Originally Posted by g3ck0
Sorry I don't understand the Tour de France that much but what's the point of holding on to the Yellow Jersey, just extra publicity? Or are there special perks to wearing the yellow jersey?
Thanks
Just?
In cycling the teams have sponsors. Even in hte rare case where the person in control of the sponsoring entity does not care about publicity they almost always have to justify the sponsorship the the rest of the company.
In the day to day riding respect does make a difference.
Also there is one very big advantage to being in the lead. The team cars follow in the order of the highest placed rider (at the start of the stage). That adds up. Going back for water each trip takes longer and riders have to work harder. It is magnified with any mechanical problem. If two riders both flat at the same time , one from the yellow jersey team and one from a team whose car is 10th, the rider from the yellow jersey team will be on his bike before the cars ahve all passed. The other rider most likely will not be and will have a lot more work to do getting back on.
The advantage has been reduced with improved communications. Before radios that ment that the race leader could talk with his DS and still for all pratical purposes still be in the peleton.
Note all these advantages are not some huge all or nothing thing. 2nd is still a whole lot better than 15th.
Also note that being in yellow and winning a stage are victories in their own right. For teams with little chance of a win in the end those are the victory. For teams that can win the Tour getting stage wins and staying in Yellow is a way of showing dominance. A truely dominating team or rider can do both. It has been a while since we have had one.