Le Tour de France - starts 30 June 2012

Nice win for Pinot, really pleased he got the win. His team manager shouting at him was very funny. That was a nasty crash for Sanchez today.

Brad stays in yellow. Hoping he has a good TT tomorrow and gain some time over the others.
 
Mike306 said:
Nice win for Pinot, really pleased he got the win. His team manager shouting at him was very funny. That was a nasty crash for Sanchez today.

Brad stays in yellow. Hoping he has a good TT tomorrow and gain some time over the others.
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Aye broken collar bone wasn't it?
 
I'm hoping Wiggins puts some time between himself and everyone else tomorrow, should force Evans and Nibali to attack in the mountains!

Not sure how Martin will get on tomorrow given he's carrying an injury
 
Russinating said:
The two big prizes are the general classification and sprint.

The general classification is time* - who can complete all 20 stages in the fastest cumulative time. This is the leaderboard that you're referring to and the person at the top will wear the yellow jersey.

The sprint is based on points which are awarded for winning stages and for crossing intermediate sprints that are laid out in the middle of some stages. The leader of this wears the green jersey.

Cavendish is a sprinter not a hill climber so he'll never win the Tour de France (yellow jersey) but goes for stage wins and the green jersey.

As ic1 said there's also a few others such as king of the mountains which is the same as the sprint prize but based on getting over hills first.

* It's worth knowing as well that everyone that crosses the line at the same time as a group (the peloton) gets the same race time. The only advantage of being at the front is safety in avoiding crashes, but the guys at the back will get the same time.
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So do all the sprinters tend to ride together then slug it out for fastest over a (relatively) short distance then fade away again to conserve energy whereas those for the general have to ride the whole race aiming for the best time. Then each stage time is added together for their overall time... Am I right? :p
 
No1newts said:
So do all the sprinters tend to ride together then slug it out for fastest over a (relatively) short distance then fade away again to conserve energy whereas those for the general have to ride the whole race aiming for the best time. Then each stage time is added together for their overall time... Am I right? :p
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Sort of.
There are different types of riders. Some are better at going up hills, some are better at Time Trials, some are better at sprinting, etc (same as runners, marathon runners, hurdlers, sprinters, etc).

When there is a flat stage and it finishes with a bunch sprint, the time gaps are very small. Especially considering, as Russ said, that any groups that come over the line together all get the same time.

So, for example, Cavendish could win 4 flat stages in a row. They would all be bunch sprints and he would finish maybe 2-3 seconds ahead of wiggins (who is in the main bunch) each stage.
So after those 4 stages, Cav is ahead of wiggins by about 10 seconds.
The next day, there is a big climb. Cavendish (and all of the other sprinters and riders who struggle on the hills) get dropped from the main bunch on the climb. Wiggins finishes in the front group and Cavendish finishes in the next group 28mins behind.

So, now, Cavendish has won 4 stages and wiggins has not won any, but when you add up their times, wiggins is 27:50 in front of Cav.
 
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touch said:
Sort of.
There are different types of riders. Some are better at going up hills, some are better at Time Trials, some are better at sprinting, etc (same as runners, marathon runners, hurdlers, sprinters, etc).

When there is a flat stage and it finishes with a bunch sprint, the time gaps are very small. Especially considering, as Russ said, that any groups that come over the line together all get the same time.

So, for example, Cavendish could win 4 flat stages in a row. They would all be bunch sprints and he would finish maybe 2-3 seconds ahead of wiggins (who is in the main bunch) each stage.
So after those 4 stages, Cav is ahead of wiggins by about 10 seconds.
The next day, there is a big climb. Cavendish (and all of the other sprinters and riders who struggle on the hills) get dropped from the main bunch on the climb. Wiggins finishes in the front group and Cavendish finishes in the next group 28mins behind.

So, now, Cavendish has won 4 stages and wiggins has not won any, but when you add up their times, wiggins is 27:50 in front of Cav.
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Makes a bit more sense, so is there a sprint every stage or just some?
 
Almost every stage will have some sort of sprint. Everbody wants to win the stage, so unless a lone rider is the first guy to the line, whoever is in the front group will try to be the first one across the line.
The riders who are there to contest the sprint will depend on what has happened during the stage. On a flat stage, it's likely that everybody will stay together in one big group and all the big sprinters (Cavendish, Greipel, etc) will go for it. These guys are big, powerful riders, which is why they win sprints, but it also means they are heavier and are the first guys to get dropped on the big climbs. So on a mountain stage, the chances are there will still be a sprint, but the main sprinters will have been left behind so it will be a smaller group of better climbers who are left to fight out the sprint.

Having said that, today's stage was won by a lone rider who managed to get away on a climb, so that shows that there isnt always a sprint.
 
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Looks like Big Tony will abandon after the ITT today to focus on recovery for the Olympic TT. He punctured (no luck that boy!), but still finished 26 secs faster than Westra.
 
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