2004 La Vuelta a Espana

[keydates]

Well, in the US, all you hear about is the TdF (if anything). I can't say anything about Europe because I don't live there (obviously). I never said that the Vuelta has no prestige, I said that it lacks the prestige relative to the other Tours. The Tdf is publicized A LOT, and, (again, from a person in the US's point of view), with the success of an American rider, has gained a lot (more) popularity in the US.

The TdF was the first Grand Tour. This almost automatically makes it more of a "classic" than the other two. The Giro started in the early 20s. The Vuelta in 35. That makes it relatively young, although I admit that I don't know why it isn't so popular now to see. From the few clips I saw of this year's Giro, it didn't seem that there all that many people there (relative to the TdF).

You even say that the Spanish riders are in their best shape for the Vuelta, which seems to be conceding to my point that the race is fairly dominated by "local" riders. Keep in mind that I also used "were," not "are." I also don't think it's the primary reason.

In the end, though I have no idea why the Vuelta isn't as popular as the others. Maybe it seems like an "afterthought" to all the other people. I don't know. I am only putting forth ideas.

 

[Miguel_garcia83]

le tour c´est le tour, we cant compare anything with the tour, because its the most important where the best riders go in their best shapes. best sponsors, much more money, history, epic, it has everything. Its in july which means that many people can get their holidays in july to watch the tour, italians, dutch, americans, belgians, germans... its normal seeing people camping at alpe d´huez or wherever from 3 days before the stage passes by.

giro and vuelta are now in a similar level, giro is for italians and vuelta for spaniards, giro has more history, more audience live and vuelta better participation i reckon
about the shapes, spaniards always fail in the tour since indurains age, so they have to what we call in spain "pass the exam in september since they failed in july", foreign riders and teams come to spain to have the spanish tan, and in other cases as cipollini to **** the podiums hostess, so as spaniards are always in the first positions, we think they are good but they are not and thats why they always fail in the tour, and the circle goes over and over

 

[donhix1]

I think that the reason the Vuelta has so few people relative to the Giro and especially the Tour de France is that it's a relatively new Grand Tour (I think the newest) and has thus not gained the "prestige" among other people, is/was mostly won by a Spaniard (so other big name non-Spanish people were less likely to compete), and doesn't advertise itself as much as the other Tours.

It also used to be before the Giro and only recently has moved to September. Winning the Giro and Tour in one year is much more prestigous than winning the Vuelta and Tour. Some riders ride the Vuelta to get some form for the Worlds in October since they moved the World's from August to October.

 

[Virenque]

Hehe you had mixed a littleToday isnt a rest day! It is on wednesday and mountain stage is on thursday!

 

[gntlmn]

Hehe you had mixed a littleToday isnt a rest day! It is on wednesday and mountain stage is on thursday!

Who? Me?

 

[Virenque]

No, who else?

 

[gntlmn]

The GC has not been updated yet on the official site, but it looks like the following is true, if my calculations are correct:

1. Landis
2. Valverde +9
3. Mancebo +19
4. Nozal +32
5. Heras +47
6. Beltran +59
7. Menchov +2:42

Landis holds the yellow jersey yet another day. Valverde and Heras finished together today. All but Beltran and Menchov gained time on Landis today.

 

[Virenque]

I recomende you cyclingnews! Its the best site for all that..

 

[gntlmn]

I recomende you cyclingnews! Its the best site for all that..

Yeah, they do appear to have more current coverage than the official website. I missed Carlos Sastre who is only 1:35 back now in 7th. He really made a surge today.

Valverde is in very good positioning, but he is a young rider. If Valverde wins, he will be someone to watch closely in the Tour de France next year, I think. He has done already exceptionally well in the last part of this season. Tyler Hamilton is quoted as having said, after this year's Tour de France, that Valverde is possibly the next Lance Armstrong. That's a big statement from one of the top riders in the sport today. Perhaps his instincts will prove correct for this year's Vuelta. Maybe it will be Valverde in the end. I still think Heras has a better chance because he is in his prime tour riding years and Valverde is a bit young. If Valverde does win, perhaps Armstrong is right in his assessment as one of the greats.

 

[donhix1]

Yeah, they do appear to have more current coverage than the official website. I missed Carlos Sastre who is only 1:35 back now in 7th. He really made a surge today.

Valverde is in very good positioning, but he is a young rider. If Valverde wins, he will be someone to watch closely in the Tour de France next year, I think. He has done already exceptionally well in the last part of this season. Tyler Hamilton is quoted as having said, after this year's Tour de France, that Valverde is possibly the next Lance Armstrong. That's a big statement from one of the top riders in the sport today. Perhaps his instincts will prove correct for this year's Vuelta. Maybe it will be Valverde in the end. I still think Heras has a better chance because he is in his prime tour riding years and Valverde is a bit young. If Valverde does win, perhaps Armstrong is right in his assessment as one of the greats.

He will have to switch teams as Kelme isn't in the Pro Tour and I think he just signed a two year deal.

 

[Virenque]

He had already said that he will leave if Kelme will not join pro tour! And as we know, Kelme will not join it, so..Liberty Seguros is the most interested team for now!

And look that! What a shame by the organisers!!!

 

[hawkes]

Thats crazy Brunswick! they get the feed supplied for them by the Spanish - all they have to do is flick a switch , hire 2 commentators and a few technical bods.Eurosport work off a surprisingly shoe-string budget yet show 120 days cycling a year or something crazy.They have no where near 84 crew members.
Throw some adverts in there and the expense cant be that great.Theres no way you need 84 guys working 20 hour days to show this event - its all done by the Spanish (french or italian for those tours too) just pay them for the pictures.
What sort of coverage were OLN showing during the TdF to justify hiring 80 guys working that hard? You must have got wall-wall coverage and interviews galore?

I think that was what was required (or done for ) for the TDF and all the excess coverage they had, ie the roadside tour junk with those postie fans. I think they could have done much less for the Vuelta as in the past OLN had Phil and Paul doing an english langauge broadcast overtop a live feed without all the extra inside stuff the TDF had. By the way I am not in way doubting Brunswick Kate and what she said as I also read the exact stuff from the head of OLN.

The problem I think may have been twofold. First I think OLN may have spent to much on the TDF for the return they got, once again I refer to the roadside tour show that aired from 5:00 to 7:00 with Kirsten and those guys whoever they were. That show disappeared about halfway through the tour and second no one besides OLN and the Vuelta organizers and TV rights owners know what the asking price for the US rights were and that was probably to much for OLN.

I don't think the US will ever get decent cycling TV coverage. You would think that someone would go out to all the US cycling fans and set up a product questionaire/survey. That they could then use to go to advertisers with some actual facts and figures. Because most of us buy more than just bikes or the one to two other products which have ad time during the TDF. It would be nice and a dream to have every Sunday night a 1 hour cycling review show and coverage of all the Pro Tour but that will never happen. I think the biggest pitfall for in the US besides rather small viewership is that TV rights for every single individual race must be bought. It would be easier for US Broadcasters to show if the TV rights for the races were bought through the UCI and you got all the rights for the Pro Tour races. This could be done for a reduced fee for lesser cycling mad nations like the US, Canada, some Asian nations, some African nations , to a lesser degree Central and South America, and etc. as a broad package deal that then the UCI would distribute all that money between the races and also use for items such as doping testing and research. The previous TV rights structure for Europe would hold which would keep the vast majority of races earning the same amount of money. They might even receive more money as other sections of the world might be willing to buy a more complete package instead of blowing everything on the TDF or nothing at all. The stumbling block would be the TDF and the stranglehold they have. The UCI claims they want to grow the sport and this is about the only I see to do this in non-euro nations. The stumbling block is that the individual races wouldn't want to give up that right to money, mainly the TDF who can sell better than the other pro tour races outside of Europe.

 

[gntlmn]

I was thinking about this some more today, and I began to realize that OLN doesn't have much to gain televising the Vuelta this year. OLN is a cosponsor of USPS/Discovery. Since the Vuelta contenders on USPS (Landis and Beltran) are leaving the team this year, why would Subaru/Trek/USPS/OLN want to spend money to popularize this race? It's a losing propostion. It would make no sense to them to put Landis/Beltran in the spotlight. The limelight would only serve to give these riders greater resources in the future by making them more popular in the eyes of the American consumer. Then these same riders will be competing against Discovery next year. Would Americans be more or less likely to buy Trek/Subaru products next year if the Vuelta is publicized? I would say less, especially if the American public were to become enamored of Beltran/Landis. The OLN blackout makes business sense. I don't like it at all, but I can see the rationale.

 

[Strani]

Hello all,

I'm new so I'd better introduce myself a little. I'm Dutch, living in Spain, at about 5km from the city of Alcoi, where the start of the 10th stage was held. In other words, I've had two fantastic days:

On Sunday we planned to go up the Aitana but at Alcolecha (a small town, 12km away from the finish) the road was blocked into that direction, so we decided to stay there. It was very crowded, so I can only imagine what it was like at the mountain itself. I saw the discussions here about the difference with the Tour, and I can't really judge because I haven't attended a Tour stage yet. However, the atmosphere counts and I can tell you, it was a great atmosphere.

Today (Monday) I found myself a spot close to the place where the cyclists sign up for the stage, and managed to get some more photos, in addition to the ones of the day before. I'm actually planning to start a cycling news-site in the near future (I currently work as soccer journalist for an existing website so it's only a small step), and will definitely be using these pictures.

Anyhow to conclude: I think the three tours shouldn't be compared. They all have their own charm, and the Tour de France is simply the mother of tours, due to its history and radiation.

 

[KGnagey]

I was thinking about this some more today, and I began to realize that OLN doesn't have much to gain televising the Vuelta this year. OLN is a cosponsor of USPS/Discovery. Since the Vuelta contenders on USPS (Landis and Beltran) are leaving the team this year, why would Subaru/Trek/USPS/OLN want to spend money to popularize this race? It's a losing propostion. It would make no sense to them to put Landis/Beltran in the spotlight. The limelight would only serve to give these riders greater resources in the future by making them more popular in the eyes of the American consumer. Then these same riders will be competing against Discovery next year. Would Americans be more or less likely to buy Trek/Subaru products next year if the Vuelta is publicized? I would say less, especially if the American public were to become enamored of Beltran/Landis. The OLN blackout makes business sense. I don't like it at all, but I can see the rationale.

This doesn't make sense. OLN didn't show the Vuelta last year. They had their 2004 cycling schedule lined up a long time before Floyd took the lead in this years Vuelta. I don't think OLN made a concious decision to not show this years Vuelta based on Floyed and Beltran leaving USPS. This is the first I've heard about Floyd Landis leaving the team...is it true?

 

[Brunswick_kate]

This is the first I've heard about Floyd Landis leaving the team...is it true?

Yes, he's going to Phonak.

 

[KGnagey]

Yes, he's going to Phonak.

To ride with TH? Please post a web site with this info...

 

[Miguel_garcia83]

hey people. if you are interested on la vuelta and as you cant follow it because the oln doesnt broadcast it, i can make copies of the main stages and send them if thats ok for you, the commentators are spanish, thats a bad point for you but still..

 

[Brunswick_kate]

To ride with TH? Please post a web site with this info...

From the Phonak Cycling site....

http://www.phonak-cycling.ch/News/Aktuelles/a50fb535-3bc7-4b80-819e-0406ac5fb9ab/

How's that for official?

 

[donhix1]

This doesn't make sense. OLN didn't show the Vuelta last year. They had their 2004 cycling schedule lined up a long time before Floyd took the lead in this years Vuelta. I don't think OLN made a concious decision to not show this years Vuelta based on Floyed and Beltran leaving USPS. This is the first I've heard about Floyd Landis leaving the team...is it true?

Pena and Landis are going to Phonak. I don't know anything about Beltran, I thought he was staying.