"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Tyler is a class act

After watching stage 15 for about the 3rd time yesterday I finally caught a little glimpse of Tyler doing something that shows what a true class act he is.

In cycling there's the unwritten rule to not attack man when he's in trouble due to a crash or mechanical problem. At one point in the coverage you can see Tyler up in front of the Ullrich group looking back at the group and giving them the slow down hand signal. I thought it was pretty cool seeing him doing that.

I wonder how much better he would be riding if he didn't have the broken collar bone?

Zack

Tyler continues to prove that he is a classy rider. He doesn't complain - he just grits his teeth (literally), and plows on.

I saw that too, just didn't catch who it was. It's an elite group of people who participate in this event, and not just elite in terms of their athleticism. They show they have class and respect for one another.

Yes Tyler is a class act, and
while we are at it I think we should mention Jan also
his comments on waiting for the maiotte Jaune:

"I have never in my life attacked someone who had crashed. That's not the way I race,"

class, simply class.


Marty

We need more cycling on TV and less basketball, baseball, and football, so our kids learn better sportsmanship.

Originally posted by FOG
We need more cycling on TV and less basketball, baseball, and football, so our kids learn better sportsmanship.

Absolutely agree. In Basesball, the winning team actually lines up and shakes their own teammates hands (WTF???)...I am always confused by that stupidity...At leat in HOCKEY they are men enough to shake hands with the other team after beating each other senseless for 60 minutes (same as in boxing).

Cycling is a much higher standard than most sports. Realistically, the show of respect that Jan offered Lance yesterday could ultimately cost him the TDF. Yet Jan knows that to win the race under such pretenses would forever soil the Yellow Jersey! (Same as Lance did 2 years ago).

As far as Tyler goes, He has ALWAYS been a class act. I am hoping that we will be seeing him in yellow some day as well.

Originally posted by FOG
We need more cycling on TV and less basketball, baseball, and football, so our kids learn better sportsmanship.

Indeed... I'd rather see more images such as that of Ullrich and Tyler slowing down the group for Lance and Mayo after their falls or Lance giving Chevanal a "good job" pat on the back as he went by or Lance waiting for Ullrich after he went into a ditch in 2001 or the various honorary gestures the peloton does such as slowing down and letting a rider go ahead when going through his hometown. These are much more pwerful and positive images than having some parent at a football game yelling for their kid to kill another kid. Perhaps we would have less incidents of things like dads killing coaches or other parents.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/10/30/national/main245269.shtml

I couldnt agree more with everything you guys have said. Cycling is an elite sport full of not only great athletes, but great people as well.

ditto ditto ditto. especially the mroe cycling bit. Amen and thank the great one for guys like Tyler and Jan

what's most striking, to me, about cycling sportsmanship is that all the courtesies are unwritten. what jan did for lance, what lance did for jan, "give an inch, make a friend" are all unwritten rules, with nothing but your own pride on the line. had jan attacked, he wouldn't have been fined, kicked out, or had any other official action taken against him. but he would've lost respect, which is worth much more to these guys than the fines. look at domestic professional sports, on the other hand. the contrast is stark and disturbing, especially considering how much of a "fringe" sport cycling is in the states.

problem with cycling in the states is that it does not make great TV..

Another exhibit of sportsmanship in an earlier stage when Piils and Saachi shook hands as they rode into town on the way to the final sprint. I love that.

On the other hand, you've got punks like Pettachi who win a bunch of flat stages and then bail out of the race when it gets to the mountains. That's totally bush league and shows a tremendous disrespect to his teammates, his competitors, and to the race itself. I wish there was a bigger outcry about that, but so far I've hardly seen anybody mention it.

TimB, to me this is great TV: it's on every day and every day there's a new hero, a new crisis, a new memorable moment. But to the average American sportsfan, you're right, this isn't good TV. It's too confusing, there's no timeouts or halftime, and it's just a bunch of guys in "tight britches" riding their bikes up and down mountains with unpronounceable names.

Originally posted by pgreene
Look at domestic professional sports, on the other hand. the contrast is stark and disturbing, especially considering how much of a "fringe" sport cycling is in the states.

Ohhhhhh soooooo true!!!!

Cheating, poor sportsmanship, and a "win @ any cost" attitude is so pervasive in American sports. In France or Italy, if you're caught doping, you will not only get into serious trouble with your team, the governing body and your fans - you will face criminal charges and jailtime. In the States, we don't even test for drugs in our "all american" sport ... baseball. Even if you're caught cheating (corked bats anyone?); @ worst, you'll get a VERY light tap on the wrist.

Tyler also was the one that reached out to Lance when Lance went through the field and got back on the road. Tyler still looks out for Lance even though he has gone to a different team.

What I find interesting is that the fundamentals of all this are taught to most everyone at an early age. Remember the poster entitled Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Kindergarten? It seems sad that so many of us discard those early lessons and have to relearn them as we progress through life. And as much as I admired the sportsmanship displayed by riders like Armstrong, Hamilton and Ullrich, I do find it somewhat disappointing that we as a society find it so remarkable and unexpected.

Originally posted by khuon
What I find interesting is that the fundamentals of all this are taught to most everyone at an early age. Remember the poster entitled Everything I Need to Know I Learned From Kindergarten? It seems sad that so many of us discard those early lessons and have to relearn them as we progress through life. And as much as I admired the sportsmanship displayed by riders like Armstrong, Hamilton and Ullrich, I do find it somewhat disappointing that we as a society find it so remarkable and unexpected.

So true.