Funny how everyone in the sport has accepted this quid pro quo for a decade (you get a Tour invite but have to take part in the expansion races), except for old mate Jancouver. I guess we could blame Amaury for laying down and not having the gumption to become our benevolent dictator acting for the good of the sport rather than profit (lel).
- Aug 18, 2010
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The Gorilla is back.
And good to see Sagan ride for the stage wins. If Sagan can win Stirling, he already has 14 secs on Porte. Another 3rd in Victor Harbor and a win in Uraidla gives him 28 secs on Porte before Willunga Hill.
I think that's is enough. Hope he will give it a try.
And good to see Sagan ride for the stage wins. If Sagan can win Stirling, he already has 14 secs on Porte. Another 3rd in Victor Harbor and a win in Uraidla gives him 28 secs on Porte before Willunga Hill.
I think that's is enough. Hope he will give it a try.
- Apr 30, 2011
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Re:
At first when I saw the sprint, I wondered why Sagan hung so far back, until I saw he was picking Greipel's wheel. Unfortunately for him Lawless was a slow *** and meant that Sagan was squeezed off Greipel's wheel when the latter rode around him. Still, Greipel timed it well, so I doubt it'd have changed the winner.
At first when I saw the sprint, I wondered why Sagan hung so far back, until I saw he was picking Greipel's wheel. Unfortunately for him Lawless was a slow *** and meant that Sagan was squeezed off Greipel's wheel when the latter rode around him. Still, Greipel timed it well, so I doubt it'd have changed the winner.
At least they actually have a long term interest in the well-being of the sport, unlike most others. But I guess Pat was motivated by the good of the sport and not anything as immoral as money, right?Ferminal said:
- Aug 5, 2009
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Re:
Another piece of misjudgement from Ewan. He left the wheel too early but it may not have made a difference. Greipel knew which wheel to follow. Sagan got a bit close to Ewan at the line but corrected his swerve.
yaco said:
Another piece of misjudgement from Ewan. He left the wheel too early but it may not have made a difference. Greipel knew which wheel to follow. Sagan got a bit close to Ewan at the line but corrected his swerve.
- Aug 5, 2009
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- Sep 28, 2010
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- Jul 6, 2014
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Re: Re:
Indeed, they are the same motivations, neither are anything but self-interested. The UCI has very little commercial power in the sport and second only to getting some of its own, wants to see the power of the incumbents diluted into more manageable concentrations while being able to collect more taxes. Incumbents will do as incumbents do and 1) Dissuade new entrants 2) Exert control over them.
I don't even know what the long-term interest of the sport is tbh.
Netserk said:At least they actually have a long term interest in the well-being of the sport, unlike most others. But I guess Pat was motivated by the good of the sport and not anything as immoral as money, right?Ferminal said:
Indeed, they are the same motivations, neither are anything but self-interested. The UCI has very little commercial power in the sport and second only to getting some of its own, wants to see the power of the incumbents diluted into more manageable concentrations while being able to collect more taxes. Incumbents will do as incumbents do and 1) Dissuade new entrants 2) Exert control over them.
I don't even know what the long-term interest of the sport is tbh.
- Apr 12, 2015
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- May 5, 2010
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Re: Re:
The keyword here is teams. The teams are required to ride, the riders aren't.
For the People's Choice Classic; it is perfectly allowed for teams to let riders who are doing the TDU skip it, either because they had recent health issues - like Storer - or just because a team might wanna save their potential GC rider(s). As for Halvorsen; He's a sprinter - at least I think he is, having won the U23 World's in Doha - so I wouldn't be too surprised if he actually wanted this chance of showing himself against the established sprinters.
For the TDU; do you actually think any teams would force a rider who really didn't want to ride to go to Australia for the race? We're pretty early in the season; teams are basically intact - except for a few unfortunate souls who may have crashed during training - so teams don't need to send a rider to the race against his will.
Jancouver said:
The keyword here is teams. The teams are required to ride, the riders aren't.
For the People's Choice Classic; it is perfectly allowed for teams to let riders who are doing the TDU skip it, either because they had recent health issues - like Storer - or just because a team might wanna save their potential GC rider(s). As for Halvorsen; He's a sprinter - at least I think he is, having won the U23 World's in Doha - so I wouldn't be too surprised if he actually wanted this chance of showing himself against the established sprinters.
For the TDU; do you actually think any teams would force a rider who really didn't want to ride to go to Australia for the race? We're pretty early in the season; teams are basically intact - except for a few unfortunate souls who may have crashed during training - so teams don't need to send a rider to the race against his will.
what is it with cyclingnews (and the TDU organizers themselves, for that matter) that they do not realise that Axel Domont (AG2R La Mondiale) is not at this race ! The rider that finished 36th on stage 1 to Lyndoch was Nico DENZ. Read his account of the stage here
http://www.nico-denz.de/januar-2018/
http://www.nico-denz.de/januar-2018/
Re: Re:
Ewan's lead out couldn't keep pace with the peleton, hence Ewan's wise decision to go around Impey and surf wheels - Ewan has gone a touch early in both sprints, but he will be helped with Mezgec's return and if MS have confidence in Kluge - These two have the speed to keep Ewan in prime position.
movingtarget said:
Ewan's lead out couldn't keep pace with the peleton, hence Ewan's wise decision to go around Impey and surf wheels - Ewan has gone a touch early in both sprints, but he will be helped with Mezgec's return and if MS have confidence in Kluge - These two have the speed to keep Ewan in prime position.
Re: Re:
With all honesty, how many teams do you think would show up for this race if this was not a mandatory race? My guess is that at least half the teams would not bother to travel across the planet at the beginning of January.
Perhaps the main reason would be time/money saving and dealing with all the logistics taking the team and equipment all the way to Australia ... and they (UCI) know that and that's why they made it mandatory because most teams would simply just not show up.
RedheadDane said:
With all honesty, how many teams do you think would show up for this race if this was not a mandatory race? My guess is that at least half the teams would not bother to travel across the planet at the beginning of January.
Perhaps the main reason would be time/money saving and dealing with all the logistics taking the team and equipment all the way to Australia ... and they (UCI) know that and that's why they made it mandatory because most teams would simply just not show up.
- May 5, 2010
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How do you know they wouldn't show up? Because from what I've heard quite a lot of riders actually enjoy doing this, and if a team has enough riders who wants to ride, then why shouldn't the team do the race?
As for equipment: There's a reason the race doesn't have a TT, or why the teams don't have busses, or their own cars; The organisers know that...
A: bringing a bus and a bunch of cars...
B: brining bikes the riders will only use once...
is rather complicated, so they...
A: provide cars and somewhere for the riders to be before/after the racing...
B: simply don't include any form of TT...
once you're on the plane bringing maybe two bikes per rider - and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "lower ranking" riders don't get a spare - to Australia is no more difficult than bringing them to, say, France.
Some riders may even go to Australia early, and get a nice little holiday before the racing starts.
But, please, give me just one example - even a rumour - of either:
A: A team which wouldn't have ridden if it wasn't mandatory.
B: A rider, who didn't want to ride, being forced by his team.
As for equipment: There's a reason the race doesn't have a TT, or why the teams don't have busses, or their own cars; The organisers know that...
A: bringing a bus and a bunch of cars...
B: brining bikes the riders will only use once...
is rather complicated, so they...
A: provide cars and somewhere for the riders to be before/after the racing...
B: simply don't include any form of TT...
once you're on the plane bringing maybe two bikes per rider - and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "lower ranking" riders don't get a spare - to Australia is no more difficult than bringing them to, say, France.
Some riders may even go to Australia early, and get a nice little holiday before the racing starts.
But, please, give me just one example - even a rumour - of either:
A: A team which wouldn't have ridden if it wasn't mandatory.
B: A rider, who didn't want to ride, being forced by his team.
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