Month: June 2011

The Highroad paradox

Degenkolb

On some measures HTC-Highroad is the most successful professional team going. At the time of writing they have 29 wins this year, the next UCI ProTeam is Rabobank with 17 wins. It was the same story last year, with the team finishing a long way ahead of Liquigas at the end of the season. And that’s before you include the wins of the women’s team too. Victory wise, this is the equivalent of a solo breakaway, dropping every other team going and finishing far ahead of the pack.

Yet for a team so far ahead of its rivals, it’s struggling to find a sponsor. I covered this subject back in March but now want to revisit the idea to explore a couple of new angles.

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New rules for Tour de France competitions explained

Green jersey

At last, I’ve found a source quoting the new rules for the Tour de France points and mountains competitions. These rules have changed after Tour organisers ASO wanted to liven up the race a bit, to ensure the green jersey is more closely correlated with a stage winning sprinter and also so that the mountains jersey goes to a proper climber, rather than a calculator-wielding rider who takes off early on a couple of mountain stages.

Anyway, there had been talk of rules changes… but then more talk of more changes and nobody’s had a definitive version. Now it seems LiVE-Radsport.com have got their hands on the rules. Here’s how it works…

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Thibaut Pinot

Thibaut Pinot

Just 21 years old, FDJ’s Thibaut Pinot impressed in the Critérium du Dauphiné, notably with second place on the final stage. After spending half of the stage on the attack, when caught on the final climb he was still able to lead the sprint in front group behind Joaquim Rodriguez.

Prior to this race he’s grabbed some other good results, notably a third place in a stage of the Dauphiné last year and winning the mountains competition in the Tour de Romandie in 2010 too. I’ve long kept an eye on Pinot, tipping him in the winter as a rider to watch for 2011.

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Swiss cycling

Tour de Suisse

With the Tour de Suisse on this weekend, it’s worth taking a quick look at Switzerland and cycling. It’s probably Europe’s best kept secret for cycling and here are some random things about riding in the country.

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As good as it gets

Tour de Suisse

Look around. The Dauphiné hits the mountains this weekend. The Tour de Suisse starts today. In their own right these are brilliant races, showcasing the Alps, the kind of scenery where cow bells ring and you almost expect Julie Andrews to emerge with an annoying song. Only it’s time for bike racing, with summit finishes, sprints and time trials.

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Dauphiné final weekend preview

Stage 6
Stage 6

Saturday’s stage is where the Dauphiné hits the mountains with a vengeance. The stage starts with a quick climb, enough to encourage some to start attacking, before taking the scenic Eveaux gorges on the way up to the Col des Aravis. This is a proper climb, complete with hairpin bends and the echo of cow bells bouncing off the glacial scenery. The following climbs are steady, both the Tamié and Grand Cucheron are about 5%. It’s the final that’ll make all the difference. The Collet d’Allevard is averages close to 9% with some sections over 10%. It’s not the Zoncolan but it’s certainly one of the steeper climbs in the French Alps.

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Losing the agenda

Lance Armstrong Avoriaz

Today sees the Dauphiné head to Les Gets and a large section of today’s stage borrows the same roads as last year’s eighth stage of the Tour de France that finished in Avoriaz, won by Andy Schleck.

On Sunday 11 July 2010 the bunch was speeding to the first proper climb of the race, the Col de Ramaz and on a downhill section during the approach there was a roundabout, a small junction to control the traffic to a nearby supermarket and the kind of thing you find all over France. But it was on a fast piece of road and the passage of traffic arriving fast at the roundabout and braking hard had rippled the tarmac a touch, itself softened by the summer heat. Most riders got through but the skittish surface claimed one victim: Lance Armstrong. Up until then everything was going to plan, Armstrong had finished second in the Tour de Suisse and took fourth in the Tour’s prologue.

But everything went wrong thanks to this roundabout. It took a long time to get going and once he was on his way Armstrong was in the red, chasing with team mates to the start of the Ramaz. Team Sky were driving the pace ahead and Armstrong never got back on, especially since Astana kept the pace high to Les Gets and he eventually trundled up the finish line in Avoriaz, over 11 minutes down.

Yet if a roundabout ruined Lance Armstrong’s hopes last year, it was a random and freak event and his team tried their best to get him back in the race. Fast forward to 2011 and I can’t help but wonder if his troubles today are not being compounded by the result of bad decisions and poor advice.

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Has cycling “Sold Out”?

American documentary maker Morgan Spurlock has a new film called “Sold Out”. You might know him from the “Supersize Me” film where he tried to stick to a diet of fast food and measured the ill-effects.

His new effort focuses on the omnipresence of advertising and branding in our lives, from billboards to product placement. As you can see from the image above, he’s sold space on his clothing to sponsors and in fact the full name for the film is “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”.

Yet if Spurlock is employing the classic reductio ad absurdum technique to point out with satire just how much advertising gets beamed at us… doesn’t he just remind you of a pro cyclist posing in front of the team car? What’s normal for us is parody for Spurlock.

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Is cycling a team sport?

Rabo team

“I really view cycling as a team sport… …that in order for their to be a sustainable business model behind cycling you need to have people identify with the team and not the individuals… …if we want the sport to be successful you have got to generate long term loyalty to organisations and not individual athletes”

Those are the words of Jonathan Vaughters, team owner of Garmin-Cervélo in a recent interview with podcasters The Flammecast, explaining his vision for pro cycling as a team sport in the years to come. But glance at the results and it is very much an individual sport, for example the records show Johan Van Summeren won Paris-Roubaix this year. So is cycling a team sport or one of individuals?

The simple answer is that it is an individual sport conducted with teams. But it gets more complicated than that, particularly if we look at the history of the sport and where things might be heading at the moment.

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