Tour de Romandie neither one-day nor monument, 28/04-03/05 2026

[Coppi-Bartali]

Nothing to see here. Certainly no draft that benefits a bike rider in any possible way.

If you have to take an example from three years ago, it's not so obvious.

Remco made one bigger in Kigali that allowed him to recover more than a minute, and this year Van Aert did the same in San Remo.

So, with your way of judging, we could say that Remco and Van Aert have achieved all their victories thanks to the cars and motorcycles...

Ironically, the difference is that in the first case it didn't change the result. In the others, it meant a podium for Remco and Van Aert that they wouldn't have otherwise achieved.

 

[KoopaCycling]

If we were to go all dystopian, we might end up watching races on simulators. People riding on their 'bikes' on a simulator and the audience watching the simulating stream. At that point, moto draft won't be an issue. One could wonder how they will simulate bike skills/bike handling skills,... how accurate they could make it out to be. But that's too weird a tangent to take seriously.

 

[KoopaCycling]

If you have to take an example from three years ago, it's not so obvious.

Remco made one bigger in Kigali that allowed him to recover more than a minute, and this year Van Aert did the same in San Remo.

So, we could say that Remco and Van Aert have achieved their victories thanks to the motorcycles...

Ironically, the difference is that in the first case it didn't change the result. In the others, it meant a podium for Remco and Van Aert that they wouldn't have otherwise achieved.

As i said, the arguments that it happened in the past, or that everyone benefits at one point or that it did not seem to change the result in a lot of cases is not much of an argument to my ears to maintain the status quo. I think that if it's possible to reduce moto draft, one should do so.

Cycling should be as little as possible a Derny race, unless they revive Bordeaux-Paris. But only for that race.

 

[moljoh]

I actually think that sometimes he does receive more help from the motos because of who he is, but not for the reasons that some people here are suggesting. I think it often comes down to the fact that he's Tadej Pogacar, and the TV directors, race directors and photographers want to best shots of him, especially when he's doing some sort of crazy attack. I think that's why we got that ridiculous convoy of motos in from of him and Pidcock on the Poggio, because everybody wanted the best shots of him attacking MdvP.

Escape Collective had a really interesting article about moto draft a few weeks ago. I know it's subscription but I think you can make a free account and still access some articles. They made some really interesting points about moto draft. They talked about lot about just how much benefit it can offer (a lot!), but also explained why it can be so hard to stop motos influencing the race completely. The most interesting bit for me was how hard it can be finding good moto pilots - often they're police officers taking time off from their regular jobs - and how hard it can be for them to make in-race judgements about whether they are too close. Obviously it needs to come from the race directors, but it's got to be applied to the photographer motos too, as it's not just the camera motos that are an issue.

No point in trying to put some reason into residential moaners, they'd rather have no motos, no cameras, just old style CM graphic display of the race status...

 

[KoopaCycling]

No point in trying to put some reason into residential moaners, they'd rather have no motos no motos, no cameras, just old style CM graphic display of the race status...

Right, cause whereas other sports are evolving and introducing newer and at times better camera methods, we should just accept the status quo...

 

[moljoh]

Right, cause whereas other sports are evolving and introducing newer and at times better camera methods, we should just accept the status quo...

I'd love to see some drone-drafting complaining on here

 

[KoopaCycling]

I'd love to see some drone-drafting complaining on here

Cycling is harder than most sports to get right. Not a fixed field, long roads, ... .
But at the very least you can set up a proper protocol for the cameras.

 

[Red Rick]

It's pointless to debate there isn't a long standing pattern here, and the only counterargument appears to be to demand a burden of proof as if we're in a court of law.

 

[Berniece]

It's pointless to debate there isn't a long standing pattern here, and the only counterargument appears to be to demand a burden of proof as if we're in a court of law.

You can always tell people to just watch Flanders 2026 from 2nd time Paterberg to 3rd time Oude Kwaremont. It was extremely obvious. I don’t think this is done on purpose, just that those motor riders don’t know better and no one really checks it properly or tell them otherwise during the race

 

[CyclistAbi]

Then again if a moto with a camera is riding in front of peloton all the time, then it should ride in front of the breakaway most of the time too.

 

[MariaB]

If someone claims that Pogacar is being helped by the motorcycles, the only solution is to just position themselves at the front of the race.

Imho, cyclists complaining about this are losers, trying to find an excuse for their incompetence.

 

[Danskebjerge]

No point in trying to put some reason into residential moaners, they'd rather have no motos, no cameras, just old style CM graphic display of the race status...

That is the biggest straw man I've seen this year, and I've seen many.

 

[Brullnux]

If someone claims that Pogacar is being helped by the motorcycles, the only solution is to just position themselves at the front of the race.

Imho, cyclists complaining about this are losers, trying to find an excuse for their incompetence.

It's difficult to see how being 'less good than the best cyclist who had ever lived' is incompetence. They are probably frustrated that not only is this guy better than everyone else, but he also gets assistance from motors.

It might not even be a real phenomenon but more of a confirmation bias issue, and the fact they are more frustrated Pogacar gets this help than, say, a Valgren.

 

[Red Rick]

You can always tell people to just watch Flanders 2026 from 2nd time Paterberg to 3rd time Oude Kwaremont. It was extremely obvious. I don’t think this is done on purpose, just that those motor riders don’t know better and no one really checks it properly or tell them otherwise during the race

They know the effect, and they take no effort to prevent it. You can just call people who complain whiners. They got the winner they wanted anyway

 

[MariaB]

It's difficult to see how being 'less good than the best cyclist who had ever lived' is incompetence. They are probably frustrated that not only is this guy better than everyone else, but he also gets assistance from motors.

It might not even be a real phenomenon but more of a confirmation bias issue, and the fact they are more frustrated Pogacar gets this help than, say, a Valgren.

He does not get any help.

Imho, just sour grapes from sore losers. Just be better.

 

[Potomac]

Is there a race thread for Romandie somewhere?

 

[KoopaCycling]

nothing happening there atm. just waiting for Pogacar to attack and Lipo to come second

 

[E_F_]

Whelp. Break filmed from behind. Peloton filmed from the front. UAE pulling.

 

[Rob5091]

Just a minute for the break. Now the fun begins!

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Whelp. Break filmed from behind. Peloton filmed from the front. UAE pulling.

I can tell you that most broadcasts which don‘t film the Peloton from the front aren‘t very good.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Whelp. Break filmed from behind. Peloton filmed from the front. UAE pulling.

They're basically riding through UCI's headquarters. The conspiracy is plain to see. That's why I prefer reading about races in the newspaper the week after they've taken place.

 

[Salvarani]

I can tell you that most broadcasts which don‘t film the Peloton from the front aren‘t very good.

Would probably be a Spanish or an Italian one, if I were to guess.

 

[KoopaCycling]

why is bahrain riding. Does Lenny think he can beat Pogacar?

 

[Tim Cahill]

Excellent teamwork from RedBull to be sending a man up the road now to set up a later attack of Roglic. Long. Range. Defence.

 

[search]

why is bahrain riding. Does Lenny think he can beat Pogacar?

it's quite an easy climb, which comes down to a 5 minute effort in the end. So it suits him fairly well, and there isn't much risk to lose time due to it.

Not that I think he will win, though.