MRGolfo

Here's a question. While watching the last stage of the tour and also reading many posts in this forum, I was thinking. What if the tour leader only had a handful of seconds lead and got a flat or something like that which would cause him to lose his lead? Being it's a formality and all.

mrkott3r

Well the other guy would win.

Maybe the other bloke if he gets word may stop and let the other guy catch up. It would be a crap way to win though.

SBSpartan

Stop with this discussion. First of all a flat would take about 5 seconds to fix because they would just give him a new bike. Then a break wouldn't work because on a flat course the peloton stays together so his team would be right there to pull him back to the lead. Not a tough task or a big deal.

Secondly, and we have been over this before. The last day is only formality because of the typical time gap between first and second place. You just plain are not going to be able to overtake a leader by a minute on that course. Period.

Now move on.

MRGolfo

SBSpartan,

Sorry to irritate you. I should have asked a better question. I was meaning that the second place rider was actually to overcome the time difference after the stage.

mrkott3r,

Thank you for answering the question. Had I been in second place or anyone that would have been close enough to gain the lead, I would just probably pull over with the rider had I known about it. I agree that it would be a horrible way to win.

But what if the flat happened in the TT stage with only a few km left and I was to gain enough time to gain the lead? Would it be fair to sprint by the guy in the final stage to win? Rhetorical questions but you may respond if wanted.

mrkott3r

You are not playing what-if.

What if the lead is only small?
What if the leader's bike had a major malfunction and there are no team members around and the team car is ages away?

Dammit I wanna know what would happen!

EventServices

Well, if Martians came to Earth and took the leader away, then we'd have something new to talk about.

Aside from that contingency and the occasional time trial, the Tour will likely always finish with a ceremonial ride into Paris under sunny skies, and drastic steps will continue to be taken to ensure that the holder of the MJ at the start of the race is still the holder at the finish of the race.

-VELOCITY-

Didn't Greg Lemond win the Tour on the last stage? I thought I read that somewhere.

blue_nose

Yes, but that was when the last stage was a time trial.

The TDF is settled after the final time trial - period. Unless of course there was only a few seconds difference.

telenick

There are some things in life that you just don't do in plain view of your neighbors without serious reprisal.

This counts as one of them.

I imagine that another rider would flick that rider's carcass to the ground in haste.

MrGolfo, you are now required to post something brilliant to counter the stupidity of the OP.

slowandsteady

That's like ending the superbowl in the third quarter just because one team has a 14 point lead.

voltman

No, it's not.

gcl8a

From my understanding, in 1979, Zoetemelk _tried_ to go for it in the last stage, but Hinault marked him and beat him in a sprint. Zoetemelk had little chance of succeeding, though, being three minutes down.

"La preuve : lors de l’étape des Champs-Elysées, Hinault et Zoetemelk lâchent tous leurs adversaires et se présentent ensemble pour le sprint final. Une fois de plus, le Breton aura le dernier mot. C’est sa 7ème victoire d’étape dans ce Tour 79. La victoire du Maillot Jaune est totale, il a vaincu sur tous les terrains. Du grand, du très grand Hinault !"

Roughly translated: "On the last stage, Hinault and Zoetemelk escaped from the peleton and went together for a sprint finish. The Breton (Hinault), had the last word. It was his seventh stage victory in the tour. Total victory for the yellow jersey -- he won on every terrain. The great Hinault!" (you can tell it's a French page).

See also:

https://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2003...eatures/champs

If anyone has more info (I searched a fair bit), I'd love to see it.


But to answer your question: no one would attack the yellow jersey in this instance. What would be fun, however, is if only a few seconds separated first and second so that sprint bonuses could make the difference. Otherwise, the yellow jersey would finish 'same time'.

slowandsteady

Okay it's more like ending the super bowl at the 2 minute warning when a team has a 14 point lead. I just don't get it when any sport places more importance on ceremony and tradition than competitiveness and winning. If you want a ceremony go rent a tux and get out of the cycling kit.

Hambone

have you ever heard of some of the infractions for which golfers have dq'ed themselves?

Personally, I think the tradition and respect for the "way things are done" makes the TdF better.

If it makes it easier for you, think of it as
TdF = Prologue + 19 stages + victory lap

blue_nose

I don't understand why this is so confusing to people. There is more to the TDF than just the Yellow Jersey. The overall classification is decided by the last time trial. At this point the riders have ridden over 2,000 miles and the race is decided. As others have stated here, it is virtually impossible to make up any time on anyone during the last, flat stage into Paris. Assuming that you were only 30 seconds down from somebody else, a team would just stick to the person like glue for the entire stage and no time would be made up.

The “king of the mountains” classification is decided after the last Alps stage. The leader still completes the other stages to finish the tour.

During the last stage, the Green jersey is often still up for grabs. This is often the most important or competitive aspect of the last stage.

Lastly, winning the final stage is very prestigious and for many a sprinter this is their best opportunity for TDF glory.