As long as it is for "the early part of the race", I have no real issues with it (although I would prefer for them not to be there at all on stages with finishing climbs present). But if they will be there on every stage, including TT's and summit finishes), that is cr@p, IMO.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I agree. Time bonuses are "Ok" when the gaps are small enough to have the jersey change hands. When they're for mountain stages, it usually leads to waiting around in a group and then sprinting to the end.

Same here! I just want an exciting race to watch. Whether or not more TT's would do that, I don't know, but 5 TT's means 5 less stages for me to watch.

x2

Details on the time bonuses.....courtesy of cyclingnews.com


While I wish there weren't bonuses for a stage like the one that ends on the Huy (that will create its own gaps), I'm OK overall with the above details.

That said, with the Huy on Stage 3 breaking up the peloton, I'm not certain I understand the point of time bonuses for stages 4-8. May end up being irrelevant.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I love time bonuses, most of our local stage races have pretty big time bonuses (12-10-6-4-2) for each stage and on occasion one of the stages will be 15-20 seconds to the winner. This can make for some really exciting racing and allow some guys to take advantage of their strengths. For the TDF i would prefer an all or nothing mentality, either bonuses on each stage and intermediate bonuses or none. The fun of time bonuses is that a cancellara, martin, kiwotkawskie (butchered i know), or Sagan could in theory compete with the climbers if they wanted to readjust their focus. In fact Cancellara admitted years ago that he wanted to go after the GC but then with the move away from time bonuses never gave it a shot.

You could have time bonuses of 1 min, 30 sec and 20 sec and the guys you listed would still not be competitive in the Tour. (Kwiatkowski being the possible exception).

But you just hit upon the issue with time bonuses.....it warps the competition into something else.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams