Congratulations ASO...

edhornby

I agree that some of the stages have been flatter than others - but compared to previous years (+1 to the other poster that mentioned Mig's wins, they were boring to watch) the route hasn't been that bad I don't think

also, the riders need to take some responsibility, all the GC riders hanging with the groupe Maillot Jaune watching each other is a bit pants as far as spectators are concerned (but if I were in the hunt I'd be doing what they do myself....)

TTT is rubbish - if they want a team time trial just don't count the results in the GC

skavanagh.bikeradar

On the other hand, they all knew there was a TTT so it wasn't as if they sprung it on them on the day! Everyone was also fully aware that Astana were likely the team to beat/limit loses to. I know it skews things a bit, but so do the ITTs and come to that mountain top finishes. It's an all rounders event.

jp1985

A bit off topic but could they actually run a TTT and count individual riders times and have no time cut off?

If you have no interest in GC then you could just pootle round and have a rest day, domestiques could just do their job and get burned off rather than the team leader having to hold back for the sake of finishing with 5 (like cadel this year) and if you have more than one GC rider then they have to decide wether to work together for the entire route or attack each other.

The final result between the top riders may not end up being to much differant to what normally happens but would probaly stop one team swamping GC like Astana this year and the tactics would probably a bit more interesting.

Tom Butcher

I'm on the side which thinks it's been a disappointing route so far this year.

I agree mountain top finishes can kill the GC early but as others have said so can having two time trials in the first week.

Uphill but not mountain finishes which suit punchy riders would generate a bit of interest from the GC men if they had included time bonuses this year. And having mountain stages without mountain finishes doesn't mean you need to have 40k of flat at the end - they could have the finish soon after the descent so it is worth a good descender attacking on the hill or the way down the other side. It's not just that we've had three mountain stages with very little GC movement - we've had virtually no action at all from the GC men.

nferrar

TTT's are great and need to stay in Grand Tours IMO - after all it's a team event and the team is a huge part of any GC rider's success. Without the TTT you'd have even more specialism of domestiques, at least the TTT stops teams loading up completely with climbers etc. to support a GC rider. That said the course this year was pants and it could maybe do with a maximum time (say 10%) so if one team had a complete mare their losses would be limited (but still enough of a penalty a team with a GC rider in it wouldn't just dawdle through and treat it is a rest day).

hammerite

How would gong back to time bonuses effect things? I know that sprinters don't want GC conteders up there on flat stages, and GC contenders don't want to be in the mix. So how about transition stages or undulating stages like yesterday qualify for time bonuses, but pancake flat courses and mountain top finishes don't?

That way it might give something for the GC guys to fight over a little bit - especially when the times at the top are tight.

victorponf

Since december Plataforma Recorridos Ciclistas had been telling everybody that Vuelta´s route is the best this year (no very diffitult, because Giro was so-so and Tour looks like Vuelta 2007 or even worse excect Le Grand Bornard and Ventoux)