Jens Voigt threatens World Championship boycott

[rhubroma]

Actually, Motorola introduced radios in 1993. I was one of the first, if not the first, to write about how I felt they would negatively affect the sport. When I was at the Tour that same year, I got a pretty stern dressing down by the Team Motorola management. Motorola corporate execs had read what I wrote and were none too pleased.

ps - funny you should mention Phil Anderson. His teammates told me that he could read a race like no other. He's one person who never needed a race radio.

Indeed this is yet another example of how the corporate world is dictating the way in which our lives are to be lived.

Their gadgets, irrespective of their actual worth or benefits they provide, simply need to be sold. Anybody that thinks otherwise is simply branded a heretic by this establishment and risks being burned at the stake of modernity.

 

[Christian]

With last year's TdF and now this, Jens is proving himself not so much hardman as soft little girl.

Are you sure we're talking about the same Jens Voigt and the same TdF?

I'm more worried about his parenting:

"I support the idea that only painful experiences stick in your memory. If nobody will listen, we must make the experience pain filled, so people think: 'Ah, that hurt. Maybe we should listen next time.'"

 

[movingtarget]

Maybe Jens needs to retire. It's all a bit hysterical. The real reason is probably so they can hear that one of the Schleck's has fallen off again and they have to wait for them ...........again. How many people on a radio does it take to tell him got to the front or attack ! I don't think it improves safety that much. It's probably more because they are now so used to the radios that they have no tactical sense of their own. The older riders shouldn't need them at all. The younger riders obviously have become used to taking instructions as has Jens it seems........

 

[Angliru]

I recall an instance where Riis had radioed to AS to attack Contador during the Tour because they noticed that he was struggling as a result of his allergies. AS decided against it because he wanted to continue to ride conservatively at that point. That may have been the crucial difference that would've made "Chaingate" a non-issue but AS, using his "immense tactical brilliance" said no to his director, missing an opportunity to gain time on his rival.

 

[Frosty]

Although he doesnt mention it, Jens was involved in a nasty accident in 2009 where he crashed face first into the tarmac on a descent. I have no idea whether race-radios helped in that instance but maybe that shapes his thinking? Not sure about the not going to the world's idea though.

 

[hrotha]

Why is Leopard Trek already recognised as being really dirty team?

Connect the dots.

 

[Christian]

Connect the dots.

Like JV did?

 

[Christian]

Although he doesnt mention it, Jens was involved in a nasty accident in 2009 where he crashed face first into the tarmac on a descent. I have no idea whether race-radios helped in that instance but maybe that shapes his thinking? Not sure about the not going to the world's idea though.

Didn't really help cause he was at the front anyways. The only thing was that Riis didn't want to update the riders of Voigt's condition during the race, so Fränk had to ask a journalist after the stage whether he was alive

 

[GatorGene]

Let the riders have radios, radios that are controlled by the race organizers (or the UCI), and let those radios send and receive safety reports. Do not let the radios be used by the teams, and do not let the radios send or receive tactical information. Voila! Safety achieved, and boring racing done away with.

That wasn't so difficult, was it?

 

[Archibald]

every race should have the liggett/sherwin commentary fed through on their radios - the riders will soon get rid of their radios

 

[Cobblestoned]

Why is Leopard Trek already recognised as being really dirty team?

On CN ?
Dirty ? No the real problem. They just don't like them.
Actually, they don't have any problem with Team Leopard or it's riders, but they ride TREK bikes, and many riders used to talk to Lance and like him.

So CN-forum usual suspects hate them from beginning on.
I didn't expect this.
You should know that, because you are one of these one eyed hypocrites, a flag in the wind, too.
So why do you ask ?

I love those Americans. They just complain about ToC, ToC coverage, about Trek, about RS.
At least you are in patriotic love with Evans. Thats good and makes sense. lol

 

[funnytanlines]

i used to believe jens was a hardman. now he's just a schleck.

 

[Dewulf]

...while listening to Huey Lewis and the News. Powerful stuff.

i c wat u did there.

 

[Dewulf]

every race should have the liggett/sherwin commentary fed through on their radios - the riders will soon get rid of their radios

+50............

 

[benny61]

I gather you dont race Jaylew? If you do then you would know what I am talking about. They are Blatantly being coached from the car. Wish I could have a coach telling me everything, right down to when to attack while my greatest opponent is at the back of the group trying to eat. You dont even have to look back and see what is going on for yourself, brilliant!!!

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

It is stupid and mis-guided.

The whole notion of the radios as being about "safety" is just ridiculous.

Get rid of radios and put some interest and excitement back into cycling. It has become dull and predictable. Let the racers race.


This is dis-appointing coming from Jens.

exactly, as if hinault escaped death 700x a year back in the 80s

 

[76tradesman]

Difficult to believe this is truly about safety. Agree that this is managers wanting to be in control of the races. It's sad because as the sport becomes increasingly dull, they will likely start to lose fan base. I for one love the sport, but between the doping scandals and particularly boring racing, it's hardly worth following anymore.

How do these guys survive training rides? Do they all train with someone driving in front of them informing them of the road conditions ahead? I mean, if someone isn't telling them there is a hairpin coming at this bottom of this hill, how to they ever know to slow down and turn?

I say, give them the radios back and fans can boycott the boring, mundane races. One this I agree on is that the racers shouldn't have to risk their lives to provide entertaining racing, but Jens implying that there will be fatalities as a result of the radios being removed is silly and dramatic.

 

[76tradesman]

Ironic that the Leopard team is about going back to True Racing. That was an ambiguous statement at best. I would have definitely thought that going back to true racing would have meant eliminating the race radios? Maybe it just meant going back to the old 'training' ways...?

 

[Altitude]

It was by far the most dangerous thing I have ever done. Unsupervised drug use, re-injecting my own blood and amphetamine use all pale into insignificance when compared to the life threatening choices I made that fateful day.

.

Don't forget descending at 80km/h with no hands on the bars. Jens knows all about that.

 

[VeloFidelis]

A bunch of cycling Nerds like ourselves, who most likely spend more time on this Forum than actually riding, expressing dismissive opinions about safety issues raised by the riders, is like a bunch of men debating women's reproductive rights. What, if anything, except an uninformed opinion and a lack of experience can we possibly add to the argument?

The idea that cycling is going to return to some glory days of old without radios is pure fantasy. I stood roadside at my first TDF stages in 1972. I've spent time in a team car in Grand Tours. I've been paying attention for a while now, and radio communication is only one minor aspect in all the changes that cycling has gone through is recent decades. Removing them from the Pro Tour will not produce the nostalgic results that are espoused so often here in the Forum. And using U23 racing and other examples to support the argument is largely a moot point at the Pro level, which is why we all pay much more attention to it.

If the riders, the team management, and their sponsors all want radio communication in the peloton,(and they all do) then they should have it. They all have more invested in the success of pro cycling than we do. I hope they organize, push back against arbitrary rulings being imposed by outside influences, and take control of the conditions of their work place environment... just like you do at your job... right?

 

[Arnout]

Although he doesnt mention it, Jens was involved in a nasty accident in 2009 where he crashed face first into the tarmac on a descent. I have no idea whether race-radios helped in that instance but maybe that shapes his thinking? Not sure about the not going to the world's idea though.

Well, they actually had race radios back then...

Anyway, I hopes this helps this forum realize that Voigt is just a whining pussy and not some sort of superhero. Always has been too.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

exactly, as if hinault escaped death 700x a year back in the 80s

It takes more than a radio to save you from this:

http://www.ina.fr/sport/cyclisme/video/DVC7708054301/dauphine-libere-chute-de-bernard-hinault.fr.html

 

[Sanjūrō]

Surprised to hear this from Jens, but I think it's about his stated goal - to get Andy 1st on the TdF podium. Having race radio will help a strong team like Saxo [ed. Leopard-Trek] know when to put effort in and when to save their strength, giving them an easier win and a better chance of avoiding time losses. Please note, I say "tough cheddar" to that - I want to see the TdF raced, not managed.

+1

I'd be much happier if riders would simply come out and say it like it is - they want race radios for private communication with their team car and their riders to tactically control the race. Its not all about safety. They're using that, mostly, as a vehicle to make radios seem needed.

A good solution would be two-way race radio open to all riders and teams on a single channel. This way, safety issues can be addressed, race officials can make announcements and riders can get on the radio in case of an accident or safety concern. Then, leave the racing to actual racing. That's my hope. You'll see the fight continue though because this issue, safety, is not foremost in riders' and teams' minds, therefore this solution to them is not acceptible, which is why they are not talking about it.

Personally I'd love it if teams did not have tactical advantage from radio use. Racing would once again be more wide open.

Having said all this, Jens' comments really havent much teeth - riders arent going to boycott the Worlds, and, the radio issue will have been addressed before then. Its more about jockeying for rider strength and unity on the issue vs the UCI before the Tour begins.

I agree also that Jens' analogy really doesnt work. Its really overstated.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Someone should let Jens know that a lot of riders have actually died from doping. Maybe he should organize a boycott regarding riders shoving needles in their arms?

Oh wait....that's right, that's different. Just like journalists and their computers, that's just part of the job...

Talk about misguided priorities. If safety were really an issue (and honestly, I think it is to a degree), there are certainly work-arounds, say radios with limited communication. You don't hear much from the riders proposing meaningful solutions though.

Spot on.

It must be tough though having to mother the Schleck's.

 

[jaylew]

Oh, don't kid yourself. The riders have become patently addicted to this technology. And as was previously mentioned, it is blatant coaching from the team cars. Not make a big difference in the racing? How can you reason thus? Have you watched the sport over the past ten years?

So, because I'm not convinced by an argument, suddenly I don't watch cycling. My current and past girlfriends would strongly disagree with you. The word "obsessed" has been used by more than one.

I gather you dont race Jaylew? If you do then you would know what I am talking about. They are Blatantly being coached from the car.

Yes, I race. Perhaps that fact makes me sympathetic to the fact that the riders want them and appear to have no say at all in the matter. And I never said they aren't being coached from the car.

I've been reading arguments for and against this for the last few years on forums and websites. I simply haven't been convinced that doing away with radios will suddenly make the racing much more exciting to watch. It certainly could, and I've been paying attention to the no-radio races this year to see if it makes a big difference. I could be wrong, but I think the "ban radio" crowd might be disappointed that the racing doesn't all of a sudden become noticeably more enjoyable with them gone.

Btw, I'm not firmly in the "keep radios" camp. What I am firmly against is the complete elimination of communication between the riders and the team cars. The oft-mentioned one way radio could be the way to go, I'm not sure. Ultimately, I just want what's best for the sport overall, I'm just not convinced that banning radios is the way to go