Is the TDU a ridiculous race?

[whittashau]

http://www.premierleague.com/page/Home

But in England it's Premier League. Don't waste my time how Australian's try to simplify everything so they can understand - Simple Jack.

You're probably the type of Englishman that was surprised when Barcelona started killing English teams. You guys need to start realizing you're not the center of the footballing world. Perhaps then when you get knocked out during the next Euro and WC you won't be as shocked.

 

[Fatclimber]

Yes it is. And ToC is not WT.

The only ridiculous thing about ToC is no doping controls.

The race is fine for what it is, which is something that will never hold a candle to the established European races. These 2 races ( TDU, TOC) are prime examples of why globalization of professional cycling is an absolute joke.

Even if they had a decent parcours, which Cali actually did this year, there's no way to break into the European prestige. Heck, those races have been around for 100 years. No newcomer can compete with that. Riders participate in the little 'uns with nothing else in mind besides preparation for the real ones.

Oh, and do you think these guys really like blowing an entire day traveling, competing in a different time zone with jet lag, hauling all their crap overseas, and blowing another entire day traveling back home? I'm sure they say they enjoy the experience.

 

[thehog]

You're probably the type of Englishman that was surprised when Barcelona started killing English teams. You guys need to start realizing you're not the center of the footballing world. Perhaps then when you get knocked out during the next Euro and WC you won't be as shocked.

But I'm not Englsh I'm Australian...... So I'm not sure on the point you're making.

 

[ultimobici]

It was alright for RCS to pay Armstrong to ride MSR and the Giro...

And BTW it's WT until 2015 so I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon:

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cycling/uci-extends-tour-down-under-licence-20110804-1ic8r.html

Difference is RCS is a private company so can pay anyone whatever they like to ride. The TDU has government money used to run it so is accountable for that money.

 

[ultimobici]

As lame as the ToC has been it is still better than the TDU.

Different not better.

TDU is the first race of the season for many riders and fans alike. It has never tried to be what it is not. It is well run, otherwise no teams would turn up and race.

California on the other hand is an artificially hyped race. Well run? Not that well on the evidence of the first stage this year, IMO. Doesn't help that they keep trying to expand it to "GT" level.

Essentially ToC has ideas above its station, TDU knows and is happy with its lot.

 

[clipperton]

College Football in the US gets 120,000 to one game!

40,000 over one week!!!! That's nothing. Waste of tax payers money!

Besides its holiday season - of the visitors how many of those would have already be there anyway?

Greenedge? Gawd - pay Meatloaf 6m to sing..... much better idea.

i'm too infrequent a visitor to know whether you're trolling or actually are short a chromosome or two so i'll play along.

do college football fans tend to stay in hotels for a week, eating out at restaurants, rent cars and the like around each game?

the figure i gave was for what the linky-link termed "event specific visitors" and gave a figure of 39,700.

re:greenedge, as i said before, arguing on the net is fun but only time will tell.

and by the way, congrats on making it to the uk, i recall it being real tough to get the visa. you must be something special so i s'pose we'll all have to defer to your expert opinion on whether to call it "epl" or "premier league".

 

[Kwibus]

Totally irrelevant and off-topic, but imo it's the Premier League.

I actually never heard of it being called the EPL.

 

[biker jk]

The race is fine for what it is, which is something that will never hold a candle to the established European races. These 2 races ( TDU, TOC) are prime examples of why globalization of professional cycling is an absolute joke.

Even if they had a decent parcours, which Cali actually did this year, there's no way to break into the European prestige. Heck, those races have been around for 100 years. No newcomer can compete with that. Riders participate in the little 'uns with nothing else in mind besides preparation for the real ones.

Oh, and do you think these guys really like blowing an entire day traveling, competing in a different time zone with jet lag, hauling all their crap overseas, and blowing another entire day traveling back home? I'm sure they say they enjoy the experience.

There's plenty of Eurotrash among the European prestige. If you wish to use history as a guide to prestige then the Melbourne to Warrnambool race has been held since 1895. You have a rather conceited Eurocentric view of the world. Europe could collapse tomorrow so perhaps you need to broaden your horizons?

 

[greenedge]

@Fatclimber if Aussies and Americans can do it i'm sure you Europeans can.

 

[greenedge]

Totally irrelevant and off-topic, but imo it's the Premier League.

I actually never heard of it being called the EPL.

A lot of people do call it that though. Australia does at least and a lot of people in Norway call it that as well.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Totally irrelevant and off-topic, but imo it's the Premier League.

I actually never heard of it being called the EPL.

me neither and I'm from the netherlands

 

[movingtarget]

Different not better.

TDU is the first race of the season for many riders and fans alike. It has never tried to be what it is not. It is well run, otherwise no teams would turn up and race.

California on the other hand is an artificially hyped race. Well run? Not that well on the evidence of the first stage this year, IMO. Doesn't help that they keep trying to expand it to "GT" level.

Essentially ToC has ideas above its station, TDU knows and is happy with its lot.

They are totally different races. I actually liked the TOC this year and it surely wasn't hyped any more than the Colorado Tour which was nowhere near as good. I agree that the TDU is a good early season race and if they have better funding than comparable races in Europe so be it. It is a shame though regarding the many old European races which were good races and have now disappeared due to funding problems.

 

[dlwssonic]

Actually I can't wait for this race.
GVA for the win

 

[Fatclimber]

There's plenty of Eurotrash among the European prestige. If you wish to use history as a guide to prestige then the Melbourne to Warrnambool race has been held since 1895. You have a rather conceited Eurocentric view of the world. Europe could collapse tomorrow so perhaps you need to broaden your horizons?

There's plenty more to history and prestige than simply how long it's been around. That looks like a fantastic event and probably has a lot of local history buy I do not recognize a single name on the winner's list. This is probably the biggest contributor to prestige, the caliber of rider attending. Also, whether or not quality riders are going for the win. TOC was a perfect example of this, only 2 contenders acutally capable and attempting to win it. To everyone else, just a means to an end.

Broadening one's horizons is always a good thing. I have only attended the TOC as far as professional races go. It is within driving distance. The funny thing is that even if Europe collapsed tomorrow, bike racing would carry on. You say conceited(ironic since I'm not European, been there once tho), I say realistic. Tell me one other race outside of Europe which carries the prestige of MSR? Or even Amstel or Fleche? Winning a race that Merckx won years ago >>>>>>>>> winning a race that has only been existance a few years where Levi Leipheimer won it

 

[Fatclimber]

@Fatclimber if Aussies and Americans can do it i'm sure you Europeans can.

You are falsely accusing me, I live in the U.S. And yes, the combined dozen or so professionals from the U.S. and Aus do it. However, what percentage of them have homes in Europe? Europe is the world center of cycling, bottom line.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

There's plenty more to history and prestige than simply how long it's been around. That looks like a fantastic event and probably has a lot of local history buy I do not recognize a single name on the winner's list. This is probably the biggest contributor to prestige, the caliber of rider attending. Also, whether or not quality riders are going for the win. TOC was a perfect example of this, only 2 contenders acutally capable and attempting to win it. To everyone else, just a means to an end.

Broadening one's horizons is always a good thing. I have only attended the TOC as far as professional races go. It is within driving distance. The funny thing is that even if Europe collapsed tomorrow, bike racing would carry on. You say conceited(ironic since I'm not European, been there once tho), I say realistic. Tell me one other race outside of Europe which carries the prestige of MSR? Or even Amstel or Fleche? Winning a race that Merckx won years ago >>>>>>>>> winning a race that has only been existance a few years where Levi Leipheimer won it

you are too hard on bottle come on now, give him some love on thanksgiving

 

[greenedge]

Actually I can't wait for this race.
GVA for the win

you're back!

Sort of quiet when GVA went well at PT.

Ok sry @FatClimber

 

[richtea]

so let's say that the impact of wt/...an clearly have no idea what they are doing).

 

[thehog]

i'm too infrequent a visitor to know whether you're trolling or actually are short a chromosome or two so i'll play along.

do college football fans tend to stay in hotels for a week, eating out at restaurants, rent cars and the like around each game?

the figure i gave was for what the linky-link termed "event specific visitors" and gave a figure

and by the way, congrats on making it to the uk, i recall it being real tough to get the visa. you must be something special so i s'pose we'll all have to defer to your expert opinion on whether to call it "epl" or "premier league".

But I don't live in the UK.... again I'm not sure what point you guys are making. You're just showing prejudice thinking I'm British or that I live there.

Back on point - College fans go nuts and yes they do stay in hotels up to 4 days sometimes a week at a time. As the US is so big they break the games into conferences then the top teams from each conference plays each other - so there's a lot of travel all over the country with the fans traveling through the states. The season is almost 7 months long and there are games all over the country and the players only get basic exspenses paid. They are superheroes in this country - getting to a point that the college games are bigger than the NFL.

You see my point.... The TDU is being propped by the government with a jig from Santos. Reailty says the tax payer got bummed. It's a celebrity race at best. Not even a post Tour criterium where the winner is preselected is ridicoulous as the TDU.

 

[Nielsa]

The season is almost 7 months long and there are games all over the country and the players only get basic exspenses paid. They are superheroes in this country - getting to a point that the college games are bigger than the NFL.

And this is why we don't need more sponsorship money in cycling. Higher athlete wages and logistics/admin overhead doesn't necessarily result in a better sport for the fans.

If the majority of WT teams reduce their budget to the Cofidis level (I've seen 6M €?) it just means some currently overpaid riders will have to take a reality check. If there are a few teams left with 12-15M budgets, whatever. Would guys like Mollema, Cunego, Rolland and JVDB choose a higher wage at Sky so they could domestique for Froome for their rest of their careers? I don't think so but if they do, good riddance to them, and the other teams will find other riders to be their leaders.

 

[mybikecoach.blogspot.com]

A good race to be ready for the races in March and April

 

[9000ft]

Is the TDU ridiculous? I don't know, why don't you ask the folks who actually participate in it? Seems the teams like it for what it is and the fans like it and the area likes the commerce it brings.

One thing is for sure, don't ask guys like Hog or Bro, nothing is good enough for them.

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

I like the TDU. It distracts me from the awfulness of January. I don't take the racing all that seriously... but there are always a few guys going well enough to make watching interesting enough... for January.

Similar to the Canadian World Tour races, I suspect the event is a much more meaningful racing experience for the roadside fan, compared to the majority of guys actually racing.

 

[the delgados]

Fifteen pages? Really?
The TDU is no more ridiculous than any other bike race.

 

[BroDeal]

Is the TDU ridiculous? I don't know, why don't you ask the folks who actually participate in it? Seems the teams like it for what it is and the fans like it and the area likes the commerce it brings.

One thing is for sure, don't ask guys like Hog or Bro, nothing is good enough for them.

Still smarting after Colorado turned out to be a steaming pile, just like we predicted. Don't worry. Maybe by this time next year you will have gotten over it.