The Tour de France

I was surprised to read there is an actual rule which says the leaders must not take advantage of a situation which disadvantages other riders, or something like that.

So Wiggins was actually obliged to do what he did.
 
Is that actually a written rule Brogan? I always thought it was one of those unwritten codes that the lead riders usually abide by. Because there is no doubt that many riders have taken advantage of strange scenarios in the past.

As recently as 2010, Contador took the yellow jersey from Schleck when he had a chain fall off.

Maybe the race officials were the ones that officially neutralized the race the other day. But as I noted before, Pierre Rolland was with Wiggins' group, and he bolted off the front to try and take advantage of several riders' misfortune.
 
It's quite ironic that the TdF is French, the word etiquette is French and yet it was a French rider who ignored it for the glory of winning the stage :D
 
Yeah, Pierre didn't endear himself to the peloton with that move. When they caught up to him he was shuffled back rather rudely without a single rider even acknowledging him.
 
Pierre did apologize for that don't think he was quite aware of the whole situation. He slowed as soon as they announced the tacks found on the road- at that point he had 2 minutes still and was caught 5 minutes later. I understand them being upset but he made surenhe didn't gain anything from it. Maybe he just needed a nice solitary bike ride through the countryside to clear his mind. Who knows.
 
Frank claims to have been "poisoned." This should be a long and interesting process if his B sample is positive too.

Anyways I think Wiggins has pulled an Indurain on us.
 
From the BBC site:
The etiquette of the race is that nobody attacks the yellow jersey on the final stage into Paris. I would imagine if someone was within a couple of seconds of Wiggins then it may happen, but the reality is Wiggo could have a lead of several minutes, especially if he wins today's time trial. And even if somebody wanted to try and attack tomorrow, the stage is relatively short at only 120km and Team Sky would not allow a potential winner, like Nibali to ride away from the peloton. The only thing that can stop Wiggo winning is if he falls off his bike and is unable to complete the race. Hope that explains it!
Click to expand
What a strange "race".
 
It is more than a race, it is multiple races over a three week period with different challenges for different types of riders and teams. The maillot jaune is not traditionally challenged on the final day but that always makes the stage on the Champs Elysees a massive romping sprint. Watch it on Sunday, you may just get the point.
 
Well done to Bradley Wiggins, never really looked under pressure, massive team effort all round from Team Sky - Next the olympics ;)

:1st:
 
All that remains is a third stage win of this Tour in Paris tomorrow for Cav and create a further record as the first to win four successive final Tour De France stages.
 
There's something I really don't understand.

Can someone explain to me the fun and skill in having someone faster wait for someone who is slower just because he is "supposed" to win and this was agreed?
 
Josh It took me a while to get my head round this one, there are lots of intricacies involved. They look(as a team) to the guy that is fastest and most likely to win overall. That means sprints, mountains, time trials, the lot. If someone else in the team is faster on one of those stages than the strongest overall guy, they may be asked to compromise themselves for the sake of the team leader. A good example is with team Sky where Cavendish is clearly the best sprinter, but has to forgo wins to help Wiggins. And Chris Froome who is close to Wiggins but not such a good time trialer. He has to put Wiggins first. This is because overall Wiggins is the strongest if you take all the different stages into account. So far its worked out.
 
Josh - Froome knew he could not compete with Wiggins at the Time Trial stage, so he did the job he was paid to do and helped his team leader up the mountain.

If there'd been fewer Time Trial kilometres, Sky could have decided Froome was the best bet and he'd have kept pushing.
 
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