wabbit

great stage, but not for AC...i think it's true, he never really recovered from the giro but it's not like his career is over! he knows there will be other tours...next year he will have to consider skipping the giro. I still like him better than AS or FS though...
talk about the face of suffering though, Voeckler! You have to root for the guy!

chasm54

He should really have style points deducted for that tongue...

gpsblake

No one has mentioned this, but a ton of riders including Mark Cavendish were way below the cut off limit today. But the tour, not having the guts to eliminate to eliminate Cavendish and half the field.... just simply deducted 20 points from the points classification standings.

https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201..._a16&eref=sihp

Malloric

Because eliminating half the field would be a good thing, why?

Dolomiti

Or for an alternative viewpoint... whats to stop the autobus from deciding "since they won't eliminate us no matter how far behind we finish, why not joyride it and finish an hour behind the leader?"

Malloric

1) The threat of being eliminated.
2) The loss of points versus some other sprinter who decided not to "get with the program."

It's not like this was some "special exception." It's in the rules. It happens pretty much every year.

Kind of Blued

Just because it happens every year, doesn't mean it's not a special exception. If they have to make an exception to their rule every year, maybe their rule sucks.

Malloric

Or maybe the rules are perfectly fine, which is why they were written the way they were. Just saying. I don't see how following the rules is "making an exception"....

thenomad

Oh please, i know its an opinion thread but geeze, to say that Andy didn't win it was just the chasers who gave it to him is rediculous. Those same folks would be all "rah rah" if it were Alberto instead, saying he smoked them tactically etc.

Don't diminish the game of tactics, teams, mental games and individual riders that make up the Tour. Just enjoy it for what it was, another great stage in an otherwise close tour with lots of drama. I cheer for AS and AC and like CE and TV too.

Just relish the fact that tomorrow and Saturday will be great as well. So nice to see that the tour hasn't been decided by the second week with the rest of it merely a parade.

bikeride

Amen to that. AS made an incredible ride yesterday and all the know-it-alls here are bending over backwards trying to downplay it. Whether you hate him or not he deserves THE credit for that ride.

Skewer

Imo, It is much more likely just a guy who already has a hard effort in his legs winning the Giro.

gpsblake

Because it would guarantee they don't ever slack off like that again.