TDF hotels and conditions

[enrecul]

Just finished reading Sean Kelly's book. He wrote about how they slept on camp beds in town halls etc during the tours he did. Sure, conditions for everyone are fair and equal then.
Should today's riders just man up and stop complaining about their hotel conditions or should the organisers go back to the camp beds of old and have them all cope with identical conditions?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Contador is reported in the paper-version of Gazzetta dello Sport of complaining about his rest day
hotel being hotter (35 C) inside than outside.
Makes a motor-home sound like a maximal gain.
I hope he managed to sleep.
We need Alberto fresh - ASO are you listening.

Edit: more from http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-tinkov-wants-to-start-a-cycling-revolution

Tinkoff-Saxo was squeezed into a basic Best Western hotel on the outskirts of town along with the MTN-Qhubeka team. Contador said the hotel was not suitable for riders in the Tour de France due to the high temperatures and lack of air conditioning. Tinkov agreed and later launched yet another tirade against ASO

 

[PeterB]

Hotel looks quite ok, lack of A/C is probably its only drawback. But then, why the teams do not carry portable A/C units, if they know that they can expect that not all hotels will be air-conditioned?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Why is Contador moaning? Air conditioning does nothing to help allergies and can make them worse with the recycled air.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Why is Contador moaning? Air conditioning does nothing to help allergies and can make them worse with the recycled air.

I doubt he is concerned about allergies on a rest day. It makes more sense to be concerned about not getting a good rest.

 

[malakassis]

Just finished reading Sean Kelly's book. He wrote about how they slept on camp beds in town halls etc during the tours he did. Sure, conditions for everyone are fair and equal then.
Should today's riders just man up and stop complaining about their hotel conditions or should the organisers go back to the camp beds of old and have them all cope with identical conditions?

actually this is a great idea in regards of equality. but its about competition. you try to gather each small advantage possible upon your rivals.
good sleep is most crucial for recovery in a GT. a would even say you wont be a GC contender if your a poor/sensible sleeper. (Merckx: i eat well, i sleep well thats all)
so the team managers/organizers are responsible to find the best hotel possible.
i doubt all teams can afford motorhomes

 

[Happy dude]

The Hotel with Mugs with no handles that Cav complained about was the best

 

[RedheadDane]

Just finished reading Sean Kelly's book. He wrote about how they slept on camp beds in town halls etc during the tours he did. Sure, conditions for everyone are fair and equal then.
Should today's riders just man up and stop complaining about their hotel conditions or should the organisers go back to the camp beds of old and have them all cope with identical conditions?

actually this is a great idea in regards of equality. but its about competition. you try to gather each small advantage possible upon your rivals.
good sleep is most crucial for recovery in a GT. a would even say you wont be a GC contender if your a poor/sensible sleeper. (Merckx: i eat well, i sleep well thats all)
so the team managers/organizers are responsible to find the best hotel possible.
i doubt all teams can afford motorhomes

Except it's ASO who takes care of the hotel-ordering-business, and the teams have to use the teams provided by ASO, which is why Sky weren't allowed to use their motorhomes.

 

[malakassis]

Just finished reading Sean Kelly's book. He wrote about how they slept on camp beds in town halls etc during the tours he did. Sure, conditions for everyone are fair and equal then.
Should today's riders just man up and stop complaining about their hotel conditions or should the organisers go back to the camp beds of old and have them all cope with identical conditions?

actually this is a great idea in regards of equality. but its about competition. you try to gather each small advantage possible upon your rivals.
good sleep is most crucial for recovery in a GT. a would even say you wont be a GC contender if your a poor/sensible sleeper. (Merckx: i eat well, i sleep well thats all)
so the team managers/organizers are responsible to find the best hotel possible.
i doubt all teams can afford motorhomes

Except it's ASO who takes care of the hotel-ordering-business, and the teams have to use the teams provided by ASO, which is why Sky weren't allowed to use their motorhomes.

okay- didnt know that. are teams who share hotel always the same?

 

[Billie]

Lotto was in some shitty hotel in Gap for 3 days but before that they were in some fancy Chateau. Some luck is needed but they don't spend 3 weeks in a shitty 1 star hotels without airco. Some places are not touristical and lack hotels. it happens. All teams will have it couple times, they'll also end up in some very nice places

 

[TMP402]

Even the equality of camp beds thing is not true equality in the sense that some will sleep well, some will sleep okay and some will hate camp beds. Giving teams the same *budget* for hotels and travel expenses would be more equal.

 

[Echoes]

Remember two years ago, Gert Steegmans' hotel room around Alpe d'Huez/Bourg d'Oisans

And that's supposed to be the greatest race in the world, my a*se. The Tour of France is a disgrace and its hotel conditions is a symptom of its decline. Needless to say, riders are much better treated in the classics. Not even close.

 

[RedheadDane]

Have a feeling ASO simply have to book every hotel they can get.

 

[IndianCyclist]

ASO earn millions from TDF. How much would a nice hotel cost for a couple of days. Not much

 

[SeriousSam]

Are there always enough nice hotels for everyone?

Perhaps they should auction the hotels to the highest paying teams. Also, they should make sure the best hotels have sufficient space for fleets of vehicles, including the mobile home sort.

 

[Teddy Boom]

Re:

Are there always enough nice hotels for everyone?

A new argument for fewer riders per team?

 

[VeloGirl]

For me, this is absolutely the worst hotel at this year's Tour, posted by Brian Nygaard on 17 July

 

[Stelvio]

As I understand it, ASO asigns their own rankings to the hotels (1-5) and then the goal is that all teams (throughout the race) gets an equal number of nights in good and bad hotels. That seems fair.

Looking at the reviews for the Gap Best Western on booking.com it appears that lack of ac is the biggest fault. What Gert Steegmans stayed in can't possibly be described as a hotel..

 

[orangerider]

What a disgrace. These are the kind of places that get 1* user review ratings on Yelp and such even if they cost $35/night, yet these scam places are probably charging 10x that and getting away with it. Dirty hotels are one thing, but hotels without adequate ventilation can make it a health hazard. Portable AC unit probably would blow the fuse on those inadequate electrical systems they have there.

 

[AICA ribonucleotide]

I was joking earlier in the tour about the advantage Sky got from each rider having their own room (the support staff use the motorhomes).
But I see Dan Martin and Nathan Haas managed to come down with the same illness whilst being roommates.

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

May I ask what it is in Europe with not having air conditioning in so many hotels and public accommodations, not to mention your homes? Do you just value sweat more than us Yanks, or what?

 

[chiocciolis_calves]

Re:

Why is Contador moaning? Air conditioning does nothing to help allergies and can make them worse with the recycled air.

Air conditioning is a lifesaver if you react to pollen. It allows you to close the windows. It is also a lifesaver if you're battling an upper respiratory infection where your turbinates are swollen. Pair it with an air purifier, keep your house clean and I would argue it outweighs the sleeplessness and general crankiness that occur when your bedroom is in the high 80s and 90s.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Why is Contador moaning? Air conditioning does nothing to help allergies and can make them worse with the recycled air.

Air conditioning is a lifesaver if you react to pollen. It allows you to close the windows. It is also a lifesaver if you're battling an upper respiratory infection where your turbinates are swollen. Pair it with an air purifier, keep your house clean and I would argue it outweighs the sleeplessness and general crankiness that occur when your bedroom is in the high 80s and 90s.

Agree it can be great, however if not properly cleaned and maintained air-con just ends up filtering pollenated air through the room. There's no guarantee that some of these hotels would be properly maintained looking back on several photos and riders opinions.

 

[doperhopper]

Re:

ASO earn millions from TDF. How much would a nice hotel cost for a couple of days. Not much

As people sometimes say, riders are treated the same way NHL players were in the dark pre-STRIKE era - and the whole cycling is still there. Poor teams, low-paid riders (even the stars don't make awful lot), one big profit machine of ASO... not healthy.

 

[WildspokeJoe]

So what I don't understand is that these teams spend so much money on preparation. They scout the routes. Why don't they also scout the hotels? Understand what rooms they will be staying in and plan accordingly.

If the hotel doesn't have an air conditioner in the room, then why not bring a portable one?