Journalists vote athlete of the year 2010 - no cyclist makes it into the first 22!

[roundabout]

Which sporting events do 'journalists' have more fun at?

F1 with the freebies, beers and girls

Cycling with the vittel, cycling journalist parasites and 'girls'


You do the math

Nah, you should read some of the whining from F1 "journalists" about not being able to travel first class or having to pay for the travels themselves even when they don't represent any publication.

 

[bobbins]

Nah, you should read some of the whining from F1 "journalists" about not being able to travel first class or having to pay for the travels themselves even when they don't represent any publication.

I've heard the moans of cycling journalists. There is a reason Specialized throw bikes at cycling magazines, they love a freebie. Free bikes have furnished one particular editors house!

 

[Dutchsmurf]

But what was Vettel's achievement?

Being the youngest F1 champion ever probably ranks you higher than a normal F1 champion.

About no cyclists making it into the top 22, well, who would you put in it? Contador who is half banned already? Only Cancellara maybe, but he wasn't that dominant in his sport that he should rank very high in my opinion.

How do you get 758 votes with only 515 people voting btw?

 

[simo1733]

Many may disagree with me here but I don't really classify any competition that has a motor in it as a sport. I will probably get hounded down but just my view.

I think F1 is definately a sport and the drivers are certainly fit but they are just not world class athletes.

 

[The Hitch]

Many may disagree with me here but I don't really classify any competition that has a motor in it as a sport. I will probably get hounded down but just my view.

I think F1 is definately a sport and the drivers are certainly fit but they are just not world class athletes.

Both good points. Im somewhere between these 2. I will however say that i see proffesional wrestling as far more a sport than f1. Its requires more athletic ability, and at least in recent years, is far less fixed

 

[neineinei]

How is Ole Einer Bjørndalen 7th? He wasn't even the best in biathlon this season, and the best, Emil Hegle Svendsen, isn't even on the list (Emil had an olympic gold and silver in addition to winning the worldcup overall + a couple of wins, Ole Einar just had olympic silver and a couple of wins). Clearly, this list is just rubbish.

Also ridiculous that Marit Bjørgen isn't on the list, with 3 olympic golds, 1 bronze, 1 silver and she has won 10 world cup races in a row.

Clearly the journalists vaguely remembered that there had been a Winter Olympics this year, so they felt obliged to add some winter sport stars. And as they follow alpine skiing they remembered Janka, Riesch and Vonn for their medals. Bjørndalen must have been around so long now that they have learned to write his name (sort of) and thus he can be used as the token winter sports star. Simon Ammann had a brilliant year. He won both the large and the normal hill in the Olympics + the world championship in ski flying + the world cup. Still he isn't on the list while Bjørndalen with a failed season is at number 7. That's just silly.

 

[soOpOSMthanks!]

It's a shame to see some of the opinions of motorsport on this forum, ironic too, people saying/thinking that it's not a sport and that it's just driving fast as possible in circles; sounds mildly familiar doesn't it? I don't think many of you know and/or understand the physical and mental strains race drivers have to endure. It's quite tasking in both aspects. Have you ever had that "rush" and anxiety feeling when you want to make a lane change but you aren't too sure you can make it but you HAVE to, but you have to do it right without causing harm to you and the car coming up behind you? Now do that at high speeds, whilst coming into a tight hairpin. Over and over again. Not the greatest example maybe, but let me tell you from experience...dealing with passing, keeping line, keeping line off line, counteracting understeer/oversteer, constant 100+ mph/kph speeds etc. are VERY stressful situations. That's just the mental side. Physically, you deal with cabin temps (closed top cars), cramped little cockpits, being harnessed at 5 points; wearing a nomex suit, helmet, and HANS device, constant G's being thrown at you, modulation of throttle and braking, shifting, etc. Believe me, physical fatigue exists in motorsports, and to mention you have to be pretty fit as well; you can't just be a lardo, maybe not as fit as cyclists need be...but you get it.

I speak of this at a personal club/weekend racer level. Now amplify it hundred fold for professionals (don't even get me started on rally and endurance events). Racing a car, ladies and gentlemen, is not much more different from racing a bike. Same sh*t, different day. They "just drive" around, we "just bike" around.

 

[The Hitch]

It's a shame to see some of the opinions of motorsport on this forum, ironic too, people saying/thinking that it's not a sport and that it's just driving fast as possible in circles; sounds mildly familiar doesn't it? I don't think many of you know and/or understand the physical and mental strains race drivers have to endure. It's quite tasking in both aspects. Have you ever had that "rush" and anxiety feeling when you want to make a lane change but you aren't too sure you can make it but you HAVE to, but you have to do it right without causing harm to you and the car coming up behind you? Now do that at high speeds, whilst coming into a tight hairpin. Over and over again. Not the greatest example maybe, but let me tell you from experience...dealing with passing, keeping line, keeping line off line, counteracting understeer/oversteer, constant 100+ mph/kph speeds etc. are VERY stressful situations. That's just the mental side. Physically, you deal with cabin temps (closed top cars), cramped little cockpits, being harnessed at 5 points; wearing a nomex suit, helmet, and HANS device, constant G's being thrown at you, modulation of throttle and braking, shifting, etc. Believe me, physical fatigue exists in motorsports, and to mention you have to be pretty fit as well; you can't just be a lardo, maybe not as fit as cyclists need be...but you get it.

I speak of this at a personal club/weekend racer level. Now amplify it hundred fold for professionals (don't even get me started on rally and endurance events). Racing a car, ladies and gentlemen, is not much more different from racing a bike. Same sh*t, different day. They "just drive" around, we "just bike" around.

1 So does that mean Vettel should automatically be named one of the top 4 sportsmen in the world?

2 No one denies its hard. We are saying that its not as hard as other sports. Every sport is hard. But in every other sport its ALL up to the athlete. THere are NO headstarts given to you. Also note that i would be much more content with the Le Mans 24 hour champion getting 4th in the world than i am with an f1 champion.

3 Stamina is a requirment and NOT what the drivers are judged on. Also judging by the fact that the top cars very consistantly get the top results, i would say that skill is also a requirment and Not neceseraly what the athletes are judged on. Once you have your 22 world class drivers the main variable becomes the cars. Have you ever seen a f1 driver lose a race because he had slightly to little to drink?

Its like telling cyclists they need to be able to complete a 10k time trial in 14 minutes. Everyone capable of doing that goes in to a pool and is then assigned motors of varying speeds and weights and self destruct capabilities. THe person who is given the best motor then wins the championship and is automatically made one of the top 4 or 2 best ATHLETES in the WHOLE WORLD.

4 and this is the main point. F1 may be hard. But so are a lot of other harder sports. You mention the dificulties of going 100mph on a track. Well what about the dificulties of doing 3000 km in 21 days. Of climbing a brutal mountain, pushing the body to the limit, then immediately, barely concious going down a descent at 90km/h where there are no tyres to soften the blow nor a big space before them to slow the bike down. The dificulties of essentially sprinting 42 km. THe difficulties of sking up and down hills for 50 km at very high speeds. The difficulty of doing that and stopping half way to shoot very difficult targets, which can throw away all your effort. The difficulties of fighting for 12 rounds. I think the case that these sports as well as many others are far more difficult than f1 is easily made.

No one is saying f1 is a piece of cake. But there are 100's of other world champions and olympic gold medalists out there who did more than Vettel and whos sports are more difficult than Vettels.

So the question is what did Vettel do that all those others didnt.

And the answer seems to be that his sport has more money in it. Or can you offer a different answer?

 

[El Pistolero]

Does anyone take F1 seriously? Sure it's a demanding sport, but it's mostly for rich boys anyway. The best car and technical team usually wins, not the best driver.

 

[The Hitch]

Does anyone take F1 seriously?

This whole discussion is pretty much me and a few others complaing that f1 is taken far far far more seriously than cycling ever was, ever is or ever will be.

For every 1 person who has heard of Alberto Contador there are 10 who have heard of Fernando Alonso. Outside america Lances comeback was meh, but Schumachers comeback was the biggest thing in the world. Fabio Casartellis death didnt get as much press as Massas crash, which was the main story in this country at the time.

When Contador won the Tour de France this year i was at the airport the next day so i saw all the newspapers from around the world. In all of them ONE SINGLE F1 race was the MAIN sports story and Contador winning the BIGGEST THING IN cycling was a secondary story.

You see that. 1 17th of their season is worth more than our Main event.

The only thing we have going for us is more active participants and bigger crowds but ultimately it seems being the number 1 cyclist in the world isnt as big as being the number 10 f1 driver.

 

[nobilis]

You see that. 1 17th of their season is worth more than our Main event.

it's even 1/19th now. So drivers have now less and less rest days between each event. I wonder what they do during these days since the F1 testing during the season is not allowed now.

The only thing we have going for us is more active participants and bigger crowds but ultimately it seems being the number 1 cyclist in the world isnt as big as being the number 10 f1 driver.

We have bigger crowds because people can watch for free, as for F1, tickets are very expensive and despite that, the circuits are full, only to watch cars passing at 300km/h in a small section of the circuit.
I don't recall who, but recently there has been a suggestion to make people pay to watch cycling. That would definitely be destructive to the sport.

 

[The Hitch]

it's even 1/19th now. So drivers have now less and less rest days between each event. I wonder what they do during these days since the F1 testing during the season is not allowed now.

You talking about doping?

We have bigger crowds because people can watch for free, as for F1, tickets are very expensive and despite that, the circuits are full, only to watch cars passing at 300km/h in a small section of the circuit.
I don't recall who, but recently there has been a suggestion to make people pay to watch cycling. That would definitely be destructive to the sport.

Id say its pretty expensive to drive/ fly into the French Alps, then get to Alpe d huez and find a spot there and wait for about a day to catch a glimpse of the top guys for about 20 seconds then watch the grupeto come in for half an hour and face a long journey home.

Its not like the hundreds of thousands there in 2004 all lived in the village at the top

For many thats just as expensive as watching an f1 race and certainatly takes up more effort.

 

[nobilis]

You talking about doping?

No, drivers used to test the car during the season, in order to make improvements on the car. Now it's only allowed in the off-season.

Id say its pretty expensive to drive/ fly into the French Alps, then get to Alpe d huez and find a spot there and wait for about a day to catch a glimpse of the top guys for about 20 seconds then watch the grupeto come in for half an hour and face a long journey home.

Its not like the hundreds of thousands there in 2004 all lived in the village at the top

For many thats just as expensive as watching an f1 race and certainatly takes up more effort.

Yeah true. As for me, I got the opportunity to watch them at the Champs Elysees when i used to live in Paris but it's not as fun as watching a mountain stage. It's actually similar to watching a F1 race.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

I can't think of a single cyclist I would rank in the top 20 of athletes of the year. You can argue all you want about Vettel, but the fact is he did something special. He is the youngest F1 champion ever. F1 happens to be a sport that gets lots of attention, so that gets you a high result.

Cycling is a sport without stars. Contador, Cancellara? Great cyclists, but hardly marketing for your sport. No matter if you liked Armstrong or not, he was a start. A living billboard, no matter if the board was tainted or not. As a result of that, cycling isn't even mentioned for the Laureus Sportsman Award. Armstrong in his prime got nominated a couple years. Now nobody stands out. Cycling compared to other sports at the moment is a bit like the rabobus. It is good, but it ends just outside the spotlights.
On the other hand you have Nadal, Messi and Vettel. Not only successful athletes, but more than that. They are idols. Vettel is a young guy racing fast cars and winning too. Guys want to be him, girls want to be with him. He is a better looking guy in a sport more people watch and is winning it at an incredible young age. And the sport also happens to be something more people can relate too.

And for the women, well... Lindsey Vonn might not have had the best year, but she happens to look great in bikini...

 

[Fester]

No cyclist deserves to be in the top 22. Maybe Cancelara. Contador would have been a top five without this Clenbuterol thing. Cycling might be cleanish compared to other sports, but it's still rife with corruption. And it's reflected in it's popularity...

Remove the suits, return the sport to the athletes. Maintain dope controls as they are (rigorous), but change the perspective to health rather than nanograms of a substance and things will be improve.

 

[The Hitch]

I can't think of a single cyclist I would rank in the top 20 of athletes of the year. You can argue all you want about Vettel, but the fact is he did something special. He is the youngest F1 champion ever. F1 happens to be a sport that gets lots of attention, so that gets you a high result.

Cycling is a sport without stars. Contador, Cancellara? Great cyclists, but hardly marketing for your sport. No matter if you liked Armstrong or not, he was a start. A living billboard, no matter if the board was tainted or not. As a result of that, cycling isn't even mentioned for the Laureus Sportsman Award. Armstrong in his prime got nominated a couple years. Now nobody stands out. Cycling compared to other sports at the moment is a bit like the rabobus. It is good, but it ends just outside the spotlights.
On the other hand you have Nadal, Messi and Vettel. Not only successful athletes, but more than that. They are idols. Vettel is a young guy racing fast cars and winning too. Guys want to be him, girls want to be with him. He is a better looking guy in a sport more people watch and is winning it at an incredible young age. And the sport also happens to be something more people can relate too.

And for the women, well... Lindsey Vonn might not have had the best year, but she happens to look great in bikini...

How on earth is f1 something people can relate to compared to any other sport????

in the pre race interview thing only very rich and famous people are allowed to mingle with the drivers. THe drivers rarely get within 50 feet of fans and they drive cars none of the fans can ever dream of, and they earn as much money in a day as the fans get in a year.

As opposed to cycling where people can actually meet the cyclists, stand next to them on the roads, cycle on the same roads and get similar wages, and live similar lives.

As for the rest of your post your proving my point. Its about celebrity. Nothing to do with being athletes. If nike sponsors you and you appear in their adverts and on their billboards you thereby become a better athlete than someone more gifted than you. Its all about money. You should note that messi, and co dont become famous through the sheer strengh of their personality. They become famous thanks to all the other people, agents, advertising executives, ceos etc who organise and handle the negotiations, money, deals etc. All Messi does is get driven to the shoot and have a few piuctures taken.

No cyclist deserves to be in the top 22. Maybe Cancelara. Contador would have been a top five without this Clenbuterol thing. Cycling might be cleanish compared to other sports, but it's still rife with corruption. And it's reflected in it's popularity...

Remove the suits, return the sport to the athletes. Maintain dope controls as they are (rigorous), but change the perspective to health rather than nanograms of a substance and things will be improve.

You do realise all the other organisations are far far far more corrupt?

 

[Dutchsmurf]

How on earth is f1 something people can relate to compared to any other sport????

Because almost everyone can relate to driving as fast as possible. Many people have cars. Many people have felt the wish to go faster than they should. On the other hand, not many people have the wish to ride up a mountain as fast as possible.

Cyclists are easy to meet. That has its advantages. But also some disadvantages. Like it removes part of the mystery. It makes them look just like you and me. F1 we can only dream about (the fast cars, the women, being rich and famous), cycling looks like work. Almost like we could do it ourselves.

 

[nobilis]

Because almost everyone can relate to driving as fast as possible. Many people have cars. Many people have felt the wish to go faster than they should. On the other hand, not many people have the wish to ride up a mountain as fast as possible.

Cyclists are easy to meet. That has its advantages. But also some disadvantages. Like it removes part of the mystery. It makes them look just like you and me. F1 we can only dream about (the fast cars, the women, being rich and famous), cycling looks like work. Almost like we could do it ourselves.

I can't see how people with incredible physical abilities and a VO2max of at least 80, going uphill at incredible speeds are things that a normal person can feel like doing them himself.

 

[The Hitch]

Because almost everyone can relate to driving as fast as possible. Many people have cars. Many people have felt the wish to go faster than they should. On the other hand, not many people have the wish to ride up a mountain as fast as possible.

Cyclists are easy to meet. That has its advantages. But also some disadvantages. Like it removes part of the mystery. It makes them look just like you and me. F1 we can only dream about (the fast cars, the women, being rich and famous), cycling looks like work. Almost like we could do it ourselves.

Absolutely nothing here does anything to suggest that f1 is something we can all relate to. Its exactly the opposite, a world no one outside the ultra rich and famous can ever know.

And dont include me in this. You may want to be an f1 driver all you like, i dont. You may look up in awe at celebrity and the fact that these guys get to drive fast cars.

I see nothing special in that. I dont understand people who look up to celebrities and say "you are better than us".

 

[la.margna]

Apart form being a very hard outdoor sport that requires also tactics, talent and technique apart form endurance and force, alone the fact that you have to climb mountains at freezing cold (Giro d'Italia) or melting hot temperatures (Tour de France) within the exhaust fumes of motorbikes, noisy helicopters flying over you, and NUMEROUS MORONS SHOUTING IN YOUR EARS AND RUNNING IN FRONT OR NEXT TO YOUR BICYCLE should cause one or more cyclists to make it to the Top 20.

No pause in a protected or closed locker room. No lying down in the penalty box when you're tired trying to fake a penalty or freekick. No intervals between games and sets. No matter whether it rains or snows or heavy winds blow. No matter whether up or down or cobbles or strade bianche.

But as some mentioned more or less directly; for me, this result shows the complete failure of a corrupt UCI to take the sport to the level and public/media respect/attention it merits.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Clearly the journalists vaguely remembered that there had been a Winter Olympics this year, so they felt obliged to add some winter sport stars. And as they follow alpine skiing they remembered Janka, Riesch and Vonn for their medals. Bjørndalen must have been around so long now that they have learned to write his name (sort of) and thus he can be used as the token winter sports star. Simon Ammann had a brilliant year. He won both the large and the normal hill in the Olympics + the world championship in ski flying + the world cup. Still he isn't on the list while Bjørndalen with a failed season is at number 7. That's just silly.

Yes, this makes sense; Bjørndalen has been so good for so long that people will remember his name as somebody who a small group have been campaigning for more recognition for for years, so he gets mentioned while Svendsen (who beat him at the Olympics and in the World Cup) isn't. With Ammann you're comparing apples to oranges as biathlon and ski-jumping are different sports, but yes Ammann's year was brilliant; with Svendsen I'm comparing two people who directly compete against one another all season long, and Svendsen's had Bjørndalen's number all year.

Mind you, I should have recognised from that they put Bjørndalen's sport down as 'Nordic skiing' that they wouldn't know Svendsen. Yes, Bjørndalen occasionally competes in the XC, but not the Nordic combined. I guess all of the disciplines including XC are now lumped together as 'Nordic skiing'.

it's even 1/19th now. So drivers have now less and less rest days between each event. I wonder what they do during these days since the F1 testing during the season is not allowed now.


We have bigger crowds because people can watch for free, as for F1, tickets are very expensive and despite that, the circuits are full, only to watch cars passing at 300km/h in a small section of the circuit.

But are they? Certain races always sell out - Monza, Monte Carlo, Silverstone, Spa (especially now the French don't have a GP), Suzuka, Montréal - but they sold only 7,000 tickets for the Turkish GP a couple of years ago. Bahrain has had to import fans from elsewhere to fill stands, while China has bussed people in at their own expense to give the impression of a larger audience. This is part of the folly; these big nationally-funded venues are impressive but the sport isn't ingrained there, and these are often countries with a very clear rich-poor divide that means that the venues are white elephants for all but one weekend in the year.

And for the women, well... Lindsey Vonn might not have had the best year, but she happens to look great in bikini...

Say hello to Magdalena Neuner, winner of two Olympic golds and a silver, and an overall World Cup win including multiple disciplines:

She's more successful than Vonn, and if we accept the view that the press is shallow (which would justify placing Vonn ahead of Riesch when Riesch had the more successful year) she's not exactly an unattractive girl - in fact personally I think she's better-looking than Vonn. She is arguably the best woman in the world at her sport, and this has been shown with her best year to date in 2010.

Yet she isn't mentioned at all, while Vonn is 2nd. Why not? I assume that the downhill is more glamorous than the biathlon, same reason Sebastian Vettel's right up there in 4th, ahead of people who had better years than him.

It seems the selections are made with 'what sports are popular? Better include some winter Olympians... whose name do we remember from those?' - and that's why Vonn gets to be right up there. And part of the reason she is remembered is because of how she looks, part of it is because she's actually brilliant. Looks like "be in the right sport" is every bit as important as "be pretty", but both are essential...

 

[El Pistolero]

Well, there is one argument that can be made for Vettel. He's the youngest world champion in the sport and the F1 season was pretty exciting this year till the very end, so there was a lot more press attention than normally.

That's 2 arguments, but I guess I can't count.

 

[nobilis]

But are they? Certain races always sell out - Monza, Monte Carlo, Silverstone, Spa (especially now the French don't have a GP), Suzuka, Montréal - but they sold only 7,000 tickets for the Turkish GP a couple of years ago. Bahrain has had to import fans from elsewhere to fill stands, while China has bussed people in at their own expense to give the impression of a larger audience. This is part of the folly; these big nationally-funded venues are impressive but the sport isn't ingrained there, and these are often countries with a very clear rich-poor divide that means that the venues are white elephants for all but one weekend in the year.

Oh i didn't know that. Maybe yes, in countries where F1 has history that and where F1 and other motorsports are part of the culture, it might be different from the non-Western, developing countries with new circuits and where F1 is not really part of the culture

Say hello to Magdalena Neuner, winner of two Olympic golds and a silver, and an overall World Cup win including multiple disciplines:

She's more successful than Vonn, and if we accept the view that the press is shallow (which would justify placing Vonn ahead of Riesch when Riesch had the more successful year) she's not exactly an unattractive girl - in fact personally I think she's better-looking than Vonn. She is arguably the best woman in the world at her sport, and this has been shown with her best year to date in 2010.

Yet she isn't mentioned at all, while Vonn is 2nd. Why not? I assume that the downhill is more glamorous than the biathlon, same reason Sebastian Vettel's right up there in 4th, ahead of people who had better years than him.

It seems the selections are made with 'what sports are popular? Better include some winter Olympians... whose name do we remember from those?' - and that's why Vonn gets to be right up there. And part of the reason she is remembered is because of how she looks, part of it is because she's actually brilliant. Looks like "be in the right sport" is every bit as important as "be pretty", but both are essential...

You're a big fan of Neuner, aren't you? I think she just needs to improve her shooting and she will be very tough to beat in every race.
Physically, I prefer Vonn but that's not the subject here

Alpine skiing in general is actually more glamorous than nordic skiing, maybe because it's more widespread. People are not generally attracted by endurance sports because they connote with pain and suffering whereas alpine skiing for most is more thrilling

 

[Fester]

You do realise all the other organisations are far far far more corrupt?

Yes, point taken.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Oh i didn't know that. Maybe yes, in countries where F1 has history that and where F1 and other motorsports are part of the culture, it might be different from the non-Western, developing countries with new circuits and where F1 is not really part of the culture

In the traditional motorsport lands - France (though they have no GP, but they can guarantee 250,000 for the Le Mans 24hr and lots of French make the trek to the German, Monegasque, Spanish and Belgian GPs), Germany, Italy and Great Britain - they sell out pretty much every time; Germany has the big stars, Italy has the tifosi and Britain has the big stars and the teams' homes. Spain is in a good run of audiences at the moment because of Alonso, but traditionally has been more motorcycling-oriented. Japan go nuts for it, Canada has the motorsports history. Brazil has the history and stars and will always be a big draw. Belgium has one of the most popular circuits on the calendar, and since Robert Kubica arrived many Poles make the trek to the Hungaroring into their 'home' race.

The problem is really with the way the sport has sold out to the highest bidder; many of these high bidders don't have any motorsports infrastructure or home team/driver to get behind, and the cost of attending an event like F1 is beyond the means of much of the population in many moneyed developing countries. Hence a lot of them are reliant on tourism for much of the attendance figures.

You're a big fan of Neuner, aren't you? I think she just needs to improve her shooting and she will be very tough to beat in every race.
Physically, I prefer Vonn but that's not the subject here

Alpine skiing in general is actually more glamorous than nordic skiing, maybe because it's more widespread. People are not generally attracted by endurance sports because they connote with pain and suffering whereas alpine skiing for most is more thrilling

I am a big Neuner fan. I like pretty much all of the German team. Neuner is a lot of fun as a competitor because she is one of the best, but she has a fatal flaw (her shooting, especially from standing, is very unpredictable) which makes her unpredictable and thus makes the race entertaining - she could be a minute ahead coming into the final shoot and still throw it away, or she could be a minute behind and catch up cos her ski is so fast.

I'm interested to see how Miriam Gößner develops. She set the fastest course time in both the sprint and pursuit at Östersund, but her shooting is even worse than Neuner's. But considering they've lost a number of their big stars of late, the German biathlon team looks very strong for the future, both sexes included.

Alpine skiing is... well, if I'm honest, I just don't like it as a TV sport. I can see how it's more thrilling, more glamorous, but I find it more exciting to see the competitors face each other directly than just in time trial form. I like the subtle nuances of a more complex sport, such as when a biathlete has to trade off skiing slower for the last few metres to try to get their heart rate down, or take an extra few seconds over a shot while their competitors ride away around them so as to avoid rushing it and having to take a penalty loop. I like sports I can slowly be absorbed by then be gripped by. I will sit back and be gripped by the Nordic disciplines, but I get bored very quickly by Alpine. The problem is, I guess that makes me the minority, but then I'd also rather watch Le Mans than F1.