We another ITT

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

Quoted message said:

Pretty dumb move to remove that mid-tour ITT like the one we had in
2003, might have put Ullrich back in the game earlier. Males no sense
to have climbers in the top ten like this.

The ITT was not exactly "removed"--it was moved to stage 1--technically, the
prologue was "removed". The first time trial is often modified or moved,
depending on the overall parcours setup.

One of the main goals of shortening and moving the ITT (as well as reducing
the number of moutain top finishes) was to keep the time gaps closer, so
that the last week would be more interesting and competitive. The
post-mountain stages were also made more challenging for the same reason.

If you look at the competition for places 3-10, the Tour organizers have
succeeded somewhat. As for the lead--the strongest rider asserts himself, no
matter the course.