There should be a rule...

Bro Deal said:

One of the things that is starting to bother me in cycling is riders only doing half a GT and then bailing. It turns the points competition into a joke, and it just seems to go against the hard man image of the sport. I think there is currently a rule that prevents a rider from dropping out and doing another race while the other is ongoing, but I think riders should be prevented from racing for three or four weeks after the end of an event they drop out of.

Does anyone have any other proposed rules?

What about increasing the maximum gap rule. It is much harder for the sprinters to stay in touch with the climbers on hills than for climbers to keep up with the peleton on the flats IMO. If all the sprinters were not so pushed on the climbs, they would stay in the race longer I feel. And they would all be in the same boat regarding exertion.

Wasn't this why Zabel said he tried EPO. If the sprinters aren't on the same slow twitch fiber type doping as the climbers, they are just going to suffer even more trying to keep up with the tireless whippets.

I'm not sure if you were referring to sprinters pulling out.

PS Sorry I brought the subject of doping into the thread.

What's the advantage of dropping out of a major tour for the individual rider? I'd think that most of them would have wanted to complete the race or why enter it in the first place?

sogood said:

What's the advantage of dropping out of a major tour for the individual rider? I'd think that most of them would have wanted to complete the race or why enter it in the first place?

Not always. Robbie McEwen regularly starts the Giro for the flat stages then abandons when the race hits the hills. I dont see why he cant use a GT like the Giro to gauge his form against the other best sprinters around leading up to the Tdf

hoggy said:

Not always. Robbie McEwen regularly starts the Giro for the flat stages then abandons when the race hits the hills. I dont see why he cant use a GT like the Giro to gauge his form against the other best sprinters around leading up to the Tdf

But is anyone disadvantaged by this, if it's a deliberate move?

sogood said:

But is anyone disadvantaged by this, if it's a deliberate move?

The fans are. It sucks to see Petacchi fight it out for stage wins in the first half of the Giro and then coast to wins in the second half because everyone else abandons.

It's also insulting to the stature of the Giro when riders just show up to "guage their form."

Bro Deal said:

The fans are. It sucks to see Petacchi fight it out for stage wins in the first half of the Giro and then coast to wins in the second half because everyone else abandons.

It's also insulting to the stature of the Giro when riders just show up to "guage their form."

I agree but what do you do? Sport, including cycling, is getting more and more specialized.

Why not start the race in the mountains? The problem with that is the race won't get the world's best sprinters even starting. I think they (the organizers) are prepared to compromise (ie. allowing them to withdraw) to at least get them starting. But if you made it easier on them getting over the mountains.....

In any case, the max time after the leader rule is in place just to prevent riders from soft-pedalling stages. It is only there because they have stage races within the main race. This max time gap could be lengthened somewhat IMO.

If you make the penalties too severe for abandoning, guys like McKewan and Cavendish wouldn't even start, or they'd get a doctor's note so they could withdraw in the middle.

sogood said:

What's the advantage of dropping out of a major tour for the individual rider? I'd think that most of them would have wanted to complete the race or why enter it in the first place?

No, most riders are interested in stage wins, rather than riding an entire GT just to be pack fodder.

Many riders do this. Cipollini regularly rode only the first half of GTs (especially the TdF), riding to win the sprint finishes and then pulling out before the mountains. The TdF points jersey was not of interest to his Italian sponsors.

Cunego (the first name to come to mind) actually entered the Vuelta only to 'refine' his form in preparation for the Worlds. A number of riders like to race in the GTs to prepare for a more important (for them) objective that they may have later in the year. He discussed his pullout from the Vuelta with the Italian national team coach, got the green light, and left the race.

The solution would have to make it more important to complete GTs in terms of Pro Tour points or something of that type, although it has yet to work (and the jury is still out on whether we will have a Pro Tour for much longer, LOL).

sogood said:

What's the advantage of dropping out of a major tour for the individual rider? I'd think that most of them would have wanted to complete the race or why enter it in the first place?

Many of them enter the race as training for another race. This is particularly true for the Vuelta. Its great training for Worlds. However, people drop out alfway through because they want to be fresh for Worlds.

Frigo's Luggage said:

Many of them enter the race as training for another race. This is particularly true for the Vuelta. Its great training for Worlds. However, people drop out alfway through because they want to be fresh for Worlds.

My suggestion then would be to put the worlds at the endof the season. Kinda silly to have the Biggest single day race not at the end of the year. The World Series of baseball isn't played with 2 weeks left in the season. The NHL Stanley CUp isn;t decided before the playoffs. Make the Worlds the week after Lombardia.

THis way the Vuelta will be a nice prep race for the entire grand tour for those who dont race the TDF. Then I think the Single day classics at the end of the season will be even more competitive because I think a few more of the big names mightt enter them, then i think you will have more people in top form for the final race and nothign will be held back. Again, Just my opinion.

This is my solution

There is a pro circuit set up that includes say twenty races.
Each team submits the team they will race with for the season. The team will comprise eleven riders with five reserves similar to a football team. If you loose a rider due to injury or illness, you call on a reserve but you may not call upon anyone else.
The riders MUST race every race, and are awarded points just for showing up.
If a rider misses more than three races, they become ineligible to race a GT. If they pull out of a GT early then they forfeit the points earned for that race.
The rider with the highest ranking at the start of a GT gets a time bonus to start the race( a significant one) This will remove the need for a prologue and will make each of the races leading up to the GT important and necessary for anyone hoping to do well at a GT.

This is a start, but I think it sounds reasonable