Aka enthusiasm & energy…
Is it just me? When watching it seems riders don’t put too much heart into it? Watching leaves me board and doesn’t really capture my attention.
Discuss.
Yesterday was a snoozer, but the last climb was too far from the finish for anyone to do any damage. The only stage of importance is Mt Baldy this year. The course has become very formulaic year in and year out. Pretty boring.
Watching leaves me board
“bored”
.
So far there has been a Sagan win, a breakaway win, and 28 riders within a minute of the GC. If you don’t see anything exciting to watch, you’re probably a massive cynic.
Sure, it is not nearly to the caliber of the TdF and it’s not like World Tour teams are peaking for the event, but it’s about as good as you’re going to get in the US (especially with the Colorado Tour folding the mens race)
Aka enthusiasm & energy…
Is it just me? When watching it seems riders don’t put too much heart into it? Watching leaves me board and doesn’t really capture my attention.
Discuss.
“Riders don’t put too much heart into it”??? Seems like you don’t know what to look for. You really want to see boring? Try long course triathlon.
Not quite, stage 2 is where GC fight started. Baldy will end it.
They talked about it in the preview show, the roads are big, beautiful, and WIDE. Couple this with a lot less road road furniture and it makes for an “easier” race. Not necessarily easier from an effort standpoint, but not as twitchy and there just isn’t as much “urgency.”
Watching Cavagna descend was pretty nerve-wracking.
They talked about it in the preview show, the roads are big, beautiful, and WIDE. Couple this with a lot less road road furniture and it makes for an “easier” race. Not necessarily easier from an effort standpoint, but not as twitchy and there just isn’t as much “urgency.”
Related, I found this article interesting: https://www.velonews.com/2019/05/analysis/tour-of-california-how-wide-american-roads-shape-the-race_493647
i still find it interesting. but i think the stages should be shorter, and bumpy. i don’t see any reason for 130mi stages with 15,000’ of climbing. give me 80mi stages, where the riders have the energy to race. stage-3 was a snoozer because the riders were all torched from stage-2.
certainly has balls man…but just doesnt have the ovaries that the tour has
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Everybody has different view points but man Stage 2 to Tahoe I thought was incredible! I think that’s the most ‘active’ I’ve seen Van Garderen in quite some time which was nice to see. The descent down into the Lake certainly had balls. Check out Van Garderen’s Strava ride; I think he averaged 55mph for 1.5 mile segment! He and Moscon blew that race apart.
I wish there was a TT this year but man I’m really looking forward to the Mt. Baldy shootout.
i still find it interesting. but i think the stages should be shorter, and bumpy. i don’t see any reason for 130mi stages with 15,000’ of climbing. give me 80mi stages, where the riders have the energy to race. stage-3 was a snoozer because the riders were all torched from stage-2.
Agree so much with this. This is why I am trying to watch more women’s racing (where it is even available) because even though the premise of shorter stages is steeped in sexism, it makes for very different and IMO, more exciting racing.
Stage 2 was great action, the other 3 including today have been pretty restrained. The stages are too damn long, 200+k almost everyday and the wide roads don’t diminish that effort. Today could have been more exciting if it ran in the other direction finishing at Laguana Seca but thats logistics. I doubt you will see more fireworks until Baldy, its so hard to make a big risky efforts on 6 hour stages day after day and then back it up on the key GC day.
Don’t blame the riders. ATOC was similarly difficult in 2016 when I did it and we were doing 5-6 hour stages and 3-6 hour transfers everyday. For the euros it is a shock for something that is supposed to be a relaxed training race. With no TT day there isn’t really a chance to recharge and get really aggressive.
This is like watching a bunch of pros doing a weekend group ride… Watch for about 5 minutes UNTIL I saw the stage profile. Who the hell runs this tour??
Watching Cavagna descend was pretty nerve-wracking
What was with that? I think he had a problem with his disc brakes. https://twitter.com/AmgenTOC/status/1128433384009584641
This is like watching a bunch of pros doing a weekend group ride… Watch for about 5 minutes UNTIL I saw the stage profile. Who the hell runs this tour??
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the organizers insist on covering the entirety of the North-South of California in the race. They’ve obviously built relationships with host cities all the way from Sacremento to Tahoe to San Diego but man that is a massive, traffic filled distance to cover in a week. It really limits route selection and mandates long stages to go from host city to host city. If it keeps the money coming in you can’t blame them but makes the stages more like a “transition” stages like in a GT and they are raced like that.
Aka enthusiasm & energy…
Is it just me? When watching it seems riders don’t put too much heart into it? Watching leaves me board and doesn’t really capture my attention.
Discuss.
Today’s stage is just about as boring as golf or watching paint dry. Cap the stages at 2-3 hours. The results won’t change, but fan engagement and retention would probably increase.
Watching Cavagna descend was pretty nerve-wracking
What was with that? I think he had a problem with his disc brakes. https://twitter.com/.../1128433384009584641
I found this comment from that thread: “He said at the press conference that he had a couple of bad crashes last year and was really low on confidence and also is a bad descender.”
Brake problems or not, he was still missing those turns by a wide margin. Still a big effort for him though.
That was the most dramatic part of the day yesterday. Waiting for Bobke to have a seizure commenting on his difficulties on the descent.
All in all, is a bit subdued, but still enjoy watching World Tour/GC riders on home turf.