2012 Speculation (and confirmation) thread - rider schedules and parcours

[Califer Hill]

The general public has never heard of track cycling.

Who's more famous in Great Britain? Cavendish or Wiggins?

If your going most famous cyclists in GB then neither, it Hoy

 

[The Hitch]

So GT should only do what his ignorant British olympic only fans tell him to do? He's going to become a great cyclist that way

I guess I forget cyclists are only allowed to ride for a team of their nationality and that the only important thing is to be popular in your own country. But luckily for GT that country also rules the waves right?

I think GT has picked the wrong sport if that's true however.

Why should I like it that a decent cyclist decides to focus his entire season on the Olympics? I don't like it that Andy does the same with the Tour and I don't like GT doing it for the very same reasons.

Giving up the Olympic road race and Tour is one thing, but also giving up on the classics just for track cycling? Tell me, why should anyone be glad with that?

Christ. Hes going for 1 track event 1 day, not sacrificing his entire cycling career.

Do you not understand that the olympics only comes once every 4 years and a home olympics, once every 200 reincarnations?

Hes a young guy with a long career ahead of him.

And the logic behind not doing everything he can to be on top form for that event, even if it means missing a few races he will be able to do 10 times over before he retires, is what exactly? Something about how you dont like Andy Schleck cos he focuses his season around the Tour.

Besides he probably is going to do some races earlier in the season, but just miss the Tour so he can focus on the track. Kind of like how Contador misses the Giro to do the Tour and Gilbert misses Paris Roubaix to be good for the Ardennes.

Oh wait, nothing wrong with those 2 instances is there?

 

[theyoungest]

The general public has never heard of track cycling.

And no one in its right mind ranks Olympic gold in cycling higher than the Tour. Otherwise Bradley Wiggins is by far the best and most famous cyclist in the world

Who's more famous in Great Britain? Cavendish or Wiggins?

Again, Belgium is not the world. Ever heard of Sir Chris Hoy? He hasn't been knighted for nothing.

 

[The Hitch]

An Olympic medal ranks higher than anything else in any sport except soccer. We cycling fans might rank the Tour higher, but in the eye of the general public a (second) golden medal outranks it by far. Anything outside the Tour isn't even worth noticing when it comes to cycling. Not doing the classics to focus on the Olympics is the only right choice. Besides, he will have more than enough years to focus on the classics after this year.

Totaly disagree. TDF is much bigger. Olympic gold medals mean a lot to the victor but not so much to others.

Generally olympic gold medals only mean something to the country that wins them. GB rightfully loved Coe and Ovette, and treat them like heroes, but no one in this country knows Hicham El Garouj, whereas in Morroco, hes the hero. I dont think either country could tell you too much about who is winning today.

Jessica Ennis is a well known name here, but no one could tell you who Carolina Kluft was.

A lot of people like Hoy and Pendleton, enough to buy Kellogs cos they appear on the ads, but no one can tell you who their opponents are.

People just watch the events which their guys win, or even just celebrate the victories. They dont really pay attention to the rest, especially with thousands of medals given out.

They arent equal either Michael Phelps should be seen as one of the greatest athletes ever. 8 golds in 7 days.

But Usain Bolt and his 3 golds in 8 days is more markatable cos he does an arrow celebration.

Britain won some sailing medals, but few people know the identity of the individuals.

I wouldnt be surprised if Ronde van Vlaanderen gets a higher live attendance than some of the events like shooting get tv viewership.

Certainatly the Vuelta where the riders see a good 5 6 million fans on the roads and have fans camped outside their buses for autographs is more prestigious than several if not most olympic golds.

And the Giro, which gets a million fans on some stages, huge swarms of tifosi who know everything about cycling, pushing them up the mountains, 35 million viewers worldwide, and front page of Gazzetta dello sport is.

By the time you get to the Tour, fuggedaboudit. You need to win at least 3 gold medals in a respected sport to even compete with 1 yellow jersey win.

Id be surprised if anything barring the 20 seconds it takes to watch Bolt jog accross the stadium pump his chest and announce that he just ate chicken nuggets is going to get the kind of viewership that the Tour de France does, and certainly not the enthusiasm.

Again, Belgium is not the world. Ever heard of Sir Chris Hoy? He hasn't been knighted for nothing.

Actually he is one of the exceptions that actually got knighted for something.

Sir Desmon Lyman, and the recent knighthood of reality tv presenter bruce forsyth, show that those who spend their life NOT working, so long as its on tv, are most likely to get knighted.

 

[will10]

G is British. The Olympics next year will be proclaimed as the most important sporting event in the history of sport by the British media. If he wins a gold with the TP he will be catapulted into the public eye as a somebody and a hero.

If he focussed on the classics and say won Flanders, he would get a one inch column in the weekend paper, and that would be that. He would remain a nobody.

It's not rocket science to see why the Olympics focus for next year.

 

[El Pistolero]

Again, Belgium is not the world. Ever heard of Sir Chris Hoy? He hasn't been knighted for nothing.

Yes, I've heard of him. Most people however will not know who the heck he is outside GB. But keep thinking GB is the world.

 

[The Hitch]

Yes, I've heard of him. Most people however will not know who the heck he is outside GB. But keep thinking GB is the world.

Weren't you the one who asked who the most famous cyclist in Britain was?

Well there's your answer, Chris Hoy.

 

[El Pistolero]

Weren't you the one who asked who the most famous cyclist in Britain was?

Well there's your answer, Chris Hoy.

I never asked that.

 

[luckyboy]

Thomas will get more out of 1 home olympic gold than he would if he were to win Ronde-Roubaix 5 years in a row.

Whaaaaat

Personally I would never choose that. Even if it is the Olympics in my home country, and also I love those races.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

No sh.t, Sherlock. That's why I said "even Armstrong".

Sure buddy. You said it because it doesn't support your premise. Yeah, that makes sense.

Bruyneel clearly thinks Dauphine is the best prep race judging from his TDF record with Armstrong and Contador.

LOL, same goes for Brajko, really. When he still thought of him as the potential #1 GC guy in his squad.

 

[will10]

Whaaaaat

Personally I would never choose that. Even if it is the Olympics in my home country, and also I love those races.

You are a cycling fan, and therein lies the difference between you (and the rest of us for that matter), and Joe Bloggs

 

[El Pistolero]

You are a cycling fan, and therein lies the difference between you (and the rest of us for that matter), and Joe Bloggs

Winning Roubaix and the Ronde 5 times each would make you more popular around the world than one Olympic gold medal at track cycling. You'd get bigger pay check as well.

So please don't tell me it would be better for him. It's probably just a hyperbole, at least I hope so.

 

[theyoungest]

Sure buddy. You said it because it doesn't support your premise. Yeah, that makes sense.

Bruyneel clearly thinks Dauphine is the best prep race judging from his TDF record with Armstrong and Contador.

Yes, but when (once again) even Armstrong is allowed to ride Suisse as Tour prep, Bruyneel probably isn't too steadfast in this belief. And Schleck's form curve seems to work quite differently from Armstrong's and Contador's, so the comparison is useless anyway.

Yes, I've heard of him. Most people however will not know who the heck he is outside GB. But keep thinking GB is the world.

Chances are more people in the world know who Chris Hoy is than Philippe Gilbert. Why? Because he's a multiple Olympic champion, and that's what matters in the world.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

They arent equal either Michael Phelps should be seen as one of the greatest athletes ever. 8 golds in 7 days.

But Usain Bolt and his 3 golds in 8 days is more markatable cos he does an arrow celebration.

That and being, by some distance, the fastest human ever.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Winning Roubaix and the Ronde 5 times each would make you more popular around the world than one Olympic gold medal at track cycling. You'd get bigger pay check as well.

Agreed. But Thomas would get a bigger pay check for winning an Olympic gold than he would for winning P-R or RVV next year. We love the Olympics and gold medal winners are pretty much overnight millionaires.

 

[El Pistolero]

Agreed. But Thomas would get a bigger pay check for winning an Olympic gold than he would for winning P-R or RVV next year. We love the Olympics and gold medal winners are pretty much overnight millionaires.

What does Chris Hoy earn?

 

[King Of The Wolds]

What does Chris Hoy earn?

I'm not his accountant and it's not a good comparison because he's now a knight of the realm, which itself carries a premium, but a few clicks on Google showed that The Daily Telegraph reported "he can now expect to earn between £250,000 and £500,000 per year between now and the 2012 Olympics", and that's not counting his 15 minutes of fame straight after the 2008 event itself, when he could have named his price.

 

[hatcher]

You don't often get a chance to win Olympic gold in your home Olympics in front of friends and family. He can win RvV next year. Or the year after. Or the year after.

 

[El Pistolero]

I'm not his accountant and it's not a good comparison because he's now a knight of the realm, which itself carries a premium, but a few clicks on Google showed that The Daily Telegraph reported "he can now expect to earn between £250,000 and £500,000 per year between now and the 2012 Olympics", and that's not counting his 15 minutes of fame straight after the 2008 event itself, when he could have named his price.

That's not a lot to be honest. Compared to some of the cyclists on the road.

Think about it, Gilbert won 3 Monuments and earns something around 3.5 million euros.

 

[The Hitch]

You are a cycling fan, and therein lies the difference between you (and the rest of us for that matter), and Joe Bloggs

To be fair, an Olympic gold isnt neccesarily thaaat big, and many olympic champions are forgotten and I was using hyperbole, but a key thing is that 2012 is his only chance for the olympics, whereas Flanders and Roubaix, he has many many chances to win it.

Hitch why do you give Pisterolo the pleasure of responding?

Well El Pistolero rarely if ever uses insults, rarely tries to troll, doesnt go round calling people fanboys, and seems to enjoy arguing, even if I think he says silly things sometimes, so I dont mind arguing with him.

Winning Roubaix and the Ronde 5 times each would make you more popular around the world than one Olympic gold medal at track cycling. You'd get bigger pay check as well.

So please don't tell me it would be better for him. It's probably just a hyperbole, at least I hope so.

Yeah it was a hyperbole, but the point about the importance of the Olympics still stands. Even if Ronde were equal or better than a home olympic gold, he can go to Ronde in 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 and maybe 2022.

And he can go to Paris Roubaix in 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 and maybe 2022.

A home olympics - 2012. Thats it, even if he were to live a hundred lives.

Also I think home support matters more to a lot of people than world support. US athletes for example dont give a **** if no one around the worlds know who they are or their team. Name recognition in their home towns support from their neighbours is plenty enough for them.

 

[El Pistolero]

You can do classics and Olympics in the same year. Like I said, I can somewhat understand if he skips the Tour and the road race, but the classics? Let's just say he can be glad he's on a British team because on any other team they'd throw his sorry *** out.

Ps: I do troll from time to time, but I rarely take my self serious in my troll attempts

 

[The Hitch]

Chances are more people in the world know who Chris Hoy is than Philippe Gilbert. Why? Because he's a multiple Olympic champion, and that's what matters in the world.

Disagree, people care about their olympic champions, not others. Hoy is known in Britain cos hes british and to track cycling fans because hes a track cyclist.

Gilbert is known in Belgium cos hes Belgian and they like cycling, and to road cycling fans (not neccesarily just die hard ones due to his success) so I think Gilbert would be more well known. Lets throw Pisti a bone here

 

[El Pistolero]

Disagree, people care about their olympic champions, not others. Hoy is known in Britain cos hes british and to track cycling fans because hes a track cyclist.

Gilbert is known in Belgium cos hes Belgian and they like cycling, and to road cycling fans (not neccesarily just die hard ones due to his success) so I think Gilbert would be more well known. Lets throw Pisti a bone here

I don't care who's more famous, as long as Phil wins one Monument each year I'm happy

Tough years for being a Boonen fan though.

 

[The Hitch]

You can do classics and Olympics in the same year. Like I said, I can somewhat understand if he skips the Tour and the road race, but the classics? Let's just say he can be glad he's on a British team because on any other team they'd throw his sorry *** out.

Track cycling is a different discipline though. He might need more time to get back into it.

Also the classics are dangerous. People have some horrid injuries there. You get an accident there and its no joke. If he wants to be safe this one year, it would probably be a wise decision.

I dont think any team would throw Thomas out. thats a silly comment. G is a top rider who rides not just for himself but the team. He does anything the managment tell him and with pleasure. He treats every teammate with the upmost respect, and everyone would love to be on a team with him.

I doubt anyone who would throw Thomas out for not doing the classics one year, would have made it to a managment position in the first place.

 

[El Pistolero]

That was a hyperbole Hitch Just saying not a lot of non-Anglophone teams would be happy with it.

You can get an accident everywhere. He can get one in June and then people will say how stupid it was to only focus on one thing next season. What I do notice is that people like Cancellara, Hushovd, Gilbert, Valverde, etc hardly ever crash. All of them classics specialists. It's mostly sprinters and GT Contenders that seem to crash during a season.