POLL: Substitutions for riders abandoning in the first week of a Grand Tour, good idea or not?

Movistar Team boss, Eusebio Unzué sparked a big debate in the cycling world on Tuesday morning when proposing his ideas for the future of the sport. 

One of the suggestions posed was the introduction of substitutions for teams in Grand Tours if one of their riders were to abandon in the opening week. "Why not allow substitutes when a rider is forced to abandon a Grand Tour during the first week? All teams prepare 10-12 riders for a Grand Tour, so you still got 2 or 3 of them at home," said Unzue to L'Equipe. 

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As mentioned, the response to this proposal has taken hold of cycling social media, with various differing views on whether or not it is a good idea. We like to think of ourselves as a fan-led community at CyclingUpToDate, as seen by our End of Year Awards voted for by yourself at the end of 2023.

So when we received a number of messages asking for a poll to be put up about whether Unzue is onto something or not, we completely agreed!

So we want to know your thoughts! Does Unzue has a good suggestion, could substitutions be something for future Grand Tours? Or is the potential of teams with bigger squads bending the rule to their advantage too off-putting? Let us know in the poll below and explain your reasons in the comments!

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