Tour de France 2020 | Stage 18 (Méribel - La Roche-sur-Foron, 175 km)

[Pirazziattacks]

Surprised you've had the debate so many times and still think that cycling wages are so low compared to sports with fairly similar revenues and reach.

And yes, earning 300k to be a world Tour rider is fantastic

Whether you think cycling wages are high really depends on the level you're talking about. The top end are on very high wages by the standards of anything other than footballers and the top American sports. WT and pro conti minimum wage not so much. Womens and conti level and below definitely not.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

For me the development over time of a cricket test match (come rain come shine) is the closest other sports get to a GT

Dunno, Baseball and American Football jump to my mind.

 

[spalco]

Dunno, Baseball and American Football jump to my mind.

lol, an American Football match without unneccessary tv breaks takes about 2 1/2 hours, that's not even half of a typical GT stage.

 

[movingtarget]

Ewan has become an expert at beating the time cut off.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Cricket is probably the second biggest sport in the world, lol.

Yes and no.

Possibly, because India has such a huge number of people. But it's only played by Commonwealth nations. In terms of worldwide interest, far more countries are into basketball, tennis, golf and yes, cycling.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

For me the development over time of a cricket test match (come rain come shine) is the closest other sports get to a GT

I see no other similarities, than "it takes a long time"

 

[roundabout]

Only 15 riders are within an hour from the yellow jersey in GC.
First time since 2015 (and before that you have to go back to 1997).

And only 30 within 2 hours. There were 38 in 2015 and 43 in 1997.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Many were comparing Pogacar to Contador earlier in this Tour. So if he really is, then the second place is no good....

Which means that it's 30 kms of soft pedalling on Saturday, before trying to win something

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Yes and no.

Possibly, because India has such a huge number of people. But it's only played by Commonwealth nations. In terms of worldwide interest, far more countries are into basketball, tennis, golf and yes, cycling.

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[Oldermanish]

lol, an American Football match without unneccessary tv breaks takes about 2 1/2 hours, that's not even half of a typical GT stage.

As an avid NFL fan with a dvr….it's less than that! Tactically a good NFL game is about all of the same things; aggression, attrition of your adversary and surprise offensive moves. It just gets too broken up to have the same moment to moment elements. On the other hand, we've seen long bike races where you could nap for 4 hours and not miss a thing.
Baseball-the extreme slow motion version of any tactical sport. Boring to watch unless you are a total stat geek or have heavy money bet on the game. Like watching a bike race where the start of viewing is watching mechanics clean the bike chains the night before....
I loved playing it, though.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Most of the world doesn't have a clue what cricket is and don't play it except for some expats. Cricket claim to be so big because they have 1/2 countries who play it that have massive populations but it's only played at a serious level by about 8 or 10.
Ireland can make the world cup and we barely have a league

I know. Nonetheless cricket has more fans than any sport other than soccer. It’s completely dominant across South Asia, a region with nearly a quarter of the world’s population.

 

[Red Rick]

Yesterday he was 21st in GC, today 19th.

Ah I see now he got 19th on the stage yesterday, so that's where I got that from.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I see no other similarities, than "it takes a long time"

Also it involves prolonged stretches of boredom

 

[Asero831]

it’s a bit unfortunate that 6th v 5th is likely to be the only “live” GC battle

Battle for the glorious 10th would be epic. Valverde adding Top 10 and Caruso securing his Top 10 triumvirate. Plus Martin aiming for his first GT top 10

 

[Oldermanish]

If you people think that cycling salaries are not fair, just think of triathlon... It all comes to how your executives are selling the product...

That's because triathlon has been financially controlled by Ironman and they package it largely to sociopathic rich pseudo jocks. They don't share the money and leave each individual to fend for themselves.
During the C19 period they are under fire for refusing to refund the huge entry fees they extract many months before an event. Instead they offer preferred entry to other later events (that also get cancelled) in other continents. They are truly a gangster enterprise in sports.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Also it involves prolonged stretches of boredom

Don't get me wrong, I like watching cricket, I've even attended a test match at Lords once, to get the experience.

But I like watching cricket the same way, that I like watching Youtube videos of Bob Ross painting, it's not something I watch for excitement

 

[LaFlorecita]

Enjoyed the stage, nice to see Kwiatek and Carapaz cross the line together. Would have liked a bit more GC action though.

 

[Escarabajo]

The conversation really have shifted in this thread!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

GC, if Dumoulin can get 1:30 on Uran and Yates he can move even further up the rank.

if this was 2018/17 i'd say he would get it quite easily.

It's a perfect course for Dumoulin. Now I'm not entirely sure. it's been a while (dauphine 2019) and he's obviously not as good now as he was then. But... 1:30 really isn't that much on a 30km hilly course with PDBF

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

it’s a bit unfortunate that 6th v 5th is likely to be the only “live” GC battle

Dumoulin could move up as well, and the battle for 2nd isn't a done deal either. It's only 30 seconds and Lopez has been seriously working on his ITT lately. It won't be easy, but it's not impossible either. How good will Pogacar's ITT be at the end of 3 weeks? Lopez seems to have gotten better towards the 3rd week. In the Vuelta Pogacar was 30 seconds faster than Lopez, but Lopez did the same ITT in Algarve earlier this year, faster than Pogacar did last year.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

The conversation really have shifted in this thread!

We all know the GC battle is over, so naturally the conversation drifts

 

[Volderke]

I checked what I (wrongly) assumed about team classification, and if it (accidentally) coincides with having the 3 best riders on GC. In bold it is the same (13 out of 20 occasions in the last 20 years).

2000: team GC Kelme. Best 3 in GC: Kelme
2001: team GC Kelme. Best 3 in GC: Once
2002: team GC Once. Best 3 in GC: Once
2003: team GC CSC. Best 3 in GC: CSC
2004: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: US postal
2005: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: Discovery
2006: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: Rabobank
2007: team GC Discovery. Best 3 in GC: Discovery
2008: team GC CSC. Best 3 in GC: CSC
2009: team GC Astana. Best 3 in GC: Astana
2010: team GC Radioshack . Best 3 in GC: Radioshack
2011: team Garmin . Best 3 in GC: Garmin
2012: team GC Radioshack . Best 3 in GC: Radioshack
2013: team GC Saxo . Best 3 in GC: Saxo
2014: team GC AG2R . Best 3 in GC: Belkin
2015: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: AG2R
2016: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Sky
2017: team GC Sky . Best 3 in GC: Sky
2018: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Movistar
2019: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Movistar

2020 currently: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Jumbo

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I checked what I (wrongly) assumed about team classification, and if it (accidentally) coincides with having the 3 best riders on GC. In bold it is the same (13 out of 20 occasions in the last 20 years).

2000: team GC Kelme. Best 3 in GC: Kelme
2001: team GC Kelme. Best 3 in GC: Once
2002: team GC Once. Best 3 in GC: Once
2003: team GC CSC. Best 3 in GC: CSC
2004: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: US postal
2005: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: Discovery
2006: team GC T-mobile. Best 3 in GC: Rabobank
2007: team GC Discovery. Best 3 in GC: Discovery
2008: team GC CSC. Best 3 in GC: CSC
2009: team GC Astana. Best 3 in GC: Astana
2010: team GC Radioshack . Best 3 in GC: Radioshack
2011: team Garmin . Best 3 in GC: Garmin
2012: team GC Radioshack . Best 3 in GC: Radioshack
2013: team GC Saxo . Best 3 in GC: Saxo
2014: team GC AG2R . Best 3 in GC: Belkin
2015: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: AG2R
2016: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Sky
2017: team GC Sky . Best 3 in GC: Sky
2018: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Movistar
2019: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Movistar

2020 currently: team GC Movistar . Best 3 in GC: Jumbo

That doesn't prove anything, except that on MOUNTAIN stages, the best 3 on GC, are usually also the first 3 over the line, and that is where you make the big differences on GC.

However, on any other stage (incl. TT), it is usually not the same riders that count towards the team competition.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

No stragglers, everyone home in the grupetto with nearly ten mins to spare.

 

[RedheadDane]

We all know the GC battle is over, so naturally the conversation drifts

Not even the weirdest turn conversations have ever taken on the forums...