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Le Tour 2010

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    Le Tour 2010

    The panning shot on the sprint was focused on Pettachi & Hushovd, and then you see Cavendish wiz by in the background, got me off my seat that did.

    Great tour, lets hope Schleck keeps progressing, cannot wait for next year.

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      Le Tour 2010

      Still can't help thinking (despite being shouted down earlier) that the Points classification needs some re-think. Cavendish has won 5 stages to Petacchi's 2 and has lost the Green jersey in the end mainly because he was unclassified in the one sprint where he crashed, while Petacchi racked up a lot of second to fifth place points while trailing in behind him for the remainder of the Tour.

      So much emphasis is placed on the winner of those stages that finish as bunch sprints, that it seems incredible that the Tour should honour the guy who's only won 2 of them, not the bloke who's won 5, including the 2 "Blue Riband" sprints into Bordeaux and Paris.

      Maybe there should be 50 points for the winner of a stage and only 25 down for 2nd onwards. That would at least replicate the (daily) attention given to the actual finishers on any particular stage's podium.

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        Le Tour 2010

        If that's the approach, why bother having a points system, just give it to the guy with the most stage wins?

        One of the reasons Cavendish is so devastating in the closing sprint is that is all he devotes his energies to, while Petacchi and Hushovd often go for intermediate sprints (and in Hushovd's case a couple of breakaways too).

        He gets plenty of glory for the stage wins, if he wants some more then he should earn it, not have the rules changed - incidentally giving huge bonuses for stage wins might actually give the green jersey to a climber who dominates the mountain stages. It wouldn't this year, but there are times when it would.

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          Le Tour 2010

          Well in the old days, Etienne, they did used to have a "flat" points system (excuse the pun) and yes, I think the likes of Merckx and Hinault used to win both yellow and green (notwithstanding them giving the jersey in practice to the next guy). In fact I think one year Hinault won those two AND the polka dot, didn't he?

          The TdF authorities themselves have already meddled about with the points system to emphasise the importance to the green jersey of the sprints - flat stage winners get 35 points, mountain stage winners 20, TT stage winners just 15. So we're not talking about radically changing something that's not already severely tampered with, we're just talking about tinkering with the tampering.

          I just think a points split of 35-30-26-24-22 for the top 5 (and then 1 point less per finish down to 25th) doesn't adequately reflect the emphasis placed on winning a sprint stage. Is finishing third really worth 75% as much as winning one? All the effort the teams put into making sure their guy wins wouldn't seem to suggest so.

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            Le Tour 2010

            As Etienne says, it's not as though he isn't already handsomely rewarded for stage wins. When Petacchi was that dominant a few years ago, he didn't even ride the second week.

            You're right, the points classification has changed over time. They tweak it periodically in order to make it a more competitive, exciting contest. But it's doing just fine in that regard, and the sprint finishes clearly aren't in any sense suffering by being disincentivised.

            So there's no *reason* to change the rules, unless your desideratum is success for Mark Cavendish.

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              Le Tour 2010

              Also, Rogin, is there any sport you think is just fine the way it is?

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                Le Tour 2010

                Golf comes close but only just. I'd tweak its World ranking system, too.

                They should put me in charge of the lot of them, really. I'd sort Boxing out in five minutes, for a start. Unified single-organisation world champions at 4 weights - Heavy, Middle, Welter and Light. Regularised structures of fights to determine upcoming world championship contenders.

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                  Le Tour 2010

                  So, Contador is joining Saxobank. That makes things a bit complicated, doesn't it?

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                    Le Tour 2010

                    Not really, as the Schlecks are expected to leave to set up a new Luxembourg-based team next year.

                    Will be a bonus for AC though, given that Riis will know all Schleck's weaknesses....

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                      Le Tour 2010

                      Roche's cousin Dan Martin goes one better, with a stunning win in the Tour of Poland! Not a bad week for the family...

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