Sportives and road racing

roger_merriman

Locally the problem seems to be more getting folks to stand by the road, than go racing but then I live deep in MAMIL land so not surprising really.

Sportives are easier to enter, road races don't tend to be advertised while don't use quite the perverse TT codes are equally far from clear in all cases.

Plus Sportives tend to have more interesting routes.

In terms of uk cycling (as a whole) the domestic road race is not of great importance and I suspect it will remain so, certainly if it remains with cycling clubs etc, who have only so many volunteers and so on.

It is possible that sportives are poaching a few folks from racing but realistically, can't make people go racing and Clubs seem to be running the races they can.

Leroy42

From my reading of the OP, it seems to be argueing that sportives are taking away from the racing scene in that many people who could enter races are instead choosing the advertised sportives and 'racing' them instead.

I don't see it like that at all. There is no doubt about the rise in the sportives, and probably more so than the rise in people racing (I don't have any numbers on this), but I think they are two very different markets.

Racing in general, especially at the lower grades, tends to be run on small circuits with little variation (of course safety and organisation is the main driver it would be to logistically difficult to set up a sportive type race). Great if your a sprinter or like the cut and thrust of a pack, but if your a climber type what is available? Peoples impression of bike racing if driven mainly by the media and that focuses on the grand tours and in particular the mountains. So most 'non racing' people think of cycling in those terms so saying to them that racing involves 50 laps of a 1 mile circuit doesn't really meet those expectations. (I'm not saying that it should be done any other way, just making the comparison).

From a personal point of view, I would be more a climber type (although saying that I mean I seem to suck less at that that TT or sprinting) so there is little attraction to me in racing around a circuit towards the inevitable sprint finish. Sportives give me the change to cycling the mountains, and although it is not a race, it allows me to have a target for training and then race against the course and my own expectations.

Sportives by their nature offer much more varied courses and offer the possibility for any level, from a top racer down to the occassional cyclist hoping to raise money for charity to take part in cycling. This is a good thing as whether or not they race the more people who take part in cycling the better for everyone.

I don't really see any conflict between the two.

kilo

The first paragraph of the OPs article is about the lack of growth in amatuer racing compared to the growth of cycling in general. If British Cycling ever decides that it is going to prioritise entry level racing then it will need to look at new ways of attracting participants. There's no reason why race organisers shouldn't be commercial and outside of the traditional club system. I know it's unlikely to happen but amatuer racing is not capitalising on the current situation. How good would it be if the popularity of Amatuer racing became such that counties HAD to provide closed road courses a couple of times a year and there were large fields with loads of Spectators round the course. The Ride london event this year could be a springboard for pressure to be put on other cities and counties to provide closed road courses for both Races and Sportives. Or in ten years time amatuer racing can and probably will be exactly where it is now doing laps of fairly boring courses with no spectater interest and two men and a dog wondering what is going on.

The op quoted a rise of 5% in the number of races promoted, I'm not sure that it's accurate to compare the growth in the number of road races, an established market with a fixed pool of promoters & commisairres and sportives a still develping fairly unregulated market.

People have mentioned above athletics when discussing inaccessibility of racing, my wife runs and races, she can as mentioned turn up and run a 10km cross country race, however she would have no idea how to enter a track and field meet nor how to find a serious athletics club, so I'm not sure that is a valid comparison.

As mentioned, anecdotaly amateur racing is buoyant around here, it is also my experience that the vast majority of new members to our club have no interest in rr's, however we runs skills courses, track trips and tt's all of which are pitched to encourage race novices. So I'm not sure I agree with your statement "...amateur racing is not capitalising on the current situation." also there does not seem to be any answer to my question as to why clubs (de facto amateur racing in the UK as BC don't promote races) should take up this slack should it exist. I'm not sure BC see the amateur racing scene as a problem, membership is up, race promotion is up and the current crop of top riders is doing well and as the OP mentions this is due to a change in the emphasis in spotting and developing talent. As to the point about large fields watching races - I like cycling, race, I sportive occasionally and promote races and I wouldn't bother to go and watch my own clubs races let alone some random chipper

kilo

Leroy42 wrote:

Racing in general, especially at the lower grades, tends to be run on small circuits with little variation (of course safety and organisation is the main driver it would be to logistically difficult to set up a sportive type race). Great if your a sprinter or like the cut and thrust of a pack, but if your a climber type what is available?

Strangely the last two races I watched in person were both in Ireland (Ras Mumhan and a small club race in Kerry on a 5 km circuit) and they both had bloody big hills in them -so I think you're in a better place than some

Tom Butcher

If you want a hilly race try the Derby Mercury on on 31st March - it's got a couple of climbs in it - one a real killer - and you go up it 4 or 5 times.

markos1963

I can't see what the problem is. Most races around here are over subscribed and a lot of people do sportives. My club even introduced a 'sportive league' for people to 'compete' in over the year. Biggest mileage wins.

It's a bit unfair to blame road racers for 'elitism' and 'snobbery' not allowing new riders into the sport. They are racing and taking it as a sport seriously. It takes a lot of guts to train that hard at the expense of social riding and then go and line up for a fifty mile race.
It is in fact very easy to enter a race, go to the BC site, find a race and enter. No need to join a club, go as 'unattached' and take your chance. Costs can creep up as you race more but given the prices some sportives are charging now there can't be much in it.
I think the very fact this thread has combined the two very different branches of the sport shows the confusion there is out there.