Don't know Mal, seems to me that your dislike of Thor makes you suspect everything he does. Even Cav thought his offer to take the punishment was genuine, it's just seems too cynical for me to think of it like that. And I'm a very cynical guy.
The fact that Cav has 15 stage wins in the last 3 TdF's and doesn't have a Green Jersey to show for it tells me everything I need to know about how the 'sprinters jersey' has changed over the years. It used to be about stage wins, now too much of it is about intermediate sprint bonus's & that's not right: The race commissaires agree with that point which is why the green jersey point system has been changed this year.
Disagree with this, the green jersey has never been a pure sprinters jersey to me. It's a points jersey. Why have intermediate sprints at all if it's all about stage wins? And didn't the points for intermediate sprint increase actually? You used to have 2/3 intermediate sprints for max 6 points, now you have one for 20 points. I don't think Thor has any qualms with that.
EDIT: Checked out the new points fully. Mmm the amount of points awarded for a flat stage increased by 10 points... so basically it's the same as it was.
@kcbworh: Alright, no biggie. And don't start me on Armstrong, I might do a roid rage.
Who here thinks Gilbert can win the green jersy?
Also seeing he isn't a pure sprinter and seems to be able to climb do you think he can get many points on hilly/mini mountain types stages....
Thought about it too, with the high amount of points for intermediates and not really that many bunch finishes... it's possible. Thor will be all over that jersey though.