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First of all it really was not much like I expected. Granted there are long traditions, but frankly some are just down right crazy.
I was shocked and deeply disappointed that ordinary people, even complete drunks can not figure out how to stay off the road and let the guys have a road to race on without people running along side of them, jumping out in front of them, and getting in the way of the racing. If these are the top pros, let them do their jobs for goodness sakes. IF they had wanted to pass another rider in the climbs, putting the chrome horn on a drunk would have been required. That makes no sense. There is passion for a sport which I respect, and there is stupidity. People that crowd the racers are not fans. They just want to get on tv, or get there 30 seconds of fame. It was great to see all the real fans, out of the way cheering the riders on, but the organizers get an F for failing to control the crowds.
What can happen with this was born out as one spectator caused a crash that dumped half the peleton. A big crash in the mountains could send a rider off the side of a cliff. Many of those roads don't have guard rails.
Some really interesting racing including some strategy and tactical moves that Phil and Bob did a good job of trying to explain. I thought they did a great job balancing it so a rookie like me could follow, without being insulting to veteran viewers.
After giving the system a chance, the domestique system is crazy. Yes its the tradition, but it makes not sense. Only 3 riders counting toward the team standings is just as puzzling. If you are going to ride, why would you want to ride knowing you would make little to no contribution to the overall effort. It makes as much sense as having designated number 1 riders in a race. On a race of this length, I can see it makes sense to have a few extra riders on a team in the event that some go down, but 9 seems way too many.
Feeding and watering stations would serve same function as the riding water bottle runners. Want to draft? Draft off your competition. Yes its been said that taking the water bottle runners out of the race would be like not calling balls and strikes. I disagree. Instead getting the water bottle runners out of the way would free up the best of the best to better do what they do best. Id rather see a group of 50 really racing than a pack of 150 knowing that 100 are just water bottle runners. A pack that size almost assures that a water bottle runner going down and taking a large part of the peleton with them. IF the peleton is going to crash, I want it to be Evans, Contador, Cavendish and Thor all going for the same piece of pavement. Evans shouldn't need a Hincappie for protection.
The greatest respect goes to the two riders that finished after being hit by a car. With those injuries to finish has be the heart and soul of what the tour is about. Way too many cars and bikes way too close to the riders. Two crashes seem to bear that out and with the more advanced technology this shouldn't be as necessary so much any more and crashing out a rider is inexcusable on any level.
I was confused yesterday. Were they racing or not racing?? Tradition says you don't attack the yellow jersey on the last day, but what sense does that make? If you want to make the ride a celebration, great. If you want to race, race. I enjoyed the Cadel BMC team photo and thought that was cool salute to the leader and a salute from the leader to the fans. Thought it would have been better to see if Andy could have caught him and made that a post race victory lap.
I was shocked and deeply disappointed that ordinary people, even complete drunks can not figure out how to stay off the road and let the guys have a road to race on without people running along side of them, jumping out in front of them, and getting in the way of the racing. If these are the top pros, let them do their jobs for goodness sakes. IF they had wanted to pass another rider in the climbs, putting the chrome horn on a drunk would have been required. That makes no sense. There is passion for a sport which I respect, and there is stupidity. People that crowd the racers are not fans. They just want to get on tv, or get there 30 seconds of fame. It was great to see all the real fans, out of the way cheering the riders on, but the organizers get an F for failing to control the crowds.
What can happen with this was born out as one spectator caused a crash that dumped half the peleton. A big crash in the mountains could send a rider off the side of a cliff. Many of those roads don't have guard rails.
Some really interesting racing including some strategy and tactical moves that Phil and Bob did a good job of trying to explain. I thought they did a great job balancing it so a rookie like me could follow, without being insulting to veteran viewers.
After giving the system a chance, the domestique system is crazy. Yes its the tradition, but it makes not sense. Only 3 riders counting toward the team standings is just as puzzling. If you are going to ride, why would you want to ride knowing you would make little to no contribution to the overall effort. It makes as much sense as having designated number 1 riders in a race. On a race of this length, I can see it makes sense to have a few extra riders on a team in the event that some go down, but 9 seems way too many.
Feeding and watering stations would serve same function as the riding water bottle runners. Want to draft? Draft off your competition. Yes its been said that taking the water bottle runners out of the race would be like not calling balls and strikes. I disagree. Instead getting the water bottle runners out of the way would free up the best of the best to better do what they do best. Id rather see a group of 50 really racing than a pack of 150 knowing that 100 are just water bottle runners. A pack that size almost assures that a water bottle runner going down and taking a large part of the peleton with them. IF the peleton is going to crash, I want it to be Evans, Contador, Cavendish and Thor all going for the same piece of pavement. Evans shouldn't need a Hincappie for protection.
The greatest respect goes to the two riders that finished after being hit by a car. With those injuries to finish has be the heart and soul of what the tour is about. Way too many cars and bikes way too close to the riders. Two crashes seem to bear that out and with the more advanced technology this shouldn't be as necessary so much any more and crashing out a rider is inexcusable on any level.
I was confused yesterday. Were they racing or not racing?? Tradition says you don't attack the yellow jersey on the last day, but what sense does that make? If you want to make the ride a celebration, great. If you want to race, race. I enjoyed the Cadel BMC team photo and thought that was cool salute to the leader and a salute from the leader to the fans. Thought it would have been better to see if Andy could have caught him and made that a post race victory lap.