Sucks to be a sprinter, huh?
Why did they do away with time bonuses? With no prologue it seems like it might be hard to actually award a yellow jersey for the first 3 stages. If everyone comes through s.t., do you give the yellow jersey to the stage winner or just not award one at all? I don't think it's in anyone's best interest not to award a yellow jersey.
Anyway, I like the idea that "the race will never be asleep; we'll never go back to having a long procession [of flat stages] through the first 10 days." It will be interesting to see how this new setup plays out.