"sprint" markings

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 09:47:26 -0700, "Dean" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I recall that course diagrams have certain sections of the course labelled
as "sprint". I never understood what that really means. Does it mean that
it's where people usually sprint? or required to sprint? or are they the
only places that sprinting is allowed?

They used to say 'Dog!', but they found bike racers couldn't think and
race at the same time, so they changed it.

Still get the same number of questions, though.

OTOH, I'm guessing if you are talking about a stage or event that has
a sprinter point competition, it is an intermediate sprint for points.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

"Curtis L. Russell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

OTOH, I'm guessing if you are talking about a stage or event that has
a sprinter point competition, it is an intermediate sprint for points.

yeah, I meant stage event like tour de france. so do they award the bonus
points to the first person to get to the end of the sprint section? or do
they award the bonus points to the person who has the fastest time during
the sprint section? Probably not the first way, otherwise the leader would
just pick up all of the sprint bonuses (without even having to sprint).

--
Disclaimer: This post is solely an individual opinion and does not speak on
behalf of any organization.

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:40:45 -0700, "Dean" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Probably not the first way, otherwise the leader would
just pick up all of the sprint bonuses (without even having to sprint).

Uh, huh, that's what happens. So if your team wants to support you
going for the green in the Tour, they give you a deputy or two to get
you into the intermediate sprints.

OTOH, not all sprints are equal. The stage win everyday is the big
one. The others can be really trivial, except in a close competition
for the sprint jersey. Then every second can count.

I'm guessing its rare that a person could take the sprinter's jersey
on the strength of intermediate sprints.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

"Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Curtis L. Russell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

OTOH, I'm guessing if you are talking about a stage or event that has
a sprinter point competition, it is an intermediate sprint for points.

yeah, I meant stage event like tour de france. so do they award the bonus
points to the first person to get to the end of the sprint section? or do
they award the bonus points to the person who has the fastest time during
the sprint section? Probably not the first way, otherwise the leader would
just pick up all of the sprint bonuses (without even having to sprint).

The sprint is not a section; it's a line. The first person across that line
gets a certain number of points, which goes towards a sprint competition,
the second person less, and the third person fewer still. You're not
required to sprint here unless you care about the sprint competition, but of
course you're allowed to sprint anywhere you like if you think it will help
your goals, or your team manager demands it.

Curtis L. Russell said:

OTOH, not all sprints are equal. The stage win everyday is the big
one. The others can be really trivial, except in a close competition
for the sprint jersey. Then every second can count.

I'm guessing its rare that a person could take the sprinter's jersey
on the strength of intermediate sprints.

Depends on event rules, and how heavily finishes are weighted. In the
current TDF rules, finish-lines are fairly heavily weighted, more so
than in the past, I think.

In previous years, I think I can remember seeing reports about a rider
with the sprinter's jersey going into the third week of the tour, still
looking for a stage win.

Remember also, in the sprints, there's actually two prizes -- points
toward the sprinter's jersey, as well as time bonuses. In the first
week of the tour, there is interest in the time bonuses (especially
before the first time trial), when everybody is still fairly closely
bunched together -- time bonuses help overall standings (both individual
and team GC), where points count for the sprinter's jersey.

Thus, once the Tour gets out of the mountains for good, I'm pretty sure
that they're no longer awarding time bonuses for sprints, and sprints
are strictly for points.

However, the rules can vary over time. In the '70s and '80s, the Tour
had a separate red sprinter's jersey -- in this era, mid-stage sprint
points went toward the red jersey, and the only points awarded toward
the green jersey were awarded at the finish line. Thus, the green
jersey was as much as a "most consistent finisher" award (still going to
sprinters) as it was a true sprinter's award. The red jersey was
dropped after 1989, when the STdF decided they wanted to shorten awards
ceremonies by awarding fewer jerseys; that, and that it turned out to
be reasonably common that the same rider held both the green and red
jerseys, with the result being that the rider actually wearing the red
jersey on any particular day was often the second-placed rider in that
competition (with the first-placed rider choosing to wear the green jersey).

Smith

"Kyle Legate" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Curtis L. Russell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

OTOH, I'm guessing if you are talking about a stage or event that has
a sprinter point competition, it is an intermediate sprint for points.

yeah, I meant stage event like tour de france. so do they award the bonus
points to the first person to get to the end of the sprint section? or do
they award the bonus points to the person who has the fastest time during
the sprint section? Probably not the first way, otherwise the leader would
just pick up all of the sprint bonuses (without even having to sprint).

The sprint is not a section; it's a line. The first person across that line
gets a certain number of points, which goes towards a sprint competition,
the second person less, and the third person fewer still. You're not
required to sprint here unless you care about the sprint competition, but of
course you're allowed to sprint anywhere you like if you think it will help
your goals, or your team manager demands it.

Sprints in the TdF usually go 6-4-2 points to the first three across
and bonus seconds are deducted from overall time. They are usually
sponsored by a town along the way and there's often a cash prize.

Stuart O'Grady of Cofidis has made certain noises about going for the
Maillot Vert (Green points jersey) even though he's not terribly
likely to beat Alessandro Petacchi in many finishline sprints. So
how's he do it? Buy picking up as many sprint points along the course
as he can, as he did in the Dauphiné Libéré, and try for high placings
at the finish. Stuey proven he's a decent climber so expect to see
him take off in breaks to collect sprint points.

"Dean" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Curtis L. Russell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

OTOH, I'm guessing if you are talking about a stage or event that has
a sprinter point competition, it is an intermediate sprint for points.

yeah, I meant stage event like tour de france. so do they award the bonus
points to the first person to get to the end of the sprint section? or do
they award the bonus points to the person who has the fastest time during
the sprint section? Probably not the first way, otherwise the leader would
just pick up all of the sprint bonuses (without even having to sprint).

Here's the TdF rule relating to the green jersey "points" (sprint)
competition
Your term "sprint markings" corresponds to the "intermediate sprints"
referred to in the rule.

B) GENERAL INDIVIDUAL POINTS RANKING (art. 2.6.016 bis)
The general individual points ranking is obtained by adding together
the points recorded in the individual rankings of the Prologue and in
each stage, according to the following tables, and including point
penalties:

For ?flat? in-line stages (art. 22-coeff. 1): 35, 30, 26, 24, 22, 20,
19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1
point for the first 25 riders to finish;

For ?medium mountain? in-line stages (art. 22-coeff. 2): 25, 22, 20,
18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for
the first 20 riders to finish;

For the "high mountain" in-line stages (art. 22-coeff. 3): 20, 17, 15,
13, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the first 15 riders
to finish;
(In the event of dead heat in a stage finish, the riders are credited
by the number of points that they would get, divided by the number of
riders concerned. These points are then rounded up to the nearest _
point).

For individual time trial stages (art. 22-coeff. 4 and 5) and the
Prologue: 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point for the first 10
riders to finish.

For each intermediate sprint, the first 3 riders to pass the sprint
finish line receive 6, 4 and 2 points respectively.

In the event of a tie in the general ranking, then the number of stage
victories are added up for each rider, followed by the number of
intermediate-sprint victories; failing that, the general time ranking
is used.

Riders must finish the Tour de France in order to appear in the final
general ranking on points.