Originally Posted by
devil84
I agree. The cobbles have been in the Tour forever, and are part of the Paris-Roubaix. Leave 'em. Most of the crashes this year were due to the wet roads, not the cobbles. If it had been a dry, gorgeous day with fewer crashes between the cobble segments, I think the riders would have the flat roads to mentally recover. Instead, they were cycling among the carnage of multiple crashes. There are only 15.4 km/9.6 mi of cobbles in the stage (fewer, because they removed 2 of the sections this year). Suck it up, guys. It's the freakin' Tour, not the local charity ride. It's supposed to be the ultimate cycling challenge.
To me, the cobbles allow someone else to take the spotlight for a stage. Just like some stages favor sprinters, others climbers, others showcase the GC guys. I like that there are so many different skills needed to complete the Tour, not the least of which is the endurance to finish (and deal with the media, fans, and selfies to boot).