http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/jul04/jul01news4
Does anyone understand this statement? So they lost a rider* and* can’t use their reserve? Did they have a choice to use their reserve and then not have another reserve in case of another problem?
Euskaltel-Euskadi will now begin the Tour with just eight riders rather than bringing a reserve, a decision which could affect team leader Iban Mayo, particularly in the team time trial.
They did not name a reserve for the team, as some other teams (Quick-Step, T-Mobile) did. Thus, they only have 8 riders left. Oops. They are going to be so far back in the TTT, they might finish HD.
They did not name a reserve for the team, as some other teams (Quick-Step, T-Mobile) did. Thus, they only have 8 riders left. Oops.
Wow, that was stupid. How on earth can you make that mistake? Who’s running that team, Daniel Snyder?
Damn, Iban is my secret favorite.
This is why the maximum loss rule is stupid. Now Mayo and his team get a day off for the TTT. They will just cruise the whole way, take their 5 or 6 minute drubbing and only have to suffer a 2:30 loss and get the benefit of an additional rest day. They would have had a hard time staying within 2:30 with a full team, never mind one missing a rider.
This sucks for the guys like Jan, Tyler and Lance who will actually have to race on that day.
Are you saying that they don’t even have to finish within, say, 10% of the winning team’s time, like in all other stages? I know about the max 2:30 rule, but I’ll bet they could still be declared HD. Perhaps I’m wrong, but then they could ride at a leisurely 30kph?
hey Ken, I resent that! I always try to ride at a leisurely 30 kph. If you weren’t busy swimming around ferrys…
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: get rid of the TTT! It is fun to watch, though.
I don’t think they will be able to cruise and finish 5 minutes back. They might have to hammer just to stay within the time limit.
They still have to finish w/in a specified % of the winning time.
No they still have to finish with HD. If they don’t I would guess the whole team is out, but I don’t see that one happening.
I think the teams are going to ride hard in the TTT, but I also think the 2:30 rule is lame. That’s like saying on mountain stages any one rider can only lose a maximum of 4 minutes, just in case he had bad luck or something. We don’t want to penalize him for that.
LAME!
Wrong, Francois. I don’t remember the exact %, but steps were made to make sure teams couldn’t lollygag the TTT.
They do have to finish with 10% of the winning team’s time. If they do, they can only lose a maximum of 2:30. If not, bye, bye EE. Big mistake not naming reserve riders.
Not quite the same thing. Is it Mayo’s fault his entire team has to be from the Basque country? That Euskatel rule is just dumb.
Yes, I know, he should probably go to another team if he has true Tour ambitions. I just don’t like the fact that a riders GC hopes are so affected by his *teammates *ability to TT. have as many ITT’s as you want, but TTT? To me it’s not fair. I’m not sure why they brought it back.
If you weren’t busy swimming around ferrys…
Ain’t you funny.
"I don’t remember the exact %, but steps were made to make sure teams couldn’t lollygag the TTT. "
this one has been kicked around enough that i finally decided to look it up.
From the Tour rules (letour.com):
Coefficient 6(team time trials) : The permitted finishing time is calculated according to the best time (time of the 5th man in the winning team) plus 25%.
That’s pretty generous in my estimation.
Ken
That’s pretty generous in my estimation.
Mine too. Yet another reason to do away w/ the TTT.
Why can’t they still add a rider, the tour has not started yet? I think some teams are still finalizing their teams like Seaco.
Dave from VA
According to klehner, because they didn’t name a reserve.
From the regulations at http://www.letour.fr/2004/docs/reglement_us.pdf
The Time Cut off for the TTT is 25%
The procedure for establishing the general individual time ranking is as follows:
Times for all riders are calculated according to the gap between them and the 5th man of the winning
team (scratch time).
If this gap is less than that given in the table below, then the actual time recorded by the timekeepers
will be taken.
If the gap is more than that given in the table below, then the rider will receive the time of the winning
team plus the additional number of seconds indicated in the table below according to the place of
their team.
20’’ for the 2nd team
30’’ for the 3rd team
40’’ for the 4th team
50’’ for the 5th team
1’ for the 6th team
1’10 for the 7th team
1’20 for the 8th team
1’30 for the 9th team
1’40 for the 10th team
1’50 for the 11th team
2’00 for the 12th team
2’10 for the 13th team
2’20 for the 14th team
2’30 for the 15th team
2’35 for the 16th team
2’40 for the 17th team
2’45 for the 18th team
2’50 for the 19th team
2’55 for the 20th team
3’00 for the 21st team
Slightly different then the max loss of 2’30 has been floating around the internet.
Matt
<edit- one minute too slow! but I only lose 20s on GC…>
Reading further, I see that the rules aren’t as simple as limiting the loss on GC to 2:30 for individual riders. Instead the maximum GC loss is based on the TEAM order of finish in the TTT:
The procedure for establishing the general individual time ranking is as follows: Times for all riders are calculated according to the gap between them and the 5th man of the winning team (scratch time).
If this gap is less than that given in the table below, then the actual time recorded by the timekeepers will be taken. If the gap is more than that given in the table below, then the rider will receive the time of the winning team plus the additional number of seconds indicated in the table below according to the place of their team.
20’’ for the 2 nd team
30’’ for the 3 rd team
40’’ for the 4 th team
50’’ for the 5 th team
1’ for the 6 th team
1’10 for the 7 th team
1’20 for the 8 th team
1’30 for the 9 th team
1’40 for the 10 th team
1’50 for the 11 th team
2’00 for the 12 th team
2’10 for the 13 th team
2’20 for the 14 th team
2’30 for the 15 th team
2’35 for the 16 th team
2’40 for the 17 th team
2’45 for the 18 th team
2’50 for the 19 th team
2’55 for the 20 th team
3’00 for the 21 st team
So if I understand this correctly, even if the 1st place team beats the 2nd place team by 1:05 (I know, unlikely) the most GC time the 2nd place team riders could lose is :20. Wild. So it limits the incentive for the best TT teams to try to crush each other, but provides EE a reason to be 15th instead of 21st.
ken