Interested in Paris-Nice situation?

[RockyMtnMerlin]

You should read this http://www.velonews.com/article/72954/inside-cycling-aso%92s-renegade-parisnice-threatens
if you have not done so. It also has ramifications for the Tour de France.

[maddmaxx]

Management...Union. Union....Management. The real loosers here are the fans and the riders. Surprise...Surprise.

[ultraman6970]

There is another company besides the ASOS?

[RockyMtnMerlin]

With respect to cycling, did you mean ASO or ASSOS?

[Gee3]

Late to the party...

Screw the ASO and screw the ProTour teams for not sticking up for one another. (see Unibet last year and Astana this year)

If the Pro riders really want to take control of their own futures they need to stand behind the UCI and protest the ASO events by refusing to ride in them.

Otherwise, disolve the UCI and start a new union under the ASO and be done with it.

But who'll be next on the ASO hit list? What will teams like CSC, High Road, Lotto, Quik Step, etc., do when they get banned from the TdF and other classics in the coming years? Who will stand up for and with them? Not any of the other Pro teams at this point.

This whole thing is stupid and quite frankly, if Astana isn't going to be allowed in this year's TdF I won't care to watch. It won't make a difference on ratings but you have to stand for something, even if you are by yourself. But how exciting will it be if the defending champ and two major contendors won't be there?

I'm sticking with US domestic racing. Go Rock Racing! Screw the DeTour de France!

[dgasmd]

Yep, this year's Tour winner has a clear name already: Schleck!

[Porter20]

You know it's funny, I have seen this played out before in racing. It was back with the Fed Ex Cart Series and then Tony George, owning the Indy 500, thought he could bully the series simply because he had the most prestigous race. So the series split, Cart no longer exist and no one watches IRL. In the end the biggest beneficiary (sp) was NASCAR, as it allowed the to expand from the Southeast to a nationwide and now international sport. Same thing is happening here; although I really don't know who gets the benefit - Mountain Biking?

[tn_roadie]

Perfect analogy. Now George has one racing series but it ain't worth much (see OW drivers in NASCAR) and the Indy 500 draws half the fans it did ten years ago. If the ASO thinks fans will always watch the TDF they're mistaken. There are lots of alternatives for fans here and in Europe. The TDF may return to its roots and be a French championship rather than a world wide event. They kicked out two Americans, Levi and Horner, why should I watch now? They are certain to take Slipstream so that might keep some interest in the USA.


You know it's funny, I have seen this played out before in racing. It was back with the Fed Ex Cart Series and then Tony George, owning the Indy 500, thought he could bully the series simply because he had the most prestigous race. So the series split, Cart no longer exist and no one watches IRL. In the end the biggest beneficiary (sp) was NASCAR, as it allowed the to expand from the Southeast to a nationwide and now international sport. Same thing is happening here; although I really don't know who gets the benefit - Mountain Biking?

[Stallionforce]

Whoever the right-wing crony was that posted the scintillating bit about union v. management -- well, keep your delusions to yourself. This has to do with precisely the opposite: a weak union caught in the middle of two petty, rival organisations. A powerful union with much greater solidarity would benefit the sport greatly at the moment.

As far as ASO v. UCI goes, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to be the voice in the wilderness crying out in support of the ASO. UCI's blatantly stupid move to equate a victory in a Tour Stage with some third-tier Belgian race run in April is ludicrous. It's perverse and injurious and just totally disrespectful.

Henri Desgrange -- like him or hate him -- put cycling on the map with the Tour. And without the Tour we would have nothing. It is the only event that non-fans of cycling know even exists. Some of them might even be able to identify the current victor. Cycling survives publically because of the Tour. And the UCI wants to diminish its status, to trivialise it. It's such hogwash. Everyone should read Le Tour by Wheatcroft and then come back to the bargaining table.

I don't like everything ASO is doing but I support them wholeheartedly in this struggle for -- never mind growth, but -- credibility in our sport.