Author Topic: cycling in 2018 & beyond (Read 46188 times)

blue911 · « **Reply #500 on:** July 08, 2025, 06:41:50 am »

Quote from: English Natsie on July 08, 2025, 04:44:39 am

Clearly not Evenepoels year - touching to see Roglic offering support, to Remco, after yet another crash. Fortunately, The BIg Two have managed to avoid it all...

Over here, the sad news is that, following decades of coverage which has done much to boost interest in cycling, this is the final Tour which shall be FTA - next year, it's behind TNT Sport's paywall. Maybe good business, for ASO, but a move which has been condemned by all sides, in the UK. All it is likely to do is encourage piracy rates to rise - as you know, not something I approve of, but it's general knowledge (I'm not revealing some clandestine secret) that some shall, no doubt, geo-unlock French TV coverage...

Somehow making a niche sport less accessible doesn’t sound like the best path forward.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #501 on:** July 08, 2025, 11:37:08 am »

Quote from: blue911 on July 08, 2025, 06:41:50 am

Somehow making a niche sport less accessible doesn’t sound like the best path forward.

this has been done for a few years in the US
NBC has the rights to ASO races (the tour, Paris Roubaix, Paris Nice, the Vuelta, and a few others), which they've shifted to their pay streaming Peacock network. They might still show a bit of some races on Sundays on their business channel for free, but they figured out that the small hard core will subscribe and the general ad-based channels don't draw enough to make it worth not just running their regular programming

blue911 · « **Reply #502 on:** July 08, 2025, 02:33:54 pm »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on July 08, 2025, 11:37:08 am

this has been done for a few years in the US
NBC has the rights to ASO races (the tour, Paris Roubaix, Paris Nice, the Vuelta, and a few others), which they've shifted to their pay streaming Peacock network. They might still show a bit of some races on Sundays on their business channel for free, but they figured out that the small hard core will subscribe and the general ad-based channels don't draw enough to make it worth not just running their regular programming

Short term gain over long term health of the sport as far as I’m concerned. I think when you limit exposure the sport ends up like powerboat racing instead of NASCAR.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #503 on:** July 08, 2025, 03:55:30 pm »

Quote from: blue911 on July 08, 2025, 02:33:54 pm

Short term gain over long term health of the sport as far as I’m concerned. I think when you limit exposure the sport ends up like powerboat racing instead of NASCAR.

well, I think the incentives are different depending on whether it's a league with the rights trying to grow vs a promoter trying to cash in on a product. NBC doesn't have an incentive to promote cycling in the US. On the other hand, I think MLS is dumb to go with Apple exclusively. PLL I think is at the promote lacrosse stage rather than cash out so they were smart to bring in ESPN as a partner

English Natsie · « **Reply #504 on:** July 08, 2025, 06:18:01 pm »

The problem is that, once the move behind a paywall is made, it's difficult for a sport to then give up the revenue. Cricket England regret taking the Sky money - interest in the game plummeted once it was no longer FTA. They're trying to get more cricket back onto FTA, but a full rollback would just be too costly. Same for Rugby League - where would the revenue come from if they left Sky? Wimbledon is the opposite - the LTA keep it on FTA as they value the blanket exposure for the sport over maximizing revenue.

Ironically, the ASO / EBU deal will keep cycling FTA across all of the rest of Europe - the impact on UK coverage appears to be an unfortunate by-product.

English Natsie · « **Reply #505 on:** July 10, 2025, 03:47:01 pm »

And it's game over - it's going to take something really special to stop Pogacar now. Good to see Remco getting some reward, after a challenging few days - still only talking about being back in contention for the podium, not to win...

skippy1999 · « **Reply #506 on:** July 10, 2025, 11:12:29 pm »

Quote from: English Natsie on July 10, 2025, 03:47:01 pm

And it's game over - it's going to take something really special to stop Pogacar now. Good to see Remco getting some reward, after a challenging few days - still only talking about being back in contention for the podium, not to win...

I have no clue how any of this works but it’s kind of riveting!

English Natsie · « **Reply #507 on:** July 11, 2025, 05:15:07 am »

Quote from: skippy1999 on July 10, 2025, 11:12:29 pm

I have no clue how any of this works but it’s kind of riveting!

Welcome aboard! The Tour is, arguably, the toughest event in world sports - and we get to see all that wonderful French countryside and landmarks. Just unfortunate that one rider - Pogacar - is so dominant, this season. We can but hope that his closest rival - Vingegaard - is sandbagging. I have to say that, if he is, he deserves an Oscar - he's certainly convincing many in his role as 'Rider Who Knows He Can't Win...'

blue911 · « **Reply #508 on:** July 11, 2025, 06:38:44 am »

Quote from: skippy1999 on July 10, 2025, 11:12:29 pm

I have no clue how any of this works but it’s kind of riveting!

Same here. I’ve watched some YouTube videos from NorCal Racing which helped a little,but yeah no clue

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #509 on:** July 11, 2025, 11:47:48 am »

Today's course is a nice one. They finish with 2 passages over one of the classic steep short climbs: theMur de Bretagne, or the Wall of Brittany. I forget how steep it is. They all get up it somehow but even the absolute top climbers slow down to 10 mph or so

English Natsie · « **Reply #510 on:** July 17, 2025, 09:10:19 am »

So - we finally reach a Stage (12) with a haute catagorie climb. That represents the longest the Tour has gone for decades. It's started lively debate, amongst both pundits and fans across Europe, as to whether the Tour can continue in it's current format - too many flat stages, in the first week and beyond, where the only excitement is the bunch sprint, at the the end, and which are regarded as being of low value, both in terms of the GC result and in terms of audience participation and engagement.

Not surprizing that the GC contenders waited - not only is it established Tour etiquette, but also that all concerned knew that they'd broken one of cycling's unwritten rules, by stopping for a 'comfort-break'...

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #511 on:** July 17, 2025, 10:08:41 am »

The fall yesterday near the end didn't look like it left the rider too banged up. Didn't have rips in his kit and was able to get back on quickly.

I think having a cobble stage, a wall finish, and a TT gives the 1st week some variety. Going 10 stages before the rest Day is too long.

English Natsie · « **Reply #512 on:** July 17, 2025, 05:21:57 pm »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on July 17, 2025, 10:08:41 am

Going 10 stages before the rest Day is too long.

Just unfortunate that Bastille Day fell on a Monday, this year...

English Natsie · « **Reply #513 on:** July 18, 2025, 08:42:52 am »

So..barring completely unforseen circumstances, there's only going to be one winner of the Tour. Sweet revenge for 2022...

However, contrary to expectations, there is now much to (unexpectedly) appreciate. Vingegaard's 'certain' second-place is now looking anything but - Lipowitz took 30 seconds out of him, on the climb to Hautacam, so it's now all to play for. Equally, Evenepoel's 'certain' third-place is looking equally uncertain - not only Lipowitz but others, such as Onley, are closing in so, again, lots to keep an eye on. Vinge, and Remco, were in real difficulty, on the climb.

General consensus, amongst European pundits, is that Pogacar is now going to dominate cycling for years to come - as long as he can maintain his motivation to compete. Even some talk that Vingegaard's wins might have flattered to deceive - it is often forgotten just how young Pogacar was, during his early victories, and that Vingegaard, being older, had the advantage of greater physical maturity. Now Pogacar is entering his peak physical years, that advantage is gone. Many have highlighted that as Pogacar has improved, year-on-year, Vingegaard has gone backwards...

If he continues to struggle, could Vingegaard even abandon? It's not unthinkable...

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #514 on:** July 18, 2025, 07:17:22 pm »

I think the TT puts thoughts of a JV abandonment on pause if they don't end it. You don’t push like he did and abandon. He's got 3 minutes on Remco and Lipowitz. That's a lot for a rider of his quality. If he now blows up Saturday on the two HC mountains, then the TT was just a moment of pride. But if he just has a normal ride, then he goes all the way to a second.

English Natsie · « **Reply #515 on:** July 19, 2025, 02:21:55 am »

Agree that it was encouraging to see Vingegaard get his second wind, on the climb. He still looked physically wrecked, at the end, but now has an adequate gap to defend. More telling was the TV coverage of his reaction to Pogacar's time - his head went down onto his bars as though he was psychologically crushed. FIrst mountain TT for 25 years, and so is being called the toughest TT for 25 years - bad day for Remco, who gets a lesson in pro-cycling. Today's stage should be revealing, in terms of 2nd to 6th. Great to see Roglic turn back the clock and put in a competitive performance.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #516 on:** July 19, 2025, 11:30:41 pm »

Very surprised at the team match-up. Visma was supposed to be superior, but Kuss, Jorgenson, Yates have all underperformed. Only Campanaerts has been beyond expectations. Meanwhile, Politt, Wellens, Soler, Narvaez, and Yates have all been superb.

English Natsie · « **Reply #517 on:** July 20, 2025, 07:43:37 am »

Politt has been the big surprize, especially on the Tourmalet. Although it was sad to see Remco abandon, it wasn't entirely unexpected - the brutal honesty continues when the team reported that he had experienced a 'complete physical and psychologial collapse...' VIngegaard put in the expected token attack which never looked like troubling Pogacar. Unfortunately, Lipowitz et al lost more time, so the race has become rather ossified - the podium is probably set. The one remaining thing in play is whether or not Pogacar can take the polka-dot jersey along with yellow...

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #518 on:** July 20, 2025, 12:00:10 pm »

Quote from: English Natsie on July 20, 2025, 07:43:37 am

Politt has been the big surprise, especially on the Tourmalet. Although it was sad to see Remco abandon, it wasn't entirely unexpected - the brutal honesty continues when the team reported that he had experienced a 'complete physical and psychological collapse...' Vingegaard put in the expected token attack which never looked like troubling Pogacar. Unfortunately, Lipowitz et al lost more time, so the race has become rather ossified - the podium is probably set. The one remaining thing in play is whether or not Pogacar can take the polka-dot jersey along with yellow...

and green if Milan cant make it over the mountains.

Oh, I forgot to mention Sivakov who is also doing well for UAE. Van Aert just has not gotten back on form since his crashes last year.

I think that there's room for shake ups below the podium. Beyond the top 4 or 5 places, I think the gaps are so big that neither UAE nor Visma will chase riders who make the breakaways. that will allow some very good riders to attack. Would surprise me if Roglic tries for a mountain breakaway. After all, he wanted to attack Kuss in the Vuelta, so I don't think he would hesitate to attack Lipowitz.

English Natsie · « **Reply #519 on:** July 20, 2025, 06:37:25 pm »

Agree that we can probably look forward to more successful breakaways - glad to see today's winner get some reward for his team efforts over the past days. Quick stat - should Pogacar win the polka-dot / yellow that would be the third time he's done it, overtaking Merckx ('69 and '70)...

Sad to hear of the death of Samuel Abt (91) - generally accredited as the man who popularized pro-cycling in the US. His death marks the end of an era - print journalism is now in serious decline in the face of videoblogs, podcasts and online content, including social media.

English Natsie · « **Reply #520 on:** July 23, 2025, 05:44:20 pm »

Pogacar demonstrates his complete dominance, and control, of the Tour on the Ventoux. Vingegaard's attacks never looked like troubling him, even though he was solo riding whilst Vingegaard had several 'stepping-stone' team-mates. It was clear the race was over when VIngegaard caught Olsen - one of his 'stones' - but when Olsen signalled 'let's go' VIngegaard looked back as if to say 'please don't...' Pogacar really rubbed-it-in with that two seconds on the line. The only surprize was that everyone was expecting Pogacar to go for the stage win - the Ventoux is the one every pro-cyclist wants to win, and the race has only finished there eleven times in it's history.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #521 on:** July 23, 2025, 07:09:37 pm »

Vingegaard had more watt/kg that Pogecar for the climb. 4 attacks to one. Pog was smart and let Jonas ride in the wind. I don’t think either was in trouble and I think Pog can ride the next 2 days in Jonas's slip stream, but JV is quite strong right now. BTW, their assent of Ventoux topped Ivan Mayo's record assent from 2004 in a Dauphine time trial.

English Natsie · « **Reply #522 on:** July 24, 2025, 10:40:21 am »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on July 23, 2025, 07:09:37 pm

Vingegaard had more watt/kg that Pogecar for the climb. 4 attacks to one. Pog was smart and let Jonas ride in the wind. I don’t think either was in trouble and I think Pog can ride the next 2 days in Jonas's slip stream, but JV is quite strong right now. BTW, their assent of Ventoux topped Ivan Mayo's record assent from 2004 in a Dauphine time trial.

Maybe- but none of JV's attacks were effective, even with support, whilst Pog's one attack was. It was thought, at the time, that VIsma's allowing Yates to go on and win the stage (much to his surprize) was a tacit signal that they knew JV couldn't win...

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #523 on:** July 24, 2025, 11:57:52 am »

In stage 18, not sure why Jorgensen went with O'Connor and Rubio rather than stick with Jonas and Pog in the valley after the Madeleine.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #524 on:** July 29, 2025, 07:26:48 pm »

Quote

The Tour de France Had a Penis Graffiti Problem. So It Converted Them into Promotions.

What to do with unsightly artwork? Convert it into a billboard for Tour de France Femmes, duh.

https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-france-femmes/the-tour-de-france-had-a-painted-problem/

In cycling, fans often paint messages on the road. Typically, it's something like "Allez Julian" or a picture of a bike, but, as the above suggests, sometimes they leave stuff that can't be shown on TV. They have staff dedicated to paint over or altering these images. Apparently, they had a specific way of dealing with penis images this year.