Tour of Qatar cancelled
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Surprised. I assumed that race was solid, future-wise.
Curveball for Classics prep0 -
That's inconvenient for the 4 spectators who will need to rethink their plans in Feb.0
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OCDuPalais wrote:That's inconvenient for the 4 spectators who will need to rethink their plans in Feb.
Sure the hundreds of thousands who line the streets for early season races in France, Spain & Portugal will make up for them :P0 -
Didn't think the races in the Middle East actually relied on sponsorship. I assumed the local govt just bunged them a wad of cash.0
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The sponsors probably watched the joke that was the Worlds and thought 'sod that'.Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.0
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Presumably promotion to the WT increased the costs.
Hasn't Oman already folded, too?
Of course the historical, early season stage races in S Italy are no longer around to pick up the slack.
Globalisation is a double edged sword."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Sh**ty little race in a sh**ty little country populated by backwards sh*ts.
No loss.0 -
Oh well, never mind.0
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UK Cycling Expert -First they announce the Tour of Cattarh is cancelled, now Sir Wiggins announces his retirement. Coincidence???0
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thegreatdivide wrote:Sh**ty little race in a sh**ty little country populated by backwards sh*ts.
No loss.
I agree but I'm sure the teams will look at it differently if it effects revenue. Some of these $hitty little races help keep the smaller teams ticking over.0 -
Remember it's an ASO race too. Maybe part of their proxy war with the UCI?
Starting to find the obsession with roadside spectators a bit odd though. A good cross wind in Qatar a lot more interesting than 20K people standing around screaming, no?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Personally, I thought it ws a decent pre-season race which had its own character and had found a relevant place in the calendar.thegreatdivide wrote:Sh**ty little race in a sh**ty little country populated by backwards sh*ts.
No loss.Twitter: @RichN950 -
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Rick Chasey wrote:iainf72 wrote:
Starting to find the obsession with roadside spectators a bit odd though. A good cross wind in Qatar a lot more interesting than 20K people standing around screaming, no?
Here here.
where where ? as has been claimed for many years the reason Womens races dont attract the big sponsors, and therefore the big money into the sport, is because of the perceived lack of spectators.
Without spectators looking at the ads either on the riders or the ads that supposedly promote the race, its just businesses chucking money away for the sake of it, most businesses arent that altruistic, they expect a return for their investment take the spectators away, you take the money for these teams away.
and as per the World Championship team time trials,certainly alot of the womens race teams cant afford to fly and stay in places like Qatar if its funded by themselves alone, if their sponsorship return amounts to just two spectators and a dog watching, you cant even pretend its a way for businesses to schmooze guests and secure business deals as most of those motor races they hold in places like that sole purpose is now, because none of the corporate entities are interested in cycling over there.
so yeah you might complain 20k spectators can be annoying, and the belgian classics a bit boring sometimes, but they generate a damn sight more cash for sponsors than a training ride in the desert.0 -
I'd watch almost anything, but drew the line at tour of Qatar. Never found it interesting. Sometimes it broke up so there were less people to sprint, and I didn't care either way.
It does make a difference when there's only two people at the finish, it makes a pointless race seem even more pointless.0 -
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KingstonGraham wrote:I'd watch almost anything, but drew the line at tour of Qatar. Never found it interesting. Sometimes it broke up so there were less people to sprint, and I didn't care either way. .
Either you didn't watch the right stages or you don't know decent racing when it's there :P0 -
awavey wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:iainf72 wrote:
Starting to find the obsession with roadside spectators a bit odd though. A good cross wind in Qatar a lot more interesting than 20K people standing around screaming, no?
Here here.
where where ? as has been claimed for many years the reason Womens races dont attract the big sponsors, and therefore the big money into the sport, is because of the perceived lack of spectators.
..
No it's the people watching on telly that matters. Unless the roadside lot are paying for the privilege.0 -
No sponsor wants to see an empty stadium.Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.0
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Gweeds wrote:No sponsor wants to see an empty stadium.
It'll no doubt be down to persistent low oil prices.
The deal the govt strike with the population in places like Qatar is the population will tolerate an autocratic family in charge in return for lavishing the locals with highly paid easy jobs, ultra low taxes an generous subsidies on domestic consumption.
That structure is under pressure with current prices so they need to cut back the fripperies.0 -
I doubt quick step gives a sh!t whether they get decent roadside crowds or not in Qatar, for example.0
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Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
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As the discoverer of the Boonen-Qatar formula, I can state that the retirement of the Tour of Qatar will align with the retirement of Tommeke - therefore proving the theorem beyond doubt. If there was a Nobel Prize for cycling theory, I'd be booking my flight to Stockholm.ddraver wrote:Surely the only question this raises is how does the Tommeke Classics Season Form Predictor (TM) work now???Twitter: @RichN950 -
Can't say I'm sad about this, the reasons for having any race in the Middle East are pretty thin. Hopefully the rest will soon follow.0
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Gweeds wrote:No sponsor wants to see an empty stadium.
Big problem when
1. Road cycling doesn't happen in stadiums (last laps of Paris Roubaix excepted)
2. None of the fans pay to watch
3. Fans are starting to get a little annoying when the road ramps up.
If your image of cycling fans are from the narrow screaming lunatics on the Alpe D'huez then I think most TV executives are going to be sorely disappointed at the reality of nearly all other road cycling where you don't get massiive crowds for mile after mile on the flat. Even in the Classics you only get the big congregations in the areas the cyclist's are climbing of going slower around narrow streets or in a closed loop. Apart from that its sparsely populated. Maybe the odd person stood outside their house cheering them on for the 30 seconds it takes to whizz past.
I would prefer to see exciting racing and although I don't like Qatar's record, the World Championship race was exciting when the break occurred leaving half the favourites behind and seeing the Germans spit their collective dummies out. It was more like the sort of racing you see in Holland or Belgium with cutting crosswinds. I don't get what a few people stood on the side of the road would have added to that.0 -
I was surprised to hear this as I assumed (wrongly) that some oil rich billionaires funded the race each year as with most things in many Arab states...ah well, I always found it very boring to watch.0
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No spectators in a spectator sport is an embarrassing distraction - and it's virtually impossible to shoot around.
We can happily watch a musical performance that has no real audience (i.e. Later With Jools, or the filming of a recording), but if you saw a gig with no crowd it just feels weird.
If I'm watching a brilliant performance on TV - either on the road or on stage- a big part of that experience is imagining what it would be like to be there sharing it with those around me.
Being able to say "I was there" is at the heart of most recorded and social media content since their inceptions.
Qatar never stopped feeling weird.0 -
OCDuPalais wrote:No spectators in a spectator sport is an embarrassing distraction - and it's virtually impossible to shoot around.
We can happily watch a musical performance that has no real audience (i.e. Later With Jools, or the filming of a recording), but if you saw a gig with no crowd it just feels weird.
If I'm watching a brilliant performance on TV - either on the road or on stage- a big part of that experience is imagining what it would be like to be there sharing it with those around me.
Being able to say "I was there" is at the heart of most recorded and social media content since their inceptions.
Qatar never stopped feeling weird.
If we continue that analogy, the TV version of watching a cycling race offers a vastly superior experience to watching it on the road (from a sporting perspective) where as watching music live is always a better experience than watching it on TV.
If the TV coverage is good and the racing is good, lack of people standing on the roadside should have no impact IMO.
Qatar worlds had a lot more exciting racing than Copenhagen, but was Copenhagen better for huge crowds?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0
