UCI Pro Tour
02-02-04, 05:15 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,296
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
UCI Pro Tour
UCI Pro Tour (velonews)
What do you all think of this?
It sort of reminds me of major league sports in the US...
(Sorry if this has been discussed before, and sorry for not really providing much information in the thread itself. I am not a writer, but only a broadcaster of old, forgotten news.)
What do you all think of this?
It sort of reminds me of major league sports in the US...
(Sorry if this has been discussed before, and sorry for not really providing much information in the thread itself. I am not a writer, but only a broadcaster of old, forgotten news.)
02-04-04, 04:37 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Someplace trying to figure it out
Posts: 10,664
Bikes: Cannondale EVO, CAAD9, Giant cross bike.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 67 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
It's a p!ssing contest between the Tour and the UCI. Frankly, if the Tour tells them to buzz off and invited who they want, does anybody truly think that the top teams will avoid the Tour to play with UCI?
He refers to Cipollini...the reason Mario does not get into the Tour is that he has no intention of finishing or even trying, and his team sucks. They can't climb a pimple. much less an Alp.
They call out the Tour...I don't disagree that the Tour has a lot of power, but I see this as a similar situation to the one close to my home with the battle between the factions of open wheel auto racing that has been raging for nine years and destroyed the sport.
What if the teams tell UCI to take a hike and decide to do their own thing? What's UCI going to do? Did they consult with the teams and work with them to develop this, or are they dictating to them how they are going to race? If it's the latter, UCI will lose.
It'll be interesting....
He refers to Cipollini...the reason Mario does not get into the Tour is that he has no intention of finishing or even trying, and his team sucks. They can't climb a pimple. much less an Alp.
They call out the Tour...I don't disagree that the Tour has a lot of power, but I see this as a similar situation to the one close to my home with the battle between the factions of open wheel auto racing that has been raging for nine years and destroyed the sport.
What if the teams tell UCI to take a hike and decide to do their own thing? What's UCI going to do? Did they consult with the teams and work with them to develop this, or are they dictating to them how they are going to race? If it's the latter, UCI will lose.
It'll be interesting....
02-04-04, 10:43 AM
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Mentioned: Post(s)
Tagged: Thread(s)
Quoted: Post(s)
On the surface it appears that the World Cup competition will be eliminated. No more World Cup Jersey for the classics riders?
And although the stated intention is to curtail specialization and encourage season long participation, the teams are allowed to select the riders they send to the events, so they can send a team of stagaires to a race if they want. If the UCI succeeds in this, it will eliminate the "injustice" of undeserving French teams being selected for the Tour while more deserving teams are left sitting at home. And it will make the Giro and Vuelta more international, which would encourage larger, more international sponsors to participate in the sport.
The market will decide. If people start to support the World Tour series by watching the events, either on tv or at the races, then it will be accepted because the sponsors will be behind it. tv numbers and sponsorship numbers ultimately will tell whether it works.
I think it could be a good stimulus for the entire season of cycling, and could benefit the race promoters, sponsors, and fans. Individual riders and teams may not like it, and in the US, where in spite of the fact that the Cycling season is opening right now, people are still only talking about TDF riders, it will probably be ignored.
Right now all the riders in Europe are using the minor events to que up their fitness for the big events. Cycling is in a pre-season period now like we have in this country with football and baseball. Here on this forum, nobody seems the slightest bit interested in analyzing or talking about the results. Noone has even mentioned Tom Boonen's sprint victory over McEwen yesterday, in spite of the implications it has for the early spring classics, which we know Boonen will be targeting.
Kudos to brent_dube for his insight on OLN's expanded coverage of the early tours and classics and his contribution of this article.
And although the stated intention is to curtail specialization and encourage season long participation, the teams are allowed to select the riders they send to the events, so they can send a team of stagaires to a race if they want. If the UCI succeeds in this, it will eliminate the "injustice" of undeserving French teams being selected for the Tour while more deserving teams are left sitting at home. And it will make the Giro and Vuelta more international, which would encourage larger, more international sponsors to participate in the sport.
The market will decide. If people start to support the World Tour series by watching the events, either on tv or at the races, then it will be accepted because the sponsors will be behind it. tv numbers and sponsorship numbers ultimately will tell whether it works.
I think it could be a good stimulus for the entire season of cycling, and could benefit the race promoters, sponsors, and fans. Individual riders and teams may not like it, and in the US, where in spite of the fact that the Cycling season is opening right now, people are still only talking about TDF riders, it will probably be ignored.
Right now all the riders in Europe are using the minor events to que up their fitness for the big events. Cycling is in a pre-season period now like we have in this country with football and baseball. Here on this forum, nobody seems the slightest bit interested in analyzing or talking about the results. Noone has even mentioned Tom Boonen's sprint victory over McEwen yesterday, in spite of the implications it has for the early spring classics, which we know Boonen will be targeting.
Kudos to brent_dube for his insight on OLN's expanded coverage of the early tours and classics and his contribution of this article.
Last edited by don d.; 02-04-04 at 10:48 AM.
02-04-04, 11:39 AM
#4
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,296
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Originally Posted by roadwarrior
They call out the Tour...I don't disagree that the Tour has a lot of power, but I see this as a similar situation to the one close to my home with the battle between the factions of open wheel auto racing that has been raging for nine years and destroyed the sport.
I hated that... it really did ruin my interest in it. I think it made the Indy 500 much less of a grand thing than it used to be, for one. I almost feel bad for 'giving in' and watching IRL races sometimes. It seems like all my favorite pro racing organizations are really going through changes, (they will or have been), and in some cases, its really hurt the sport IMO.
The announcement of the Pro Tour thingy quickly reminded me of NASCAR's new Nextel Cup series system, or the changing Formula 1 series...
I sure hope this doesn't create a power struggle between organizations.
Like Don D said, maybe this could be good for the sport. It could possibly make things a little more understandable to new fans, for one. Maybe more of a 'structure' in a racing season will make more sense to the fans.
One main thing I see that I will dislike about this is the lack of lesser teams in some big races... (especially the grand tours) I don't really see that as much of a problem for the Tour de France, as, in my mind, its the international tour (or atleast, you would think the organization would want it to seem that way). But with the Giro and Vuelta, we may miss out on seeing some good or up-and-coming riders, who are on lesser teams, shine.
02-04-04, 12:41 PM
#5
Lance Hater
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 4,403
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
At first glance, I like the idea and think that its goals are admirable and worthwhile.
As someone said, it's one thing to force teams to contest "lesser" events. It's another thing to get big name riders interested in something other than the TDF. The only way that will ever happen is to somehow lower the prestige of the TDF or to make entry into the TDF dependent on participation in the spring classics.
Getting Americans interested in one day races is another thing all together. These races already have big name teams. Maybe it'll take Joe Shmoe in Topeka seeing Lance, Jan and Tyler doing Het Volk to make him interested in the race.
As someone said, it's one thing to force teams to contest "lesser" events. It's another thing to get big name riders interested in something other than the TDF. The only way that will ever happen is to somehow lower the prestige of the TDF or to make entry into the TDF dependent on participation in the spring classics.
Getting Americans interested in one day races is another thing all together. These races already have big name teams. Maybe it'll take Joe Shmoe in Topeka seeing Lance, Jan and Tyler doing Het Volk to make him interested in the race.
02-04-04, 04:25 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Someplace trying to figure it out
Posts: 10,664
Bikes: Cannondale EVO, CAAD9, Giant cross bike.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 67 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
Originally Posted by brent_dube
Sorry to go a little off topic, but, are you referring to the CART/IRL deal?
I hated that... it really did ruin my interest in it. I think it made the Indy 500 much less of a grand thing than it used to be, for one. I almost feel bad for 'giving in' and watching IRL races sometimes. It seems like all my favorite pro racing organizations are really going through changes, (they will or have been), and in some cases, its really hurt the sport IMO.
I hated that... it really did ruin my interest in it. I think it made the Indy 500 much less of a grand thing than it used to be, for one. I almost feel bad for 'giving in' and watching IRL races sometimes. It seems like all my favorite pro racing organizations are really going through changes, (they will or have been), and in some cases, its really hurt the sport IMO.
