Professional Cycling For the Fans - If Contador drops out . . .

Versus is obsessed with Contador. EVERYTHING is discussed with reference to Contador. If he drops out . . . what will Versus do for a story line? Are they prepared to discuss even Evans and Schleck without reference to Contador? Will Andy lose all his motivation without Contador to mark?

Versus needs Contador. Without him, there's nobody to hate. What to do?

It's an awful lot like last year after it became obvious that Lance was uncompetitive. Once that happened, Versus was desperate for a story line. Hence, "The Failed Attack" become the story of the Tour de France for them.

The Tour de France is a wonderful, multi-dimensional event. There are a couple hundred great stories on that road, each a part of multiple complex strategies! Why must Versus always try to make it a one-story-line drama? Versus, stop taking the easy way out. Give the Tour its due!

I don't think they are totally fixated on Contador but they have spent a lot of time on the returning champion for obvious reasons, he is the returning champion. Once LA was out of contention last year, it was all AS and AC for the rest of the tour. There was no desperate clamoring for a story line, it was already there: Shleck and Contador. I don't think Contador will drop out, he is not having good luck, but he will not drop out. . . unless he gets injured in one of the many crashes that have plagued this years Tour.

They have discussed Hushovd and Gilbert and their run with the Yellow and Green jerseys as well as who can take it away. Its only 1 week in. Lets see what happens after todays rest day.

JT, Contador is saying that yesterday's fall re-injured an old knee problem. He said he will determine today if he drops or not.

And I understand about Versus' felt need to simplify the Tour into a single soap opera for a non-enthusiast audience. I just think they vastly over-simplify it, over-blow and over-emphasize their story line, and cause the Tour to lose a large chunk of what makes it special. And sometimes (like this year), they miss the things that are truly important to the race because of their obsession with their invented drama.

Ever want any Indy 500? Its the same deal with Danica P. I can't even stand to watch it because there are other women drivers who are better.

I think its just TV in general.. FalshBazbo hit it on the head.

Ever want any Indy 500? Its the same deal with Danica P. I can't even stand to watch it because there are other women drivers who are better.


How do you account for her Championship Points:

http://www.indycar.com/schedule/standings/

And I understand about Versus' felt need to simplify the Tour into a single soap opera for a non-enthusiast audience. I just think they vastly over-simplify it, over-blow and over-emphasize their story line, and cause the Tour to lose a large chunk of what makes it special. And sometimes (like this year), they miss the things that are truly important to the race because of their obsession with their invented drama.

1) Versus is limited to the camera feed they get from French television. So Phil and Paul can only comment on the video they are given.

2) Contador is far and away the best stage racer in the World today, and working on possibly becoming the best in history; 3 times and reigning TDF champion, reigning Giro champion, shooting to be the first guy to do the Giro, Tour double since Pantani, one of only 5 riders to win all 3 Grand Tours.

Add in the clenbutoral controversy, and you would expect them to give a fair amount of attention to Contador.

Versus built up ratings from the Lances days. AC is controversial. Or at least they have made him so here in the U.S. They have carried over the angst against him from the Lance situation. And because he is a viable threat to win several more TdF's, the LA fanboys are apoplectic over him being stopped at all costs. So Versus is going to focus on AC. Andy Schleck is the most likely candidate to beat AC. So the Versus milk the "rivalry" between the two for all its worth. Regardless of the fact that AS has never won a grand tour. They have many of the fanboys believing that AS is equal to AC as a rider. This keeps the rivalry going.

I really wish they would focus more on other riders. It would help grow the sport here in the U.S. beyond 3 weeks in July. The TdF is built up so much that most people think the season ends in July. And everything before is a tune for the TdF.

While I think they are going out of their way to slam Contidor I actually think they are doing much better this year when it comes ot giving decent detail on other areas.

Of course a lot of that may be becasue Husvold is on a U.S. team and there are U.S. riders contending in other areas. For once tehy have to lay a foundation bacause U.S. teams or riders may pick up anything.

Versus built up ratings from the Lances days. AC is controversial. Or at least they have made him so here in the U.S. They have carried over the angst against him from the Lance situation. And because he is a viable threat to win several more TdF's, the LA fanboys are apoplectic over him being stopped at all costs. So Versus is going to focus on AC. Andy Schleck is the most likely candidate to beat AC. So the Versus milk the "rivalry" between the two for all its worth. Regardless of the fact that AS has never won a grand tour. They have many of the fanboys believing that AS is equal to AC as a rider. This keeps the rivalry going.

I really wish they would focus more on other riders. It would help grow the sport here in the U.S. beyond 3 weeks in July. The TdF is built up so much that most people think the season ends in July. And everything before is a tune for the TdF.

So if someone doesn't care for Contador, they're a "Lance fanboy"?

If Contador drops out, yes, they'll talk up Evans vs Schleck, or anyone else in contention. The eventual winner will be the man next year. (especially if AC is DQd). The champion, and the other contenders will always be talked about nonstop. They have a lot of "talk time" to fill during the many hours of coverage. Cycling isn't the most action packed sport for TV viewing.

They talk a lot about the sprinters at the end of "their" stages. They also spend a lot of time talking about breakaways, and the riders in them, especially Voeckler. The attention he receives is well deserved. He's definitely not shy about mixing things up.

IMO, they talk about riders that are doing something, or have been doing something. Part of that 'something' is falling. Contador has gone down a bunch and now he's complaining of a sore knee. Maybe he's setting up an excuse for why he doesn't win. He certainly hasn't looked as dominating as he did in the Giro. Possibly he hasn't recovered from that race.

They don't much mention the Schleks, or Evans, or Basso, or Kloden. Those guys have been riding anonymously in the front (until Kloden went down yesterday).

If Contador drops out... to me, it'll be more interesting, and it'll make Phil and Paul's job actually much easier.

It's not embellishing to sell this race as Contador vs the field. It IS. ...until he drops out, of course.

Versus built up ratings from the Lances days. AC is controversial. Or at least they have made him so here in the U.S. They have carried over the angst against him from the Lance situation. And because he is a viable threat to win several more TdF's, the LA fanboys are apoplectic over him being stopped at all costs. So Versus is going to focus on AC. Andy Schleck is the most likely candidate to beat AC. So the Versus milk the "rivalry" between the two for all its worth. Regardless of the fact that AS has never won a grand tour. They have many of the fanboys believing that AS is equal to AC as a rider. This keeps the rivalry going.

I really wish they would focus more on other riders. It would help grow the sport here in the U.S. beyond 3 weeks in July. The TdF is built up so much that most people think the season ends in July. And everything before is a tune for the TdF.

He's not only controversial in the U.S. He's controversial in France as well. The spectators have boo'd him at least twice at this tour.

If contador drop off the race the versus guys will start talking again about Cavendish like if it was no end. In a matter of fact they talked a lot about him but less than usual in yesterday's stage.

I thought that they were doing a real good job with Hushovd when he had the jersey and the Garmin-Cervelo team on the whole. They do focus on Contador, but like someone mentioned earlier, he is the reigning champ so of course they're going to follow him. They talked a lot about Cadel Evans too.

I disagree with premise. I've watched every minute of the Versus coverage so far and I think Phil and Paul are doing a pretty good job with the play by play. They occasionally drop the ball, like at the end of stage 8 I'm sure I wasn't the only one yelling at the TV "where the hell is Vinokourov?" But on the whole I think they are doing a good job.

The pre and post analysis, on the other hand, is sort of lame. Bob Roll would be fun to hang out with but the other guys are just kind of weak.

I thought that they were doing a real good job with Hushovd when he had the jersey and the Garmin-Cervelo team on the whole. They do focus on Contador, but like someone mentioned earlier, he is the reigning champ so of course they're going to follow him. They talked a lot about Cadel Evans too.

And yet, they haven't mentioned me once!

This is a bunch of BS. They're reporting on the race, and mention Contador a lot because he's damn near UNDEFEATED in grand tours. If they didn't mention him a lot, they wouldn't be doing their job very well.

They'll pump up the Schleck love. If that fails, they'll attach themselves to Evans.

I really wish they would focus more on other riders. It would help grow the sport here in the U.S. beyond 3 weeks in July. The TDF is built up so much that most people think the season ends in July. And everything before is a tune for the TdF.

I agree, I've watched the TDF since the Lemond days and up until 3 years ago I thought the TDF was the superbowl of cycling. I do think though that is is hard to cover all the riders as there are so many. I think more cycling coverage other than the TDF and tour of California would help.

All sports are like Pro wrestling, You have to have the "Heel"(villain) and the "Hero"(good guy) to sell a story line. This year AC vs. AS. If AC drops it'll be AS vs. ?, but they will figure it out and sell the story.

Part of the reason is that they're American media, going after American ratings and playing to American media rules. (In over-simplified forms, arqangel67 hit it right.)

In the mornings, with my employer's blessings, I'm tuned into the British Eurosport broadcast over cyclingfans.com - listening to the commentary, switching screens to catch the video when something interesting is happening. Then, in the late afternoon, I'll try and catch the 2-hour Versus short-form broadcast. Occasionally I'll watch the full prime-time broadcast, although it's got a bit too much filler (mini-biographies, sidebars on equipment, etc.) for my tastes, and I hate blowing an entire evening in front of the television. While both broadcast sources are informative and enjoyable, I find I like the Eurosport version a bit better. It's more straight forward documentary, no filler, no frills, no need to create and build up rivalries for the audience. They do a lot of the kind of analysis-as-the-action-is-happening like I'm used to (and love) in MotoGP and World Superbike.

One of the things I love about cycling is, if the broadcasts are done well, you can just listen to the audio (like a baseball game) and still get whatever's happening at the moment without having to actually watch the screen. This alone has probably kept me employed over the last six Tours.

I agree, I've watched the TDF since the Lemond days and up until 3 years ago I thought the TDF was the superbowl of cycling. I do think though that is is hard to cover all the riders as there are so many. I think more cycling coverage other than the TDF and tour of California would help.

Cyclingfans.com, the British Eurosport coverage, and a good high-speed internet connection. I've watched more racing this year (from minor Wednesday one-day's to both grand tours, so far) than I've seen in the previous five years put together.

Phil Ligget will have a coronary if Cavendish drops out. He won't be able to complete a sentence.

Phil Ligget will have a coronary if Cavendish drops out. He won't be able to complete a sentence.

So long as his incomplete sentences make more sense than this.

So long as his incomplete sentences make more sense than this.
What part were you incapable of comprehending?

If Contador drops out, Andy will shift his gears flawlessly.