Favorites ascending. Photo: Gruber Images.
As many of you know, I write a monthly column for Cyclist Magazine where I answer Dear Abby-esque questions, and the most recent query pertained to whether I consider the Tour the best race of the year, or whether it’s an over-publicized circus. The question made me realize something about myself: I have a weariness around the Tour de France not unlike a romantic whose heart has been broken one too many times.
The fact is, as much as I prefer a race like Paris-Roubaix or the Giro d’Italia to the mid-summer shit show that is the Tour de France, nothing gets my anticipation going quite the way the Tour does, which is undeniably the pinnacle of the season; all the classifications and stages are prestigious enough that racers of all sorts are all arriving at the start in peak form. There is a promise of hard racing from day one, but the first week consists mostly of me worrying about the big favorites crashing out. As soon as we get through that mess, my heart is usually broken on the first day in the mountains, when the favorite takes a decisive lead and the rest of the race is most about stages than the GC.
At least, these are the dreads of a man who lived through the Indurain and Armstrong eras of racing.
Nevertheless, the Tour always manages to seduce me, and this year is no different. Maybe this year, she won’t be such a cruel lover. And, maybe this year, I won’t make horrible picks in the VSP. Just maybe, just maybe. You know the drill; get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero, and you get some swap options on the rest day. Good luck!
[vsp_results id=”104413″/]
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Teocalli
I think they swap bikes, but not computers, so I would assume they have to do a quick sync on the wireless. Maybe I'm wrong- I can't say I've raced in the Tour de France lately.
What actually bothers me more is why the Tour yellow seems more sacred than the Giro pink. TomD stopped for (albeit emergency) bathroom break while the race was on, and nobody waited. What if he had a mechanical? Essentially, even as Geraint Thomas said when he was knocked out of the Giro this year- when the race is on and there is a crash, you can't expect the entire peloton to wait. Then again, perhaps the behavior and policing of the peloton is more a result of the true power of the wearer of the jersey (i.e. Hinault, regardless of clothing). Froome clearly carries more weight in the Tour than TomD carried in the Giro, and the racers/races reflected that. Earned privilege?
@Teocalli
I did not see that and have not seen that video.
@Buck Rogers
He very well could have been. Everyone on my group ride to the Tour a few years ago was talking about the funny cartoons on the broadcast. I have been following him on twitter to get the cartoons live. I plug the captions into the Google translator for the English version.
@Buck Rogers
Give 'em all old school Avocet computers I say! Speed, distance, time, average speed. What more do you fuckin' want?
I think the situation as described by LeMond hits squarely at the lack of passion many fans feel for Froome. He's just too calculating and addicted to his damn powermeter. He's a scenario, what if his bloody computer went on the blink mid stage. Could that be considered a "mechanical"? "Steady up lads, I need to switch bikes, my powermeter just crapped out and I need to make sure my ride's registering on Strava!"
I think not. Busted derailleur, puncture, broken spokes, those are mechanicals. No working bike computer is tough shit.
@wiscot
A-Fuckin-men, Brother!
i think the peloton does a pretty good job regulating itself. if the riders feel like they need to slow down for some reason, they do it. if they don't, they don't. any time people try to impose the black-and-white rule of law on gray areas such as this, it always backfires with many unforseen negative consequences. leave them all alone, and let them race, i say.
@Cary
A-MERCKX
@wiscot
I actually had not considered that the computer was the main problem. If so, then definitely no way that's a "mechanical". Did they ever say what was "wrong" with the bike? To be honest, it thought could be a genius bluff to neutralize one of the hardest sections of the climb.
A-Merckx indeed. If the race is on, the race is on. Some caveats may include if a moto or spectator interferes with the race. Otherwise, if your damn $25,000 Pinarello F10 lets you down then so be it.
@BacklashJack
I think part of the issue too is that bikes are so hi-tech now, that mechanicals are more common. In the days of The Prophet, it was a steel frame, full Campag groupset, 32 spoke wheels and maybe a six or 7 speed block. Really not much that could be described as fragile. Today's bikes, I'd suggest are more fragile, especially when you get into electronic shifting.This was the case with bikes pros rode though basically the 80s - bomb proof. Today, not so much.On the flip side, tires and roads are better so fewer punctures than in the past.
Oh, and Merckx used a V Meter. No batteries required!
i like Strava. i turn the app on, shove the phone in my jersey, and don't look at it or otherwise even consider it until my ride is over. one thing that initially attracted me to the Rules book, is the reverence for the RIDE. all that stuff: quiet bike. as little as possible between the rider and the experience.
i do get my ass handed to me on group rides all the time by 25 and 30 year old riders with carbon bikes and power meters, but, that's what i call efficiency! they do all the work, and i get the workout just by staying in the group! lol
a 50-80km ride at 30-35kph is what i call a win nowadays, so there's that for perspective..
i've been accused of being too nostalgic, but i'm happy.