If you were in charge...

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Comments

  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,391
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I'd like to get rid of them but not because I think they change racing at all - they don't, but I like the idea of riders having to race on feel. It's not a practical idea, more of a sentimental one.

    At least you re honest about it!

    Removing race radios is more contentious, but to be honest I can imagine everyone waxing lyrical about how much better everything is for such classics like the Tour of Qatar and Oman but by the first race in Belgium everyone would have gotten used to it and then nothing would be any different for anything people care about...

    There'd be the odd tour/giro stage like the one on Alpe d'Huez last year (with radios) where everyone would say that it was purely down to the lack of radios but...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    Another thing I would change - get rid of national champions jerseys. It may have been fine when there were only five nations in cycling - but now I don't give a toss if you are champion of Canada or Latvia. Teams pay riders' wages, not federations, so it should be their colours on display.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,642
    RichN95 wrote:
    Another thing I would change - get rid of national champions jerseys. It may have been fine when there were only five nations in cycling - but now I don't give a toss if you are champion of Canada or Latvia. Teams pay riders' wages, not federations, so it should be their colours on display.

    I suggested that upthread with the exception that I would allow the national champion to wear the jersey in the country in which he is national champion e.g. Latvian champion would be allowed to wear it in the tour of Latvia, but not in the tour de France.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    RichN95 wrote:
    Another thing I would change - get rid of national champions jerseys. It may have been fine when there were only five nations in cycling - but now I don't give a toss if you are champion of Canada or Latvia. Teams pay riders' wages, not federations, so it should be their colours on display.

    I might be barking at the wrong tree, but I am not sure how this is going to make cycling better. If anything, it helps riders stand out among equal jerseys.
    Maybe the Canadian jersey is not as contested as the French one, but it's still a race and maybe helps rising the profile of the sport in that nation.

    I would actually move the national championships in the same period as the Worlds or the spring classics, to make sure top riders are in a decent form... I am a bit fed up of seeing second tier riders wearing national jerseys
    left the forum March 2023
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    Another thing I would change - get rid of national champions jerseys. It may have been fine when there were only five nations in cycling - but now I don't give a toss if you are champion of Canada or Latvia. Teams pay riders' wages, not federations, so it should be their colours on display.

    I might be barking at the wrong tree, but I am not sure how this is going to make cycling better. If anything, it helps riders stand out among equal jerseys.
    Maybe the Canadian jersey is not as contested as the French one, but it's still a race and maybe helps rising the profile of the sport in that nation.

    I would actually move the national championships in the same period as the Worlds or the spring classics, to make sure top riders are in a decent form... I am a bit fed up of seeing second tier riders wearing national jerseys

    I like the national champions' jerseys. If done properly they draw more attention then the usual team jersey and sponsors on these get a bit more attention. I hate the compromise ones like Sagan and Canc wear - I'd mandate that they have to be the full jersey as per a design submitted by each federation.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    ugo.santalucia wrote:

    I might be barking at the wrong tree, but I am not sure how this is going to make cycling better. If anything, it helps riders stand out among equal jerseys.
    Because:
    a) it doesn't confuse the new or casual viewer
    and
    b) it ensures that the sponsor gets its branding on their riders.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    I hate the compromise ones like Sagan and Canc wear - I'd mandate that they have to be the full jersey as per a design submitted by each federation.
    When the Slovakian Cycling federation start paying Sagan $3m instead of Cannondale then they can start calling the shots.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    RichN95 wrote:
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    I hate the compromise ones like Sagan and Canc wear - I'd mandate that they have to be the full jersey as per a design submitted by each federation.
    When the Slovakian Cycling federation start paying Sagan $3m instead of Cannondale then they can start calling the shots.

    Are you sure the sponsor does mind? In a world run by money they would have got rid of them ages ago if sponsors did mind them.
    How about yellow/green/polka/white/red/blue/pink/gold jerseys then? Why not just replace them with a band?

    Jerseys are for cycling what trophies are for other sports... nobody knows how the Tour de France trophy looks like, because it's the jersey that matters... the same applies to National Jerseys... they are now less important, it's time to bring them back, not to erase them...

    motion denied... :twisted:
    left the forum March 2023
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    RichN95 wrote:
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    I hate the compromise ones like Sagan and Canc wear - I'd mandate that they have to be the full jersey as per a design submitted by each federation.
    When the Slovakian Cycling federation start paying Sagan $3m instead of Cannondale then they can start calling the shots.

    What happens when Sagan wins the worlds this year? In principle, they would have the same argument.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Are you sure the sponsor does mind? In a world run by money they would have got rid of them ages ago if sponsors did mind them.
    Many have got rid of them as much as possible. Some teams have long stopped their top riders doing the nationals as they wanted them in the team jersey. (For example neither Kelly nor Roche was ever Irish champion, LeMond never US champion)
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    How about yellow/green/polka/white/red/blue/pink/gold jerseys then? Why not just replace them with a band?
    That has a significance within the race. You don't see Froome wearing the Yellow Jersey all year round, do you?
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Jerseys are for cycling what trophies are for other sports... nobody knows how the Tour de France trophy looks like, because it's the jersey that matters... the same applies to National Jerseys... they are now less important, it's time to bring them back, not to erase them...
    And trophies belong on the mantlepiece or in a cabinet. You don't see Usain Bolt running with his medals around his neck, do you?

    If I was a corporate sponsor, I would pay a rider less if he was wearing a national jersey instead of my corporate colours.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,737
    Depends a bit. Quick step obviously love the Belgian national kit but then they're a Belgian company and Belgium has an excellent understanding of cycling.

    The 'BK' is a big deal there.
    _
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    I hate the compromise ones like Sagan and Canc wear - I'd mandate that they have to be the full jersey as per a design submitted by each federation.
    When the Slovakian Cycling federation start paying Sagan $3m instead of Cannondale then they can start calling the shots.

    What happens when Sagan wins the worlds this year? In principle, they would have the same argument.
    True, but the World's is a one-off and of far more significance - it draws attention. No-one gives a toss who champion of Slovakia is.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    RichN95 wrote:
    True, but the World's is a one-off and of far more significance - it draws attention. No-one gives a toss who champion of Slovakia is.

    Maybe they do in Slovakia... I do like the Italian Champion Jersey... I just feel sorry is not Nibali or Moser wearing it, but Santaromita, who is a third tier rider and got it out of a pretty mediocre field.

    In Belgium they care and you see Gilbert, Devolder and Boonen wearing it...
    left the forum March 2023
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    Another thing I would change - get rid of national champions jerseys. It may have been fine when there were only five nations in cycling - but now I don't give a toss if you are champion of Canada or Latvia. Teams pay riders' wages, not federations, so it should be their colours on display.

    I might be barking at the wrong tree, but I am not sure how this is going to make cycling better. If anything, it helps riders stand out among equal jerseys.
    Maybe the Canadian jersey is not as contested as the French one, but it's still a race and maybe helps rising the profile of the sport in that nation.

    I would actually move the national championships in the same period as the Worlds or the spring classics, to make sure top riders are in a decent form... I am a bit fed up of seeing second tier riders wearing national jerseys

    usually its the parcours that makes the major players rotate when looking at the national champs jersey. flat = cav and Greipel winning for example. I can't think of the couse that got Hoogerland his Jersey! one that promotes stupid attacks?
  • Richmond Racer
    Richmond Racer Posts: 8,561
    ^the 2013 parcours for the British Nats was far from flat. Cav, like Griepel, is more than handy on short sharp climbs
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,941
    wombly knees wrote:
    Ban fishnets.

    And any electronic aids. Just a personal preference.


    Fair points but we should stick to cycling.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • Richmond Racer
    Richmond Racer Posts: 8,561
    TailWindHome wrote:
    wombly knees wrote:
    Ban fishnets.

    And any electronic aids. Just a personal preference.


    Fair points but we should stick to cycling.


    :)
  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    TailWindHome wrote:
    wombly knees wrote:
    Ban fishnets.

    And any electronic aids. Just a personal preference.


    Fair points but we should stick to cycling.


    Almost essential. Where would pro-cycling be without fishnets!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    philbar72 wrote:
    usually its the parcours that makes the major players rotate when looking at the national champs jersey. flat = cav and Greipel winning for example. I can't think of the couse that got Hoogerland his Jersey! one that promotes stupid attacks?

    I think is the time of the year...
    Many top riders are about to start the Tour and don't have time for the national championship, others have done the classics and the Giro and they are low on training, waiting to step up later in the summer for the worlds and autumn classics.
    If they were held just after LBL and before the Giro, they'd be more popular
    left the forum March 2023
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    RideOnTime wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    wombly knees wrote:
    Ban fishnets.

    And any electronic aids. Just a personal preference.


    Fair points but we should stick to cycling.


    Almost essential. Where would pro-cycling be without fishnets!

    Isn't he that Swiss mountain biker?
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    I'd like there to be a climbers' classic, something like the Classique des Alpes. There's sprinters' classics, hard men's classics, rouleurs' but nothing for the climbers.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    I'd like there to be a climbers' classic, something like the Classique des Alpes. There's sprinters' classics, hard men's classics, rouleurs' but nothing for the climbers.

    Well, the Flèche Vallone typically favours light climbers... Rodriguez won it two years ago. The Liege is also climbers territory (Andy Schleck), as well as the Tour of Lombardy (Rodriguez, Cunego). None of them has a massive mountain at the end, but that's a good thing, otherwise you'd have 2-3 people only capable of bagging the day
    left the forum March 2023
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,737
    Ja, Liege is ok for climbers.

    Lombardy is your climber's classic however.

    What kind of thing would you want? The Marmot route?
    _
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Ja, Liege is ok for climbers.

    Lombardy is your climber's classic however.

    What kind of thing would you want? The Marmot route?

    Like a GT mountain stage, 2 big Cols followed by an uphill finish - say Aubisque, Tourmalet with Luz Ardiden to finish
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    Salsiccia1 wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Ja, Liege is ok for climbers.

    Lombardy is your climber's classic however.

    What kind of thing would you want? The Marmot route?

    Like a GT mountain stage, 2 big Cols followed by an uphill finish - say Aubisque, Tourmalet with Luz Ardiden to finish

    It would be a lot less fun than you think. Moreover, climbers have plenty of opportunities to shine.
    They once did a Worlds course for climbers in colombia... Olano won
    left the forum March 2023
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    The Classique des Alpes failed. Something like that, a proper mountain route, tends to produce boring racing in a one dayer with a very small field of contenders, and 75% of the field abandoned halfway
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,271
    FJS wrote:
    The Classique des Alpes failed. Something like that, a proper mountain route, tends to produce boring racing in a one dayer with a very small field of contenders, and 75% of the field abandoned halfway

    That's exactly my point
    left the forum March 2023
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,941
    In 1934 the rules were amended to award the time gap between the 1st rider over a summit to the 2nd rider over the summit as a GC time bonus.

    What changes would it make if this rule were reintroduced?
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,328
    How about a WT level Hill climb?

    That'd be ace.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    No tA Doctor wrote:
    How about a WT level Hill climb?

    That'd be ace.

    Do we not already have one? It's called 'Fleche Wallonne'

    :wink:

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