D
Davide Tosi
Guest
Yesterday, 29 years old Swede Magnus Backstedt won the most important
classic bicycles race, the Paris - Roubaix.
Such an achievement would lead to a great appreciation at home for someone
coming from Flanders, Tuscany or almost any other place in the Central or
Southern parts of Continental Europe.
For the Scandinavian public, this achievement should be even more great
news since this is the first time that someone coming from above the Baltic
sea won one of the immortal "Monument" cycling classics.
But today it was very difficult to find even just a mention of this
marvellous accomplishment in Scandinavian newspapers.
This leads me to a reflection: is it good for cycling to let into those
great races riders coming from places were this sport is not popular at
all?
With more "Backstedts" winning Monument races, the risk is that the local
crowds in Flanders, Lombardy and wherever else those races take place will
eventually get disaffected by this trend and start skipping to attend them.
Probably even the sponsors will experience a decrease in return to
exposition. Sure wheels producer Alessio didn't gain as many new customers
with Backstedts win as it would have with i.e. Venetian rider Baldato
taking the top spot instead.
It just seems to me that the UCI (Union of International Cycling) dream of
cycling becoming a worldwide popular sport is just a utopia without any
chance of ever getting real. Even with other dozens of Scandinavian winning
classic races, cycling will ever remain a fringe sport up there.
It should be better to restrict the partecipation in them to riders coming
from the usual 6-7 traditional Central and Southern European countries.
classic bicycles race, the Paris - Roubaix.
Such an achievement would lead to a great appreciation at home for someone
coming from Flanders, Tuscany or almost any other place in the Central or
Southern parts of Continental Europe.
For the Scandinavian public, this achievement should be even more great
news since this is the first time that someone coming from above the Baltic
sea won one of the immortal "Monument" cycling classics.
But today it was very difficult to find even just a mention of this
marvellous accomplishment in Scandinavian newspapers.
This leads me to a reflection: is it good for cycling to let into those
great races riders coming from places were this sport is not popular at
all?
With more "Backstedts" winning Monument races, the risk is that the local
crowds in Flanders, Lombardy and wherever else those races take place will
eventually get disaffected by this trend and start skipping to attend them.
Probably even the sponsors will experience a decrease in return to
exposition. Sure wheels producer Alessio didn't gain as many new customers
with Backstedts win as it would have with i.e. Venetian rider Baldato
taking the top spot instead.
It just seems to me that the UCI (Union of International Cycling) dream of
cycling becoming a worldwide popular sport is just a utopia without any
chance of ever getting real. Even with other dozens of Scandinavian winning
classic races, cycling will ever remain a fringe sport up there.
It should be better to restrict the partecipation in them to riders coming
from the usual 6-7 traditional Central and Southern European countries.