Road Bike Racing - Pro Tour?

Hey there, just wondering how the Pro Tour is going to work next year. Will it be a positive or a negative for our sport? Also a bit off topic but what ever happened to the ONCE team.

ONCE is now Liberty Seguros.

I like the Pro Tour. It forces some teams (cough cough) to participate in more races than they normally would.

I'll give that "cough, cough" team some credit. They've routinely done 2/3 GTs (winning both last year) and a pretty decent # of 1 day events as well.

As for their #1 rider? A "cough, cough" or "ahem" might be appropriate as his "season" is over. I used to not really care but since it seems now OLN won't show a race w/o him, even if his team of which they are a sponsor is riding, I really wish his "season" were a bit longer.

I too like the Pro Tour. The TdF is the #1 race but it seems to have relegated everything else to the back burner. This should make the entire season more competitive. Hopefully, we'll get some TV coverage.

:beer:

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As for their #1 rider? A "cough, cough" or "ahem" might be appropriate as his "season" is over. :

Um, Zabel's racing tomorrow. Unless I missed your sarcasm. Quite possible.

Perhaps I missed your sarcasm. I thought you were referring to USPS in your first post. I do think the team races a pretty full schedule, though it'll be fuller next year to be sure. My sarcasm, such as it was, is directed at the 1 month season of the USPS team captain.

Btw, I realize he races for more than 1 month but he falls off the cycling scene pretty fast after July.

I do like the Pro Tour concept.

:beer:

Yes, to be fair, Postal does race a fairly full schedule.

And the team captain only does race one month a year. Everything he enters before that is for training only.

If al the big teams are forced to race the Vuelta and the Giro, these rounds will get bigger and maybe just as exciting as the tour!

I'll give that "cough, cough" team some credit. They've routinely done 2/3 GTs (winning both last year) and a pretty decent # of 1 day events as well.

As for their #1 rider? A "cough, cough" or "ahem" might be appropriate as his "season" is over. I used to not really care but since it seems now OLN won't show a race w/o him, even if his team of which they are a sponsor is riding, I really wish his "season" were a bit longer.

I too like the Pro Tour. The TdF is the #1 race but it seems to have relegated everything else to the back burner. This should make the entire season more competitive. Hopefully, we'll get some TV coverage.

:beer:

I've gotta agree. I naturally think Armstrong is an absolute superstar, and I know times have changed, but it kinda bugs me that he can basically rock up for one or two races a year, unlike the "good old days" when Uncle Merckxy and old Bernard did the hard(er) yards.

The answer to the following question is probably "yes": Are ther any other top line sports that permit such a "luxury"?

Surely the All England Tennis Club would get tired of handing out a wild card to Andy Roddick to compete a Wimbledon, year after year, if he never had any ATP points.

If al the big teams are forced to race the Vuelta and the Giro, these rounds will get bigger and maybe just as exciting as the tour!

Or it could make the races worse. Those big teams may bring weaker riders with no intention to do much, while small teams miss their chance to showcase potential up and coming star riders.
Maybe it will make both of those tours more competitive though. We shall see!



I've gotta agree. I naturally think Armstrong is an absolute superstar, and I know times have changed, but it kinda bugs me that he can basically rock up for one or two races a year, unlike the "good old days" when Uncle Merckxy and old Bernard did the hard(er) yards.


So Armstrong continues to dominate the biggest race in the world at the age that Merckx and Hinault faded.

Imagine how long Merckx and Hinault could have raced if they'd only done two races a year.

Imagine how many TDFs Merckx could have won if he'd concentrated on it alone.

One good thing about the Pro Tour is that the teams must hire a minimum number of riders under 25 years of age.

Imagine how long Merckx and Hinault could have raced if they'd only done two races a year.

Imagine how many TDFs Merckx could have won if he'd concentrated on it alone.

I don't know about Hinault, but Merckx would have just gotten fat without the racing and had no form for the Tour (or so he says... he raced so often to keep his weight down)