteau didn't blink an eye but went directly to the commissaire. I think, that they will throw de la Fuente out of the race."

[POTFH]

Incredible!! Sounds like the NBA. Throw him out. Any word on the reason for the spat?

[user0ne]

Did you read that De La Fuente punched a teammate (Walter Beneteau) of points leader Jêrome Pineau?

Jen Voigt described the scene this way, writing on sports1.de: "Today the two were riding next to each other and all of a sudden, the Spaniard hits Beneteau full in the face! It was really loud, just like in a boxing match! Beneteau's helmet and glasses practically flew off his head! He swerved, because of course he hadn't been expecting anything like that."

"Behind them everyone was shouting, 'Hey, are you crazy? If you're going to fight, go to the side of the road! Leave us out of your problems!' Beneteau didn't blink an eye but went directly to the commissaire. I think, that they will throw de la Fuente out of the race."

I was waiting on a thread for this,lol ...

The two who got it on yesterday without boxing gloves were Walter Beneteau of Bouygues Telecom, whose teammate Jêrome Pineau is leading the mountains classification and Saunier Duval's David de la Fuente, who is second in the rankings. The two mixed it up previously, being fined for "irregular behaviour" on Wednesday.


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2006/jul06/jul07news3