In Giro d'Italia and other stage races such as the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, there is a maximum time to arrive at the end of the stage after which racers are disqualified.
How this maximum time is determined for each stage?
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
For the Tour de France, a rider has to finish within a set percentage of the time of the stage winner. This factor depends on two things:
- The "difficulty" of the stage - e.g. a flat stage vs mountains
- The average speed of the stage winner
The percentage can vary from 4% (for a slow, flat stage) to 18% (for a fast, mountainous stage), although the organisers are allowed to make exceptions if more than 20% of the field would be outside the time limit. (Details taken from Rules to Ride by at the Tour de France).
I couldn't find a direct reference to the rules for the Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a España, but I believe them to be based on the same principles.
answered Jul 14, 2015 at 10:56
-
On the Tour de France, if a very large group is outside the time limit, the organisers can keep them in race with point deductions on the "green jersey" ranking (for sprinters) Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 10:46
-
I've already mentioned the 20% exception, but do you have a reference for the points deduction?– Philip Kendall ♦Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 10:47
-
1letour.fr/le-tour/2015/docs/TDF15_Reglement-BD.pdf if you know french ^^ At the end of Article 22 Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 11:11
The rules are defined by the race organizer. But regardless of the rules, the time limit can be adjusted by the race jury for extenuating circumstances. The obvious case is when too many riders would be eliminated, which is why the slower riders tend to group together at the back of the race. The hope is that if the group is big enough, the race jury won't throw them out. This tactic doesn't always work, however. In stage 18 of the 2003 Giro, 34 riders missed the time cut on a wet and freezing day and were tossed from the race. That was almost 25% of the field!
The race jury will also sometimes take pity on riders who have crashed, or had really bad luck, and still managed to finish.
