Professional Cycling For the Fans - Ullrich is looking lean and mean this year

SHOULD? Umm. I dunno about that.... It will be exciting, but the fact that you're already stating it SHOULD be the MOST exciting since the TURN OF THE CENTURY makes me a little skeptical of your sense of excitement / bike racing history.

Well, what I meant was that the 1999 Tour was pretty darn amazing, as far as miraculous comebacks are concerned. However, after a while the Tour lost some of it's suspense once Lance started dominating it - much like the early 1990's during the Indurain era. For the first time since around 2000 there will not be a clear cut favorite who will win unless something goes wrong. It's going to be a head to head battle between Ullrich and Basso, with Vino, Mancebo, Landis, Valverde, and Leipheimer to stir things up and keep it exciting. The Tour hasn't been this open since, well, the turn of the century...

edit: My vote for the most exciting Tour de France still goes to LeMond's 8 second victory in 1989. I still remember where I was when I heard that he had won, and I was already a fan several years before that. I will admit though, that my perspective for the "most exciting Tour ever" is limited since I did not follow the Tour before the mid 80's, so I've watched a mere 20% or so of the Tours since 1903. :)

You're kidding, right?

They won't show it because the ********* won't be in it.

CBS and ESPN had shown the Tour before Lance came along. OLN may have even had coverage before Lance became a GC threat. (I forget exactly when the network picked up the coverage.) The ESPN coverage was excruciating at times, but at least they showed it.

However, there are a number of other factors that come in to play besides the presence or absence of Lance. I know that in some years it has been difficult to get coverage of Milan - San Remo, for example, because another network had exclusive coverage rights (probably RAI, but perhaps it was Eurosport).

Also, there is a big split right now between the Grand Tour organizers, who also promote many of the more prestigious classics, and the UCI who is pushing the Pro Tour. The riders' union appears to be siding with the UCI and the Pro Tour. Obviously there will be a Giro, a Tour, and a Vuelta this year. However, all of this political infighting might make networks nervous about investing in programming that is already a low return compared to other sports that could be shown. And quite frankly, it sounds like the Grand Tour organizers have bigger concerns than North American television coverage right now: a good Velo News summary (http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9416.0.html)

You're kidding, right?

They won't show it because the ********* won't be in it.








so now it's about balls... great reading. thanks.

Relax. I'm sure he meant the turn of the 21st century.

One would assume so, after all any other turn of the century is meaningless as the TDF started in 1903.

Oh and for exciting try 68. There were about 5 riders within a minute going into the final stage, a time trial where anything could happen. No one even had a podium spot sown up, let alone a win.

One would assume so, after all any other turn of the century is meaningless as the TDF started in 1903.

Oh and for exciting try 68. There were about 5 riders within a minute going into the final stage, a time trial where anything could happen. No one even had a podium spot sown up, let alone a win.

That sounds unbelievable. I would have loved to have been alive then to see it. Sincerely.

Nontheless, the statement I responded to knocked the following statement:

"This should be one of the most exciting Tours since the turn of the century"

That means since 2001. The only really close one since then was 2003. So the statement is still true. This year's race should be fun. I only hoped that everyone brings there "A" game.