Le Tour de Yorkshire ***Spoliers***

mididoctors

I thought it was a fine race. another 20km would have been an interesting experiment

Crampeur

mm1 wrote:

thegibdog wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

As for the crowds - its nice to see but largely down to this being a novelty plus there being several million too many people in the country.

You're welcome to leave any time you want...

You're right though, people were just stood at the side of the roads because the country is so crowded that there is simply nowhere else for them to stand.

At least that's what that there Faridge would have us believe... Lots of empty space in those aerial shots, which leads me to believe that some of those folks may have chosen to be there. Old enough to remember when there was never any cycling on tv. Crowds have been good in the past, look for ToB photos from the 50s and 60s fo example.

Of course Holland, which is the most densely populated country in the EU, has similar crowds at all its bike races...

philwint

double post

philwint

frenchfighter wrote:

Wow what a sh*t race this is. I said on Friday that was the GC done, and well that was the GC done wasnt it.

Sorry Frenchie, I've really enjoyed it. And not just because I cycled out to watch. Fridays stage was really good, yesterday was close, I did think the break might just stick, and the solo attack at the end today made for great excitement at the finish line. Was looking at the screen for the gap, then at the helicopter closing fast. It might not have been so tense on the TV, but there was a huge cheer of relief when he hung on.

Looking forward to next year already.

That being said a TT would be a good addition, if just for the spectators. The crowd in Roundhay was huge and surprisingly engaged with the racing (Assuming most were casual fans if that)

Lanterne_Rogue

philwint wrote:

The crowd in Roundhay was huge and surprisingly engaged with the racing (Assuming most were casual fans if that)

That would be a fairly good description of the mood where I was in York yesterday - the impression was that many (most?) of them were there because it was a free show, but although a few people drifted away from the barriers on the other side of the road once the race was gone for the second time those who could see the big screen stayed where they were and were loudly discussing the chances of the lead pair staying away. There was also a lot of shouting at the screen in the final sprint, and a round of applause afterwards (followed by a very British air of embarrassment for forgetting we were all in public...)

I've actually been really surprised by the number of people who turned out. I don't think it's just because it's novel, either - it seems to me that a lot of people simply enjoyed the opportunity to do something as a community, even if all they did was exchange pleasantries for half an hour by the side of the road before going back in for a cup of tea (and maybe some footage on ITV).

Paul 8v

Did I hear right that Wiggins was going to really attack this race?

What was the penis flag about? Penis pothole man from the news a few days ago perhaps? Not sure I'd want my kids to see that if I were standing near him.

I enjoyed the first stage the most, some proper racing going on. The next two days weren't as great racing wise but that's down to the riders. It looked like a well organised event and it's great to see that level of racing back in the UK.

blazing_saddles

frenchfighter wrote:

Wow what a sh*t race this is. I said on Friday that was the GC done, and well that was the GC done wasnt it.

Cant believe Samu or Voeckler didnt go for it.

I mean the race was dull as you like today. All four wins also come from riders who would hardly get a look in in Europe.

Wont be watching next year unless they get a proper startlist.

Excellent work from Craddock, would have been a nice win. Good job Ben, nice solo win for the move - looked super smooth.

As for the crowds - its nice to see but largely down to this being a novelty plus there being several million too many people in the country.

As for Wiggins - well as I say, he is sh*t and a disgrace. I am amazed the British press and ITV4 fawn all over this loser. He said he would attack. Lol, good joke that, just about finished the race today.

Quality post..................if this was an alternative comedy forum.
As it stands, just your usual trolling of all things UK outside the capital.
There has been a sh*t race taking place this week, but it was in Switzerland.
Understandable that you think riders like today's stage winner wouldn't get a look in in Europe, seeing you were ignorant of the Brabantse Pijls and how important a European race it is.




Today was never going to match Friday's exceptional stage, but nevertheless delivered in terms of spectacle and parcour.
As for the overall race: HC next year?
An unqualified success. At the ASO there will be much patting of backs.
Sponsors should be queuing up to get a berth in next year's edition.

Oh and yes Pross, good to see you have bagged our young Scott Davies.
In a couple of years, somebody else will be laying claims to him.

sheffsimon

Blazing Saddles wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Wow what a sh*t race this is. I said on Friday that was the GC done, and well that was the GC done wasnt it.

Cant believe Samu or Voeckler didnt go for it.

I mean the race was dull as you like today. All four wins also come from riders who would hardly get a look in in Europe.

Wont be watching next year unless they get a proper startlist.

Excellent work from Craddock, would have been a nice win. Good job Ben, nice solo win for the move - looked super smooth.

As for the crowds - its nice to see but largely down to this being a novelty plus there being several million too many people in the country.

As for Wiggins - well as I say, he is sh*t and a disgrace. I am amazed the British press and ITV4 fawn all over this loser. He said he would attack. Lol, good joke that, just about finished the race today.

Quality post..................if this was an alternative comedy forum.
As it stands, just your usual trolling of all things UK outside the capital.
There has been a sh*t race taking place this week, but it was in Switzerland.
Understandable that you think riders like today's stage winner wouldn't get a look in in Europe, seeing you were ignorant of the Brabantse Pijls and how important a European race it is.




Today was never going to match Friday's exceptional stage, but nevertheless delivered in terms of spectacle and parcour.
As for the overall race: HC next year?
An unqualified success. At the ASO there will be much patting of backs.
Sponsors should be queuing up to get a berth in next year's edition.

Oh and yes Pross, good to see you have bagged our young Scott Davies.
In a couple of years, somebody else will be laying claims to him.

FF obviously knows what he's talking about, he's on first name terms with "Samu" and "Ben"......

frenchfighter

mididoctors wrote:

I thought it was a fine race. another 20km would have been an interesting experiment

The riders can barely do 150km of bumpy roads in more than 40km/h. Multi col stages in GTs have averages higher than that.

It is nice that these domestic riders get a look in, but putting some WT teams (even if they are B/C teams) just makes them look very poor.

More like put the race at 100km which may make the Brits competitive.

frenchfighter

philwint wrote:

Sorry Frenchie, I've really enjoyed it. And not just because I cycled out to watch.

I don't doubt that being there probably was a great deal of fun and I am glad you and thousands of others enjoyed it. From those viewing at home, it just wasn't great.

I must admit, seeing the English road markings, buildings and countryside was really quite interesting to watch for me, given it is so different to all the other races we watch.

lyn1

Paul 8v wrote:

I enjoyed the first stage the most, some proper racing going on. The next two days weren't as great racing wise but that's down to the riders. It looked like a well organised event and it's great to see that level of racing back in the UK.

I enjoyed it, although felt it was quite predictable and would have been even more so but for the crash on stage 1 that introduced opportunities for some riders that they may not otherwise have had.
When half the field comprises Conti riders, they can get in breaks, follow wheels or chase uncontested jerseys, but cannot shape or reshape the race. The "race" is constrained to 2 or 3 teams.
It will be interesting to see how the organisers play it. Keep it as it is, bring in better teams at the expense of the British Conti teams, or bring in better teams and keep the Brits by dropping teams to 6 riders.

Yellow Peril

frenchfighter wrote:

Wow what a sh*t race this is. I said on Friday that was the GC done, and well that was the GC done wasnt it.

Cant believe Samu or Voeckler didnt go for it.

I mean the race was dull as you like today. All four wins also come from riders who would hardly get a look in in Europe.

Wont be watching next year unless they get a proper startlist.

Excellent work from Craddock, would have been a nice win. Good job Ben, nice solo win for the move - looked super smooth.

As for the crowds - its nice to see but largely down to this being a novelty plus there being several million too many people in the country.

As for Wiggins - well as I say, he is sh*t and a disgrace. I am amazed the British press and ITV4 fawn all over this loser. He said he would attack. Lol, good joke that, just about finished the race today.

FF that's an unnecessarily harsh summary and the comment I've highlighted incredibly disrespectful to the people of Yorkshire and cycle fans in general who've played a big part in this and the Grand Depart last year. Those crowds will draw sponsors and sponsors keep racing going

frenchfighter

Who ate all the pies:

disgruntledgoat

frenchfighter wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

I thought it was a fine race. another 20km would have been an interesting experiment

The riders can barely do 150km of bumpy roads in more than 40km/h. Multi col stages in GTs have averages higher than that

No they dont

frenchfighter

Yellow Peril wrote:

FF that's an unnecessarily harsh summary and the comment I've highlighted incredibly disrespectful to the people of Yorkshire and cycle fans in general who've played a big part in this and the Grand Depart last year. Those crowds will draw sponsors and sponsors keep racing going

Just because the race is in England doesn't mean it is any good. Lets face it, ff this parcours, level of racing and field was in France, Spain or Italy, no one would really care about it.

As for the amount of fans on the road. No one is ever going to convince me there are a. more cycling fans than in European countries (as a % of population) and/or b. the cycling fans are more feverent, which means there has to be another explanation. The explanation of a novelty is more likely given there are only two races with international coverage in the country per year. You can remove my latter point if you like although it is true (I am pretty well informed and have strong opinions on the matter, despite voting Labour).

frenchfighter

Nice trophy:

RichN95.

With regard to domestic teams not being competitive with the WT teams - this is hardly unusual. In fact it's quite standard for a 2.1 race

Here's the result of the other 2.1 stage today (the two stage Tour of Asturias)

Stage 2
1. Herreda (Movistar)
2. Txurruka (Caja)
3. Izagirre (Movistar)
4. Fernandez (Movistar)
5. Anton (Movistar)
6. Fraile (Caja)

That was the selection.

disgruntledgoat

So its not enough to have huge crowds, they have to be there for the right reasons?

RonB

It's not a novelty. It has the potential to grow and attract higher profile pros given the number of riders who have been tweeting about their experience over the past few days.

Look where we are in the calendar, betwixt the one day classics and the Giro. At least folks are chatting about racing (by and large) and the British fans are becoming more knowledgeable about the road racing scene and that it's not all about Cav and Wiggo.

Nice pic of the Corn Exchange btw.

frenchfighter

RichN95 wrote:

With regard to domestic teams not being competitive with the WT teams - this is hardly unusual. In fact it's quite standard for a 2.1 race

Here's the result of the other 2.1 stage today (the two stage Tour of Asturias)

Stage 2
1. Herreda (Movistar)
2. Txurruka (Caja)
3. Izagirre (Movistar)
4. Fernandez (Movistar)
5. Anton (Movistar)

Yeah, correct, and does anyone even know this race is taking place (other than you and me (see shoot small race thread) or care? Movistar are the 2nd strongest team in the World. So you would expect to see them decimate the field.

As an aside, Caja did very well in Turkey and the GC is packed full of 'lower' teams.

dabber

Anyway FF, next year you'll have a bit more time to go ride your bike instead of watching this crap race won't you.

frenchfighter

Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcycling/

RonB

Some folks seemed to like it ...

http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-route/Actualites/Le-yorkshire-nouvelle-belgique/555806

frenchfighter

RonB wrote:

Some folks seemed to like it ...

http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-route/Actualites/Le-yorkshire-nouvelle-belgique/555806

Race organizer and ASO boss of an ASO race praise their race, shocker :shock:

blazing_saddles

RonB wrote:

Some folks seemed to like it ...

http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-route/Actualites/Le-yorkshire-nouvelle-belgique/555806

A million and a half spectators over a weekend.

That's about 1.4 million more than watched Romandie roadside.

No wonder David Millar seemed to think it attractive to team sponsors.

inseine

I enjoyed it. Spectacular scenery (yes I'm a Yorkshireman, but you don't often see it from the air).
Great racing on the first day, the rest was ok. No race radios seem to help.
I watched cycle racing for 35 years and it's bloody brilliant that the country is catching on.

Paul 8v

When I was a kid you were always an outcast if you liked cycling and not football because people were so ignorant of it. I can only hope events like this can bring it a bit more in to the mainstream. I know we will never be like Belgium but it is nice to have a bit more of an understanding in this country.

I know people complain about all the 'Mamils' in team sky jerseys riding about because of the massive popularity of cycling because of Wiggo's TDF win and the Olympics but it's one more person who won't be pissed off with cyclists and abuse you when you're out. We also get better facilities, more events and more bike shops.

Winner :-)

Lanterne_Rogue

frenchfighter wrote:

Yeah, correct, and does anyone even know this race is taking place (other than you and me (see shoot small race thread) or care?

http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/wielrennen/1.2326921
http://sport24.lefigaro.fr/cyclisme/fil-info/voeckler-sur-le-podium-748730
http://www.gazzetta.it/Ciclismo/03-05-2015/tour-of-yorkshire-nordhaug-hermans-vola-terza-tappa-110669322952.shtml
http://ciclismo.as.com/ciclismo/2015/05/03/mas_ciclismo/1430670248_092463.html

Sorry, FF, my Italian, Spanish and French isn't good enough to tell.

type:epyt

Gotta go with Frenchie on this one ... As dull as the Criterium International.

Was looking forward to Stage 1 as it ran over roads I have been over many times ... Only for the coverage to start after the decent roads had been ridden.

The race was ridden like a middle mountain/semi classic where everyone was too afraid to lose rather than win so a bunch of riders who would make up the break in stage 13 of a GT 'fought' it out for the victory.

As for Wiggins ... He was racing to 'win' 3 weeks ago ffs.

Mad_Malx

inseine wrote:

I enjoyed it. Spectacular scenery (yes I'm a Yorkshireman, but you don't often see it from the air).
Great racing on the first day, the rest was ok. No race radios seem to help.
I watched cycle racing for 35 years and it's bloody brilliant that the country is catching on.

Agree very much (except being a Yorkshireman) and with Paul8v too.

Definate win for Yorkshire and big boost by being holiday weekend. Almost half England's population live within 50 miles or so of the route.