Tadej Pogacar and Mauro Giannetti

[Extinction]

I think if I'm being honest here is my tolerance for stereotypical 'sportsman spiel' and everything they represent is being tested more and more every year. It means I quite frankly just can't stomach a huge part of what pro-sport has become, what its actors have become and what they imbue. Pro-cycling included.

I have the same issue with F1 and tennis in the sense I just don't like the huge majority of protagonists in those sports. I won't even mention football, i.e. 'hors catégorie' in terms of laughably awful athletes. I'm not just talking Ebenezer Scrooge levels of disinterest in this either, I'm talking literal Count Olaf tier disdain. So I just roll my eyes at over half the stuff I see in bike races these days.

But sure now that you mention it my interest would absolutely be 'piqued' if one of you examples happened (imagine Evenepoel dropping Pog or Vinge? The meltdowns from Pog and Vinge fans would be dramatic).

To the bolded, for those who grew up watching sport in the 70s, 80s and 90s, today's game has a different culture. There was something magical about the elegance and grace with which things were interpreted. The money wasn't as big, the science not as advanced, data all but didn't exist, and yet the show was more human, doping aside, in the compelling sense. Nowadays it's like we get the colossal blockbuster, big special effects (even in the broadcasting animations that accompany the commentary), without the real dramatic quality that elevates anything to art, rather than just commercial hyperbole.

 

[cnort]

Nowadays it's like we get the colossal blockbuster, big special effects (even in the broadcasting animations that accompany the commentary), without the real dramatic quality that elevates anything to art, rather than just commercial hyperbole.

Sorry, did I stumble into a thread about cinema?

But seriously, is this not a general shift in entertainment (and from a broadcasting point of view, that's all sport is)? The big spectacle - the wow factor - which trumps story.

 

[Extinction]

Sorry, did I stumble into a thread about cinema?

But seriously, is this not a general shift in entertainment (and from a broadcasting point of view, that's all sport is)? The big spectacle - the wow factor - which trumps story.

Indeed, which is why a said it was cultural. Living in the age of homo economicus, this is what you get.

 

[noob]

I agree, although another way of looking at it, beyond hype, is what's your level of curiosity? Without curiosity, the mother of intelligence, sport loses appeal. And here I'd give it a 9. Who will survive the first 10 stages and who will not? Will Vingegaard make Pogi's life difficult? Will Evenepole becomes a climbing fiend? Who can burst out in his career? Will the Paris stage mix up the GC, etc.

The only thing making this kind of cycling fun is this forum. The Unchained s3 is for sure more exciting than the tdf 2024 was and so would this year be if the dramatery wasn't cancelled. It's a narrative where sports is washed away. Left is the dramatery, the polished story. The curiosity is also accordingly not in the race itself but in it's dramaturgy. The commentary is nowadays part of the package. So the race in itself gets kinda pointless to watch. Ironically it's almost like an afterthought.

 

[Rob5091]

Is it not surprising in the age of social media that it's all about "personalities", and cartoon like/VR/gamer sport presentation.

 

[noob]

Is it not surprising in the age of social media that it's all about "personalities", and cartoon like/VR/gamer sport presentation.

Exactly, but it's not the less disheartening. Anyhow I still prefer the 2 other GT to the tdf spectacle. And races without mutants.

 

[Rackham]

Is it not surprising in the age of social media that it's all about "personalities", and cartoon like/VR/gamer sport presentation.

I mean Pantani - no matter how much everyone has decided to posthumously love the guy - was like that character in the movie Dodgeball (you know? The Ben Stiller movie, i.e. the one with a Lance Armstrong cameo no less) who literally role played at being a pirate throughout the entire film.

What's new with modern social media is fanboys now have an outlet with which they can assemble their forces, call in the banner men and wage war in defense of their hero. There's also the fact the media has been obliterated by product placement and acting like cheerleaders for the sport they cover. There's a conflict of interest there and no one wants to spit in the soup.

Fanboys + complicit press = an omertà the scale of a planet size omelette. Aka big. Like le Big Mac but even bigger.

 

[cnort]

Is it not surprising in the age of social media that it's all about "personalities", and cartoon like/VR/gamer sport presentation.

The funny thing is, this is what it was like in the early days of the Tour. In the absence of live coverage, people were entirely reliant on the likes of Desgrange to describe what happened. He would paint riders as heroes and villains on a whim, and use extensive hyperbole to make a boring stage sound incredible. Riders were able to monetise themselves by being characters. Sometimes he'd just make up how the stage unfolded because he hadn't seen it himself. Some of the legendary Tour stories were fake news to keep the public engrossed. Personalities made the race relatable and interesting.

Fast forward 100 years plus and whole stages are live so we can see it all unfold before our eyes, and yet most people probably gravitate to the TikTok synopsis - and nuance and context go out the window. Maybe most people just want pantomime - pick your hero and their opponent is automatically the villain, and off we go! Now, instead of throwing nails on the ground to disadvantage their chosen villain, roadside fans throw beer and pee in their faces. Fans at home just take to social media and online forums to vent...

 

[Lorzenz08]

Well, all cyclists try to conceal how much they are laboring, either to discourage a stronger opponent from attacking or to make it seem everything is under control when they surge ahead. I get that. With Pogacar, however, since last year it seems he really is just doing a controlled effort, when the whole history of the sport says he should not just be cruising along. The only time I really saw fatigue from him recently, was trying to drop MvDP on the Cipressa/Poggio. But on the long climbs the devastating effort seems effortless and then I'm bamboozled.

So now we saw Pogi on stage 2 hills make a suffering face worse than Vingegaard who looked like on zone 1 ride. But obviously because he didn't win, nothing to note right?

 

[cnort]

So now we saw Pogi on stage 2 hills make a suffering face worse than Vingegaard who looked like on zone 1 ride. But obviously because he didn't win, nothing to note right?

Maybe is was a disgusted face. He probably swallowed a fly or something. Actually, nose breather that he is, maybe just accidentally snorted one.

 

[Extinction]

So now we saw Pogi on stage 2 hills make a suffering face worse than Vingegaard who looked like on zone 1 ride. But obviously because he didn't win, nothing to note right?

You're kidding, right? Pogi looked like he was on a recovery ride.

 

[Stablo]

So now we saw Pogi on stage 2 hills make a suffering face worse than Vingegaard who looked like on zone 1 ride. But obviously because he didn't win, nothing to note right?

Not really, but maybe he has been instructed by the goldenboy media team, that he needs to show something at least. Also he was still using his aero Colnago, that's when he looks still somewhat human, when the bike with the straight seatpole comes in, it's time for the mutant/alien performances😉🔋. Just wait for the decisive/harder stages and you will see.

 

[markene2]

Utter insanity, how much longer can this bs go on

 

[Raest]

The Pog is reading the Clinic I think and he's now playing tired

 

[Abedfo]

Boooooring

 

[Notarobot]

Is this dude playing tetris on his bike? He is looking at and pressing on his bike comp a lot, I've seen no other rider do that (as much). And everybody was completely wasted after finish, except for our golden boy, already joking, asking Urska for some spicy selfies, ordering pizza and smoking a cigarette

 

[Stablo]

But hey only with the aero Colnago still and that was nothing compared to the seated accelarations in FW&LBL. Still what a clownshow. Almeida has also gotten a serious jump in performance, after they finally learned how to train in UAE on winter 23/24.

 

[Rackham]

Pog actually seemed a bit... pedestrian. The plan was to drop Vineggaard and he failed to achieve that. Remember how he atomized the mur de huy last April? Yeah that didn't happen here.

 

[Abedfo]

Dopecars physcopathic need to be involved in every single stage finish will be his downfall. He will end up pissing off too many people.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pog actually seemed a bit... pedestrian. The plan was to drop Vineggaard and he failed to achieve that. Remember how he atomized the mur de huy last April? Yeah that didn't happen here.

The absolutely crushed the competition today. Simply there was no Vingegaard on the Mur.

 

[Rackham]

The absolutely crushed the competition today. Simply there was no Vingegaard on the Mur.

Evenepoel was like 3 seconds down at the end.

And he was on the mur.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Evenepoel was like 3 seconds down at the end.

And he was on the mur.

It was 10+ seconds near the top. A lot for such a short climb.

 

[ontheroad]

The absolutely crushed the competition today. Simply there was no Vingegaard on the Mur.

Correct, take Vingegaard out of the race and he has crushed everybody else on that last climb. Bar the 2 aliens I don't think anyone else is riding for the GC win. Both riders are absurd but Vingegaards strength is visually making Pog look more human.

 

[Rackham]

It was 10+ seconds near the top. A lot for such a short climb.

Maybe I'm just totally blasé and I've been watching these riders for a long time now because I'm just not that impressed.

Romain Grégoire and Oscar Onley didn't suddenly turn into beasts either. Yeah Pog gapped everyone who isn't Vinge but did anyone expect anything less? Or did anyone expect other riders to fight for GC? No.

It just seems weird to me how so many people are spazzing out over something we've been seeing for ages now (Pog bossing it with Vinge on his wheel).

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Maybe I'm just totally blasé and I've been watching these riders for a long time now because I'm just not that impressed.

Romain Grégoire and Oscar Onley didn't suddenly turn into beasts either. Yeah Pog gapped everyone who isn't Vinge but did anyone expect anything less? Or did anyone expect other riders to fight for GC? No.

It just seems weird to me how so many people are spazzing out over something we've been seeing for ages now (Pog bossing it with Vinge on his wheel).

I think Pogacar's ride today was more or less what was expected (by his lofty standards). Vingo being able to hold on is not surprising either. There was a question mark regarding MVP on that climb but he beat him easily. Word pedestrian to me sounds like he underperformed.