Cyclist popularity question?

[Libertine Seguros]

Marco Chagas ftw.

 

[Parrulo]

Marco Chagas ftw.

unfortunately chagas is another name to add to the list of forgotten stars

 

[Frosty]

Once saw Cavendish in a busy store in Central London, pretty sure i was the only one who noticed him.

Wiggins taking the lead in the Vuelta didnt make it into the London Evening Standard at all today, no mention of the race at all. Sports coverage was taken over by transfer deadline day though, i think normally there would have been some short mention,

 

[uphillstruggle]

Once saw Cavendish in a busy store in Central London, pretty sure i was the only one who noticed him.

Cav apparently got in a black cab in London after last years tour (with his bike bag no less) and the driver started telling him how much of a nuisance the cyclists were

To be honest I'm a little surprised that most cyclist are totally unknown in countries like Spain, Netherlands and Portugal I really though it was much more mainstream in main land Europe.

Apart from Belgium where is cycling truly mainstream?

 

[Mambo95]

I think quite a lot of people in britain don't know who cavendish is, although I have noticed my uncle talking about him, i would say he is certainly not a household name in scotland at least. it does seem like cycling is getting more coverage in the news papers though the daily record sometimes has most of the page for a tour de france stage, usually when cavendish wins.. In my opinion no cyclists except lance and chris hoy are famous in scotland, cavendishs name is on the up though.

Last Sunday I was doing a pub quiz and they have a picture round (identify the people in the pictures). Number 2 was Mark Cavendish (just a head shot, but in cycling gear, cap & shades on the top of the head).

Almost everyone got it right.

 

[Ragerod]

Froome taking the lead got the same amount as space as Amy Gomasall in the Times. Never heard of her? That's probably because she plays bowls.

I'd say everyone knows Armstrong and Chris Hoy with Victoria Pendleton and Wiggins known amongst sports fans.

I'd say the name Cavendish is fairly well known. He has appeared as a mystery guest on Question of Sport and got a centre-page spread in The Sun following the TDF. Although that was more about his relationship with one of their models.

 

[Parrulo]

Cav apparently got in a black cab in London after last years tour (with his bike bag no less) and the driver started telling him how much of a nuisance the cyclists were

To be honest I'm a little surprised that most cyclist are totally unknown in countries like Spain, Netherlands and Portugal I really though it was much more mainstream in main land Europe.

Apart from Belgium where is cycling truly mainstream?

i can't speak for holland but in portugal and spain its all about football. simple as that. in portugal the average tour follower knows the main contenders for the GC and a few other riders but the rest doesn't know much if anything about cycling, the classics results only started to appear on the sports newspapers on the last 3 or so years and while the overall coverage of cycling on said papers improved it still is bad. it pretty much is a small news story for the classics, a page for the giro, 2 for the vuelta and 3 for the tour.

 

[richtea]

got a centre-page spread in The Sun following the TDF. Although that was more about his relationship with one of their models.

Bizarrely, I met the journalist who was sent to France to interview him for that article at a wedding, the day before she travelled. She had no idea who he was or what to ask him - though there were several cycling fans all trying to get her to ask him questions about his favourite flavour of electrolyte supplement and other frivolous things.

 

[zapata]

Surely there can't be people in Britain who do not know who Cavendish is?! In that case the cycling interest in UK is even lower than I thought it is. In Norway all the biggest TDF stars are household names and some of the classics guys too (all monuments, the giro and the TDF are broadcasted live on TV2, a national channel which everyone has).

Not really, though? I mean, my old mother knows who contador, schleck and cavendish are, and of course hushovd, arvesen and hagen, and she has never to my knowledge watched more than a few minutes of a TDF-stage. But I don't think she had ever heard of evans before this year, and she certainly wouldn't recognize gilbert or cancellara. I even have a friend who professes to be a fan of the tour de france (sic), who had to ask me who gilbert was.

Lots of my acquaintances watch the TDF, and a few of them will even watch other big races like paris-roubaix, the giro and the vuelta. But even then, I doubt more than two of them would recognize names like nick nuyens or tony martin, for instance. Sprinters are different, though, I suppose because over the years they've been accustomed to watching out for the rivals of hushovd, so many know of mcewen, petacchi, zabel, boonen, freire, farrar, and of course cavendish. I guess they'll learn of guardini and kittel eventually..

Coverage of cycling is great in Norway, and getting ever better, but apart from the norwegians, only a very few can be considered literally household names, I think.

 

[zapata]

I have to say, though, if Cavendish was norwegian, he'd be on the cover of every newspaper every day..I can't believe there's british people who can't recognize him.

 

[Echoes]

Coming from francophone Belgium, I've had the chance to watch my first cycling at age 7, whether it be Bore de France OR the major classics. And, of course, here, everybody has heard about Cancellara or Bettini, even if they aren't particularly interested in cycling. The RTBF has always broadcast all major classics, Bore de France and the Worlds. I couldn't see the Giro until Eurosport broadcast it, that was in 1998 and then I watched it BRT when I really mastered Dutch. But there's always been talk about the Giro in the news or whatever.

However I'm sure that cycling's popularity has been declining massively over the decades. I still remember a classmate when I was at primary school in the early nineties, saying that many households would stop their daily activity to watch a cycling race. I don't think he would say the same now.

In the 1950's cycling's popularity was at an all-time high in the traditional countries (Belgium, France, Italy). Actually, the bike itself was still the most popular means of transport (champions like Coppi, Van Looy, Van Steenbergen, Kübler or Bobet were all delivery men, using their bike for their jobs. The multi-talents could NOT go unnoticed). Then the vespa came up and gradually motorsports started being popular. Then tennis in the Borg years. I own an old Miroir des sports (French mag) from August 1963 about Beheyt's "betrayal" at the Worlds (with Van Looy). In it you have 19 pages about cycling, 3 about Track & Field, 8 about football, 1 about tennis and 2 about the other sports.

I've often asked my grandpa about cycling from the forties. Do you remember Marcel Kint? "Of course !", he replied. And then I would ask him if he remembers about the old tennis aces. He would tell me he had a vague memory of Jaroslav Drobny but that's basically it.

Also popular culture is full of reference to cycling. In the French cinema, I've recently seen a film called Le mouton à cinq pattes from the fifties in which Fernandel plays a character that is "as popular as a bicycle champion". This quote would be ironic today. Surely he would be "as popular as a football champion" (or a pop star, lol)

In the Italian cinema too, Don Camillo is sometimes compared to Bartali. Alain Delon was offered Coppi's bike on the shooting of Il Gattopardo.

In Belgium, I've been told that when Merckx was racing, people would all gather round TV shops to watch him or in pubs. Also I've read Belgian Sorrow, which is full of reference to Bartali, to Kint, ...

We can't understand anything about the prestige of this sport if we don't remember that it used to be the absolute MOST POPULAR sport in Western Europe for decades.

I don't really regret though because if some of my friends don't give a damn about pro cycling, there are always to have a ride, and that's the most important.

 

[pmcg76]

Many of us have tried very hard, but unfortunately just keep remembering him.

Why so much dislike for Barbosa, I have noticed this from you a few times now. Maybe you have answered before but I never seen an explanation anywhere.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Why so much dislike for Barbosa, I have noticed this from you a few times now. Maybe you have answered before but I never seen an explanation anywhere.

An 80kg sprinter suddenly discovers amazing climbing form every year for 2 weeks in August, and wins stage upon stage.

Watch the 2007 stage to the Alto da Torre, it's so ridiculous it's embarrassing, as Eladio Jiménez and Xavier Tondó duel on Portugal's biggest and most mythical mountain, and this fat guy with a beard in the camisola amarela is chasing them down. And this sprinter is dropping Sevilla, Mancebo, Azevedo, Pecharromán, Bernabéu, Blanco and Pozzovivo on the climbs. That 2007 race was shocking - he won 2 sprints, 2 intermediate stages, finished 3rd on both MTFs to pick up bonus seconds and 6th in the 35km ITT.

Oh, and he always whines about them biasing Volta routes to stop him from winning, by doing crazy things like putting climbs in the race.

 

[greenedge]

In Australia most people know Cav, Contador, Shlecks and Armstrong. Then we might know about Aussies. Only the diehard would know about Gilbert.

 

[Swede1]

Lets see everyone knows LeBron, Wade, Jeter, ARod, Vick.....Cycling what?? jk

The only cyclists that are mainstream in USA (at least my state), are Armstrong and Landis. Not Cav, and not Contador. Only the few people that watch cycling know about those.

 

[auscyclefan94]

There is a massive sporting culture in Australia so even the people who don't really follow the sport generally quite a lot of riders.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Lets see everyone knows LeBron, Wade, Jeter, ARod, Vick.....

Nope: not a single one of them. Is this the US definition of "everyone"?

 

[patterson_hood]

Nope: not a single one of them. Is this the US definition of "everyone"?

Well everyone may be a bit much, I know them all but I'm a fan of American sports. I would bet that if I stopped someone on the streets of Glasgow and asked which sportsperson they knew out of Phillip Gilbert or LeBron James it'd be LeBron if either of them.

 

[patterson_hood]

There is a massive sporting culture in Australia so even the people who don't really follow the sport generally quite a lot of riders.

Someone visited my workplace from France recently and gave us all a book about Renne, specifically the centre Marché des Lices. The Australian guy I work with commented that the only French words he knew were peloton and maillot jaune.

That sums up Aussies to me

 

[Climbing]

I have to say, though, if Cavendish was norwegian, he'd be on the cover of every newspaper every day..I can't believe there's british people who can't recognize him.

They do that with Magnus Carlsen, of course they would do that with Cavendish.

 

[the asian]

Globaly, among the active cyclists Contador and Cavendish will be popular. Among the Retired, Armstrong.
Of course in my home country none of them are popular. Some sports enthusiasts will have heard of Armstrong. Thats all.

 

[Bavarianrider]

I can only speak for Germany. Appart of the cycling fans hardly anybody knows who the Schlecks or Evans is. some 5-10 years ago this was different and many people knew the likes of Pantani, Armstrong and so on. But today, not.

 

[theyoungest]

I can only speak for Germany. Appart of the cycling fans hardly anybody knows who the Schlecks or Evans is. some 5-10 years ago this was different and many people knew the likes of Pantani, Armstrong and so on. But today, not.

They've forgotten?

 

[Bavarianrider]

They've forgotten?

No of course most people still know who Pantani is for example
I meant that while 10 years ago many people knew the top cyclists, but today only cycling fans do. The ordinary man in the streats would not know who A. Schleck or Evans is.

 

[The Hitch]

i can't speak for holland but in portugal and spain its all about football. simple as that. in portugal the average tour follower knows the main contenders for the GC and a few other riders but the rest doesn't know much if anything about cycling, the classics results only started to appear on the sports newspapers on the last 3 or so years and while the overall coverage of cycling on said papers improved it still is bad. it pretty much is a small news story for the classics, a page for the giro, 2 for the vuelta and 3 for the tour.

In Spain the cycling coverage is brilliant (compared to UK). Any grand tour, if you go on the El Pais website, the latest stage will be on the main page, you dont need to go into the sports. Often its the 1st or 2nd story from the top.

Marca doesnt show anything but football, but AS has big spaces on its front page and a seperate homepage for every grand tour.

When Contador won the Giro the first time he was given a reception on the balcony in Puerta del Sol. The second time he went for the Giro, the tv station that shows big El Classico matches - veo7 snapped it up.

And of course the Tour and Vuelta are bigger.

Compared to UK none coverage its heaven and hell.

No of course most people still know who Pantani is for example
I meant that while 10 years ago many people knew the top cyclists, but today only cycling fans do. The ordinary man in the streats would not know who A. Schleck or Evans is.

If there is a country where the ordinary man in the street knows who A schleck or Cadel Evans are, I want to see it.