The drama of the Tour, by Jeffrey Veen

The drama of the Tour

Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn recently suggested changes for a race he dubbed the "Tour de Farce." Zorn finds the current incarnation dull, in defiance to the estimated 1 billion viewers worldwide who would suggest otherwise. In fact, he'd rather eliminate the teamwork and group tactics that derive the very core of the race, opting instead to leave racer alone on the road, staggard by the time they earned in the day previous. "This would make it difficult to impossible for 'teams' of riders to work together to help their best rider, but who cares? Teams are antithetical to all forms of racing except relays."

See, now that's the problem when journalists try blogging. They start writing with a desire to simply be provocative without understanding what they're talking about.

I, on the other hand, enjoy the drama of cycling -- especially the deep allegiance of teams collaborating through individual glory. In yesterday's stage coming down out of the Alps, Discovery rider Manuel "Triki" Beltran crashed out, but not before the director sportif Johann Bruyneel did whatever he could to keep the team together:

Somebody made a sharp move and there was a touch of wheels. Triki went down and hit his head pretty hard. But we put him on the bike and we went another 10 or 15 kilometers, but when we came up next to him in the team car, he didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Then I talked to the race doctor and he said, "Yeah, he is done now." So we drove back up there and I said, "Triki, you have to stop the race now. You cannot go on." And Tricky said to me, "What race?" And so we made him stop and get off the bike and tonight he will stay at hospital.

Call it unnecessary risk or deep devotion -- either way it's drama. And I like it just the way it is.

This entry was written by Jeffrey Veen and posted 15 July 2005 at 12:16 AM. It was filed under Cycling. | View blog reactions

Comments

1. On 15 July 2005 at 1:44 AM David wrote:

That journalist do not understand cycling and how great sportmen the cyclers -all of them- are. Such a race would not be possible without a team. And I mean a real team: people prepared to sacrifice its chances and its pain to pick the leader of the team in a mountain, for example. That is greatness. And that's why the teams share ALL the prices won in such races.

2. On 15 July 2005 at 2:34 AM Jens Meiert wrote:

Like that, too. The Tour is just incredible. And always deepest respect for the participants.

3. On 15 July 2005 at 6:14 AM soxiam wrote:

I'm fine with journalists (or anyone else for that matter) not understanding the dynamics and intricacies of cycling. I certainly don't pretend to understand the in-field fly rule, halfcab-nosegrind-900-mctwist, or NFL's Neutral zone infraction rule. The difference here is that, because I don't understand these things, I keep my mouth shut and change the channel to OLN whereas these folks are somehow compelled to write negatively about something they know absolutely nothing about.

4. On 15 July 2005 at 7:38 AM Summerville wrote:

Just about every opinionated sports journalist has an idea on how to "fix" the less "mainstream" sports and make them more popular.

True enthusiasts appreciate a sport for what it is in the present, and know that it will evolve on its own.

5. On 15 July 2005 at 8:01 AM Josh Williams wrote:

No kidding. That journalist is off his nut. Watching the recap over lunch yesterday I made the comment to my wife about how much I enjoy the mixed drama of the teams competing, the individuals competing, the sprinters competing, climbers, etc.

You have the drama of a German looking to win on the day the Tour strides into his country, the drama of a Frenchman winning on Bastille day. The drama of Lance going for number 7.

Add in the daily breaks where small groups of riders, consisting of members from different teams are working together to beat out the pelaton, and you have more plots and subplots possible in cycling than just about any sport.

What a moron.

6. On 15 July 2005 at 9:50 AM David McCreath wrote:

"My boss made me get up and watch the whole stage live and now I'm Mr. Crankypants. I don't understand it! It must be broken!"

7. On 15 July 2005 at 12:04 PM Lou wrote:

I recently went through the process of explaining how the teams at the Tour de France work together and how breakaways happen, and why there's a peloton instead of 160+ separate riders with my girlfriend. I didn't even get into the 4 different leader jerseys, why breakaways are filled with different teams, and why some teams will take control of the peloton even if they aren't in contention on that stage at that point.

It's a complex race but it's fascinating and it's the best sporting event of the year for me (tops the Superbowl, Wold Series, Olympics and World Cup).

I don't think the race is any more intricate than a football game - why are there linemen? Why might they stunt or drop back? (I had a 2 hour session with my girlfriend explaining why linemen - the big fat guys - have a critical role in football). Most people get that - but we've been watching it our whole lives. Cycling is still new to most people in America.

8. On 15 July 2005 at 12:29 PM SugarKane wrote:

I presume he has not watched the time-trial stages then?

9. On 16 July 2005 at 12:36 AM Chris Huylebroeck wrote:

I really feel for you guys.
Being from Belgium, cycling is practically in my genes.

Over here, the Tour is just one of many big cycling events. And we get all of them live on tv. (sorry, didn't mean to gloat)
But what is really great is that during these live reports, we get great commentary as well. Mostly from ex-riders who know all about team tactics, food, gear, ...

As I said, I really feel for you guys.

OK, on another note. Everybody is always talking about Lance, and rightly so, but how about George Hincapie? That guy is so amazing. He's been riding at a top level since February now (he's a major contender in all the spring classics) and to see what he does for the boss in the Tour. Wow.

10. On 17 July 2005 at 12:23 PM nick wrote:

Dear me. As Summerville pointed out, it's along the lines of the Americans sports journalists who come up with checklists to 'make soccer more exciting' -- 'make the goals wider' being a typical bit of genius.

Irony of ironies, when next year's Tour rolls around, and the pretenders to the throne fight it out, the mainstream American sports hacks (who, frankly, are very narrow-minded bloviators compared to those who cover sport outside the US) won't be watching, because Lance won't be there.

That said, I do think that the now-ubiquitous GPS trackers and radio links between the team car and the riders have taken away some of the capacity to launch surprise attacks, and made life a fair bit easier for the directeurs sportifs. The 'fog of war' used to be an important tool in riders' arsenals, and technology has dissipated it. So I'd like to see a smaller stage race such as the Dauphiné go out on a limb and prohibit riders from wearing earpieces, just to encourage a bit of old-school taking advantage of limited information...

11. On 4 August 2005 at 7:05 AM ronsel wrote:

It's a shame. Imagine if he didn't understand this sport while Lance was winning the Tours...

12. On 4 August 2005 at 7:07 AM ronsel wrote:

What a shame! If he didn't understand this sport while Lance was winning Tour after Tour now that he's retired...