Has money ruined competition?

[Basecase]

Take the Tour de France for example.

Andy Schleck is the biggest challenge to AC.

Yet AS does not have the hunger to challenge AC properly.

Is this down to the fact he is already rewarded handsomely by sponsors etc so does not have to give 110% or show his true determination?

If he was earning 10% of what he is on would we see a different athlete?

 

[Lanark]

What are you talking about?

 

[theswordsman]

Take the Tour de France for example.

Andy Schleck is the biggest challenge to AC.

Yet AS does not have the hunger to challenge AC properly.

Is this down to the fact he is already rewarded handsomely by sponsors etc so does not have to give 110% or show his true determination?

If he was earning 10% of what he is on would we see a different athlete?

It's the individual. Contador makes piles of money, but wants to win every time he puts on a race number. I've read a ton of articles and interviews from the Spanish press, and he was looking after diet and sleep and things from the start of his career. Schleck does seem to fall in the "entitled" category we studied in Marketing class. Imagine if he wasn't allowed to race the Tour some year and had people looking at the rest of his record. He always seems to have guys covering for him, though, when he's not singing the "if Frank had been there" song. I think this year's Tour could prove enlightening.

 

[Oldman]

Supreme Old School grumpy IOC President Avery Brundage always though true athletes were pure amateurs.
He also thought sports were the province of entitled noblemen and never expected to see a Jamaican run the 100m in 9.58.

 

[cineteq]

Take the Tour de France for example.

Andy Schleck is the biggest challenge to AC.

Yet AS does not have the hunger to challenge AC properly.

Is this down to the fact he is already rewarded handsomely by sponsors etc so does not have to give 110% or show his true determination?

If he was earning 10% of what he is on would we see a different athlete?

Do you work for Versus?

 

[TERMINATOR]

Take the Tour de France for example.

Andy Schleck is the biggest challenge to AC.

Yet AS does not have the hunger to challenge AC properly.

Is this down to the fact he is already rewarded handsomely by sponsors etc so does not have to give 110% or show his true determination?

If he was earning 10% of what he is on would we see a different athlete?

No, it's because Andy Schleck is a major doper and only dopes for the Tour de France. He's also one of the most horrible time trialists in the world (for a GC contender, that is).

 

[ElChingon]

If we assume that money is the cause of cycling competition being ruined. Secondly, we know Lemond is responsible for increasing the riders salaries back in his Tour glory days (he's said it so many times). So then we can assume its Lemond's fault that cycling is ruined, since he caused the increase in rider salaries.

Just some simple logic.

 

[brianf7]

Supreme Old School grumpy IOC President Avery Brundage always though true athletes were pure amateurs.
He also thought sports were the province of entitled noblemen and never expected to see a Jamaican run the 100m in 9.58.

That is as bad as the US thinking the Japs couldnt see well enough to land a plane on an aircraft carrier. They did.

 

[hfer07]

money will ruin competition only if a rider is paid a 100 million contract & only races the tour.......-wait a minute- that wasn't what that chappy LA was doing for 7 years?

seriously-If cycling goes overboard with massive salary increases-let's say a domestique making 5 million & GT rider 25 million plus- & they begin to ride less & get selective-that's where the real problem begins...

 

[jens_attacks]

and the answer is no.actually,pro cycling deserves more money.

 

[Greenflame]

What I think the OP means is that if riders were given much smaller salaries but the prize money for all races was significantly increased, would that make them ride more agressively throughout the year?

It would make races more interesting, especially smaller ones. A lot more riders would want to go for their own chances. If Andy could only really make money by winning races, he probably wouldn't be content with racing 4 weeks per year.

However, a lot of domestiques could get in trouble by this system, unless the team leaders share their prize money with smaller riders. Also it would make riders much more likely to dope.

It's an interesting notion, but I don't think it could realistically be implemented.

 

[movingtarget]

If the rider is happy to concentrate on a couple of races per year and the sponsor is happy to pay them for it, who cares. Everyone knows that compared to other sports, they are underpaid.

I am not convinced it would make the racing better. What is wrong with the racing now apart from the fact that every winner is a suspected doper ?

 

[Skrufxtrastark]

the answer is yes. and they're not underpaid in europe.

 

[luckyboy]

and the answer is no.actually,pro cycling deserves more money.

The average cyclist does, at least in comparison to the average footballer anyway. I think the guys at the top of the sport are paid pretty well.

 

[bobs nob]

what is this money of which you speak?

 

[supercameron]

i think it would be better if the riders represented their country, or for the bigger cycling countries, their state/province/region. Still be paid the large salaries but then have more pride in winning for their home country/region.

 

[woodie]

i think it would be better if the riders represented their country, or for the bigger cycling countries, their state/province/region. Still be paid the large salaries but then have more pride in winning for their home country/region.

Good idea but who would fund the teams???

 

[Oldman]

Good idea but who would fund the teams???

The ever-clean National Federations, of course! That should clean things up.

 

[woodie]

The ever-clean National Federations, of course! That should clean things up.

Haha and therein lies the problem

 

[Mambo95]

i think it would be better if the riders represented their country, or for the bigger cycling countries, their state/province/region. Still be paid the large salaries but then have more pride in winning for their home country/region.

But where does that leave riders like the Schlecks, Boassen Hagen, Roche, Hesjedal, Sagan, Brajkovic, Lofqvist, Rujano, Taaramae, Kiryienka, Eisel etc

They come from countries that don't have enough riders to sustain a pro team. It would be a shame to tell them they can't ride in the big races.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Take the Tour de France for example.

Andy Schleck is the biggest challenge to AC.

Yet AS does not have the hunger to challenge AC properly.

Is this down to the fact he is already rewarded handsomely by sponsors etc so does not have to give 110% or show his true determination?

If he was earning 10% of what he is on would we see a different athlete?

In a word, no.

You have used flawed logic in your argument.
Andy does have the hunger to challenge AC which is why he concentrates on the Tour instead of other events. If he was trying to win Tirreno or Suisse he would not be as competitive in the Tour (he is not Contador).

The problem Pro cycling has is that the Tour trumps every other race. A good result (even a stage victory) for a team there can make their season.