This year's TourdeFrance will suck, here's why!



whiteboytrash said:
You're best off watching the World Championships of baseball where only American teams compete ! LOL ! you guys cant't do nothing unless it has some overacting story attached to it ! If American TV stations had control of European cycling they would force the riders to stop for a 'TV timeout' ! LOL ! :p

Get John Tesh back on board with all that synth music.. that will win the people over ! :p :p :p

Fair's fair - the US cyclists have done very well this year.

I welcome participation from US cyclists - it's good for the sport to have a blend of nationalities.
I thought Julich was superb this year.
 
limerickman said:
Fair's fair - the US cyclists have done very well this year.

I welcome participation from US cyclists - it's good for the sport to have a blend of nationalities.
I thought Julich was superb this year.
Guess the point I was trying to make was that you can't expect Americans in Walnutcreek Berkshire or Brokenport Wisconsin to get off on a 226km flat stage of the Tour or any other race... they will never give a rats **** for it.... just like Darren Bennett who was a supreme AFL footballer in Australia who made it big in American football... Australians thought it was great but it didn't make them hook up cable TV and watch every game single game of gridiron they could feast there eyes on........

Now back to John Tesh......
:p
 
hombredesubaru said:
Obviously because Armstrong will not be there.

The competition will be great.
It will be a more open race.
There are a lot of new faces.
The course is a classic course.

And for diehard cycling fans--a small number relative to US football fans, Euopean soccer fans etc-- for all the above reasons, it will be just fine, perhaps even better with Lance gone.

But for worldwide media coverage, there is no big story like Lance was--first the comeback, then the dominance, then tying, then breaking the record. Each year there was a big story.

From a media and news perspective, this year...no story, except the marginal now-theres-no-Lance-what-happens-story.

So, without big media, and less TV and radio, which means less advertising dollars, less revenue, less tourism, less of an "event" or a happening.
He defined the race to this generation.

Now it is up to the organizers and riders to see what they can do to keep the race as prominent as he has made it. Lots of luck, because otherwise it becomes another small sideshow in the media conglomerate and advert dollars race, and will probably recede.

If the stupid organizers keep the doping angle front and center, pretending they are taking the high road and will be the purifying agents, they will kill the sport. The way it is now, the average Joe has only heard of the race because of Lance and because of the drug scandals. If only Jean Marie were one tenth as smart as some of the media/PR people working with Lance...lets see who came up with, oh yeah, the yellow bracelets...etc etc
LA is so much bigger than the race and those idiots cant see it

tant pis...
I think the topic title should have been, "This year's TDF will suck for us LA's fans, here's why?".

As you admit it yourself the race will be probably better for diehard cycling fans. If this piece of the pie is big or small let others to determine it. Anyway I don't know many sports that get 500.000 people outside without any comfort to see their heroes pass in just 10 seconds, or so. And that without losing TV rate at all.

If I'm remembering well, from 2006 the TDF coverage will change to Discovery Channel. If that's true I don't think that in terms of revenue the organisers will lose significantly. That's because the contracts are already signed and are lasting many years. They are not renewed in an every year basis.

In all the years of TDF's presence 2 years were disastrous for the race. 1904 when the final GC was altered a few months later because the first riders were proven cheats and 1998 with the Festina scandal and the later on withdrawal of the TVM and all the Spanish teams. Maybe you've missed that (cause LA first won on 1999) but try to find newspapers or magazines from this year's TDF. You will then understand why Leblanc and ASO and the French authorities act this way on doping.

Please reread your final sentence. Think it over and then tell us again if you believe it still. ;)
 
bobke said:
Well, we'll see...
I think this year's race should be great.
As for whether cycling will survive, the sport and race needs a Basso or great new kid like Valverde to give it some spirit and verve. And IMAGE.

Bobke is that you? You said you'll boycott this year's TDF, won't you?

It is possible of course that at some point folks will say enough is enough and close the door on cycling. I think that is the worry.,..and LEquipe and LeBlanc seem to be heading that charge...

Did you wrote this?
Don't get me wrong but it's a bit in contradiction with you starting a topic about boycotting the TDF, isn't it? :)
 
whiteboytrash said:
The French love courage, strength, integrity and honesty.
Strength & Courage are what they are going to need now that the "youths" are tearing up Paris.

whiteboytrash said:
What most of you don’t know as you have only been following the Tour since 2000
I have been following it since 1969.

whiteboytrash said:
This courage attracts sponsors and the race is seen as a clean sporting event
I cut and pasted this from Pez. This is a recent article from about Oct 2005.


Survey Says
Procycling as well as a plethora of other news sources, reported on market researchers Ipsos' recent survey on cycling vis a vis doping and the sport's credibility. The survey merely confirms what most probably think anyways, but it's still dismal to read: "79 percent of the public questioned in Germany, France, Spain, and Italy associated cycling with doping. In France, however, that figure was a massive 97 percent."




whiteboytrash said:
and if riders are caught then they are ostracised and left in the cold like they should be.


Yes they are ...... That is why
Virenque is the poster boy of French cycling.

whiteboytrash said:
The race has got bigger and bigger because of his courage.
The race has gotten bigger more from involvment of riders from other countries..... Lance/America... Jan/Germany..... Australians ....

But I will not boycott the Tour. I have been making plans to be in France in 2008 to witness this in person.... But lately I have been thinking of the Giro instead.
 
I'd love to make a Tour team of messengers from the world over.
Drugs are nothing new in TDF either, they've been dealing with that for over twenty yearts as well. TDF will be just peachy.
 
wolfix said:
Yes they are ...... That is why [/font]Virenque is the poster boy of French cycling.


I think the French were more inspired by Jalabert, more than Virenque.
 
The Tour will survive..... some Americans will do well others will suck, just like everyone else. The magic of the Tour, is the teams. Does Discovery have a team this year? I'm concerned about coverage here in North America, but in the 80's I'd get a half hour once a week and one condensed stage on the week-end. Least with live feed on the net I can listen.
 
The TDF is the world premiere race and has built a tradtion over 100 years. Every rider that has ridden the tour has worked his ass off to compete and added to what it is today.
It is not just about one winner or all winners,it is about all who compete as leader,sponsors ,domestiques ,all who watch and all who work to make it happen.
It is about the energy,sacrifice and pride that goes into three weeks in July.
Unfortunately with pride and money sometime comes vanity and scandal, but the energy and spirit of such an enormous competion still eclipses the darker side of human nature.
Individual fame and fortune is fleeting and the names of Eddie and Lance etc. will be footnotes in years to come, but their contribution and efforts toward the spirit of the competition will live as long as the tour is ran.

Of course this is just the opinion of an ignorant hillbilly.
 
Dimos said:
I think the topic title should have been, "This year's TDF will suck for us LA's fans, here's why?".

As you admit it yourself the race will be probably better for diehard cycling fans. If this piece of the pie is big or small let others to determine it. Anyway I don't know many sports that get 500.000 people outside without any comfort to see their heroes pass in just 10 seconds, or so. And that without losing TV rate at all.

If I'm remembering well, from 2006 the TDF coverage will change to Discovery Channel. If that's true I don't think that in terms of revenue the organisers will lose significantly. That's because the contracts are already signed and are lasting many years. They are not renewed in an every year basis.

In all the years of TDF's presence 2 years were disastrous for the race. 1904 when the final GC was altered a few months later because the first riders were proven cheats and 1998 with the Festina scandal and the later on withdrawal of the TVM and all the Spanish teams. Maybe you've missed that (cause LA first won on 1999) but try to find newspapers or magazines from this year's TDF. You will then understand why Leblanc and ASO and the French authorities act this way on doping.

Please reread your final sentence. Think it over and then tell us again if you believe it still. ;)


Here's a quote from BBC Cycling News apparently agrees with the thread.

By Matt Majendie


Armstrong remains a bigger draw than the race and the top riders.
Lance Armstrong may be gone from the cycling world, but he is certainly not forgotten.

At the launch of the route for next year's Tour de France on Thursday, the race Armstrong has made his own for the last seven years, race director Jean-Marie Leblanc spent 12 of his 15 minutes on stage talking about the Texan.
 
bobke said:
Here's a quote from BBC Cycling News apparently agrees with the thread.

By Matt Majendie

At the launch of the route for next year's Tour de France on Thursday, the race Armstrong has made his own for the last seven years, race director Jean-Marie Leblanc spent 12 of his 15 minutes on stage talking about the Texan.
Mr. Matt Majendie must be the one and only persron who heard Leblanc talking about Lance.
And that's bizarre as Bruynnel and Lance himself were mad furious because excactly Leblanc and Prudhomme haven't made a single mention to the former 7 times winner!!!
Astonishing isn't it? That's what I called journalism... :D
 
Dimos said:
Mr. Matt Majendie must be the one and only persron who heard Leblanc talking about Lance.
And that's bizarre as Bruynnel and Lance himself were mad furious because excactly Leblanc and Prudhomme haven't made a single mention to the former 7 times winner!!!
Astonishing isn't it? That's what I called journalism... :D


Exactly.

Armstrong and Bruyneel were in a sulk because the TDF 2006 presentation failed to mention them - at all ! They're pathetic.

He only retired three months ago and already he's being overlooked !
 
Someone test homebred's blood. I think he should be banned from the forum for recreational drugs.

Here in Canada -- Victoria, BC to be precise -- everyone's interest has quadrupled because of the departure of Armstrong. I'm no Armstrong hater (frankly ambivalent toward him) but I'm glad to see him go to open the race up, not just in terms of the winner, but in terms of tactics; it's going to be a thrilling, attacking-style of racing.

It'll be Basso's year, but it'll be close.
 
I watch every day of the TDF on danish television (TV2). We did not get the Lance "hype" you are all talking about. After his first two wins, it was always interesting to think about how Armstrong would win the next one. He always found a different way to win. But as the 2 turned into 6 and then 7, each one seemed to get easier for him and last year, well, it was boring because it was just no contest. He and his team were just so dominating.

Next year, no Armstrong. I route for CSC and Basso is my obvious choice. But what about the Chicken whose glory turned into sadness on the final time trial. Many are writing hi m off, but not me. I watched him closely as a mountain biker. Everyone has limits, but the history of the Chicken has been to push his limits and always improve upon his weaknesses. He will not make a fool of himself again.

What about the signing of O'Grady to CSC! Team CSC has a number of young riders and will probably have quite a different team than last year in the TDF.

I am glad the Lance Armstrong era is over. Number 8 would be even more boring. It should be a close race with some new faces emerging. I am looking forward to it.
 
Catabolic_Jones said:
Here in Canada -- Victoria, BC to be precise -- everyone's interest has quadrupled because of the departure of Armstrong.
So now your parents and sister are fans too?

:rolleyes:
 
micron said:
Hombre, yet more absolute tosh. If you weren't so blinkered, you would know there are already riders, like Contador, who have extraordinary stories to tell and who will be champions of the future. The Tour has always had, and always will have, extraordinary stories - from a European perspective, Armstrong stopped being the big story years ago.

I think you also put too great a store in the power of the American market - don't forget, you see the Tour on one minor cable channel, across Europe it's covered by main stream media. And the heartland for the race is, and always has been, in Europe, and it is those hearts and minds that the Tour organisers pander to first. And they're the hearts and minds that believe that the Tour is riddled with doping and want to see it cleaned up, want to believe in it again. All Armstrong has managed to do - through his litigious personality, his refusal to speak French, his insular approach to the race (and I mean the Tour bus kept apart, the minders, the whole separatism of the USPS/Disco approach) and the dodgy associations and doping scandal is bring the race into disrepute and make the viewing public increasingly cycnical about his 'miraculous' comeback - so, of course the organisers will want it to move on from that quagmire, to bring back some honesty and integrity to the race.

Your problem, Hombre, is that you don't see past Armstrong (bigger than the race? What an absolute joke that is) to the bigger picture and have absolutely no idea of the relationship between the race and its core public, and between the race and the country that hosts it.


True!

The race is bigger than Armstrong (as it is bigger than Indurain, Merckx etc) and has been over the last few years despite his team's dominance.

For most race followers it will hold the same interest in 2006 as it always has.

Another great cyclist will stand up.
 
mitosis said:
True!

The race is bigger than Armstrong (as it is bigger than Indurain, Merckx etc) and has been over the last few years despite his team's dominance.

For most race followers it will hold the same interest in 2006 as it always has.

Another great cyclist will stand up.

It was definitely time for a change.

Compare the 99-2001 Tour highlights to the 2005... 99 was an interesting year, and LA's explosive attacks exciting to watch. The 2000 Armstrong/Pantani duels, and 2001 with Ullrich on Alpe d'Huez... 2003 with it's nail biting final TT in the rain, and the spectator's bag... Mayo stealing Ullrich's bonus seconds on Luz Ardiden when he was only 15 seconds behind LA... that was cycling at it's finest, and fascinating to watch.

The 2005 Tour? Watch the first TT, the TTT, and the last TT, and sleep through the rest. Sure, he won 2005, but it was so utterly mechanical, like watching a clock run. None of the signature LA explosions, and barely winning one stage. There were some mildly interesting tactics in 2004, such as CSC partnering with Postal to counter TM's long breakaway, but otherwise it wasn't really a memorable year, other than Jan's rather dismal finish. I think they ran a Tour in 2002, but can't remember much of anything about it. I assume LA won.

I don't know whether to blame Disco for being mechanical, or the competing teams for being so half-hearted in 2005. Would have been nice if some of them had raced for first place instead of second. What I do know is that there is a good deal more mystery in the next Tour than the last one. And we go into it without a clear favorite. Should be interesting to watch.
 
I put much thought into this before responding. The race defines the rider.... the rider doesn't define the race. Truth is I'm a huge Lance fan and I will miss watching him. Having said that, all great athletes retire sooner or later, and no sporting event dies because of it. I love Lance because of the tour, but I loved the tour before I ever heard of Lance. The Daytona 500 didn't die with Earndhart, and the Tour will not retire with Lance........ the next big story of the tour will present itself soon enough. The race defines the rider.... the rider doesn't define the race. :cool:
 
hombredesubaru said:
Obviously because Armstrong will not be there.

The competition will be great.
It will be a more open race.
There are a lot of new faces.
The course is a classic course.

And for diehard cycling fans--a small number relative to US football fans, Euopean soccer fans etc-- for all the above reasons, it will be just fine, perhaps even better with Lance gone.

But for worldwide media coverage, there is no big story like Lance was--first the comeback, then the dominance, then tying, then breaking the record. Each year there was a big story.

From a media and news perspective, this year...no story, except the marginal now-theres-no-Lance-what-happens-story.

So, without big media, and less TV and radio, which means less advertising dollars, less revenue, less tourism, less of an "event" or a happening.
He defined the race to this generation.

Now it is up to the organizers and riders to see what they can do to keep the race as prominent as he has made it. Lots of luck, because otherwise it becomes another small sideshow in the media conglomerate and advert dollars race, and will probably recede.

If the stupid organizers keep the doping angle front and center, pretending they are taking the high road and will be the purifying agents, they will kill the sport. The way it is now, the average Joe has only heard of the race because of Lance and because of the drug scandals. If only Jean Marie were one tenth as smart as some of the media/PR people working with Lance...lets see who came up with, oh yeah, the yellow bracelets...etc etc
LA is so much bigger than the race and those idiots cant see it

tant pis...

I disagree.
 
mitosis said:
True!

The race is bigger than Armstrong (as it is bigger than Indurain, Merckx etc) and has been over the last few years despite his team's dominance.

For most race followers it will hold the same interest in 2006 as it always has.
The Tour de France will go on for another 100 years, because yes the race is bigger than LA, Merckx and Indurain together. By the way, Merckx and Indurain also won the double a couple of times (Giro & TdF in the same year), didn`t see LA do that. I respect Armstrong`s achievements but the cycling season has more races than the TdF, didn`t see LA winning any of the important ones (with exeption of the TdF) in the last few years...

i think it will be a very open tour with tough battles: Basso, Ullrich, Valverde´, Cunego and Menchov (yes Menchov!) are probebly the guys to watch.