Post GT criteriums and showboat cycling

[L'arriviste]

Riders get paid to turn up and "race" and the big names come out in their GC and competition jerseys and "win".

You know the drill: nth category local boy breaks away and duels it out with the last week's fresh-as-a-daisy TdF winner. It's the closest thing pro-cycling has to pro-wrestling.

So I'm curious to know: do you enjoy these types of kermesses and criteriums even if there isn't really a genuine competitive element? Have you raced one or more yourself? What's involved in riding just to put on a show?

 

[IE_Sprinter]

Ivan Basso WON a criterium.....

That is all.....

 

[Barnaby]

Ivan Basso WON a criterium.....

That is all.....

.......... but he didn't mean to. He was just considering it.

 

[tgsgirl]

I don't see the problem. Riders know it's fixed, fans know it's fixed but are simply happy to see their heroes turn circles around their churchtower. Innocent fun for all.

 

[L'arriviste]

I don't see the problem. Riders know it's fixed, fans know it's fixed but are simply happy to see their heroes turn circles around their churchtower. Innocent fun for all.

And it's not a problem, it just aroused my curiosity Watching a race that is really an exhibition seems unusual to me, though not in a negative way. I just wondered what other people thought.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I see little difference between this and Lance and Óscar Pereiro popping off the front in the Jayco Bay Classic or whatever that pre-TDU crit was called. Just a chance to get to see a bunch of your heroes, several times cos it's a crit, in a non-serious atmosphere, which means they're more likely to be smily happy and talk to you.

 

[Notso Swift]

Actually I think it is very different to those races, because they are not fixed in their result they are hard fought, yes the mid race animation may(often is) pre-determined for entertainment value, but the final sprint is full on.
With these I think the above analogy to Pro Wrestling is perfect, everyone knows the script.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

But the point is that the Herald Bay Sun Crit may be fought for by the riders, the fans aren't really there to see the Herald Bay Sun Crit be fought for. They're there to see the riders. More people were interested in seeing Lance and Cadel than were interested in seeing whether Sutton or Greipel would win the sprint. Many of them couldn't care less about that. With these Kermessen it's just a case of taking the competitive aspect out of it because nobody wants to see these riders get injured. It's all a bit of a laugh, the fans get to see their heroes, the predetermined outcome ensures no local pro goes ballistic and causes a crash, and everyone goes home happy.

 

[avanti]

And it's not a problem, it just aroused my curiosity Watching a race that is really an exhibition seems unusual to me, though not in a negative way. I just wondered what other people thought.

Why not? In the USA they have pre-season baseball and American Football games (AKA exibition games) - I'm sure top players are not exerting themselves to avoid injury.
Also tennis has exibition games.

 

[andy88]

well watching a race is the most exciting thing i can think of ..bring it on
------------
motorcycle parts

 

[Teddler]

But the point is that the Herald Bay Sun Crit may be fought for by the riders, the fans aren't really there to see the Herald Bay Sun Crit be fought for. They're there to see the riders. More people were interested in seeing Lance and Cadel than were interested in seeing whether Sutton or Greipel would win the sprint. Many of them couldn't care less about that. With these Kermessen it's just a case of taking the competitive aspect out of it because nobody wants to see these riders get injured. It's all a bit of a laugh, the fans get to see their heroes, the predetermined outcome ensures no local pro goes ballistic and causes a crash, and everyone goes home happy.

Just to clarify you mean the TDU Cancer Classic not the Bay Crit which is a completely different race in a different state. And while people are there to see the big names the racing is generally pretty exciting.

Very different to the post GT crits which are a bit of a waste but i suppose are good for local fans.

 

[L'arriviste]

I started this thread because, having seen the Basso "win" the other day, I asked myself would I go and watch these crits?

I decided I would without hesitation, but then I couldn't answer my next question which was, would it be different to watching other races? I guess I should go see one and find out, but I wanted to read what others who had attended or ridden them thought.

I'm glad folks here have mentioned exhibition events in other sports. Connors/McEnroe would always be more fun than, say, Graf/Navratilova because they could play the audience. But if winning every point doesn't help you stay in a tournament, do you bring your full game? Is it then a real 'exhibition'?

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

Here in NL there are hundreds of competitive criteriums each year, usually on demanding circuits incorporating cobblestones, tight corners and often crosswinds.

At elite level they are a total painfest, and there are numerous specialists who can really put the hurt on the peloton and dominate. Often in the first 15 minutes there are multiple abandons.

There is one guy who clearly has the talent to be a pro rider, but doesn't like "The Classics" and can take home 30k per year in prize money doing something that's easy for him - like lapping the entire peloton on his own in the first 30 mins, then sitting in and calculating just how much he is winning each time a sprint prime comes up.

I'd love to see the professionals riding a proper competitive crit on a demanding Dutch style circuit. Not one of those high speed technically undemanding US ones....

I was hoping to see some technical and brutal urban racing in last years Giro stage that Lance didn't like and insisted they neutralised it.

 

[L'arriviste]

Here in NL there are hundreds of competitive criteriums each year, usually on demanding circuits incorporating cobblestones, tight corners and often crosswinds.

At elite level they are a total painfest...

I rode crits as a youth in Britain - that's all they allowed you to do in those days, up to 42x14 I think it was. In my last year I was good enough to get selected for international races.

At that age, the sometimes enormous physical differences between individual kids that level out a bit in adulthood were still rather apparent. In the youth peloton, riding with young Dutchmen was like standing in a field of sunflowers: they blocked out the sun. I barely held my own in the end, coming 9th in the prologue and sixth in the criterium itself against B teams from the continent. I knew that day I would never be good enough for the European circuit.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Just to clarify you mean the TDU Cancer Classic not the Bay Crit which is a completely different race in a different state. And while people are there to see the big names the racing is generally pretty exciting.

Very different to the post GT crits which are a bit of a waste but i suppose are good for local fans.

On misidentifying the race, correction cheerfully noted.

But is the racing really exciting? As has been alluded to before, Tour winners like Armstrong and Pereiro breaking away in a criterium is more showboating than trying to win. It's usually pre-arranged and they will have been rewarded handsomely for it. It's just like when the Vuelta péloton let Bingen Fernández sit 30 seconds ahead of them all for the first lap of the Madrid circuit because he was retiring. In reality it's only the last few laps that mean anything, and as the race has no bearing on the TDU and the big stars, who people have come to see, are not at risk, so they leave it as an open competition.

In the Cancer Classic this leads to some quite exciting racing because you have neo-pros and new teams in their first races and wanting to make a good impression (see Sky and Radioshack this year), and there's a bit of bragging rights at stake as it precedes the first major(ish) race of the new season. But with the post-GT Kermessen the bragging rights have already been achieved, at the GT. Some of the courses are not as safe as the nice, wide, open streets of Adelaide either. There's no sense in risking the riders, and it's like a carnival atmosphere. If you've ever been to a testimonial match in soccer, rugby or the like, then it's akin to that.

 

[M Sport]

I think you're slightly of on a tangent, Libertine Seguros. But hey we each have different opinions.

On the topic, I wouldn't even bother to open the race (and I use that term loosely) report of a post GT crit. Like someone else mentioned, they are just for show, like Pro Wrestling.

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

I rode crits as a youth in Britain - that's all they allowed you to do in those days, up to 42x14 I think it was. In my last year I was good enough to get selected for international races.

At that age, the sometimes enormous physical differences between individual kids that level out a bit in adulthood were still rather apparent. In the youth peloton, riding with young Dutchmen was like standing in a field of sunflowers: they blocked out the sun. I barely held my own in the end, coming 9th in the prologue and sixth in the criterium itself against B teams from the continent. I knew that day I would never be good enough for the European circuit.

A crit is all about how selective the circuit is. You need some tight corners for the accordion effect to kick in right from the off. It's amazing the difference in effort if you are at the front and can cruise round the corners without braking, or if you are at the back and you alsmost come to a complete standstill before having to spring out of the turn and go from 10-55 kph 4 times per lap on a 70 lap race....

Those US style parking lot crits are much easier to ride in.

 

[L'arriviste]

A crit is all about how selective the circuit is. You need some tight corners for the accordion effect to kick in right from the off...

I never experienced the "fête" aspect of a crit, but plenty of the exhilaration of riding one.

The British public was often bemused as to why a bunch of folks in bright lycra were flying bikes around their town centres. Sometimes they were angry because it was harder to get to the store or because the roads were closed.

All of these crits were nevertheless real and competitive.

I lost a crit once because an old lady just walked out onto the course with her freezer store bags like nothing was different to any other day of the week. She didn't see me until we were both chewing tar.

I won a crit that the organisers in their infinite wisdom had routed through a bus station. Corners and chicanes full of oil slicks from parked buses.

 

[TRDean]

A crit is all about how selective the circuit is. You need some tight corners for the accordion effect to kick in right from the off. It's amazing the difference in effort if you are at the front and can cruise round the corners without braking, or if you are at the back and you alsmost come to a complete standstill before having to spring out of the turn and go from 10-55 kph 4 times per lap on a 70 lap race....

Those US style parking lot crits are much easier to ride in.

WOW...your descriptions bring back lots of memories, and pain from my time in the Netherlands!! Coming from the States in the late 80's I remember going to my first crit...thinking, how hard can it really be??? I found out quickly!! It was like a 1K course with cobbles (bricks) and 6 turns. It was brutal from the gun!! I hated it and was a DNF after about 10 laps. I did learn...and got decent in the crits (which are not my strong point). As you said...my results inproved dramatically when I got to the front part of the peleton in the first laps...and stayed there!!

Thanks for the journey back in time!!

 

[Mongol_Waaijer]

WOW...your descriptions bring back lots of memories, and pain from my time in the Netherlands!! Coming from the States in the late 80's I remember going to my first crit...thinking, how hard can it really be??? I found out quickly!! It was like a 1K course with cobbles (bricks) and 6 turns. It was brutal from the gun!! I hated it and was a DNF after about 10 laps. I did learn...and got decent in the crits (which are not my strong point). As you said...my results inproved dramatically when I got to the front part of the peleton in the first laps...and stayed there!!

Thanks for the journey back in time!!

Dutch crits are also great to watch. It's single file and pain faces all the way.

Lots of lucrative post tour crits are run on these circuits, and often there is an elite/espoir race before the pro exhibition. The amateurs actually "race" it and really hurt each other hurtling around. then the pros ride around following a script.

 

[L'arriviste]

Riders get paid to turn up and "race" and the big names come out in their GC and competition jerseys and "win".

You know the drill: nth category local boy breaks away and duels it out with the last week's fresh-as-a-daisy TdF winner. It's the closest thing pro-cycling has to pro-wrestling.

So I'm curious to know: do you enjoy these types of kermesses and criteriums even if there isn't really a genuine competitive element? Have you raced one or more yourself? What's involved in riding just to put on a show?

Resurrecting my own old thread so I can answer my own questions.

Why? Well, last night I went to the Natour Criterium at Sint Niklaas, which featured A Schleck, Cancellara, Basso, Vino (before his mad rush down to San Sebastian) and Van Den Broeck, amongst others.

I've decided that showboat cycling is great for these reasons:

1. Photos are easier to take. Nobody's riding so fast, so you can do OK on a lower shutter speed etc.

2. The riders passed by no less than thirty times. That's quite an eyeful.

3. It's free entry and the beer's excellent.

Rest of the pics and a bit of text at my own site if you're interested! I'd definitely go again - it was a nice evening's entertainment.

 

[avanti]

And it's not a problem, it just aroused my curiosity Watching a race that is really an exhibition seems unusual to me, though not in a negative way. I just wondered what other people thought.

This happens in other sports also including tennis and volleyball and the biggies (in the USA) are football and baseball pre-season games (a player is not going to risk serious injury before the real season starts according to a retired pro footballer in my bike club)

 

[RedsharkO]

Crits well, is pain incarnated. I did my best crit last year. I ended 5th and trowing up. 20 laps to a 4k circuit with 2 hairpin turns. I managed to get my self into the brakeaway, so we keep hurting to each other for the entire 80kms. Was really fun, but also too painful.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Post tour criteriums are the biggest jokes in cycling. Last year, I think VDB2 beat Ale jet in a sprint and you have climbers in their leaders jerseys sprinting it out.

 

[Denkoff]

It real races, or it show?