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| *Vultures Knob>>>Cycling |
Why dont the riders race for real on the 20th and final stage of the Tour de France? |
The 20th stage is more like a social event rather than the last lap of the race. What's going there??? It is not exactly right. It's sure that the yellow jersey at the beginning of this stage will win the Tour, unless a big failure. If it is attacked by other riders, its team will shortly control the race in order to protect the jersey. Furthermore it is the last stage, bikers are more ralaxed. They drink champagne, they joke on their bike, etc... But this stage is very interesting for sprinters, they all want to win on the Champs-Elys茅es. So there is a real race for the stage winning, especially when bikers arrive on the final circuit in Paris. From what I understand, it is the respect and honor that the riders place on the Yellow Jersey. The winner is basically revealed at the last Time Trial the day before the official end. Evidently if anyone tries to challenge the Yellow Jersey during the 20th stage, that wouldn't be looked upon with much favor by the other riders. It's all about the honor of the sport. It is very very unfortunate that some choose to blemish that honor with performance-enhancing means. I hope they find a way to put an end to that without permanently damaging the sport of cycling -- or any other sport for that matter. Learning by watching The Tour de France the past 9 years, and especially from listening to Lance Armstrong, who has the utmost respect for the Yellow Jersey and everything that it represents. well, they did race for real in the end. Usually they dont, bcoz they want to show a sign of respect for the maillot jaune. This year cadel really threatened alberto and levi, but they came through and successful Well done Alberto! its tradition The sprinters DO race for the final points if it matters, but just like the Climber's Jersey has already been decided, the tradition is that the Leader's yellow jersey has already been won as well. Not to say that it COULDN'T happen, but for a race steeped so heavily in European tradition, it would be practically INSULTING to attack the yellow jersey on the final stage. At that point they have raced for 2100 miles. Go ride your bike for 2100 miles in 3 weeks and see if you are still eager to race the last 100. P |
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