Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Tour de France 2024 - this time it’s personal

Options
12345679»

Comments

  • Options
    #242
    Podge_irl
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 26,467 Mod ✭✭✭✭Podge_irl


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322100#Comment_122322100

    Only needs to finish 2 places ahead in a bunch sprint. Should be easy enough to let it go.

    He tried to gap himself on the finish today to not get it (can't say I'll ever fully understand the psychology and tactics of that, but they know more than me!)



  • Options
    #243
    Fr D Maugire
    Registered Users Posts: 651 ✭✭✭Fr D Maugire


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322310#Comment_122322310

    Scheldeprijs, KBK, that's what you call really scraping the barrel. By the way Froome also has a Non-Yellow competition jersey from each GT as well. KOM from Tour, Giro, points from Vuelta.

    It really boils down to Cav, his World Title, Milan-San Remo, and his GT sprints wins versus Froome, 4 Tours, Giro and Vuelta plus GT podiums. Winning the biggest bike and most important race in the World 4 times should make it a foregone conclusion, but apparently not.

    For the record, the Tour has a co-efficent rating system for Tour stages to decide time-cuts with a rating of 1-6 on toughness, with 1 being the easiest and 6 the toughest. Naturally enough, the flat stages are rated 1 with hard mountain stages/TTs rated 5/6. Froome has 7 Tour stages and they are all TTs/Mountain stages. When you apply the co-efficent values, Froome has a higher score than Cavendish. Says it all really, one competes for the meaningless stages that serve no real purpose other than to get the race from A to B, and the other is racing/competing when **** gets real with the endgoal of winning "the" most prestigious prize. A bit like comparing the Champions league and Europa league.



  • Options
    #244
    Morris Garren
    Registered Users Posts: 507 ✭✭✭Morris Garren


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322715#Comment_122322715

    Well, you hardly expect Froome to win sprints, or Cav to win on Alpe DHuez... it's a bit disingenuous to say KBK, Scheldeprijs and Tour sprints are scraping barrels, or meaningless. About as meaningless as comparing cyclists to soccer players. Are you watching the Euros Dougal?



  • Options
    #245
    Weepsie
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 20,298 Mod ✭✭✭✭Weepsie


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322715#Comment_122322715

    Yet people wouldn't have a hope in one of those flat stages and would be eviscerated on he track by Cavendish (a talented multi disciplinary rider)



  • Options
    #246
    Reality_Check1
    Registered Users Posts: 676 ✭✭✭Reality_Check1


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322315#Comment_122322315

    there’s a lot of extra commitments that come with the yellow jersey such as extra interviews and media commitment etc. This early in a Grand Tour it’s not worth the hassle. If you’re effectively on the same time and your competition has all the extra commitments let them have it



  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #247
    Reality_Check1
    Registered Users Posts: 676 ✭✭✭Reality_Check1


    and comparing Cav and Froome is like comparing apples and oranges - both absolutely world class and both the best to have ever done it but you can’t compare the 2 imo



  • Options
    #248
    Fr D Maugire
    Registered Users Posts: 651 ✭✭✭Fr D Maugire


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122322789#Comment_122322789

    The great riders win the great races, Scheldeprijs and KBK are at best second rate races that might serve as a tie-breaker between riders with similar palmares, but are not going to feature too highly on an all-time great palmares. Froome has 3 Dauphine and 2 Romandie so like I said, they off-set anyways.

    Other that avoiding crashes, flat stages are pretty meaningless in the overall picture of the Tour. That's hardly news. Why does the Tour itself rate them as easy? The flat stages have always been a sideshow to enable riders to recover, have off days etc. Thats it. Very few if any of the all-time greats are reliant on winning flat stages at the Tour to achieve greatness.



Advertisement