"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Ethics Question #-34.2: Stage Race Leaders Jersey

You take the lead in the first week or so of a 3 week grand tour.

Do you

1. Just wear the leaders jersey
2. Wear the jersey and add some matching high lights to your helmet, glasses, bar tape, etc
3. Wear special matching bibs and shoes
4. Break out the special matching colored bike to go along with your full kit and high lights

5. Wake up and get back to work.

Two differing ideas:
1. act like you've been there before and will be there again.
2. act like you know this is a special achievement in your life and you're excited as can be to be there.

Before my boss walks into my office and sees me staring into space, I'd do something very small on my bike to mark the occasion because I know I'll lose it in the Alps.

Just wear it. It's enough for me.

I like seeing the jersey over the normal kit's bibs. I think it makes it stand out more.

Helmet and bike are overkill, IMO.

In the Tour? You have all yellow everything. Get publicity while you can get it, no matter what your personal expectations of the end result of the race. Plus in 10 years who cares? You'll have some cool pics (and your sponsors too) of yourself all decked out in yellow.

Basically in the pros you can get away with stuff that would get you ostracized on the Sunday group ride. All yellow on a Sunday group ride? You'll be laughed at unless you just won the Tour. All yellow in the Tour? Expected.

Fitchburg? Wear the jersey. It's usually close enough that doing anything to jinx that will jinx it, and since most racers pay their way there, it'll cost a lot of time/money/effort to get matching anything else.

cdr

If you don't wear enough, Valverde will out yellow you (while going off the back).

I'm guessing it's more sponsor driven than rider driven. They all want a picture of their stuff in yellow. Or world stripes. Or whatever.

I find it a bit much. No need for Captain Obvious to step in and point out that the Pro Tour (or whatever it's going to be called) couldn't give a whit about the opinion of a two-bit Lance Wannabe...

I'm guessing it's more sponsor driven than rider driven.

Definitely. But I think we've already jumped off the 'reality' wagon when we assumed that I would win a stage race, much less a multi-week grand tour.

Before my boss walks into my office and sees me staring into space, I'd do something very small on my bike to mark the occasion because I know I'll lose it in the Alps.

I'd wear the jersey as I hatch my evil plan to destroy the entire rest of the TdF so completely that it would never be raced again and I would go down in history as the last person to wear the yellow jersey. My plan also includes getting rid of Batman, of course. Racer-Ex might have to be eliminated as well.

Just wear the jersey. On the last stage, if you still have the jersey, you do the rest.

You take the lead in the first week or so of a 3 week grand tour.

:roflmao2:

You must be talking to someone else.:lol:

You take the lead in the first week or so of a 3 week grand tour.

Do you

1. Just wear the leaders jersey
2. Wear the jersey and add some matching high lights to your helmet, glasses, bar tape, etc
3. Wear special matching bibs and shoes
4. Break out the special matching colored bike to go along with your full kit and high lights

For sponsor purposes, you go full deal. What I don't understand is when you WERE the yellow Jersey and now are off the back with no hope at winning the tour because your team cannot out time trial Jens and Fabian, why oh why do you ontinue to have yellow highlights on the helmet, bike, bar tape, shoe covers and everything else? How about a neon sign saying, "I once wore the yellow jersey because I happened to win a sprint on the first stage."

5. Wake up and get back to work.

The obvious answer.

But what are you wearing when you wake up?

For sponsor purposes, you go full deal. What I don't understand is when you WERE the yellow Jersey and now are off the back with no hope at winning the tour because your team cannot out time trial Jens and Fabian, why oh why do you ontinue to have yellow highlights on the helmet, bike, bar tape, shoe covers and everything else? How about a neon sign saying, "I once wore the yellow jersey because I happened to win a sprint on the first stage."

Remember that Valverde was sporting the yellow accents on his bike because they go along with the yellow accents on his National Championship jersey.

I second carlfreddy on the accents of Valverde's stuff. Pinarello gave him the bike with the yellow because of his Spanish national championship.