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Of course, that could not have been much worse for the Tour de France this year. The first exciting week of the tour straddled the last week of the World Cup. While the focus shifted from Russia to France, two Team Sky drivers were in the top two after their first climax with Geraint Thomas and Chris Froome.
The tension seemed to evaporate after half of the tour. And she really did not come back like that. Sky defended the yellow jersey with confidence, Thomas won the 105th Tour de France with just under two minutes in advance. The images are similar.
Three different Sky riders have won the tour since 2012. Bradley Wiggings, Chris Froome and now Geraint Thomas. Vincenzo Nibali was the only rider to have been on the podium since then and did not wear a Sky jersey in 2014. And probably only because Captain Sky Froome had to give up after several accidents.
winner of the Tour de France since 2012
| year | winner | country | team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Bradley Wiggins | GBR | Sky | ||||
| 2013 [19659015] Christopher Froome | GBR | Sky | |||||
| 2014 | Vincenzo Nibali | ITA | Astana | ||||
| 2015 | Christopher Froome | GBR | Sky | ||||
| 2016 | Sky | Heaven | |||||
| Sky | Sky | Sky | Sky | Sky | Sky | Sky | Sky |
| 2018 | Sky | Sky | First World Cup and then dominance of the sky – it is not surprising that the number of spectators in this year in almost every country have fallen. But the medium-term development is pointing down. A World Cup will be back in four years. But it will be difficult to reduce Sky's domination until then.
Thomas and Froome are already over 30, but with Egan Bernal, he's a 21-year-old pilot ready to take leadership in the years to come. The reduction of the team strength to eight riders did not change anything to the superiority of the sky. But there are some screws on which tour manufacturers can turn to make them even more attractive and better in the future, despite Sky's dominance:
1) Sometimes the last stage of a Tour de France is called the Paris Unofficial World Champs-Elysees Sprinter. Normally, it is also true. After all, there is always a mass sprint with a few exceptions. The long, wide, flat straight line is perfect for finding the fastest man in the bunch. In 2018, the arrival in Paris is more reminiscent of a district championship: too many sprinters are not there at the time. Dylan Groenewegen, Fernando Gaviria, Andre Greipel, Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish abandon in high mountains or do not do so. in the time allotted on arrival. Added to this was the failure of Michael Matthews, linked to the disease, and the fall of the World Champion Peter Sagan on the 18th stage, which was then delighted to join Paris. For the victory of one day was also for him no longer think. Diseases and falls are difficult to prevent, but the time limit can be adjusted. At Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España, there are usually as many mountain stages as many sprinters do not even go to the start. A tighter mass sprint in Paris would be something special. AFP Steven Kruijswijk in the ascent of Alpe d & # 39; Huez [19659050] 2) A structural disadvantage of the Tour de France: It takes place during the day – during the hours of school, university or work. That must not change, it is difficult to equip a track of 200 kilometers of floodlights. But what you can change is the programming steps. The king's round at Alpe d'Huez took place on a Thursday, the spectacular 65-kilometer mountain stage in the Pyrenees on a Wednesday. The third weekend, however, there were two moderately interesting transfer stages.
3) As if the gap between the teams was not already big enough, the planners had once again built a team time trial this year. If it helps, it's clear: the teams already strong. Thus, the class riders of the best teams have had a double advantage: the already stronger help and a time advantage over the competitors. Vincenzo Nibali, Romain Bardet and Primoz Roglic lost more than a minute that day on Team Sky for Thomas and Froome. It's unfair – they should not be punished for not being under contract with Sky or BMC.
4) also remove the individual time trial of the program of the tour. On the other hand though, the winner of the Tour de France should be a full driver. Not only small mountain specialists should be eligible for victory, but they are also versatile. Therefore, the individual time trial is justified. On the other hand, you should change the time schedule. Too often, the fight against the clock has taken place in recent years on the penultimate day of the round trip and has therefore been made for the decision. So it was still in 2018. AFP Tom Dumoulin in the time trial But a time trial is much less exciting that a mountain arrival. You can tell relatively quickly who is in a good mood and who is not. The fact that Chris Froome passes the third Primoz Roglic was already clear after a few kilometers. After that, you can actually turn off. At the end of the mountain, the conclusion would have been different.
5) A charm of the Tour de France is also the danger. Descent speeds of up to 100 km / h allow you to hang on the chair with both hands in front of the TV. Even the dreaded cobblestones around Roubaix are probably just because popular because accidents happen and drivers suffer. You must be so honest. But you should not do too much. In particular, accidents on permanent departures could be slightly reduced by placing the target on the mountain. If multiple riders enter together in the final downhill, the incentive is even greater to take the risk after the stage win. However, a heavily crashed top rider harms more than you ride downhill with spectacular images. Source link Related Articles |
