Originally Posted by
Cat4Lifer
I don't see it as radios stifling breakaways. Radios have been in use since the early 90s and many, many breakaways
have succeeded since then. In 2001, when radios were in no less use than they are today, there were a couple of breakaways
that gained nearly 10-minutes on the field. If memory serves me correct, Stuart O'Grady took over the yellow-jersey with one of
those breakaways and Jens Voight, his then teammate, took the jersey in another breakaway the next day. I think some people
just tend to myopically blame radios for stifling breakaways while ignoring the evidence to the contrary. Wasn't there this little
known French guy who took over the yellow jersey for a few days in the '04 TDF from a long-breakaway. Oh, and yes, teams
were using radios in '04.
It's funny that it's Voeckler who is one of the outspoken anti-radio guys. Obviously...he's made his name on gaining massive time on breaks, and then S L O W L Y giving it back over multiple stages. Without the radios, he'd have a much bigger chance to win on a break, IF the peloton ever allowed them away again...