Tour 2012 vs Olympics

CyclingBantam

Just spotted that the Olympic Road Race next year is on Saturday 28th July.

I'm guessing this will mean that the Tour will be from 1st - 22nd to allow riders to compete in both.

I wonder how much competition there will be for the Green jersey as are the top sprinters likely to flog them through a whole tour which would surely leave them little left for the Road race and TT come to that.

rick_chasey

CyclingBantam wrote:

Just spotted that the Olympic Road Race next year is on Saturday 28th July.

I'm guessing this will mean that the Tour will be from 1st - 22nd to allow riders to compete in both.

I wonder how much competition there will be for the Green jersey as are the top sprinters likely to flog them through a whole tour which would surely leave them little left for the Road race and TT come to that.

It'll be the same for everyone. No-one will give up TdF glory in case they might be too tired for the olympics.

Since there's little other racing during the July, I'd suggest if you weren't in it, you won't win the olympics.

Kléber

We'll see if the Tour dates change but presumably they'll avoid a clash. Like the Worlds and riders doing the Vuelta, many will feel it necessary to do the Tour. The difference is that the Tour is such a big race that few will be using it for training. But expect a few to drop out in the final week.

Olympic glory is good because it's only once every four years... but a stage win the Tour de France is prestigious, it's hard to see guys giving up on the green jersey or the chance of the Champs Elysees sprint.

Down the Road

With maybe the exception of the home nation the Olympics are way down the order.

Get a list of hope for wins from a pro and I doubt the Olympics are in the top 10.

Personally I'd kick out road cycling from the Olympics as they are not important to the athletes

rick_chasey

Down the Road wrote:

With maybe the exception of the home nation the Olympics are way down the order.

Get a list of hope for wins from a pro and I doubt the Olympics are in the top 10.

Personally I'd kick out road cycling from the Olympics as they are not important to the athletes

Disagree.

avoidingmyphd

Here's Samuel Sanchez demonstrating that the Olympics are not important to him:



And they were so unimportant to Cavendish that Olympic failure led to the breakdown of his relationship with Wiggins.

shinyhelmut

Davide Rebellin describes his 2008 Olympic medal as the most significant race result in his career.

RichN95.

Down the Road wrote:

With maybe the exception of the home nation the Olympics are way down the order.

Get a list of hope for wins from a pro and I doubt the Olympics are in the top 10.

Personally I'd kick out road cycling from the Olympics as they are not important to the athletes

OK, name ten bigger wins for any of these Olympic champions:

Samuel Sanchez
Pascal Richard
Tyler Hamilton
Vlatislav Ekimov
Jan Ullrich

I reckon you might even struggle with Indurain, Bettini and Cancellara

rebs

Considering how much gold cancs and sanchez's bikes are decked out. I'd wager its a fairly bike deal...

CyclingBantam

I think it is a massive deal to them.

Additionally, realistically, in the last week in the tour, the Green jersey could be down to only 3 riders tops, even then, looking at the stages to come they might think it is already sewn up if someone has a 20 point lead and favourable stages to go. I would be interested to see what Cav would do if he was trailing in second with a week left of the Tour.

Down the Road

I'll do the easy one

Cancellara

4 world's
2 Paris Roubaix
1 Tour of flanders
1 Tour de Suisse
1 National Raod Championship
Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1 real stage of TDF (not ITT or Prologue)


Indurain (∆ust 4 fun)
5 Tours, Giro
World Time-Trial Championship (1995)
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1995, 1996)
Paris–Nice (1989, 1990)
Clásica de San Sebastián (1990)
Critérium International (1989)
Grand prix du Midi Libre (1995)
Volta a Catalunya (1988, 1991, 1992)
Tour de l'Avenir (19

FJS

Down the Road wrote:

I'll do the easy one

Cancellara

4 world's
2 Paris Roubaix
1 Tour of flanders
1 Tour de Suisse
1 National Raod Championship
Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1 real stage of TDF (not ITT or Prologue)


Indurain (∆ust 4 fun)
5 Tours, Giro
World Time-Trial Championship (1995)
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1995, 1996)
Paris–Nice (1989, 1990)
Clásica de San Sebastián (1990)
Critérium International (1989)
Grand prix du Midi Libre (1995)
Volta a Catalunya (1988, 1991, 1992)
Tour de l'Avenir (19

You're only digging yourself in deeper. You really think Cancellara rates his Tirreno or Swiss Road Camps win over his Olympic win? Or Indurain the Midi Libre???

Where you might have a point in your original post is that few pros would build their preparation around the Olympics for four years, like in some sports like rowing or to some degree Athletics - the Olympic RR is a one day race and much to unpredictable for that. But for those who win it, even the likes of Bettini with big one-day palmares, it's definitely a big deal

rick_chasey

Down the Road wrote:

I'll do the easy one

Cancellara

4 world's
2 Paris Roubaix
1 Tour of flanders
1 Tour de Suisse
1 National Raod Championship
Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1 real stage of TDF (not ITT or Prologue)

Indurain was before my time but we know that Canc sacrificed his worlds TT for the olympic TT. He even specifically lost weight to suit the Olympic course.

He seemd to take it as a massive deal.

Kléber

I'd add it's a big deal but I doubt we'll see many using the Tour as training although there are some one day riders like Gilbert, Pozzato etc that might do just that, with two weeks hard and then back off or quit.

rick_chasey

The olympics is probably the biggest one day race there is.

Definitely the biggest TT there is, unless a greater prize is at stake.

Down the Road

The Olympics are SO important to Pro Cycling that No official jersey has been paid for in the almost 0 years since it ceased to be a race for juniors (Amatuers) in 1996.

A bit of gold on a helmet that you can't notice hardly reflects on it as an important race. Win a Nationals or worlds and is on your jersey for ever.

If one pro says they are pulling out of the tour early for the Olympics then you are correct. If not then it shows how little they mean, as the Dommies will still rather ride to Paris than be fresh for London

Gazzaputt

Down the Road wrote:

With maybe the exception of the home nation the Olympics are way down the order.

Get a list of hope for wins from a pro and I doubt the Olympics are in the top 10.

Personally I'd kick out road cycling from the Olympics as they are not important to the athletes

For real?

For a lot of riders this is a great meal ticket for 4 years at the worse.

I agree they'll be plenty dropping out in the final week.

Monty Dog

The Olympic races have only been open to pros since the 90s, so clearly it takes a while for the prestige to build in comparison to the likes of M-S-R or P-Rx. However, in the wider world beyond cycling and with the general public, an Olympic Gold counts for far more recognition and status - I think the net worth of an Olympic Gold is worth more to an individual in the long run than any race, perhaps with the exception of the Tour. Given that the Tour finishes the weekend before the RR, then expect that most tour riders will have fully recovered and that we can expect a cracking race.

Tom Butcher

It's a big race but not first amongst equals - certainly not a stand out race compared to the Worlds or the major classics - it's in there but not above them.

10 bigger "hope for" wins. Well I think most riders would rather win a grand tour if they could - so that's three. Then I'd say the worlds is another and I reckon the Olympics is in there with the 5 monuments - arguably not the most prestigious of that group too.

I think the reason is no rider would feel the Olympics was a big miss on their palmares - in the way that say Kelly might class a Worlds or Flanders as a notable omission, Cadel Evans might class a Grand Tour as an omission, Poulidor the Tour etc. No rider is likely to make winning the Olympics a career aim.

stjohnswell

Gazzaputt wrote:

Down the Road wrote:

With maybe the exception of the home nation the Olympics are way down the order.

Get a list of hope for wins from a pro and I doubt the Olympics are in the top 10.

Personally I'd kick out road cycling from the Olympics as they are not important to the athletes

For real?

For a lot of riders this is a great meal ticket for 4 years at the worse.

I agree they'll be plenty dropping out in the final week.

Olympic Gold is big news in the sports marketing world as the champions become national celebrities. Winner gets rich and famous = feels good.

It's hard to square that up against the 'prestige' and mud-splattered anonymity fo K-B-K or something.

Tom Butcher

Not true - ask Wiggins what made him his money - it's 4th in the Tour, not Olympic golds. Ask the swimmer Adlington how rich she is - she isn't. And they are fairly high profile Olympic winners.

stjohnswell

WIth apologies to Chris Sutton, winner KBK 2011, clearly having a whale of a time.

dougzz

Isn't it simply that the Olympics brings more recognition outside cycling, and potential sponsor money, but LBL or Roubaix for example more 'inside cycling' prestige?

Down the Road

Radio interviews this morning asked people to name 3 UK Gold medal winners at 2008 from top of head.

No-one could. Not taking answers her as you;ll just grab wikepedia

Not really celebrities anymore

rick_chasey

Tom Butcher wrote:

Not true - ask Wiggins what made him his money - it's 4th in the Tour, not Olympic golds. Ask the swimmer Adlington how rich she is - she isn't. And they are fairly high profile Olympic winners.

You can't compare like with unlike.

Firstly, Wiggins got his wins on the track - and let's be honest, who really gets hot under the collar about the track?

Secondly, riders often don't talk about the olympics as a career goal because they are too infrequent and so much depends on the profile of the route chosen.

Thirdly, cycling, unlike swimming, has a high profile professional commerical side in which a recognised olympic champion can gain from. Win the olympics, expect a bigger contract. What trade team does Addlington race for? Oh, wait...

Fourthly, you need to approach the olympics like a turbo worlds. That's basically all it is. When the olympics are on, it becomes that season's 'world's' effectively.

Down the Road

I'll have the rainbow jersey then

afx237vi

The Olympic road events are only a big deal if you win. If you don't, shrug your shoulders and move on to the next race. Compare with badminton or weightlifting or whatever - if you're an Olympic athlete and you mess up in those, that's 4 years of work and money down the pan.

I don't think cycling should be removed, but it seems less inspiring watching a bunch of well-paid professionals do their stuff than it does when you're watching the amateur sports. See also: football.

rick_chasey

afx237vi wrote:

The Olympic road events are only a big deal if you win. If you don't, shrug your shoulders and move on to the next race.

It's like that with a lot of bike races.

afx237vi

Rick Chasey wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

The Olympic road events are only a big deal if you win. If you don't, shrug your shoulders and move on to the next race.

It's like that with a lot of bike races.

I know, which is what makes bike racing "professional". It's just a job for most of them and the Olympics are just another day at work. It's a good job, and maybe a nicer day than most, but it's not the be-all and end-all like it is for other Olympians.

Down the Road

What time is the road race?

Is there time to make the ferry back to the mainland for the Post tour Crits or will they have to travel over on the Sunday and miss a good pay day?

dougzz

afx237vi wrote:

The Olympic road events are only a big deal if you win. If you don't, shrug your shoulders and move on to the next race. Compare with badminton or weightlifting or whatever - if you're an Olympic athlete and you mess up in those, that's 4 years of work and money down the pan.

I don't think cycling should be removed, but it seems less inspiring watching a bunch of well-paid professionals do their stuff than it does when you're watching the amateur sports. See also: football.

Because the Olympics have a two tier structure really. Sports that have their pinnacle at the Olympics, clearly Track and Field, maybe Archery, Rowing, Swimming and I don't know what, and then the Sports that are at the Olympics but clearly not in an important way within that sport, obviously Football, and I'd say Basketball (all those NBA stars with their gazillion dollar contracts at Olympics :roll: really), and I'm sure others I can't think of or don't know enough about to care. An extension of this is the availability of medals, and how hard they are to win. It's easier to win a swimming medal than a running one, because they're are loads of swimming events that people can enter, much less true of running, who could ever win more than 3 or 4 running medals, whilst many golds in swimming is not that unusual.