“Then why to you watch?” she asked. “Is it
like NASCAR fans waiting for a crash?” Knowing how much time I spend out on my
bike, she quickly realized the error of her statement. I have a hard time
watching cycling crashes – kind of like when I watched The Exorcist for the
first time, peeking through the fingers of my (then) twelve-year-old hands!
Mom’s questions did make me think of auto racing and how I feel it has become a
boring battle of technological advances. I definitely hate thinking of cycling
going the same way.
It’s early in the season, and I’m hoping
other pro squads devise some strategy to throw a wrench into Sky’s plans, but
the British team’s directors have devised a (seemingly) unbeatable strategy of
calculating, through power meters and wattage readings on cycling computers,
how much effort a cyclist would need to sustain a break away from the pack as
they go over mountains. A rider like Wiggins, Chris Froome, or in the case of
Paris-Nice, winner Richie Porte, who is a strong individual time trialist, will
gain the leader’s jersey for Sky. Then, with their deep roster of capable
climbers, the team will get on the front and take turns riding as hard as they
can, keeping the pace up high enough to make a successful breakaway impossible,
and effectively killing the race.
During Tirreno-Adriatico, an Italian race similar
to Paris-Nice, I watched Alberto Contador take off on a hopeful break late in a
stage, only to have Sky’s boys (photo below) keep the same steady high pace and slowly reel
the Spaniard back in. My brother-in-law will joke that he longs for the days of
doped-up riders, like Marco Pantani, Jan Ulrich and Lance Armstrong, would
shatter the peloton with such moves, but I definitely don’t think pro cycling
wants to turn back the clock to that era!
The inexperienced viewer of pro cycling
races might think, “Well, what about trying to get away on the flat stages?” Not every team has a rider
who has the ability to go for the overall victory in stage races. Teams who
focus only on getting sprint victories will control these stages to keep the
pack together and give their speed guys a chance to take the chaotic drag race
at the finish of these types of routes.
My wife and I were debating the idea of
doing away with all of the “tech” during bike races – no team radios,
computers, meters, etc. – reducing them to simple athletic contests. Sure, team’s can use that stuff during training, but with the amount of time these
cyclist spend on the road, shouldn’t they learn to have a pretty good feel for
the effort they are putting out during a race and gauge their efforts
appropriately. We conceded that there could still be support vehicles and motorcycles
with chalkboards to give time gaps, but that’s it. Hey, it’s what they did in
the “old days”, and we think it would make things more unpredictable AND
exciting again!
**Two last
minute updates: (1) During Monday morning’s penultimate state of
Tirreno-Adriatico, Sky lost control of the race, which took place in stormy
conditions over terrain that featured several extremely steep, short climbs. I’d
hate to think only Mother Nature or race route organizers can keep Sky
from winning, though. (2) Peter Sagan is a monster! Early in the week he beat
top speedsters Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel in a bunch sprint, and today
jumped clear on a punchy climb along with grand tour favorites Joaquin
Rodriguez and Vincenzo Nibali, with about 10 km left. The three worked well
together, gaining nearly a minute on the field, putting Nibali in the leader’s
jersey, with Sagan easily winning the sprint for the stage win (photo below). Look for “Peter
the Great” to win one of this year’s spring classics!
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