Tour of Qatar cancelled

[fiamme red]

I can't say that I'll miss it. :rolleyes:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-of-qatar-and-ladies-tour-of-qatar-cancelled/

[ntb1001]

Oh well...
Really wasn't a race for fans...or the pro peloton for that matter.
I can't imagine racing in a extremly hot dust bowl being very fun.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

[cmg]

i always thought the race was about the scenery, :D

[Dead Man]

Don't hold races in places where police officers run over female riders because of their clothing.

[Cicli]

i always thought the race was about the scenery, :D

Stunningly beautiful.

[fiamme red]

i always thought the race was about the scenery, :DThat and the fans. It's always nice when fans come out to ask for a selfie with their favorite racer.

http://www.steephill.tv/2016/tour-of-qatar/photos/stage-04/040-20160211TOQ0008.jpg

[cmg]

Don't hold races in places where police officers run over female riders because of their clothing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/11/19/norwegian-cycling-official-says-qatar-police-deliberately-hit-female-rider-with-car-over-her-shorts/ didn't see the report when it happened. kind of hard to build support when you suppress half your population.

[saab2000]

All three fans will miss it.

[bking]

All three fans will miss it.

I saw the camel. where were the other two?

[saab2000]

One was taking that picture and the other one was finding a good spot at the finish line.

[adub]

Well it looks like Rapha can scrap the launch of the new Burkini womans line kit.:p

[pjm]

Well it looks like Rapha can scrap the launch of the new Burkini womans line kit.:p
Is the camel wearing Rapha?

[ntb1001]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/11/19/norwegian-cycling-official-says-qatar-police-deliberately-hit-female-rider-with-car-over-her-shorts/ didn't see the report when it happened. kind of hard to build support when you suppress half your population.
Yeah...really disgusting behavior. Bad enough...but when the police are doing it, bigger problems than a bike race can fix.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

[Cicli]

Is the camel wearing Rapha?

Its رافا over there.

[Mzilliox]

maybe the World Cup will be next? this should never have existed ever

[Red Tornado]

Agree with all the previous replies.
Also IMHO, a race that did absolutely nothing beneficial for anyone -- except the UCI, and maybe Qatar's "ruling class".

[echappist]

and no one has mentioned the severe human rights violations. literally hundreds of otherwise fit, imported construction workers die per year building infrastructures

on a whim, some Qatari prince wanted to pad the Guinness record for most participants in a marathon. so to fill the numbers, they forced imported migrant workers (living in condition no better than indentured servitude) to run the damn thing, many without proper footwear

i wonder which would be less morally acceptable: watching the 2018 World Cup in Russia or the 2022 one in Qatar...

[ultraman6970]

Wonder if this has to do more with the weirdness of oil market than nothing else, oil is weird, nobody has money, the non sense bike race has to go.

All those race in arab countries IMO have no reason to be. In a matter of fact i see more sense to put races in asia than in that part of the world. If economy was better south america has some really nice places to do some pro tour races.

[Red Tornado]

Wonder if this has to do more with the weirdness of oil market than nothing else, oil is weird, nobody has money, the non sense bike race has to go.

All those race in arab countries IMO have no reason to be. In a matter of fact i see more sense to put races in asia than in that part of the world. If economy was better south america has some really nice places to do some pro tour races.
Good observations. Asia makes sense to me due to the heavy use of bicycles for transportation. Not a racing culture, but a cycling culture all the same.

[discman]

The Tour of Qatar is an Eddy Merckx production...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/eddy-merckx-takes-pride-in-tour-of-qatar-status-157591

[Cicli]

The Tour of Qatar is an Eddy Merckx production...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/eddy-merckx-takes-pride-in-tour-of-qatar-status-157591

Was.

[CampyorBust]

i wonder which would be less morally acceptable: watching the 2018 World Cup in Russia or the 2022 one in Qatar...

Hardly a fair comparison and quite frankly insulting. However given the quality of information consumed by the vast majority of Mericans these days regrettably predictable.

[MattTuck]

Cycling is facing lots of challenges. The races in the middle east are, in my opinion, a distraction from the real challenges that need to addressed. I'd really like to see cycling move in the right direction, but then I see 60 minutes is doing another story on doping... sigh.

How is the UCI still in charge?

As far as racing, sprinting stage races are just not that interesting. To see that Tom Boonen, Terpstra and Cavendish all have multiple GC wins in Qatar, should tell you a lot about how dynamic the racing is.

Compare that to a race like Strade Bianche, which has been around since 2007 (compared to 2002 for Qatar), and how that has virtually become a classic in less than 10 years. Lesson here is that there is room for more races on the pro calendar, but they have to be compelling. Whether that is the course (hilly white roads are pretty damn exciting), setting (Tuscany, Sienna), the fans, etc. there is some 'special sauce' to creating a good race that is much more than just throwing money at it.

I know I'm kind of conflating the UCI, race organizers and sponsors here, but it all ties together at some level.

[fiamme red]

Cycling is facing lots of challenges. The races in the middle east are, in my opinion, a distraction from the real challenges that need to addressed. I'd really like to see cycling move in the right direction, but then I see 60 minutes is doing another story on doping... sigh.

How is the UCI still in charge?

As far as racing, sprinting stage races are just not that interesting. To see that Tom Boonen, Terpstra and Cavendish all have multiple GC wins in Qatar, should tell you a lot about how dynamic the racing is.

Compare that to a race like Strade Bianche, which has been around since 2007 (compared to 2002 for Qatar), and how that has virtually become a classic in less than 10 years. Lesson here is that there is room for more races on the pro calendar, but they have to be compelling. Whether that is the course (hilly white roads are pretty damn exciting), setting (Tuscany, Sienna), the fans, etc. there is some 'special sauce' to creating a good race that is much more than just throwing money at it.

I know I'm kind of conflating the UCI, race organizers and sponsors here, but it all ties together at some level.Both Strade Bianche and Tour of Qatar were just added in August by the UCI to the WorldTour calendar.

http://www.uci.ch/pressreleases/the-uci-reveals-expanded-uci-worldtour-calendar-for-207/

2017 UCI WorldTour calendar

New events

- 29 January: Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (Australia)
- 6-10 February: Tour of Qatar (Qatar)
- 23-26 February: Abu Dhabi Tour (United Arab Emirates)
- 25 February: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Belgium)
- 4 March: Strade Bianche (Italy)
- 22 March: Dwars Door Vlaanderen / A travers la Flandre (Belgium)
- 18-23 April: Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey (Turkey)
- 1 May: Eschborn-Frankfurt « Rund um den Finanzplatz » (Germany)
- 14-21 May: Amgen Tour of California (United States)
- 30 July: Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic (Great Britain)

[MattTuck]

Don't even get me started on the Tour Down Under! :no: :D

All these WT additions and the new focus on WT points deep into the field are part of a bigger strategy of the UCI to consolidate power. I'm no fan of the organization, but I continue to hold out some hope that there are people in the scene that are pushing pro cycling in the right direction. Namely a league structure, revenue sharing and a stronger union for the riders. Not sure it will ever happen, but pro cycling will probably die without it, or atleast fail to lilivd up to its expectations.

The constant need for sponsorships is a leach on pro cycling as it is today. The mere fact that teams are constantly going under and in transition (like, on a yearly basis) is proof of how economically challenged the sport is with the sponsorship model. And this Qatar situation (as it is reported) is just the latest instance of sponsorship money driving the bus.

[adub]

Make Pro Cycling Great Again!

[fiamme red]

Make Pro Cycling Great Again!Yes, and bring back the 1980's hairstyles! :)

https://lostraces.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/tumblr_mpdmn2qybt1qzvlpuo1_1280.jpg

[echappist]

Hardly a fair comparison and quite frankly insulting. However given the quality of information consumed by the vast majority of Mericans these days regrettably predictable.
which way?

In Qatar you have hundreds of thousands of indentured servants living in squalor. These workers have their documents confiscated upon entry and are worked to death, with heart attacks a leading cause of deaths. This should raise an eyebrow given that the workers have to pass a physical before allowed entrance.

In Russia you have a country that has invaded Georgia and annexed Ukraine, in the process supporting a militia that shot down a civilian aircraft. The government has been implicated in literally the silencing of those deemed to be enemies of the state by a variety of methods, including plutonium poisoning of critics and outright killing of journalists.

Despicable either way. At least the Qatari haven't tried to cheat their way in sports as well...

PS. I'd like to know what your source of information is before you insinuate that i'm somehow ignorant.

[adub]

Yes, and bring back the 1980's hairstyles! :)

https://lostraces.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/tumblr_mpdmn2qybt1qzvlpuo1_1280.jpg

And we cannot forget about the glasses..

https://bikefag.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/cipollini.jpg

[ultraman6970]

U cant deny the dude at least tried :)

[cadence90]

And we cannot forget about the glasses..

https://bikefag.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/cipollini.jpg

In the "'90s cycling shades wars", anything Cipo could do, Millar and Schleck (F) could do better....:eek:

Good cyclo-shades history article. (https://cyclingtips.com/2014/10/a-brief-history-of-cycling-sunglasses/)

http://d4nuk0dd6nrma.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/OTT.jpg
.
.

[cloudguy]

in russia you have a country that has invaded georgia and annexed ukraine, in the process supporting a militia that shot down a civilian aircraft. The government has been implicated in literally the silencing of those deemed to be enemies of the state by a variety of methods, including plutonium poisoning of critics and outright killing of journalists.

Despicable either way. At least the qatari haven't tried to cheat their way in sports as well...



+1000

ps. Eff Putin

[El Chaba]

Well, this is what happens when the UCI attempts to chase dollars from wherever they can and attempts to promote pro cycling in places where there is no culture of the sport...Meanwhile, they have shamefully allowed the sport to slip into complete depression in countries like Spain and Italy. For 2017, Spain has but one ProTour team ...and Italy has NONE! Fear not for the sport, though as there are teams registered in China and Bahrain....Meanwhile, the talk continues of cutting back the Vuelta to two weeks....at least there is the Tour of Beijing...

[saab2000]

Well, this is what happens when the UCI attempts to chase dollars from wherever they can and attempts to promote pro cycling in places where there is no culture of the sport...Meanwhile, they have shamefully allowed the sport to slip into complete depression in countries like Spain and Italy. For 2017, Spain has but one ProTour team ...and Italy has NONE! Fear not for the sport, though as there are teams registered in China and Bahrain....Meanwhile, the talk continues of cutting back the Vuelta to two weeks....at least there is the Tour of Beijing...

Amen! It's disgraceful what the UCI have done to the sport. There is no more need for it to be a worldwide sport than there is a need for the NFL to keep pushing its own borders.

Hopefully the other Middle Eastern races will die too.

[discman]

Professional sport by definition is about money. The athletes are gladiators for our entertainment. Cycling is still a very small portion of the big pie dominated by American baseball, basketball & football and European soccer leagues. Sponsors need a return on their investment and it's usually a marketing initiative. Let's not forget the Tour de France started as a travel promotion for the country and to sell newspapers. Qatar and other countries have been trying to become travel destinations and hosting big sporting events can be a great tool.
Unfortunately, political and humanitarian policies of the highest bidder (or briber) are most often overlooked by the event organizers.

[echappist]

It would appear that it's about time that ASO coughed up some $$. It'd be umimaginable to think that any other TV-fee receiving event organizer can just refuse to share the spoils of the contract with the actual competitors...

[trener1]

You are 100% right, but by the same token I just don't see it happening anytime in the near future.
The ASO has all of the leverage, and everyone else (teams, UCI) have pretty much zero so why would they share?
I'd like to see teams dare to strike the TDF, we all know that would NEVER happen.

It would appear that it's about time that ASO coughed up some $$. It'd be umimaginable to think that any other TV-fee receiving event organizer can just refuse to share the spoils of the contract with the actual competitors...

[MattTuck]

I don't think the teams could strike at this point, simply because they are not organized enough. That said, I'd like to see it, and I believe the riders have a lot more power than the organizers are giving them credit.

These are bonafide super-stars (even if in a small sport) that have global visibility via traditional and social media. These riders have a direct line to their fans in a way that riders a generation ago could only dream of. Look at the contract that Sagan got this year. There is no doubt that the athletes (especially the top 20 or so) have a lot of power. There have been a number of stages that were neutralized by the riders, and there is little the teams or organizers can do to stop it. However, this is a relatively soft power that is fairly diffuse and not well focused or organized.

The real weakness comes at the team level. Solving that, and making the team structure into a sustainable model would be a huge step in the right direction.

There's a good argument to be made for both stronger collective bargaining from the riders, and a better structure (ie. a league structure with revenue sharing) for the teams. That said, the riders are in a better position than the teams at the current moment. They make the race, they bring the crowds and viewers, and they provide the best entertainment product possible.

The tour de france without the top riders wouldn't be worth watching. (There is a separate argument of whether it is worth watching even with the top riders, but we'll leave that for another day.)

Fortunately (for the UCI and ASO and other organizers) there is no meaningful structure through which negotiations between riders and races can occur. It is a fascinating example of how industry structure can so disempower certain parties.

[CampyorBust]

which way?

In Qatar you have hundreds of thousands of indentured servants living in squalor. These workers have their documents confiscated upon entry and are worked to death, with heart attacks a leading cause of deaths. This should raise an eyebrow given that the workers have to pass a physical before allowed entrance.

In Russia you have a country that has invaded Georgia and annexed Ukraine, in the process supporting a militia that shot down a civilian aircraft. The government has been implicated in literally the silencing of those deemed to be enemies of the state by a variety of methods, including plutonium poisoning of critics and outright killing of journalists.

Despicable either way. At least the Qatari haven't tried to cheat their way in sports as well...

PS. I'd like to know what your source of information is before you insinuate that i'm somehow ignorant.

The positions you have stated are standard mainstream news talking points. It is a very safe position, I doubt you know much about Russian/Ukrainian history, correct me if I am wrong. Given the fever pitch Russophobic bias and war drums that have been escalating since the Sochi Olympics I find those positions extremely ignorant and ill informed.

Nothing would please me more than to break it down for you. Don’t have the time right now as it would be a rather lengthy post and way way off topic. As for reading suggestions I would highly recommend a steady diet of Consortiumnews.com, Stephen Cohen on the nation.com (https://www.thenation.com/authors/stephen-f-cohen/) they also have audio versions of him on the John Bachelor show and if videos suit your fancy than these two should get the point across effectively enough…

https://youtu.be/-pUj3Vqptx8
https://youtu.be/RFBqdeKtlFc

Oliver stones documentary on Ukraine is also rather informative.


+1000

ps. Eff Putin

Eff Putin, eh? If it were only that simple.

[echappist]

The positions you have stated are standard mainstream news talking points.

Either what i said happened or it didn't. "Mainstream talking point" or not, I don't see you expressly stating that I''m stating something false.
I take the position that lives shouldn't be treated lightly enough to be considered mere footnotes in the context of geopolitical events. Unfortunately, it would appear the mantra of one death is deplorable, one million is a statistic still applicable this day.


It is a very safe position, I doubt you know much about Russian/Ukrainian history, correct me if I am wrong. Given the fever pitch Russophobic bias and war drums that have been escalating since the Sochi Olympics I find those positions extremely ignorant and ill informed.

position is interpretation of facts. Of course, you can say that the Ukrainian incursion is a reactionary response to the incursion of the West (in the form of NATO or EU), thus exculpating the situation, a view to which I don't subscribe. But that does not cover up the fact that civilians have died in Ukraine due to Russian incursion. Besides, you've not at all addressed the mafioso style, literal elimination of opposition

I wouldn't claim to know a lot about post-Soviet Russian history, but I have heard/read commentary by people knowledgeable in the area. I know at least enough to know the role Jeffrey Sachs played in tanking the Russian economy in the 1990s, etc. I think there was also a promise of sort stating that NATO wouldn't expand into the former SSRs; if i'm wrong feel free to say so. Far from an expert or even a dabbler, but far from being ignorant as you suggest.

Nothing would please me more than to break it down for you. Don’t have the time right now as it would be a rather lengthy post and way way off topic. As for reading suggestions I would highly recommend a steady diet of Consortiumnews.com, Stephen Cohen on the nation.com (https://www.thenation.com/authors/stephen-f-cohen/) they also have audio versions of him on the John Bachelor show and if videos suit your fancy than these two should get the point across effectively enough…

https://youtu.be/-pUj3Vqptx8
https://youtu.be/RFBqdeKtlFc

Oliver stones documentary on Ukraine is also rather informative.




Oh the irony. Actually I've listened to Stephen Cohen speak on Russian issues on numerous occasions, the most recent of which when he challenged the views of former chess champion Kasparov.

[fignon's barber]

Wonder if this has to do more with the weirdness of oil market than nothing else, oil is weird, nobody has money, the non sense bike race has to go.

All those race in arab countries IMO have no reason to be. In a matter of fact i see more sense to put races in asia than in that part of the world. If economy was better south america has some really nice places to do some pro tour races.



The tour of Q costs are pocket change to them. I think it's more that they used the tour of Q as a stepping stone to get the soccer world cup. It was along term plan to show the world they can assimilate and stage an international sporting event. They went TQ->Cycling Worlds-> soccer WC.
Personally, I would never support any of this, and whenever the Doha worlds or TQ came up, I felt it symbolized the prostitution of cycling. Like the NY Yankees trotting out onto the field opening day with hemoroid cream ads stitched all over their uniforms.

[choke]

It appears that not everyone thinks it's a good thing....

[KJMUNC]

I don't think the teams could strike at this point, simply because they are not organized enough. That said, I'd like to see it, and I believe the riders have a lot more power than the organizers are giving them credit.

These are bonafide super-stars (even if in a small sport) that have global visibility via traditional and social media. These riders have a direct line to their fans in a way that riders a generation ago could only dream of. Look at the contract that Sagan got this year. There is no doubt that the athletes (especially the top 20 or so) have a lot of power. There have been a number of stages that were neutralized by the riders, and there is little the teams or organizers can do to stop it. However, this is a relatively soft power that is fairly diffuse and not well focused or organized.

I think it will require another mega-personality to galvanize the peloton around these issues, as they don't seem concerned enough to do it by consensus. Once a generation there are riders who are truly the boss of the peloton e.g Merckx, Hinault, Armstrong, etc who have the personality to pull this off. I think someone like Sagan could do it of his energy was directed differently, but whomever it is will have to be a highly respected rider with lots of pull with the multicultural nature of the peloton. That's tough to do, which is why it hasn't happened yet and everyone seems content to keep their head down, earn their contract, and move on. If you look across other pro sports and their player organizations they all have a few grizzled vets who focus their time and energy on player support/issues. Ideally you'd have a coalition of elder statesman from European nations and AUS, since that makes up the vast majority of the peloton.

[Red Tornado]

The tour of Q costs are pocket change to them. I think it's more that they used the tour of Q as a stepping stone to get the soccer world cup. It was along term plan to show the world they can assimilate and stage an international sporting event. They went TQ->Cycling Worlds-> soccer WC.
Personally, I would never support any of this, and whenever the Doha worlds or TQ came up, I felt it symbolized the prostitution of cycling. Like the NY Yankees trotting out onto the field opening day with hemoroid cream ads stitched all over their uniforms.

Me too.