RoboCheme

Why do some stage winners get time bonuses and others don't get any? What decides whether there are time bonuses available?

thanks,

Cliff

gapowermike

No time bonuses at this years TdF.

JNSunSports

From what I understand there are NO time bonuses this year.

roadie gal

I've been trying to find out why they decided to drop the time bonuses. Anyone out there have an idea?

marin1

Makes it more interesting

Suzie Green

Can you expand on that a bit? I liked it the old way, where not only the leader's position, but other places were susceptible to being shuffled around with both the finish line and intermediate sprint time bonuses.

Keith99

They didn't jsut get rid of the time bonuses, they also dropped the prologue and made the first 2 stage finishes not pure sprinters stages. Meaning both have the possibility of an actual time gap near the front. That gives a good chance of someone unexpected grabbing an early yellow.

In the mountians no time bonuses could lead to more old style cooperation between a lone GC contender and a non contender as with no time on the line at the end stage for teamwork (and time) is a good trade and one that would get kept.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

JoelS

Maybe just to simplify things. I really like not having time bonuses.

thatguy

I'm liking the lack of time bonuses. It's simpler and "classic". Seems appropriate with this year's almost vintage-style Tour. It also keeps the racing closer as there's no way to "artificially" lower your time. It would have worked great last year with a more climbing intensive parcours. Anyone willing to do the math and see what would have happened to the GC with no bonuses?

marqueemoon

It's made for an interesting first few days.

DMF 

If there were bonuses, seems like Team Columbia would be guarding the Maillot Jaune (Kirchen) now.

(I forget, were there bonuses for the TTs?)

Green Jager

Because they were stupid

gapowermike

I can relate. I've got a coworker who thinks they should all be GPS timestamped when they cross the line. Finishing safely in the peloton could cost you seconds on every stage. I like the idea of same time for the group for safety reasons. Plus, there's usually no reason for a GC contender to be attempting to stay at the front of the sprint group to avoid losing a few seconds.

I did like the drama that the time bonuses brought with regard to people overcoming a few ticks of the clock to move up a position in the GC near the end, a la Vino when he pipped....Levi maybe.... a few years ago in Paris on the last day.

Either way, it's worth watching.

Michael

bac

I thought I wouldn't like this year's format .... but you know what .... I do like it! The pure sprinters in this year's Tour, however .... not so much.

... Brad

meb

There were not.

FriendlyFred

I'm really enjoying this year's tour, perhaps even more than any other I've watched. There's something to be said for not having a 'favorite' (a'la Lance), leaving it wide open. It's been terrific fun so far.

2wheeled

I agree with Brad. I thought it was a bad move while watching the first few stages, but now, I see it's keeping things tight and exciting.

Da Tinker

How about no radios next year?

or

ridethecliche

No. Radios stay. Breakaways have already shown that they can work in this tour even with the radios. For safety reasons, they should stay.

Though, I think it would be really really really interesting if each rider was given a radio with different channels, each channel for a language. The riders would be warned by the race organizers through translators and what not about dangers on the course, time gaps, etc. All the organizing for the chase and such would have to be done by the teams on their own without directors.

During TT's the radio would be between the rider and the team car.

I think that would be interesting. If the reason behind radios is to warn riders of dangers, then this would satisfy that need, while forcing the riders to think on their own, making it a rolling game of chess where the pawns are king.

Suzie Green

Or just one rider per team allowed to use a radio?

jaxgtr

merged threads

ken cummings

They have better then GPS now. Note the little yellow thingies on the left chainstay. A widget that allows recording the exact time they pass sensors at the finish and other places. Can anyone give details?

jaxgtr

seems to me you have the details. That is exactly what it does.

kuf

They're gonna stick with giving everyone in the group the same time. Event though they could hypothetically give everybody their own time. It would be way too dangerous if the GC leaders & their teams were up there trying to contend with the sprinters, and imagine what it would be like towards the back of the pack! Elbowing, pushing, crashes galore, just to not lose time.