Cyclingnews Poll Results? WTF?

[L'arriviste]

So by your standards Lombardia was also a non-event due to only 34 riders finishing in rain of Biblical proportions?

Come to think of it that would mean that Hinault's 1980 LBL & Vanderaerden's 1985 Ronde were non-events too as they had miserable conditions that in the case of 1985's Ronde eliminated 149 of the 173 starters!

Well, I guess that's why it's an opinion poll. Personally I'm with you, I loved both KBK and Lombardia but I see Mambo's point. I enjoy races featuring vile weather and wars of attrition. A lot of times it comes down to the TV coverage.

To my mind, the major difference between the Giro St. 7 and KBK, for example, was that for a large part of the former nobody had any idea what the hell was happening on the road and that it would have longer term implications. Thus Giro St. 7 was arguably better entertainment.

 

[Ferminal]

To my mind, the major difference between the Giro St. 7 and KBK, for example, was that for a large part of the former nobody had any idea what the hell was happening on the road and that it would have longer term implications. Thus Giro St. 7 was arguably better entertainment.

Where is Sastre?

 

[flyor64]

The TOC taking third is surprising but this being a mainly anglo visited site it's not too surprising. I imagine if the TDU had been in there you'd have seen some votes going that way too...

Most have hit on it already. Folks voted for their favorites (or the name they recognized) and the results get skewed.

Nys is an example. Willow Koerber is another...although I'm a fan I'd hardly rate her as the best female mountain bike this year. Heck I'd even question Absalon for this year. He's dominated in the past...but not this year, but he wins hands-down by name recognition I'd guess.

 

[Mellow Velo]

The only thing about the CyclingNews poll that isn't a complete waste of time..............is this thread.
Nuff said.

 

[L'arriviste]

The TOC taking third is surprising but this being a mainly anglo visited site it's not too surprising. I imagine if the TDU had been in there you'd have seen some votes going that way too...

Most have hit on it already. Folks voted for their favorites (or the name they recognized) and the results get skewed.

Nys is an example. Willow Koerber is another...although I'm a fan I'd hardly rate her as the best female mountain bike this year. Heck I'd even question Absalon for this year. He's dominated in the past...but not this year, but he wins hands-down by name recognition I'd guess.

Yes, this is the problem, isn't it? When you're being canvassed for your opinion, does "best" mean your favourite or does it require you to think objectively? Can you trust everyone to think objectively. And how do you choose from a list that doesn't include your selection or is full of names you don't know? And am I taking this whole thing too seriously?

 

[Mambo95]

So by your standards Lombardia was also a non-event due to only 34 riders finishing in rain of Biblical proportions?

Come to think of it that would mean that Hinault's 1980 LBL & Vanderaerden's 1985 Ronde were non-events too as they had miserable conditions that in the case of 1985's Ronde eliminated 149 of the 173 starters!

The last two were before my time, but Lombardy had incident, attacks, racing. In KBK a group went clear early and no-one in the peloton tried to chase. Nothing happened! Until a sprint in the last 300m by three riders too cold to feel their hands. It was as exciting as a club run. Only the British Championships was more lacking in racing incident.

If that had happened in slightly better weather you'd be saying how rubbish it was.

(Great credit to everyone who finished though)

 

[The Hitch]

A lot of people making the point that those who voted for TOC might not have watched the race and hence not realised how extremely poor it was. Ok.

But then the bigger problem is that whoever created the poll sure as hell should have watched the race and realised how boring it was before putting it in there ahead of Paris Nice and Pais Vasco.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

A lot of people making the point that those who voted for TOC might not have watched the race and hence not realised how extremely poor it was. Ok.

But then the bigger problem is that whoever created the poll sure as hell should have watched the race and realised how boring it was before putting it in there ahead of Paris Nice and Pais Vasco.

it actually was a good edition, entertaining riding for the most part.
I agree it is overrated (certainly didn't deserve 3rd.. maybe not even the list, i dunno), but it was not poor, and certainly not boring by any standards, doubt you watched the race based on this post.

 

[The Hitch]

it actually was a good edition, entertaining riding for the most part.
I agree it is overrated (certainly didn't deserve 3rd.. maybe not even the list, i dunno), but it was not poor, and certainly not boring by any standards, doubt you watched the race based on this post.

You can not be serious if you think it is even comparable to the following

Paris Nice
Tour de Romandie
Criterium de Dauphine
Tour de Pologne

All of which are more prestigious, all of which had far far more action and none of which made the list.

Also we could add

Vuelta a Burgos
Vuelta a Colombia
Volta a Portugal

If you think TOC was one of the better races of the year, it might be you who didnt watch the race. Or maybe, you just didnt watch the others.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Paris-Nice was, once again the best one week race by a country mile.
Whether or not it is, in 2011, may depend upon the speculative second ITT being included.
Tirreno-Adriatico was also excellent and Poland vastly improved.
Pais Vasco had a couple of cracking stages.
The TOC ranged from pretty decent, to deadly dull, with a dash of
total ambivalence from certain competitors.

 

[Ferminal]

I didn't like ToC, only the last stage was really exciting, the earlier one where Rogers/DZ/Bottle got away was kind of OK too.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

You can not be serious if you think it is even comparable to the following

Paris Nice
Tour de Romandie
Criterium de Dauphine
Tour de Pologne

All of which are more prestigious, all of which had far far more action and none of which made the list.

Also we could add

Vuelta a Burgos
Vuelta a Colombia
Volta a Portugal

If you think TOC was one of the better races of the year, it might be you who didnt watch the race. Or maybe, you just didnt watch the others.

again I didn't compare it to any of the other races, read more careful maybe

I merely said;

but it was not poor, and certainly not boring by any standards

and I stand by it.
Agree P-N (my favorite short stage race) and co. were better, but you were over critical on a race which provided decent entertainment at times (agree with what mellow said). I understand that certain people claiming how great the ToC is.. can be frustrating, and thus we naturally have a negative response, but the race was not bad this year. Not the '4th GT' like so many claim, but it was decent.

Again never said it was 'one of the better races' I didn't even say it deserved to be on the list, but thanks for your list of races of the unknown to me. You've truly opened my eyes..

Also we could add

Vuelta a Burgos
Vuelta a Colombia
Volta a Portugal

skeptical if you (or the majority of the forum... myself included) even watch some of these. VaC in particular (considering the hype it gets here, it's asif everyone watches it religiously, when before 10' edition and ryo/daotec input, no one said a whisper about it... hard to take some people seriously when talking up the Colombians)

 

[roundabout]

You can not be serious if you think it is even comparable to the following

Criterium de Dauphine

Dauphine was pretty crap this year. When there are 65 people in the group in the stage like this

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2010/06/01/2/stage05profile_600.gif

it couldn't have been very exciting

The stage to Risoul was also pretty meh (probably because of the wind) before Menchov's attack at under 4k to go.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Dauphine was pretty crap this year. When there are 65 people in the group in the stage like this

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2010/06/01/2/stage05profile_600.gif

it couldn't have been very exciting

Dauphine unfortunately suffers from the tour, it is a shame because the course are generally pretty good.

 

[Matthijs]

What was so great about KBK? The breakaway went and because the weather was so bad nobody (except Hushovd) bothered chasing, with all but a handful dropping out early.

The weather may have conned you into thinking it was an 'epic', but it was other than admiring the bloody-mindedness of some of the riders and Devolder being hit by a bin, nothing actually happened.

So, the world champion, a guy who can sprint well after 260k, a Norwegian and Paris-Roubaix contender, a junior TT champion, was the only one able to chase. And he got dropped and stepped out of the race while racing in 4th position because of the horrible weather!
and you think nothing happened??? how many time a world class cyclist on 4th position in a semi-classic decided to step out of the race?
I hardly can't believe anyone who says 'nothing happened' or 'no one chased' really watched the race live. Their where chasings, a peloton who came nearer at times, but because of the bad weather the peloton just fell apart and couldn't chase effectively at some point. Riders try to make it to the pursiuvants group with Hushovd, and so on. Yes, an early break made it. But to say nothing happened you must be blind to all the attempt the riders behind try to make.

ToC actually had some nice stages. The 3 podium guys attacking each other, Peter Sagan... I thought is wasn't a snoozefest or advertise-campaign only. Of course other stage races where better, but still a good race.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

So, the world champion, a guy who can sprint well after 260k, a Norwegian and Paris-Roubaix contender, a junior TT champion, was the only one able to chase. And he got dropped and stepped out of the race while racing in 4th position because of the horrible weather!
and you think nothing happened??? how many time a world class cyclist on 4th position in a semi-classic decided to step out of the race?
I hardly can't believe anyone who says 'nothing happened' or 'no one chased' really watched the race live. Their where chasings, a peloton who came nearer at times, but because of the bad weather the peloton just fell apart and couldn't chase effectively at some point. Riders try to make it to the pursiuvants group with Hushovd, and so on. Yes, an early break made it. But to say nothing happened you must be blind to all the attempt the riders behind try to make.

yeah, i really thought it was a special race. Had to grow enormous respect for the front 3.. and everyone who stuck it through.
Devolder getting hit by a bin was a bonus

ToC actually had some nice stages. The 3 podium guys attacking each other, Peter Sagan... I thought is wasn't a snoozefest or advertise-campaign only. Of course other stage races where better, but still a good race.

this.

 

[Mambo95]

So, the world champion, a guy who can sprint well after 260k, a Norwegian and Paris-Roubaix contender, a junior TT champion, was the only one able to chase. And he got dropped and stepped out of the race while racing in 4th position because of the horrible weather!
and you think nothing happened??? how many time a world class cyclist on 4th position in a semi-classic decided to step out of the race?
I hardly can't believe anyone who says 'nothing happened' or 'no one chased' really watched the race live. Their where chasings, a peloton who came nearer at times, but because of the bad weather the peloton just fell apart and couldn't chase effectively at some point. Riders try to make it to the pursiuvants group with Hushovd, and so on. Yes, an early break made it. But to say nothing happened you must be blind to all the attempt the riders behind try to make.

Sample quotes from the CN live commentary:

"We haven't heard about the peloton in a while. Wonder if they are still there?"

"No changes. The first three are still together, the second three are still together. Everyone else is probably wondering why there are out here in this not-so-lovely weather."

Nothing happened. It was a dull race.

(And if Hushovd 'stepped out of the race', how did he manage to come 6th?)

 

[hfer07]

Polls never reflect the accurate reality of what the public opines.. so I'm not surprised at all on what CN results are showing-except of course the Giro as the best race last year
I honestly don't find what made the Amgen Tour of California an exiting race to reach a second place along with the Tour-when the entire competition revolved on the FLandis bomb-and the course didn't meet any expectations of what was touted for.... I imagine CN gets compensation for putting those kind of results in public, but for all the folks here following cycling is just rubbish....

 

[The Hitch]

again I didn't compare it to any of the other races, read more careful maybe

I merely said;



and I stand by it.
Agree P-N (my favorite short stage race) and co. were better, but you were over critical on a race which provided decent entertainment at times (agree with what mellow said). I understand that certain people claiming how great the ToC is.. can be frustrating, and thus we naturally have a negative response, but the race was not bad this year. Not the '4th GT' like so many claim, but it was decent.

Again never said it was 'one of the better races' I didn't even say it deserved to be on the list, but thanks for your list of races of the unknown to me. You've truly opened my eyes..



skeptical if you (or the majority of the forum... myself included) even watch some of these. VaC in particular (considering the hype it gets here, it's asif everyone watches it religiously, when before 10' edition and ryo/daotec input, no one said a whisper about it... hard to take some people seriously when talking up the Colombians)

I saw Burgos Lagunas de Neila stage on youtube, and some of Colombia though theres no commentary so i mostly read about it. Ill take Parulo and LS's word about Volta. They were all interesting.
Point with all of them is that they are given the same ranking by the UCI as Cali. Remember Cali isnt PT so if they want to go around claiming prestige puts them into 3rd im reminding people that PN, TDP, TDU, Eneco, TDR etc are ahead of the cue.

Cali wasnt TDF cav stage boring but much of it was and it didnt have any tryly great stages. You kind of get an idea of the greatness of the race when the eurosport commentary team spent half the race talking about whats going on in the Giro.

Dauphine was pretty crap this year. When there are 65 people in the group in the stage like this

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2010/06/01/2/stage05profile_600.gif

it couldn't have been very exciting

The stage to Risoul was also pretty meh (probably because of the wind) before Menchov's attack at under 4k to go.

But it was more so than Cali.

Alpe d huez stage was one of the stages of the year, the day before when Contador was randomly attacking and Janez followed was good as well as was the day before that which played out in similar fashion. Ebh victory was all right and that sprint stage where Brajkovic had a go 5 k out and got caught for a Heado sprint wasnt bad either.

Certainatly better than Cali, no matter how highly you rate the Big bear stage and the tt.

 

[Ferminal]

Certainatly better than Cali, no matter how highly you rate the Big bear stage and the tt.

I enjoyed the TT..!

 

[skidmark]

So, the world champion, a guy who can sprint well after 260k, a Norwegian and Paris-Roubaix contender, a junior TT champion, was the only one able to chase. And he got dropped and stepped out of the race while racing in 4th position because of the horrible weather!
and you think nothing happened??? how many time a world class cyclist on 4th position in a semi-classic decided to step out of the race?

Hushovd finished the race. IIRC, it was his teammate (Jeremy Hunt?) that dropped back from his 2-man chasing group (with Hushovd) and went to the team car, got off his bike and stepped inside. That was certainly a jaw-dropping moment for me watching, really brought home how crappy the weather was.

However, I agree that the race itself was kind of boring, tactics-wise. It was 'epic' in the sense of 'I wonder if ANYONE is going to make it to the finish', and so it was a unique spectacle to watch. But in the same way that the L'Aquila stage in the Giro was super exciting without being the best raced stage, so was KBK. Honestly, props to the guys who finished, but the leading 3 get the least of my respect because really, who's going to drop out of a successful breakaway? You pretty much HAVE to finish. My amazed respect goes to those who sloughed it out to finish in like 20th or something.

 

[The Hitch]

Sample quotes from the CN live commentary:

"We haven't heard about the peloton in a while. Wonder if they are still there?"

"No changes. The first three are still together, the second three are still together. Everyone else is probably wondering why there are out here in this not-so-lovely weather."

Nothing happened. It was a dull race.

(And if Hushovd 'stepped out of the race', how did he manage to come 6th?)

I didnt watch kbk so cant comment on it but if what you say is true then i wonder if some people think rain = epic stage in and of itself.

Im thinking of Moltacino here because while i watched it and thought "wow that was a very stage", i then came on here and saw everybdoy going "OH MY GOD, they are covered IN MUD. This is the greatest stage in the history of cycling. MUD. You believe that. They look like Footon Seveto. MUD!!!!!"

The world championships for example had far more attacks, had a greater prize on the line, had fluctuation in time gaps and greater uncertainty on who was going to win or podium, but are rated nowhere near as highly as moltacino. Why? well because they didnt have mud i suppose.

I enjoyed the TT..!

More than Alpe d huez?

 

[The Hitch]

I enjoyed the TT..!

More than Alpe d huez?

 

[L'arriviste]

I didnt watch kbk so cant comment on it but if what you say is true then i wonder if some people think rain = epic stage in and of itself.

Im thinking of Moltacino here because while i watched it and thought "wow that was a very stage", i then came on here and saw everybdoy going "OH MY GOD, they are covered IN MUD. This is the greatest stage in the history of cycling. MUD. You believe that. They look like Footon Seveto. MUD!!!!!"

Judging a race from a CN commentary? What a laugh!

I saw both. For KBK I was also roadside at the Oude Kwaremont spectating with my other half. The fact that the race was so well managed, well commentated and well shot is a testament to the considerable knowledge, experience and skills of the race organisers and the TV team respectively. That smoothness made the race look something like normal, whereas of course the unfamiliar, one-off, unscripted novelty of the Giro's St. 7 made it look more like two-wheeled anarchy.

Sure, there was rain at KBK. But the rain was just one noticeable symptom of a freakish cyclone that came up from France overnight - violent winds, near-freezing temperatures and yes, buckets of rain. Add to a stinker of a parcours and mix well. And the sky was almost dark enough to be night. It was apocalyptic stuff. Anyone who finished should be considered special. Anyone who made the podium should be considered an animal.

 

[euanli]

Phinney best track rider. What a surprise.

Cameron Meyer was by far more exciting