"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - TdF question regarding stages

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timmhaan
05-10-04, 05:55 PM
this may be a silly question, but i'm really not sure the answer. does a TdF cyclist need to ride in all the stages to win?
Smoothie104
05-10-04, 06:11 PM
Yes,
If you miss a stage, or miss the time cut on any stage (you have to finish within 10% or so of the leaders time) You have technically abandoned the race, and cannot continue.
I think the time cut fluctuates depending on the severity of the stage, but it is enforced at the race directors discretion. In some of the mountain stages of the tour, large groups may miss the time cut, but becuase there are so many riders, Jean Marie lets it slide.
However there was a race earlier this year where over 100 riders missed the time cut on the 2nd to last stage. The director was pissed off enough and DQ'd them all. There were something like 18 riders contesting the last stage.
I don't know if it is in enforced in the prolouge of the TdF or not, but Im pretty sure it will be done away with for the TT up l'Alpe d'Huez
timmhaan
05-10-04, 06:20 PM
Yes,
If you miss a stage, or miss the time cut on any stage (you have to finish within 10% or so of the leaders time) You have technically abandoned the race, and cannot continue.
I think the time cut fluctuates depending on the severity of the stage, but it is enforced at the race directors discretion. In some of the mountain stages of the tour, large groups may miss the time cut, but becuase there are so many riders, Jean Marie lets it slide.
However there was a race earlier this year where over 100 riders missed the time cut on the 2nd to last stage. The director was pissed off enough and DQ'd them all. There were something like 18 riders contesting the last stage.
I don't know if it is in enforced in the prolouge of the TdF or not, but Im pretty sure it will be done away with for the TT up l'Alpe d'Huez
thanks. i was confused because i hadn't seen LA's position listed on some of the stages in the '99 and '03 tours (the two i own on DVD). i know some of the stages aren't as important to him as, say, the mountain stages - but i figured they would list his position for each stage anyway even if it wasn't very high. thanks for clearing up my confusion.
brent_dube
05-10-04, 07:15 PM
On a flat stage... if it finished in one big bunch sprint, one can always assume that the GC guys finished in that group, all with the same time.
Didn't all but 20 or so riders miss the time cut in an early TDF stage in 2000?
I don't know what I think of the rule, because severity of the stage can vary on the weather. But I think it's lame if the autobus finishes too far back and gets to continue. That is cheap, because some riders can work even less on a stage, as a rest for a stage win the next day.
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