I think the point about record laps, race times etc is one that has been troubling me for a long time, and it seems particularly so in the classics. How reasonable is it to expect bikes (and riders) over 50 years old, to go faster every year. I have no problem with older riders...Dennis Gallagher could whip the ass of most younger men... but the obsession with faster and faster laps seems inappropriate.Surely the whole point is to finish first...and to do that, first you have to finish.