the red jersey

theyoungkid said:

does anyone else feel that the red jersey should be reinstated into the tour de france, you know the jersey for the person who is overall in last place

I think its a bit unfair to even consider even having such a jersey. In these days where the Domestiques will kill themselfs for their leader, the red jersey would be a punishment for doing their job.

personally i think that anyone who can actually complete any of the tours is a champion.

I never realized there was a red jersey but I know in france the person who finishes last is called the red lantern, might be feux rouge in french. I think it's impressive to finish. Apparently the red lantern gets a lot of publicity at post tour races and whatnot. I wonder what the podium ceremony would be like?

hwttdz said:

I never realized there was a red jersey but I know in france the person who finishes last is called the red lantern, might be feux rouge in french. I think it's impressive to finish. Apparently the red lantern gets a lot of publicity at post tour races and whatnot. I wonder what the podium ceremony would be like?

i saw a little bit on that on OLN when the last place guy was surrounded by ppl interviewing him...
anyone who can finish over 1500 miles in a month def. deserves our respect..
its pretty rare to even find ppl on these boards who have done multiple stage races (i have only done 1 which was 3 stages and i almost died)

the lanterne rouge i think. It shows real determination and character to continue in the tour despite being last overall. I think in a way it would be an honour to wear it, because the lanterne rouge is better than all of the people who abandoned along the way.

I thought the red jersey was awarded to the leader of the intermediate sprint bonus competition during the 80's.

theyoungkid said:

does anyone else feel that the red jersey should be reinstated into the tour de france, you know the jersey for the person who is overall in last place

No...if you do that then the press will be all over them with accusations of another kind of doping that makes them perform so poorly...It is always the ones that either win or lose badly that get the press...The mediocre performers rarely get attention.... 🙂

pineapple said:

the lanterne rouge i think. It shows real determination and character to continue in the tour despite being last overall. I think in a way it would be an honour to wear it, because the lanterne rouge is better than all of the people who abandoned along the way.

The laterne rouge is actually a very prestious title to have in France for the very reasons that are stated above. Primarily that you have the courage and determination to soldier on despite the fact that your bringing up the rear. As far as being a domestique goes, finishing placement is almost an after thought. Ekimov for example is considered to be one of the best domestiques in the peloton, he finished somewhere near 90th. In DC we even have a racing team called laterne rouge. This years Laterne Rouge (Jimmy Casper, 2nd year in a row) still finished higher than Mayo, Hamilton Chipollini and Petochii(sp?). My vote; bring back the red jersey.

zapper said:

No...if you do that then the press will be all over them with accusations of another kind of doping that makes them perform so poorly...It is always the ones that either win or lose badly that get the press...The mediocre performers rarely get attention.... 🙂

haha yah you got a point there lol

To clarify the reason why last place is called the Lanterne Rouge (red light).
Henri Desgrange referred to the peloton as a train and in the old days a red light was held at the back of the train, as a signal, at night.
Therefore the LR (last placed rider) on the ceremonial last stage of the TDF
is often seen carrying the LR (red light in a lantern) as a symbol of his courage to not give up and to finish the TDF.

jcjordan said:

personally i think that anyone who can actually complete any of the tours is a champion.

Agreed. I had never heard of the red jersey until just now, and I think it would be a horrid idea to reinstate it. My God, I could never come close to what those guys do!

Cowboyathlete said:

Agreed. I had never heard of the red jersey until just now, and I think it would be a horrid idea to reinstate it. My God, I could never come close to what those guys do!

I should of said the question differently, I am with the rest of you guys to a degree... I beleive that the red jersey is an honor to have, this is because even though you are in last place it points out your determination to finish the race, unlike the others who fall out, don't get me wrong those guys are amazing but in my opinion you should complete what you have began, unless you have a injury you can't do anything about that will impede your ability to do so, people who fall out just because they don't want to be in last place should be ashamed off themselves, they should push themselves to the breaking point,mentally and physically, and beyond that is what cycling is about, people who can compete with the mental toughness of knowing they are last place should get a "honorific" if they complete the race with this knowledge