Most Combative Rider Award

enrique wrote:

This is such an interesting topic...

daddyELVIS wrote:

Why do they always give the combativity award to a guy who breaks away at the start of the race...

drheaton wrote:

... Whatever the prize is called though it's pretty much guaranteed that, except for in exceptional circumstances, the breakaway will get it.

Well, that did not happen yesterday. Greipel got it...

drheaton wrote:

It's the one who shows the most fighting spirit, you can argue that by going for the stage win riders like Chavanel are more aggresive but you need real fighting spirit to try and sustain a break for as long as possible and try and keep the inevitable at bay...

drheaton wrote:

... The prize is so subjective...

And this from Cyclingnews.com:

cyclingnews wrote:

... Zero out of ten for judgement from L’Équipe

André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) was a bemused recipient of the Prix de la Combativité for stage 6’s most aggressive rider. Given that there had been just one breakaway during the stage – Luis Maté’s short-lived early effort – the judges’ task was not an easy one, but L’Équipe haughtily awarded them 0/10 for their decision.

LÉquipe wrote:

“André Greipel wasn’t the most combative, he was the strongest. You shouldn’t confuse the two things, otherwise the prize would go to the winner of every stage,” ... “The most combative rider yesterday was Mark Cavendish. In the space of a few kilometres, [after his crash] he closed 40 seconds on the peloton after chasing back on through the convoy of cars.”

And, that (!) my friend, is why we should get rid of the Combativity Prize in this competition...

Arguments will now be heard from opposing counsel...

i can't really understand why you're wasting your time flogging this particular dead horse. but i guess your time is your own to waste as you see fit

enrique wrote:

This is such an interesting topic...

daddyELVIS wrote:

Why do they always give the combativity award to a guy who breaks away at the start of the race...

drheaton wrote:

... Whatever the prize is called though it's pretty much guaranteed that, except for in exceptional circumstances, the breakaway will get it.

Well, that did not happen yesterday. Greipel got it...

drheaton wrote:

It's the one who shows the most fighting spirit, you can argue that by going for the stage win riders like Chavanel are more aggresive but you need real fighting spirit to try and sustain a break for as long as possible and try and keep the inevitable at bay...

drheaton wrote:

... The prize is so subjective...

And this from Cyclingnews.com:

cyclingnews wrote:

... Zero out of ten for judgement from L’Équipe

André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) was a bemused recipient of the Prix de la Combativité for stage 6’s most aggressive rider. Given that there had been just one breakaway during the stage – Luis Maté’s short-lived early effort – the judges’ task was not an easy one, but L’Équipe haughtily awarded them 0/10 for their decision.

LÉquipe wrote:

“André Greipel wasn’t the most combative, he was the strongest. You shouldn’t confuse the two things, otherwise the prize would go to the winner of every stage,” ... “The most combative rider yesterday was Mark Cavendish. In the space of a few kilometres, [after his crash] he closed 40 seconds on the peloton after chasing back on through the convoy of cars.”

And, that (!) my friend, is why we should get rid of the Combativity Prize in this competition...

Arguments will now be heard from opposing counsel...

Yeah, you're not making much sense.

My quote says that its pretty much a definite that it'll go to a break except in exceptional circumstances. Yesterday was exceptional in that there was no real break meaning it had to go to someone else. Once you remove the break from the equation the who gets it? No doubt you'd complain if Cav won it or anyone else, you just have a dislike of the prize.

Take today as an example. Bakelandts was a deserving winner of the 10 points, he was aggressive, combative and tried hard to get away.

What you're proposing is that we scrap a prize you don't like because on one stage out of 21 you don't agree with the winner.