Then put eleven billion metas volantes in road races, since that was what generated the earlier action. Maybe the Tour should put an intermediate sprint every 10km, that would sure liven up the maillot vert! A madison works exactly like the Hammer Series, with sprints every x number of laps, riders tagging in and out, short efforts to try to gain a lap, and so on, with the same drawbacks - confusion as to who's winning as they might be buried in the bunch while others are attacking, sometimes uneven judging of points criteria - but the benefit that as you can see the whole course at any one time, you can tell who the active rider is and how successful or unsuccessful any attack is proving at a glance. The short distance is a problem, because the sport is already trying to kill the endurance factor that makes road cycling what it is in a number of different ways, so the success of a format predicated on not needing endurance is antithetical.
About the selling to the highest bidder, it's more that once there's 10 of them on the calendar (Velon originally announced this was the intention), they can then have established locations... and then move as much cycling as possible away from old markets that don't pay as much, just like happened with F1. As for the tickets and popcorn, you know that's the long-term aim, right? Take one of the things that has been one of cycling's greatest draws for decades - that it's free to access, on the roads in front of you, it's the sport that goes to the common man, not that the common man goes to - and take that legacy and put it in a trash can and then set that trash can on fire. We've seen it with the Ronde van Vlaanderen, we've seen it with the London Olympic road races, Velon love the idea as it means less reliance on sponsors (which makes Vaughters' franchise idea - to protect his own hide and prevent other people growing their teams up the way he did, in case it's at his expense - more workable), and the Hammer Series is a perfect breeding ground for this business model.
If it results in a specific breed of cyclist that specialises in this kind of race, like track, cross, MTB or, God forbid, BMX, and yields some level of crossover, like criterium racing, then that's one thing. I believe we discussed ski-cross another time - another "shorter, more intense, more exciting" format which basically produces a worse version of normal Alpine skiing - as a comparison, where for the most part (a couple of exceptions like Daron Rahlves were mentioned) ski cross racers do their cute little races where coming out of the gate first means you win 99 times out of 100, and real skiers compete in real Alpine races. But if it starts dragging riders away from the normal road calendar - which it's already beginning to do as we see a team like Quick Step, one of the longest-serving bastions of Belgian cycling, not lining up for the Tour of Belgium in order to participate in this dog-and-pony show - then that is a problem, and a big one.
RHD, yes, Betancur won the stage for his team but only because he amassed a lot of points over several laps. In stage 2, Vanmarcke crossed the line showing off his team badge only to be told that actually he'd finished 3rd, with Trek riders buried deep within the bunch being the ones who actually won.
But seriously... "Hammer Climb", "Hammer Sprint", "Hammer Chase". It's like fricking NASCAR, everything's gotta be branded. The "Can-Am Duel", "Southern 500", "Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts". Wouldn't surprise me if we get NASCAR-style automatic neutralizations and things to bunch the race up again if it's getting a bit boring, and other such artificial things. It just reeks of being completely forced, nothing organic about it at all. Like it's being crowbared in just because Velon doesn't think ASO are taking them seriously enough. Velon might just be the worst thing to happen to the sport since EPO.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram