The Tour de France is objectively a terrible race to watch because of Pogacar

[ChewbaccaDefense]

It's boring. Always has been, when there is someone like Indurain, Armstrong, Froome, Pogacar, racing. It's gotten worse though. It used to be that break-aways of plucky riders, trying to spoil the day's plot could fight for the win. Now, if UAE decides they don't want anyone up the road, they will chase it down. Even if they don't, it spoils the exploit when you know that the Patron decided to give some crumbs to the pleabeians. Days like today, when the Patron decided to bestow his blessing upon his chosen successor, and pat his butt across the line, made for a bizaare spectacle, but not one that is compelling in any sense of sport. Tadej is either the best human being to ever throw a leg over a bike, or something else, but regardless of which side of that he is on, he makes watching almost any race he is in, but particularly this race, a horrible waste of time, because there really isn't a legitimate competition happening, unless you're talking about 2nd place. Today was one of the worst stages that I have ever watched, because it was staged. This Tour is one of the worst races I have ever watched (I have slept through a lot of it, because I'm PST, and why stay awake for this crap?), because it is staged. I get how it can be great to watch if you are a fan of Pogacar, but if you aren't, and you just want to see a compelling competition, it's absolute crap.

Flame away.

 

[hayneplane]

The Indurain era was far more boring because he just crushed everyone in the TT then sat on and defended himself in the mountains rather than racing with flair except for very rare occasions.

The reality is that the Tour has rarely had more than 3 years at a time without a super dominator in charge right back to Coppi and Bartali either side of WW2.

The open years are actually the anomaly.

 

[Psycat]

The Indurain era was far more boring because he just crushed everyone in the TT then sat on and defended himself in the mountains rather than racing with flair except for very rare occasions.

The reality is that the Tour has rarely had more than 3 years at a time without a super dominator in charge right back to Coppi and Bartali either side of WW2.

The open years are actually the anomaly.

True but those are the best years so OP ain't wrong.

And, usually, the dominant winner won a couple of stages(usually Queen stage+TT I guess without looking it up) and then it was breakaway fights but Pogacar truly broke this pattern for the most part. If that's due to his attitude, a change in cycling attitude in general or simply because they historically weren't as strong compared to the field and needed to save energy is kinda irrelevant for the outcome.

Maybe they just sandbagged but the most dreadful feeling with Pogacar for me, other than him being a shoe in for #1 and as you said that's nothing new, is that it feels like pretty much any uphill or mountain stage won by anybody but him is a gift, sometimes direct sometimes indirect. Heck it might not even be true but it feels that way.

 

[Links2003]

I don’t think the race is boring because of Pogacar. Of course, he’s the strongest rider. And he wins a lot, too – he could win even more often if he wanted to. His team controls so much of the race. He himself stands head and shoulders above the rest.

But what I found rather a shame was that not much happened behind him this year. And the Tour de France can be exciting even without the leader. There was plenty of excitement: Pedersen’s fierce battle for the green jersey. Brilliant. The fierce battle for the mountains’ jersey. Generally, riders like Carapaz, Schmid and others who were constantly in the breakaway group. Lots of pace every day. There were exciting moments almost every day.

But: the general classification was dull at the front this year. Not because of Pogi, though. Compared to last year, there was simply not much happening further down the field. Last year there was plenty of excitement over third place. There were also frequent changes in the placings. Attacks from riders aiming for the podium. Crazy stages where lots of favourites were out in front, then everyone dropped back again except for Lipo. Who, in the end, almost paid the price for it when everything suddenly came back together at the back at Picnic. None of that happened this year. And then there was Pogi playing the support rider for del Toro. So I found the general classification rather boring because little happened behind Pogi this year. Vingegaard and Lipowitz were certainly missed in the end.

 

[Gingivitis]

I can only say I really hope to see competitive GC TdFs that will continue to have wildly active stages due to jersey battles like this year. This tires teams down extremely and in more competitive GC fight, lots of contenders would not want to burn their teams too early. Pidcocks and Carapazes of that tour would love it.

 

[BahamontesPhantom]

I think Pog is better to watch than Froomster, Indurain et al.
This tour has been rubbish though that’s true.
And Pog is not the best rider ever he’s third behind Fausto and Eddy and that won’t change unless he goes supersonic for the next 5 years

 

[E_F_]

I suppose you could say, that while this is just as predictable as the Froome years, at least there's a certain morbid curiosity to it. Thing is, I'd rather watch Eastenders than snuff films.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I suppose you could say, that while this is just as predictable as the Froome years, at least there's a certain morbid curiosity to it. Thing is, I'd rather watch Eastenders than snuff films.

Wide path of destruction between those two things.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I think Pog is better to watch than Froomster, Indurain et al.
This tour has been rubbish though that’s true.
And Pog is not the best rider ever he’s third behind Fausto and Eddy and that won’t change unless he goes supersonic for the next 5 years

I don't think there is anyone, sans Claudio Chiappucci, that I wanted to watch less.

 

[meat puppet]

Sky era was more entertaining; Lance is more believable and sympathetic than our Lord and savior.

 

[Rackham]

My view: Pog is a product of his era. Just a symptom.

I have a much harder time dealing with the media machine surrounding it. It's insufferable. The corporate toxic positivity where everything is hype and wonderful just oozes through the whole ordeal and makes the actual sport side difficult to engage with because criticizing or passing judging on any aspect of the race - be it the participants, organizers, or spectators - gets met with a torrent of toxic abuse from the hype merchants.

The most damning stat that would exist with or without Pog? In 20 years or so we've lost 300km's of road. That's massive. And people then wonder about the average speeds exploding. Well guess what? Shorter mountain stages will do that. Give us 97's Luchon - Andorra Arcalis again with its 250km mountain stage and we'll see what the modern peloton is made of.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Today was a freaking clown show. The devil horns by them at the end, signifying that they feel like the world is against them. It was a total freak show. Nothing worth watching.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I hate the Tour, when the Tour is like this years Tour.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

My view: Pog is a product of his era. Just a symptom.

I have a much harder time dealing with the media machine surrounding it. It's insufferable. The corporate toxic positivity where everything is hype and wonderful just oozes through the whole ordeal and makes the actual sport side difficult to engage with because criticizing or passing judging on any aspect of the race - be it the participants, organizers, or spectators - gets met with a torrent of toxic abuse from the hype merchants.

The most damning stat that would exist with or without Pog? In 20 years or so we've lost 300km's of road. That's massive. And people then wonder about the average speeds exploding. Well guess what? Shorter mountain stages will do that. Give us 97's Luchon - Andorra Arcalis again with its 250km mountain stage and we'll see what the modern peloton is made of.

And real TT's

Per usual, solid post. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[AlfaLum]

There have been editions in the Tour where Pogacar won that were interesting to me.

This one didnt have many interesting aspects because:
- Evenepoel started very conservative and later on found himself easily the best of the rest.
- Vingegaard crashed out
- Del Toro was decent but not good enough to be anywhere near Evenepoel
- Seixas did not have the level to challenge del Toro
- Ayuso and Skjelmose where a level below Seixas.
- Martinez is a wheelsucker all the way.

So all over the board there was hardly any battle to be found.

The only two riders that made the final stages interesting at least were Carapaz and Pedersen. I enjoyed that.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Friendly remember that Visma helped Kuss no to be podium, but to win a GC due to fans pressure. They said that was team spirit...


Here I read that Pogačar was selfish for wanting to win all races and he should work for teammates win races some races like Flèche Wallonne.

I didn't like it at all, I've always said so. But there is a huge double standard among the fans, as there is with everything. Depending on who is doing the acting, they either get applause or a barrage of complaints.

Take, for instance, the constant grumbling about dominance coming from those who in 2018 had expected total dominance from other rider.

 

[wirral]

Nobody ever asks Tim Merlier why he is a greedy so-and-so.

 

[Avoriaz]

Today was a freaking clown show. The devil horns by them at the end, signifying that they feel like the world is against them. It was a total freak show. Nothing worth watching.

I saw them as bull horns, signifying a reference to (d)el Toro

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I saw them as bull horns, signifying a reference to (d)el Toro

That is a better interpretation.

 

[ashhutch1997]

Shorter mountain stages will do that. Give us 97's Luchon - Andorra Arcalis again with its 250km mountain stage and we'll see what the modern peloton is made of.

I disagree, routes are harder now. Routes in the 90's had 10 soft pedald flat stages before the mountains, now we have hilly/ mountain stages all over the race, which are raced full gas.
Also, short stages have been in the Tour since 2011, and times were far slower then.

 

[Vinther1991]

The sad thing is that it is not just the Tour, Pogacar dominates the whole season.
The Froome-era was much better, he was usually only marginally better than the competition and had to fight to get an advantage.

 

[fenns]

What would people prefer to see? Tours being won Pog-style (or Jonas-style) - or Indurain style crushing the ITT then marking all attacks in the mountains never winning a road stage?

 

[Eddy Evenepoel]

Every race with a dominant rider is a bit lame. Its not like the Giro where Vingegaard was dominant was a good view

 

[dobrien]

I think Pog is better to watch than Froomster, Indurain et al.
This tour has been rubbish though that’s true.
And Pog is not the best rider ever he’s third behind Fausto and Eddy and that won’t change unless he goes supersonic for the next 5 years

Tadej Pogacar is head and shoulders above Fausto Coppi, what the heck? I’ve seen this before, how Pogi “will never catch Coppi”; news flash, Coppi would never catch Coppi. Those 5 Giros? Just go and look at the results from back then…as one example, the 1940 giro had 91 starters (!), most of whom I would bet wouldn’t be much better than the equivalent of a decent Gran Fondo rider today, if that. EVERY stage winner was Italian in that race. How on earth someone can compare that with winning a modern Grand Tour is beyond me. And Eddy today wouldn’t be riding 6 day races in the winter or padding his stats scooping up loads of kermesse victories against Belgian farm boys, he’d be going to altitude camps and the like, and he sure wouldn’t be on his way to 500+ professional wins.

This whole idea that modern riders have to equal the palmares of historical riders who were for all intents and purposes competing in a different sport just seems silly to me. I mean, Achiel Buysse won 3 Tours of Flanders, 1940, 1941, and 1943. Just as an example, the 1940 Ronde had 34 finishers and was restricted to Belgian riders only. But hey, he won 3 Flanders so he’s as good as Mathieu and Pogi right?

I’ve been a huge cycling fan since I watched my first Tour in 1983, I know the lore of the sport and who the historical greats were. I also understand the concept of recency bias, but I also think some are WAY over the top with historical bias. imho, saying Tadej Pogacar, who literally obliterates large modern international fields going full gas where virtually every rider is doing everything possible in their prep, winning classics and GTs with equal ease, is somehow not yet to the level of someone who won races over 80 years ago against fields of club riders from the same country riding lentissimo for most of a race, is just patently silly.

I honestly think we need some sort of unofficial dividing line between historical greats and modern greats; I pick 1980. 😈

 

[VanBsr]

I started a thread on almost the same subject, but unfortunately it was closed by the moderators. My interest isn’t hating on Pogacar, but rather a message that should somehow reach his ears that he should change something in his approach so he doesn’t drive away all the fans of this sport over the next 5-10 years of dominance. We’re already seeing it happen with the real fans of the sport, even though his aura is drawing in new people. For example, this is the first Tour my father hasn’t followed in the last 15 years, simply because the racing isn’t interesting enough anymore. I think it’s fine to win everything, the problem is how he does it.