Road Bike Racing - Lance, Jan and Tyler........

I remember when Jimmy Conners, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe dominated tennis and had everyone hyped up to watch Wimbleton. When they all retired it was kinda like nobody cared any more.

Is this the way Cycling is going to go when Lance, Jan and Tyler retire? Will OLN and the rest of America cover/care anymore?

Who will step up for the U.S. ?

When Lance retires it will be the same as when Greg hung it up. Greg put the TDF in the public's mind but when he retired people quickly forgot about it.

Cycling has a long way to go in the U.S. I'm reminded of that everytime I see someone like Letterman ask really ignorant questions of Lance like he did the other night. And you need to remember that the average citizen is only vaguely aware of one race. The idea that there may be a whole season of races probably doesn't even cross the mind of the average American.

Until someone on a major network becomes a cycling fan, it wont catch on. It pisses me off that the XFL was all over TV, but only OLN will cover cycling. Oh, and dont even get me started on SlamBall. :( If more Americans got off their lazy asses and tried cycling, they would quickly understand how great it is. I think the problem is, that Americans only like sports that they can watch while sitting down, drinking a beer, and eating an artery clogging meal. It takes too much effort, to watch a cycling event. :)

The problem with cycling, grand tours in particular, is that it is just downright boring to watch for the most part. Sure we're all devoted fans, and we'll sit through watching a flat stage, but to the average person it's just a big group of guys riding down the road - Big deal. Hell even watching a stage like an ITT is going to be even more boring, despite the fact that they are some of the most important stages of the race. Compared to football, basketball, soccer, even baseball which all have basically constant action happening, it's not hard to see why cycling just doesn't pull in the ratings.

And I don't forsee cycling making it to a big network, even if the owner of a major network is a huge cycling fan, there is no way a network is going to sacrifice 60+ hrs of air time and put up with poor ratings (ie not being able to sell commercial time).

I'm just thankful to OLN for being able to bring me the tours every day and give me real coverage, instead of lumping a week of riding into an hour or hour and a half show at some wierd time on a Sunday like the old days.

Andrew

i dont know, i find football, baseball and all the other major u.s. sports boring, while i find even the most boring bike races interesting to watch. i can't explain why but i do, chocolate and vanilla i guess.

also soemtimes i get the feeling if it was bigger and more popular it would kind of ruin it. atleast we get coverage and can see the major tours on a station that can show large chuncks of stages, and hosted by commentators who are passionate about the sport. i think if it got big we'd lose some of that.

Agreed. 90% of racing is boring to watch unless you really understand what's going on and even then an all-together peloton coasting along at 20mph for a couple hours is still kind of boring.

F1 racing is really boring to most Americans also because passing is almost non-existent. I found it really boring also until I learned to appreciate the technology and strategy of the races.

The simple fact is that there are way too many viewing options available in the U.S. for another sport to make serious inroads into the American living room.

Baseball is an interesting exception to the rule that Americans like lots of action. People who will sit through a 1-0 3 hour game will look at a peloton and comment on how boring it is. I can only guess that it's popular because of one of two reasons. 1. People enjoy the act of going to a game and sitting outside on a nice summer day drinking a $5 beer. 2. Those who enjoy watching it on TV have learned to appreciate the strategy and nuances of the game.

o theres plenty of passing in F1 whenever Kimi scews up qualifying and starts at the back of the grid :)


heck of a season wasnt it?

o theres plenty of passing in F1 whenever Kimi scews up qualifying and starts at the back of the grid :)


heck of a season wasnt it?

eww.. with the rule changes I thought it was the worst season ive ever seen.

Is this the way Cycling is going to go when Lance, Jan and Tyler retire? Will OLN and the rest of America cover/care anymore?
I think the people who care enough to catch OLN coverage will still care. People who are lukewarm will drift away. The US bike media will fix upon whoever seems like the most likely next big thing from the US, and hype him mercilessly (cf. most overrated rider thread). Will we have another Greg or Lance? Who knows. I think so, but we will continue to at least have major players. Economics are taking a big toll on cycling sponsorship right now, which is having an impact on development and promotion of the next generation, to say nothing of the current generation... I'm more worried about that!

Americans love winners. If the guy who takes Lances place when Lance stops winning does not continue to dominate then the TDF will be forgotten and us cyclists will become just another guy/gal in the way of traffic.

This is generally speaking of course. Cyclists will follow the sport with interest anyway.

I think the problem is, that Americans only like sports that they can watch while sitting down, drinking a beer, and eating an artery clogging meal. It takes too much effort, to watch a cycling event.

as an avid beer drinker i take offense to that.

i for one have no problem sitting down, drinking a beer, and eating an artery clogging meal while watching a bike race.

and while we're on the subject, i don't find doing the same while on my bike to be much more difficult. i suggest you try it sometime.

Cycling isn't boring a 5 day cricket match is boring,
golf is boring (to watch on TV).
Until the american public in general understands what is
going on in the peloton, tactics etc. I don't see a large
interest in pro cycling. Credit to LA who generated some
interest and got a few more people watching.
Credit to OLN for having commentators who can dumb it
down for the newbies.

Marty

as an avid beer drinker i take offense to that.

i for one have no problem sitting down, drinking a beer, and eating an artery clogging meal while watching a bike race.

and while we're on the subject, i don't find doing the same while on my bike to be much more difficult. i suggest you try it sometime.



:D My luck, I'd drop the beer bottle in my spokes and crash. :D Americans love baseball for all the reasons stated. It is a fat lazy fans dream. :p

Sports scene is crowded and established so it's hard to penetrate. New leagues seldom make it, even when they're variations of something familiar like XFL.

Also not a lot of youth development. Any kid that wants to play football/b-ball/baseball/soccer can pick and choose from a variety of youth leagues and can do so for free in middle and high school. With liability and insurance the way they are here what school district will start a road or even mtb team?

Of course soccer is evidence that youth participation is not a guarantee of pro success here in the US either.

Me personally, I don´t see Tyler playing in the same league as Jan does.

hmm, before this year i would have said that too. but tyler has made some serious improvements.

cycling in the us has a ways to go, but i really don't think it's too boring to watch. people watch nascar like mad, which i think is a lot more boring than the coverage of the tdf on oln. and golf, bowling, *fishing*, (someone mentioned basball already) - all of these things draw decent audiences but really aren't synonymous with "exciting."

i think it's just an awareness thing. what we need is a number of americans to do well in the sport, not just lance - and over a number of consecutive years. when greg won, everyone was talking about cycling for a while, but then attention spans got in the way because there was nobody to take over after him.

and golf, bowling, *fishing*, (someone mentioned basball already) - all of these things draw decent audiences but really aren't synonymous with "exciting."

Sadly, all of these "sports" draw exponentially more audience than cycling in the States. That's why the only coverage of le Tour that we get is on an obscure cable station, and yet taped fishing shows still preempt it. Simply put, if more people cycled in the States, there would be good coverage, regardless as to who is in the starring role.

Sadly, all of these "sports" draw exponentially more audience than cycling in the States. That's why the only coverage of le Tour that we get is on an obscure cable station, and yet taped fishing shows still preempt it. Simply put, if more people cycled in the States, there would be good coverage, regardless as to who is in the starring role.

I don't remember fishing shows preempting the TDF on OLN.

Anyway, lots of people cycle in the U.S. They however are still not interested in watching it on TV. Thousands of kids play soccer. Very few watch it.

It's a matter of there being way too many sporting events on TV as it is. You think you're going to pull someone away from their NBA or MLB game just so they can watch something that they have no understanding of?

I don't remember fishing shows preempting the TDF on OLN.

Every weekend live coverage of le Tour, Vuelta and Giro were preempted for taped programs featuring fishing, shotguns and hunting. The grand tours were then shown in the afternoon.

My point is that more people want to watch taped versions of these shows than want to watch cycling's most famous races live. The reason that cycling is televised MUCH more in Europe is because people ride in great numbers. In the United States, cycling is not popular @ all in relation to just about any other sport. In fact, by some accounts, it isn't even a sport. :)

Boring????....it is the only sport I watch...baseball is boring, football is ignorant, hockey is stupid, golf is down right asinine

I'd say Chris Horner, but he's getting a little old for racing in the grand tours and will probably stay on the domestic scene, anyway. Hincapie I don't think has the ability to win a grand tour. I guess I'll go ahead and say Tom Danielson. Still young (25), puts out amazing power, and just signed with Fassa Bortolo. Keep your eye on him, as he'll be in prime shape to win the Tour in a couple years when Lance retires.