Professional Cycling For the Fans - what kind of rinky-dink bike races to they run in the USA?

During today's time trial stage in the Tour of Missouri, Anibal Borrajo was hit by a VIP car and forced off the road. He broke is front wheel and lost 10 minutes until a mechanic arrived and he finally finished the stage in last place.

Gustav Larsson was forced to stop in the middle of the time trial by motorcycles that were stopped in the middle of the course. When the motorcycles got out of the way and Larsson finally got back up to speed, he had to stop again for the same motorcycles that had stopped a second time. Larsson finished second in the stage (and is now second overall). Could he have won without the interference?

Does $hit like this ever happen in the Tour de France??

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/traffic-havoc-impacts-overall-missouri-fight

Accidents happen, but the thing Larsson really sucks, I would be ****ing furious if I were him.

I was going to post a thread here if someone else didn't.

Tour of Missouri is an embarrassment to US racing.

The attitude is "Hey, it's Tour of Missouri". That's fine for a Cat 3 race, not for a UCI race that attracts some of the best talent around.

I've helped in one stage race at that level. Fine, the race had some traffic problems in one particular stage, it was lack of coordination between different jurisdictions (state vs local) as well as an insistence by the state that the race be re-routed through some extremely busy roads (because a new library was opening there). I never saw the library, just the stacked up cars trying to get off the course into traffic almost literally gridlocked.

However, it wasn't the race personnel causing the problems. That stinks of incompetence and favoritism. Incompetence because the drivers obviously aren't paying attention to the racers, and the organizers are letting the wrong people drive in the wrong places. Favoritism because it's painfully apparent that the drivers were NOT selected for their attentive driving habits.

They should pay less for the riders' start fees and pay some of the race personnel a bit more money (and hire them blind, not because they're friends of the promoters). Then they can actually choose who works for them and get competent people.

cdr

Does $hit like this ever happen in the Tour de France??



well, I can recall dogs wandering into the road and taking riders out, a photographer taking out the leader on Alp d'huez, LA having to elbow his way through spectators on poorly organized climbs, others hit with cell phones, cut with those big green hands, unpopular riders getting spit on, many instances of gravel in the road on hairpin descents taking riders out, melted fresh tar on a descent basically ended Beloki's career, there have been confusing course directions and wrong turns, motorcycle cameramen regularly get yelled at to get out of the way...etc.

Crap happens. They have a lot more experience and very high expectations over there, but crap still happens.

The racing has been more exciting than the Vuelta.

Yah that is a joke wat happen to Larsson!

The Cascade Cycling Classic here in Bend, Oregon is all escorted by local police, Sheriff, and State Troopers. The roads are closed down and there seems to run smoothly. Levi won it a couple years ago and a guy from Rock Racing won it this year.

The racing has been more exciting than the Vuelta.

Oh dear god.

Does $hit like this ever happen in the Tour de France??


No. The Tour de France is worse. There have been about 30 spectators killed during the race and lets not forget Lance Armstrong being taken down by a spectator in one of the most crucial stages ever.
There are too many instances to list.

No. The Tour de France is worse. There have been about 30 spectators killed during the race and lets not forget Lance Armstrong being taken down by a spectator in one of the most crucial stages ever.
There are too many instances to list.

The TDF has also been run 96 times so there are bound to be more incidents than at a rinky dink race being run only twice and being viewed live by a small fraction of the people who line the roads in France every July.

why would you tour missouri

Missouri, along with California and Georgia, have been able to put on statewide races attracting top talent from around the world. Why Missouri? Because we can and did.

why would you tour missouri

+1

They should have a race to escape from missouri. Unfortuntately,the states that surround it are not much of an improvement.

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/images/usa/missouri.jpg

So it was a WOMAN driving that hit the cyclist. I'm not surprised.

The racing has been more exciting than the Vuelta.

You've got to be kidding. The last 3 days of the Vuelta have been epic.

In contrast, the only action in the Tour of Missouri is the last 1 minute of each stage. I watched a couple of stages of the ToM over the internet, then gave up since there was so little action. The 2 minute highlight shows show you everything you need to know about what happened that day.

I do not see the point of having a stage race in a boring state like Missouri. After watching the stage on TV, is anyone really inspired to fly to Missouri to ride your bike?

No. The Tour de France is worse. There have been about 30 spectators killed during the race and lets not forget Lance Armstrong being taken down by a spectator in one of the most crucial stages ever.
There are too many instances to list.

Let's not forget his amazing comeback as well from that fall. Accidents happen no matter what. A true champion must rise despite whatever accident occurs.

The TDF has also been run 96 times so there are bound to be more incidents than at a rinky dink race being run only twice and being viewed live by a small fraction of the people who line the roads in France every July.

Tour of Missouri has been running for three years. Medalist Sports promotes and helps organize the race for the LOC. Many of the contractors for Medalist Sports have participated in all of the Tours of California and Tours of Georgia. Accidents happen; I hope those responsible for the accidents are not allowed to participate again.

why would you tour missouri

IDK why they have a race there but Missouri IMO is really ****ty, their roads are terrible too. Oh and can't we think of something more creative than King of the Mountains because lets be honest, there is not single mountain in the whole damn state.

I don't get the whining. How many stage races are there in the US? How many attract top european riders? So we get a few and you guys piss and moan about the state of Missouri and the roads. And it was boring etc.

Really? The roads are terrible? Unlike Paris - Roubaix or any of the other spring classics. And I don't think Kansas should be throwing any rocks at that glass house.

Here is an idea: Stop trashing the TOM and spend some time supporting the rides that do come here and become an advocate for more races. I'm sure the Tour of Texas or Kansas would build on the importance of US cycling.

You've got to be kidding. The last 3 days of the Vuelta have been epic.

In contrast, the only action in the Tour of Missouri is the last 1 minute of each stage. I watched a couple of stages of the ToM over the internet, then gave up since there was so little action. The 2 minute highlight shows show you everything you need to know about what happened that day.

I do not see the point of having a stage race in a boring state like Missouri. After watching the stage on TV, is anyone really inspired to fly to Missouri to ride your bike?

Epic? The most exciting thing to happen has been Cadel Evans' botched wheel change. The GC contenders have been racing in a robotic, calculated manner. The Spanish press has been complaining about how boring the race has been.

well, I can recall dogs wandering into the road and taking riders out, a photographer taking out the leader on Alp d'huez, LA having to elbow his way through spectators on poorly organized climbs, others hit with cell phones, cut with those big green hands, unpopular riders getting spit on, many instances of gravel in the road on hairpin descents taking riders out, melted fresh tar on a descent basically ended Beloki's career, there have been confusing course directions and wrong turns, motorcycle cameramen regularly get yelled at to get out of the way...etc.

Crap happens. They have a lot more experience and very high expectations over there, but crap still happens.

Thanks, I remembered Beloki but was drawing a blank on his name.

One I can add, in the years I 've been watching the TDF they also had an incident where the Peleton was ahead of the fastest expected pace. A breakaway made it thtough a train crossing before the gates were down, the chase did not.

One of the classics has 2 winners, due to misdirection the lead group and the chase group took different routes. No rider error involved. The chase group finished first but never passed the lead group.

I vaguely recall a wrong way car incident, I think in the TDF. Just because there was no damage does not make the screwup less.

i don't get the whining. How many stage races are there in the us? How many attract top european riders? So we get a few and you guys piss and moan about the state of missouri and the roads. And it was boring etc.

Really? The roads are terrible? Unlike paris - roubaix or any of the other spring classics. And i don't think kansas should be throwing any rocks at that glass house.

Here is an idea: Stop trashing the tom and spend some time supporting the rides that do come here and become an advocate for more races. I'm sure the tour of texas or kansas would build on the importance of us cycling.

+1

Add one more for the TDF, Abdu's crash. Policeman who was supposed to be controling things was where he should not have been.

Ummm, some of you really need to sit down for six or seven hours and research races in Europe, you might change your mind ripping on the ToM.

Here's a thing I really didn't realize until I ran across it looking around for stories. Floyd Landis is back on the bike now, I think as of the Tour of Missouri (correct me if I'm wrong on that).

Anyway, I found it interesting, at least to see what he's saying now about what happened:

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1441009.html

He has been riding for OUCH all year.

A tour of KS would be really pretty boring. Could you imagine riding though Western KS for 4-5 hours, **** atleast MO has some trees to look at. I like KS actually but I am glad I live close enough to to see some good racing in KCMO just glad I don't actually live in MO ;).

How about a Tour of the Rockies though UT and CO or bring back the Coors Classic? That would be a great race IMO.

Are there any mountains to speak of in Missouri? The highest point is only 1700 feet, can't be much climbing.

Accidents happen in races all over the world. Some "accidents" are harder to swallow than others though. It broke my heart (and I broke my TV set) when Saronni's team manager ran down Knut Knudsen in the 1979 Giro, when Knut was in position for the overall victory. Which Saronni took that year.

Are there any mountains to speak of in Missouri? The highest point is only 1700 feet, can't be much climbing.

Elevation really has nothing to do with total climbing on a particular course. Missouri is a perfect example of that. While there are few sustained climbs for any distance, Missouri mainly features repetitive short & steep (10-20% grade) hills (no real "mountains"). The hills get steeper the farther south you go. While most maps and mapping software (and people for that matter) will wash it out to "flat" (again elevation measure alone or measuring ascent/descent), the total amount climbed will sneak up quickly. To use an example, I had the time to map out stage 2 of the 2009 Tour of Missouri out to Pocahontas. 81 miles, about 2402 ft of climbing, total. I notice a couple of good sustained (for MO) climbs they put in there.

So in essence, while you can find what genuinely qualifies as "flats" in Missouri, it is equally as easy to find the shorter climbs. While this is obviously not a concern to the riders of the Tour of Missouri when it comes to conditioning, what would present a challenge to them in gaining a fast time is the short repetitiveness of these hills to be able to adjust from climbing to descending. But keep in mind, too, that they are finding enough "challenge" (climbs, flats, whatever) to make these pro riders believe that it's worthy of their time.

I don't know if that answers the question, but hopefully it does.

But are there mountain top finishes???

[QUOTE=MGtrack;9665996]+1

They should have a race to escape from missouri. Unfortuntately,the states that surround it are not much of an improvement.

Have you been to Missouri or the TOM?

Kev

Thanks, I remembered Beloki but was drawing a blank on his name.

One I can add, in the years I 've been watching the TDF they also had an incident where the Peleton was ahead of the fastest expected pace. A breakaway made it thtough a train crossing before the gates were down, the chase did not.

One of the classics has 2 winners, due to misdirection the lead group and the chase group took different routes. No rider error involved. The chase group finished first but never passed the lead group.

I vaguely recall a wrong way car incident, I think in the TDF. Just because there was no damage does not make the screwup less.

Paris-Roubaix as well (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN319Fzo5DE).

why would you tour missouri

You, might ask the ACA that question.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/transamerica.cfm

or you could ask the state why they built one of the longest rails to trails parks in the US.

http://www.bikekatytrail.com/

Could it be nice place to ride a bike? No that couldn't be...not Missouri....

Kev

I noticed how the finish of the 1st sprint stage won by Cavendish was not caught on camera. The best shot they had was kind of indirect from back in the crowd nowhere near the finish line.

I agree Missouri would seem an unusual place for a bike tour, for various reasons. Qatar seems almost as natural a location.

Could it be nice place to ride a bike? No that couldn't be...not Missouri....


I agree Missouri would seem an unusual place for a bike tour, for various reasons. Qatar seems almost as natural a location.

Missouri is like any other state, city or country when it comes to regular tourism. There are great places to go if you know where to look. Same goes for car tourism. If you drive through any state, not knowing where to look, chances are you aren't going to find much to see.

But let us not confuse regular tourism with a bike race. I doubt any of the riders are doing it "just to see the sights". Besides, there are requirements, I'm sure for a bike race layout to fit a competition level. Whoever runs the Tour of Missouri satisfied those requirements and wanted to put on a race, so here they are.

Are there any mountains to speak of in Missouri? The highest point is only 1700 feet, can't be much climbing.

There are gazillions of short, steep climbs in the Ozarks. That sort of riding is crazy hard on the legs.

There are gazillions of short, steep climbs in the Ozarks. That sort of riding is crazy hard on the legs.


In other words, no, no mountains, just hills.

In other words, no, no mountains, just hills.

Usually there's three classes of people when it comes to Missouri riding from the things I've cataloged that people have said.:
1) This one that is quoted, who belittle it as "nothing special" because it doesn't have "real mountains", unless they try it and find different (and most haven't that do say that). Most I've encountered in bikeforums.net are this way.
2) People that whine about it being "too hard" after they find out things are different from what the folks in #1 say.
3) People who are used to "real flats" whining because they actually got to work to get around.

Again if UCI pro riders are thinking that it's worthy of their competition time, that should be telling you about how difficult it can be to get around.

Having lived in Branson I can tell you that the climbing is plenty hard there.

If there are real climbs in Missouri, why didn't the race go there? That would have been much more fun to watch.

The time trial was in Branson for the last 2 years. I watched from the road side on biggest hill and they were suffering.

I can't find the offical map of the 2008 course, but here is a route on mapmyride.com. You can see elevation if you have Google Earth installed....

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/branson/728426481191

Kev

"Climbing" as it were in Missouri can not be compared to climbing in a place with proper mountains such as coast California, the Sierras or say, Austria or France.

The former has hills and hillocks, the other are actual mountains. I am certain there is nothing in Missouri that can compare to even a small climb in Italy like the Monte Corno let alone The Falkert See in Austria or even The Kootenay Pass in Canada. And those are are not that hard in the scheme of things.

True there were and are probably no mountain top finishes possible in Missouri, but lets look at the final day 7 circuit. 7 laps at a little over 10 miles and right at about 1000ft of climbing per lap. Thats 7000+ feet. Thats riding in the Ozarks. Not so easy to ride the rollers around here.

True there were and are probably no mountain top finishes possible in Missouri, but lets look at the final day 7 circuit. 7 laps at a little over 10 miles and right at about 1000ft of climbing per lap. Thats 7000+ feet. Thats riding in the Ozarks. Not so easy to ride the rollers around here.

If the hills aren't tough enough to let the pure climbers break away from the pure sprinters, then the hills are not significant. They may be more work, but the same work for everyone.

That's what they get for going to Missouri.

agreed. the Ozarks are hardly the challenge of say the Rockies, or the Sierra Nevada's, Cascade, or Appalachians. Geesh San Diego has more climbs and harder ones than Missouri. they need to have a UCI one in Colorado and/or Utah.

Dont get me wrong. Shell Knob at Table Rock Lake and Beaver Lake are beautiful and hilly, but no challenge at all for a pro.

The time trial was in Branson for the last 2 years. I watched from the road side on biggest hill and they were suffering.

I can't find the offical map of the 2008 course, but here is a route on mapmyride.com. You can see elevation if you have Google Earth installed....

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/branson/728426481191

Kev


The High Road Route is a tough ride, much pain and suffering. Too bad the TT wasn't in Branson again.

You've got to be kidding. The last 3 days of the Vuelta have been epic.


Epic is not the word i would use to describe the Vuelta. i would say that it is far better than the tour of Missouri, by leaps and bounds, but not epic. actually the Vuelta has been very anticlimactic

The time trial was in Branson for the last 2 years. I watched from the road side on biggest hill and they were suffering.

I can't find the offical map of the 2008 course, but here is a route on mapmyride.com. You can see elevation if you have Google Earth installed....

http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/branson/728426481191

Kev

yes they were probably suffering as a time trial is an all out effort for the entire distance. they suffer on the flats too in a time trail.
they would not have suffered at all if it was a normal stage because they would have been conserving energy the whole time and blown right past the climb like it was nothing. and yes i do know what I'm talking about. my family has a cabin on table rock lake.

hehehe..... my 4th grader had a classmate that was moving there.... he and his other classmates all got alot of chuckles by saying he was moving to Misery........

Epic is not the word i would use to describe the Vuelta. i would say that it is far better than the tour of Missouri, by leaps and bounds, but not epic. actually the Vuelta has been very anticlimactic

I was talking about the 3 mountain top finishes in a row last weekend that were epic. Unfortunately, lots of bad luck in this race has made the week after that less competitive. Two pre-race favorites (Gesink and Mosquera) crashed hard and are now non-factors. Another favorite (Evans) lost so much time after a flat tire that he's no longer a factor to win, but maybe he can creep back up to a podium position in today's time trial. Sánchez and Basso are 2nd and 3rd in the race (as of yesterday), more because of bad luck to the competitors rather than great riding of their own.