I've been sat here waiting for Conan to reply to this for nearly a full day to tell everyone how them fellas that ride a bike a bit don't need days off.
Well our management have been telling us all season how much data they collect and how they use it. I.e they know when players are spent and need a rest. I put most of what I am watching down to an ineffective midfield selection which is limited by availability and not to spent bodies.
IMHO if any member of the back-room staff was to utter that publicly they should be fired. All it would do is give a confidence boost to our rivals with the vital match(es) coming up and reinforce negative thoughts in our players heads. What is said privately behind closed doors or after the end of the season is a different matter though.
They might not have days off, but they do have easier days whenever possible within the big races. Chris Froome might well win the TdF this year, but he will only have 4-5 days of maximum effort out of the 20 days of racing - the time trials (usually less than a hour) and the higher mountain stages where he has to battle with his rivals. The majority of the sprint stages will be relatively easy days. This will be the peak of his season and other riders will peak for the Giro or the Vuelta. It will be very difficult and perhaps even physiologically impossible for even the best of them to be competitive for more than one of the Grand Tours in a year.
