Races getting boring?

[Veloo]

Delgado and Lemond believe so.

Not the first time it's been brought up.

I'd have to agree - at least a bit.

Back in the 80's and 90's when CBS and ABC were covering, they really just did a pre-taped thing and edited for the highlights.

Now sports channels air the whole race.
Has it really changed for the worse? Too much data resulting in less attacking?

I find myself just going to the Youtube 3 minute highlight vids now at the end of the day.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-france-lemond-idUSKBN19W28W

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/where-are-they-now-pedro-delgado/

Or maybe it's the absence of John Tesh and Yanni music that makes it so boring. :banana:

[oldpotatoe]

Delgado and Lemond believe so.

Not the first time it's been brought up.

I'd have to agree - at least a bit.

Back in the 80's and 90's when CBS and ABC were covering, they really just did a pre-taped thing and edited for the highlights.

Now sports channels air the whole race.
Has it really changed for the worse? Too much data resulting in less attacking?

I find myself just going to the Youtube 3 minute highlight vids now at the end of the day.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-france-lemond-idUSKBN19W28W

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/where-are-they-now-pedro-delgado/

Or maybe it's the absence of John Tesh and Yanni music that makes it so boring. :banana:

I think it's like watching basketball where the last 4-5 minutes mean something, the rest is just 'filler'..IMHO..

[MattTuck]

If it is excitement you want, tune in February - April.

[Black Dog]

Radios and power meters used during races. These things have killed the entertainment part of the sports entertainment business that is professional cycling.

[phoenix]

For me personally, it’s really gotten boring over the last 5 years or so, especially in regard to the TDF. Everything over analyzed, and then analyzed again and again. To some degree I feel like the riders aren’t even racing anymore. Attacking yellow when he suffers a mechanical is frowned upon? Tough sh*t, get over it. If i’m wrong here someone please correct me, but is there any other sport where if the top contender suffers some sort of “mechanical” everyone else gets off the gas and waits for him/her? It’s a race. At that level of competition, in any sport, who really says, “I want to go out there and race for 3rd, 4th or 5th place today”? That’s ludicrous. *rant over

[shovelhd]

Radios and power meters used during races. These things have killed the entertainment part of the sports entertainment business that is professional cycling.

Agree on the radios.

[Veloo]

If you're talkin cross and classics then I'd agree.
Before the UCI was keeping vids on YouTube I'd set the alarm to catch races at 4 and 5 in the morning.

If it is excitement you want, tune in February - April.

[denapista]

For me personally, it’s really gotten boring over the last 5 years or so, especially in regard to the TDF. Everything over analyzed, and then analyzed again and again. To some degree I feel like the riders aren’t even racing anymore. Attacking yellow when he suffers a mechanical is frowned upon? Tough sh*t, get over it. If i’m wrong here someone please correct me, but is there any other sport where if the top contender suffers some sort of “mechanical” everyone else gets off the gas and waits for him/her? It’s a race. At that level of competition, in any sport, who really says, “I want to go out there and race for 3rd, 4th or 5th place today”? That’s ludicrous. *rant over

I've been screaming this all week.... Me and my buddies beg to differ about attacking yellow when he has a mechanical. It makes no sense to me.. "Hey yellow is in trouble, let our legs cool down and wait for him!" ***? That makes no sense to me at all... Isn't this the reason you have a team on the road and a SUPPORT CAR?!?!?!?!

[phoenix]

I've been screaming this all week.... Me and my buddies beg to differ about attacking yellow when he has a mechanical. It makes no sense to me.. "Hey yellow is in trouble, let our legs cool down and wait for him!" ***? That makes no sense to me at all... Isn't this the reason you have a team on the road and a SUPPORT CAR?!?!?!?!
Agreed. We’re not talking about our weekly club ride, or a No Drop Shop Ride, no time for pleasantries.

[berserk87]

I love watching cycling, and I am catching as much of the TDF as I reasonably can. It's not been the most entertaining racing this year. The ancillary stories have been crazy (with Sagan's DQ, injuries, guys not making the time cut, attacking the yellow jersey, Bouhanni punching someone again).

Part of the TDF lull is the dominance of Kittel on the sprint stages and Froome on GC. Kittel is an amazing sprinter, harkening back to Petacchi, Cippolini, and Cav's younger years, but it gets less than exciting watching him predictably win each flat stage, for the most part.

I don't see anybody de-throning Froome this year, or coming close. It would be nice to see some compelling racing, for entertainment's sake though.

[93KgBike]

Watching Lotto run through a 7 man leadout and not podium was interesting. Maybe the teams have just normalized results with pace. I can see that being less interesting than watching "every man for himself" type racing.

Women's teams aren't as deep as the men's teams, and I think that allows us to enjoy watching the riders work for their own opportunities. If that's what you mean check out the women's UCI races on youtube. EXCITING. American women are doing quite well. Go Coryn and Team SUNWEB! Maybe someday the UCI will wake the hell up and live stream them.

[Steelman]

You have two of the most powerful, high-budget teams winning the green and yellow.

And then you have other teams helping them, and waiting for them. Remember the good-old-days, when the team directors used to argue with each other about who should chase down the break?

It is beyond boring.

Maybe cycling needs a salary cap.

[MattTuck]

I don't know, there is clearly a place for sportsmanship. On the other hand, if you suffer a mechanical at a critical point in the race, you can't expect your opponents to wait for you just because you're in Yellow.

On the other hand, this is hardly new. They attacked Dumuilon for having a bathroom emergency in the Giro.

[Jgrooms]

Lenond thinks everything was better back in the day. They were all clean as the driven snow & the races were the bomb.


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[Ciavete]

The Giro was a blast. Stage 4 finish atop Mount Etna with Dumoulin, Nibali and Quintana. Weeks later only seconds separated them, with lots of drama in between.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/eapadilla/DSCF7158%201_zpsyetioh2w.jpg (http://s651.photobucket.com/user/eapadilla/media/DSCF7158%201_zpsyetioh2w.jpg.html)

[ultraman6970]

The giro got a crissis years back aswell, pretty much only italians were going but the giro and the vuelta always had excitement.

Too much money in the tour and that makes too hard to change the conditions of the race, I do agree with lemond and Perico, the stages are getting super boring.

Im sure that almost everybody knows what will happen the last Kms of the next two mountains stages, right?

The last legendary attack to get the minutes needed to win the race was?? anybody can remember??? yes... that one, the one that nobody likes and that settle in the LA case :D After that there's nothing in the tour of that magnitude. Just go solo 50 km to get 3 or 5 minutes, not even froome can pull up stuff like that, Hinault style!

THe other solution is to crate another tour, steel bikes, new equipment... no power meters, no radios and teams of 6 or 5. That I would love to see.

[ftf]

Lenond thinks everything was better back in the day. They were all clean as the driven snow & the races were the bomb.




LeMond dosen't think they were clean back in the day, just that it was possible to compete against people hopped up of the drugs of the era clean, which he believes isn't true anymore with the current drugs of choice.

[dustyrider]

They sure aren't doing themselves any favors. (edit:"SPOILER") 2017 Stage 11 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gUZr2JuOtI) in 30 seconds from Le Tour De France...:hello:

[pdmtong]

I don't know, there is clearly a place for sportsmanship. On the other hand, if you suffer a mechanical at a critical point in the race, you can't expect your opponents to wait for you just because you're in Yellow.

On the other hand, this is hardly new. They attacked Dumuilon for having a bathroom emergency in the Giro.

what if froome attacked, got a gap, and had a minute on the way to the KOM and then has a mechanical? is the chase group supposed to ease off now as well?

what if froome had tired legs and feigned a mechanical?

that the yellow still believes there is an unwritten rule is part of the problem here. wining is both skill...and fortune. just ask Andy about his chain.

[Bostic]

It is incredibly boring right now and has been for some time. I'm not even spending time in the morning checking the tiz-cyling url to watch. Just following the cyclingnews text updates. Blah break is up the road. Blah and Blah going for intermediate points. Blah Blah have 50 seconds on the the rest and it's shrinking with 10k to go, etc. I want so badly for a group of 30 to just slam it from the get go and never let up but that would never happen.

I don't remember if it was '94 or '95 but in Bicycle Guide or Winning Magazine there was the image of Phil Anderson with his Sub 6 helmet, Motorola jersey and the earpiece they called "Peloton" when it debuted. I told my friend this will change everything forever as they have an unlimited set of eyes and ears on the road at all times.

The 2009 Tour of California stage where the radios were not available was awesome!

[bobswire]

Radios and power meters used during races. These things have killed the entertainment part of the sports entertainment business that is professional cycling.

This, a few still race by instinct ( need I mention Sagan) but by and large stage racing is controlled by the top team(s) and with advent of radios and power meters it has become predictable which takes out the excitement of the human element.Froome is the top power meter racer and for good reason it works for him but he lacks the charisma and panache of LA, Pantani, Lemond or Hinault yet Froome will most likely pass all of the them in regards to TdF wins because he is a human cyborg.

[FriarQuade]

Bike racing was more exciting when they were all juiced to the gills.

[berserk87]

I don't know if the entire sport is going downhill as far as entertainment. I think that this year's TDF is just a crapper in terms of racing excitement. Heck, it could change - we are only about halfway through. Recall last year's Giro.

[PQJ]

My interest in pro cycling - especially grand tours, and especially especially Le Tour - is at an all time low. It's been trending that way for some time now. Still love riding my bike as much as ever.

[Tickdoc]

I hate to echo my wife, but bike racing on tv (Esp le tour) is boring (except for the highlights sprints and crashes). But the scenery! I just love seeing the locales, the chateaus, the castles, etc. I can do without the haybale sculptures and school-kid run bicycle sculptures, but I love seeing the towns the valleys and the mountains of France.:beer:

Give me the Giro any day for the racing.

[GregL]

Nuke the race radios. The riders and directors will claim they need the radios for safety. I call BS. If road conditions necessitate warning the pack, the moto officials can neutralize the race.

Nuke the power meters in races. Make the robots human again.

Shorter stages as in the Giro. The six (or more) hour TDF death marches only to end in a sprint finish are capital B Boring.

Greg

[PepeM]

If all you care about is the TdF, and only the GC battle at that, then yes, the last few years have been a bit boring. Otherwise, there have been some cracking races in the past few years.

Even this year's Tour has had some good racing. Sagan's win was good, Aru's win was good. Calmejan's breakaway success was great. Sunday's stage had some fine racing: Barguil almost winning from a break, Uran winning with just two gears, Bardet attacking the downhill, etc. Oh, but they waited for Froome! Ban race radios!

[Llewellyn]

My wife has been playing a little game trying to spot when riders are either moving to the side or riding along and taking a nature break. Apart from that it's been as boring as bats**t. I expect that Sky will just control the rest of the race to make sure Frrome is in yellow by the time they reach Paris. Yawn.

Get rid of the radios and power meters and it could get exciting again.

[choke]

If you base your premise on the Tour de France then yes, it's supremely boring. I can't even remember the last TdF that was really exciting....it's been a long time IMO. I don't even bother to watch or even follow it anymore. I think that the Giro, the Vuelta, the classics and the Worlds all offer much better racing.

I agree with whomever said that Women's racing is better. Between the smaller fields and shorter distances there is a lot more action happening. Unfortunately it's very hard to watch any of their races live.

I'll also agree that radios are a big part of the problem. The riders are often little more than robots following orders at this point.

[galgal]

I'm curious to know the sport (or sporting event) that goes for 5 hours everyday over three weeks and is perpetually (or even predominantly) exciting? Also curious as to what "boring" means here?
There are books and films that are considered "boring" and yet have an afterlife that lasts beyond the excitement of the average summer blockbuster. Cyclings grand tours might just test along with the rider's endurance the viewers endurance and experience of time

[Rada]

Flat stages of the TDF are almost always a bore.

[choke]

I'm curious to know the sport (or sporting event) that goes for 5 hours everyday over three weeks and is perpetually (or even predominantly) exciting? Also curious as to what "boring" means here?
There are books and films that are considered "boring" and yet have an afterlife that lasts beyond the excitement of the average summer blockbuster. Cyclings grand tours might just test along with the rider's endurance the viewers endurance and experience of time
It's not so much that the TdF isn't exciting most of the time, it's more that the days of a real contest for the lead seem to be long gone IMO. Once that lead has been established it is as though everyone just resigns themselves to it and rides along to Paris. I don't know exactly why it has evolved into this and for sure I don't know how to fix it.

It's quite a contrast to recent Giros where the winner wasn't a certainty until the last few days.

[jlwdm]

what if froome attacked, got a gap, and had a minute on the way to the KOM and then has a mechanical? is the chase group supposed to ease off now as well?

what if froome had tired legs and feigned a mechanical?

that the yellow still believes there is an unwritten rule is part of the problem here. wining is both skill...and fortune. just ask Andy about his chain.

Your first situation does not come under the rule. The race is engaged, not just rolling along like when Aru attacked.

Do you really think Andy would have won if he did not have the chain problem? No way.

In 2001 when Jan Ullrich went off the road that was his mistake. Lance waited for him but he did not need to.

Jeff

[jlwdm]

It's not so much that the TdF isn't exciting most of the time, it's more that the days of a real contest for the lead seem to be long gone IMO. Once that lead has been established it is as though everyone just resigns themselves to it and rides along to Paris. I don't know exactly why it has evolved into this and for sure I don't know how to fix it.

It's quite a contrast to recent Giros where the winner wasn't a certainty until the last few days.

In spite of what so many people say here the TDF is not over. Aru has taken a little time out of Froome on the climbs and more climbs are coming. Sky is weaker this year without Thomas and Poels. Anything can happen in the mountains.

I love the Tour because it is the race with the best riders. Some of you might see excitement in the Giro and Vuelta, but it is like excitement in the minor leagues. The Tour is the big dog and what sponsors live for.

The flat stages are less exciting this year because Sagan is not around to attack. The flat stages are also more exciting when a sprinter's team or other team with no chance to win the Tour has yellow early on. In these cases the other teams can force the team in yellow to do all of the work to chase down the breaks.

With all of the pressure on the teams and riders it is much more dangerous. At high speeds the road is full from one side to the other. I like watching the great bike handling when riders get pinched on a round a bout or a curb. When there is a need to chase down a break from a long way out the speed of the peloton is incredible.

It is the greatest bicycling show on earth!

You can find more excitement in the Tour if you have a positive attitude also. I work from a home office so I watch a lot of the Tour.

Jeff

[bobdenver1961]

But the scenery! I just love seeing the locales, the chateaus, the castles, etc. I can do without the haybale sculptures and school-kid run bicycle sculptures, but I love seeing the towns the valleys and the mountains of France.:beer:


Agree 100%.

[gianni]

Agree on the radios.

+1 on radios.

Cut the chord with the DS radio link. Let the riders have their radios but linked to the race commissioner if the argument is personal safety.

Not to start a different thread but there seems to plenty of mechanicals related to electronic shifting. Ha.

[thwart]

If it is excitement you want, tune in February - April.

I'd agree... more than ever the Spring Classics are the absolute peak of the excitement in professional cycling.

This year's TdF has become so dull, I don't even bother to read the summary of the day's stage... much less waste time watching it. Pretty much true most of the past five years, come to think of it.

[FlashUNC]

Tune in to the Spring Classics or the Giro and Vuelta.

It ain't the radios, it's the race. There's race radios in all the other big races yet they seem exciting.

The Tour is so large and the stakes so huge for teams that bet their entire year around them, it breeds defensive racing. And when one team appears head and shoulders above the rest, there are those perfectly content to race for a podium spot.

The Giro and Vuelta show the way for more exciting grand tours. Its in the make-up of the race.