Summer Games Paris 2024

[RedheadDane]

Ganna not racing this one because of Track is a bit o a bummer, but Viviani being selected for this to have an extra spot for track cycling is the bigger disgrace.

IOC's dumbfuck way of allotting spots is the biggest disgrace.

 

[SafeBet]

IOC's dumbfuck way of allotting spots is the biggest disgrace.

Thank you.

 

[red_flanders]

Is track a big deal outside of Belgium and Japan? I just wonder who else actually gives a crap. Honest question.

At the surface, and from a US perspective, seems like a LOT more people in the world participate in Enduro and Downhill mountain biking. Might be worth promoting those as Olympic sports. Maybe it's just me...

 

[King Of The Wolds]

3vthings

Is track a big deal outside of Belgium and Japan? I just wonder who else actually gives a crap. Honest question.

At the surface, and from a US perspective, seems like a LOT more people in the world participate in Enduro and Downhill mountain biking. Might be worth promoting those as Olympic sports. Maybe it's just me...

Track's a big deal in the UK. Hoy, Trott, Kenny, Archibald are pretty much household names.

 

[RedheadDane]

Is track a big deal outside of Belgium and Japan? I just wonder who else actually gives a crap. Honest question.

Think it's a pretty big deal in Italy...
Denmark too...

 

[Kwaremonster]

Is it though? I think trackcycling is a typical Olympic sport, we care because there is a gold on the line. Even eventing or sailing matters once every 4 years, purely for that reason.

 

[kingjr]

I've always loved the track events, downhill MTB is the kind of thing you do rather than watch.

 

[Penninepeddler]

Is track a big deal outside of Belgium and Japan? I just wonder who else actually gives a crap. Honest question.

At the surface, and from a US perspective, seems like a LOT more people in the world participate in Enduro and Downhill mountain biking. Might be worth promoting those as Olympic sports. Maybe it's just me...

In Britain track is still pretty serious. Must be ~30 tracks in the UK. Including 6-7 indoor. Most people who have ever ridden and like cycling have been on a track at some point... even if just messing about on an outdoor one.

Living in Denmark for a while seemed decent sized there... must be ~5-6 tracks for a population of 6 million.

Swiss I know also have a LOT of indoor velodromes given size.

Australia it must be very big given the amount of tracks I believe they have. Had some friends out there who are cyclists and they said they could not believe some cities had multiple velodromes.

 

[ManicJack]

At the surface, and from a US perspective, seems like a LOT more people in the world participate in Enduro and Downhill mountain biking. Might be worth promoting those as Olympic sports. Maybe it's just me...

Enduro and downhill racing participation is decreasing rapidly on a global scale. Both US and international organizations are considering making World Cup and national level events "fondo style" to attract a new revenue source. Riders outside of the top 30 in the world can no longer attract sponsors. Take a look at the start lists for Crank Worxs Enduro last week. Nobody there.

 

[ManicJack]

downhill MTB is the kind of thing you do rather than watch.

Exactly

 

[Valv.Piti]

Denmark is pretty serious about the track. So is Italy and GB.. you might even argue all of Italy's talents lately come out of the track, same for GB at some point 15-20 years ago. And thats also outside of Olympic years. I think in general track racing is held in pretty high regard in DK, probably mainly cause were quite good at it. I began to follow it last year at Worlds, and track definitely has a lot to add to the sport outside of just every 4th year. I know I was pleasently surprised actually following the events for the first time and I do think its the same for most Danish cycling fans at least.

 

[Sciatic]

IOC's dumbfuck way of allotting spots is the biggest disgrace.

That is it exactly. Really disrespecting road cycling.

 

[red_flanders]

I've always loved the track events, downhill MTB is the kind of thing you do rather than watch.

For me that's a hard disagree. That people do it is exactly what makes it compelling...to me. I'll never ride on the track. I don't know anyone who ever has, except one guy I raced with back in the 90's. Wheras mountain biking is something millions of people do around the world.

Thanks for the responses all. Good to hear about the differences in the sport's popularity in different countries. I suspected my US-centric POV was just that.

 

[SafeBet]

Italy doesn't give a damn about track cycling.
We have terrible infrastructures, no resources, very little media coverage.
The fact we are back to relevancy relies entirely upon an amazing coaching staff and a few elite athletes like Elia Viviani who kept riding track when everybody told them to focus on road cycling.
Incidentally that is the same coaching staff who's responsible for the growth of our two biggest talents on the road (Ganna and Milan). That's how good they are.

Nobody in Italy knows anything about track (or MTB, or CX) outside of the Olympics.

 

[ciranda]

In Britain track is still pretty serious. Must be ~30 tracks in the UK. Including 6-7 indoor. Most people who have ever ridden and like cycling have been on a track at some point... even if just messing about on an outdoor one.

Living in Denmark for a while seemed decent sized there... must be ~5-6 tracks for a population of 6 million.

Swiss I know also have a LOT of indoor velodromes given size.

Australia it must be very big given the amount of tracks I believe they have. Had some friends out there who are cyclists and they said they could not believe some cities had multiple velodromes.

there's two, track cycling doesn't register at all except for olympics 4000m

team for saturday is weaker, like Italy, because of the selection of Mørkøv for track reasons

 

[Sciatic]

I think our idea (or what we enjoy) as a good spectator sport does not mean it will be a popular Olympic sport.
Consider swimming, one of the 3 really big Olympic sports in terms of TV time and attention. A great sport to participate in, and a strong following from the many folks who were on swim teams as kids. But what does watching swimming consist of—a tiny amount of time when they’re in the water competing, when we can only see a fraction of what they’re doing. And lots of time zooming in as the enter the pool area, warm up in the start area, and then closeups of their beaming or sad faces after they lift their goggles. All the above is even more true for athletes who are particularly popular or very attractive. It’s all very photogenic and easily packaged for TV.
During the televised event, what are people most engaged with or cheering for? They cheering for the little national flag graphics trailing each swimmer.

 

[ManicJack]

That people do it is exactly what makes it compelling...to me. ... mountain biking is something millions of people do around the world.

Here in Colorado the lift access parks are getting busier and busier every year. They are all adding more terrain. Obviously more and more people are riding mtb, but I would guess on any given day, at any park, 99% of the riders couldn't name anyone that races, but a good portion could name an X Games type "influencer". Our Enduro series is down to 4 events including one in Taos, NM from 7 just 2 years ago. Racing is a dying breed.

 

[RedheadDane]

I think our idea (or what we enjoy) as a good spectator sport does not mean it will be a popular Olympic sport.

For me, the main issue is the fact that the IOC are fundamentally changing the way road cycling are usually done by only allowing 90 riders.
Could you imagine if they suddenly decided to only allow 16 players on the field during a football match?

 

[kingjr]

For me that's a hard disagree. That people do it is exactly what makes it compelling...to me. I'll never ride on the track. I don't know anyone who ever has, except one guy I raced with back in the 90's. Wheras mountain biking is something millions of people do around the world.

Thanks for the responses all. Good to hear about the differences in the sport's popularity in different countries. I suspected my US-centric POV was just that.

Yeah, it's probably still more popular over here in Germany. Tbh, I think it's the kind of sport that's only fun if you're good at it, otherwise you don't reach the speeds needed to make it exciting.

 

[red_flanders]

Here in Colorado the lift access parks are getting busier and busier every year. They are all adding more terrain. Obviously more and more people are riding mtb, but I would guess on any given day, at any park, 99% of the riders couldn't name anyone that races, but a good portion could name an X Games "influencer". Our Enduro series is down to 4 events including one in Taos, NM from 7 just 2 years ago. Racing is a dying breed.

Yeah I've heard about the demise of Enduro, and to be fair I don't watch it either. But I'm glued to the Downhill stuff. Weird that racing viewership and participation in the sport are on such different trajectories.

We had this massive boost in the number of people on the trails during the pandemic, but it's backed way off now. Maybe a bit above the previous norm, but not much.

What's different now is the predominance of eMTB on the trails.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

For me, the main issue is the fact that the IOC are fundamentally changing the way road cycling are usually done by only allowing 90 riders.
Could you imagine if they suddenly decided to only allow 16 players on the field during a football match?

Yeah, I think that's it. Real sports have their own events so they only allow gimmick versions in the Olympics.
I don't care about track and won't watch it in the Olympics, same with the ITTs. But at least those events seem Olympick-y. Esoteric events with timers and stuff that no one would care about otherwise. But you can't have real sports in the Olympics so you got a road race with 1.462 riders per team. At least MTB is watchable and you can do real sports stuff like crash your opponent off balance to win gold or pick up a silver by pretending to need water.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Here in Colorado the lift access parks are getting busier and busier every year. They are all adding more terrain. Obviously more and more people are riding mtb, but I would guess on any given day, at any park, 99% of the riders couldn't name anyone that races, but a good portion could name an X Games type "influencer". Our Enduro series is down to 4 events including one in Taos, NM from 7 just 2 years ago. Racing is a dying breed.

From my European location I see bike racing as dying across all disciplines in the US. Hopefully I am wrong.

 

[ManicJack]

From my European location I see bike racing as dying across all disciplines in the US. Hopefully I am wrong.

You are not wrong when it comes to racing, (gravel is not "racing"). USAC is in full panic mode.

 

[awavey]

3vthings
Track's a big deal in the UK. Hoy, Trott, Kenny, Archibald are pretty much household names.

theres a track culture in cycling in the UK, just like there is time trialling, but outside of the cycle enthusiasts, I dont think Tracks that big a deal in sporting terms for most Brits, the Kennys are the most successful olympians in UK history, but they can walk down most streets and wont be recognised at all.

except at the Olympics, and the only reason for that is they realised way back between 96-00 Olympics, if you spent just a bit of money on track cycling, there were enough events and medals on offer and enough of a gap between the countries who really just make up the numbers and dont care about the sport, and the countries near the top, you then get to win lots of medals, and then the Beeb who like showing medal winners decided cycling started and ended on the track.

and due to the unique way they hand out the money to sport in the UK, the more successful you are the more money you get, which just keeps pushing the whole thing along.

sadly then the downside is sports where theres little chance of a medal, gets less funding, which has resulted in the past quarter of a century BC focussing almost exclusively on track cycling at the expense of road cycling at least, BMX/MTB seems to go in fits and starts, for example Pidcock & Richards have probably guaranted enough funding to back the MTB/XC setup for another 4 years, but Worthington not qualifying for her final regardless if Reilly wins a medal, will result in a less funding for the BMX side,

But any decent UK pro level cyclist at some point will have spent time on the track programme, and the ones that tend to end up in pro road teams at least are the ones who there just wasnt in some cases literally enough slots on the team to fit them in.

 

[awavey]

In Britain track is still pretty serious. Must be ~30 tracks in the UK. Including 6-7 indoor. Most people who have ever ridden and like cycling have been on a track at some point... even if just messing about on an outdoor one.

nope never have done, nearest track to me must be 70-80 miles away, and Id never get the hang of a single speed anyway.