jefnvk

Sorry for what I'm sure is a basic question, but neither a search on this site answered my specific question. I understand the general concept of scoring the peloton as a single time, but does anyone know the official rules as to what tolerances are on who is considered part of a group and what constitutes a new group? I.e.,must there be so much time between the last rider and the next? A simple visible separation? Human judgment on the scorers part? Also, is any group of riders crossing together scored as a group, or is it just the first main pack?

PepeM

It is pretty much human judgment. Probably something like a three seconds gap, but it really depends (they are far more lenient in a bunch sprint finish than on a mountain top finish, for example.) All groups are timed together, not just the first one.

DiabloScott

If you're within one second of the guy in front of you, you get the same time. A one second gap starts a new group. So the first 20 guys could all get the st, and then #21 could get +20 seconds even though he was only 1 second behind #20.

jefnvk

Thanks, that was what I was looking for!

DiabloScott

Sometimes a rider may try to create the gap in a bunch finish if his GC guy is near the front and the challenger is behind him... it's a cheap move and everyone knows about it including the officials and it usually doesn't work... but sometimes they try.

gsa103

That's also why the GC contenders were up in the front with the sprinters. They didn't want to accidentally lose a couple of seconds to a rival. And avoiding the pile-up if there's a crash.