No TTT this year.

peterlip said:

Quite enjoyed the Team Time Trial last year.
What's the reason behind not having it this year?
Am I just one of few who liked the TTT??

I assume you're talking about the Tour de France. There have been a lot of years where they don't have a TTT. They put it in and take it frequently depending on a lot of things. Recently there have been criticisms of how much influence it has on the GC and they put in some harebraned sceme of limiting a team's losses. Sometimes there's also criticism that its inclusion is intended to benefit or hinder the perceived favorites.

I'd say they also try to keep the race from becoming too formulaic but they don't really seem too concerned with that.

peterlip said:

Quite enjoyed the Team Time Trial last year.
What's the reason behind not having it this year?
Am I just one of few who liked the TTT??

It's a conspiracy of the TdF organizers and T-Mobile to ensure that the course suits Ullrich better than it does others (e.g. Basso)! Two big ITTs but no TTT for CSC or Disco to gain back ground!

(There may not be any truth to it but it's plausible! 😄 )

I do like the TTT because it's not just about the individual pros' combined strength. How efficiently they work together makes a huge difference in the result.

peterlip said:

Quite enjoyed the Team Time Trial last year.
What's the reason behind not having it this year?
Am I just one of few who liked the TTT??

1. They didnt want Discovery to win a stage even w/o Lance.
2. They didnt want Ivan Basso to get the jersey first or CSC and just pass it around. I'll tell you right now that if there were a TTT the race would end absolutely with Basso the winner (if they didnt have the asinine rules by 3 minutes).

Zabriskie will win the Prologue or be within 3 seconds of the winner. CSC (with Zab, Cancellara, Basso, Julich) would kill everyone in TTT because Disco would not have Lance. T-Mob would lose a minute.
Then Zab would win or preserve the yellow jersey after the first ITT. And the yellow jersey would be handed off to Basso in the Pyrenees. The Jan would have to wait and fight for the last ITT after the Alpes. With Basso having the jersey and the momentum and the 2-3 minutes he will gain on Alpe d'Huez and La Toussuire.

hombredesubaru said:

CSC (with Zab, Cancellara, Basso, Julich) would kill everyone in TTT because Disco would not have Lance. T-Mob would lose a minute.

Cancellara is not on CSC's Tdf line up but I still think they have the strongest TT team if there was a TTT this year. I'm sure it would be a significant help to Basso's GC standings.

i'm fairly disappointed about that. it was such a beautiful thing to watch. well, dave z's crash into the barrier was less than pleasant but otherwise that's been one of my favorite stages.

padawan said:

Cancellara is not on CSC's Tdf line up but I still think they have the strongest TT team if there was a TTT this year. I'm sure it would be a significant help to Basso's GC standings.

yeah, I meant if there WERE a TTT Cancellaro would probably be there, he alone is worth 20 seconds on CSC vs T-Mob compared with VandeVelde

bobke said:

yeah, I meant if there WERE a TTT Cancellaro would probably be there, he alone is worth 20 seconds on CSC vs T-Mob compared with VandeVelde

even more if he does down like he did in the USPS TT

DiabloScott said:

Recently there have been criticisms of how much influence it has on the GC and they put in some harebraned sceme of limiting a team's losses.

I always thought the TTT time differences should only count in the team competition and have no effect on individuals. Enough teams place a high importance on winning it to keep the competition good.

Parcours and stages designed for Ullrich. CSC would walk away with the TTT.

Catabolic_Jones said:

Parcours and stages designed for Ullrich. CSC would walk away with the TTT.

They walked away with a whopping one second over T-Mobile in the Giro's TTT--and that was only because T-Mob's last man got tailed off by a few seconds during the surge for the line.

Bro Deal said:

They walked away with a whopping one second over T-Mobile in the Giro's TTT--and that was only because T-Mob's last man got tailed off by a few seconds during the surge for the line.

for weaker teams like gerolsteiner and AG2R, leipheimer and mancebo could have been facing a few sizeable gaps to close down after a TTT. i think its a good thing there is no TTT this year. not only does it change things up, but makes it more about the individual rider going for the overall and not the team.

hombredesubaru said:

CSC (with Zab, Cancellara, Basso, Julich) would kill everyone in TTT because Disco would not have Lance. T-Mob would lose a minute.

Don't forget Voigt. He rides a very strong TT as well as long as it's flattish, which most TTT's are.