Tour of Britain 2019

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Comments

  • phreak
    phreak Posts: 2,906
    If the race is boring though, fewer people tune in and see the nice scenery.
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    A proper weeks racing might help with worlds prep. This is like premier calendar racing (aging myself there)
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    Alejandrosdog wrote:
    Is it worth watching?

    Nice scenery but otherwise it has been dire. There must be some more selective routes in southern Scotland and Northern England.
    I’m usually easily pleased.
    todays course should be better. my family are from around that way. decent roads and some fruity climbs. hopefully no level crossings. :D
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,702
    Guys.

    Groenwegen has won two stages here.

    His record in the UK is immense.
    _
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    thinking out loud is it like the tour where people pay to get their stages promoted to the race? we have missed this in Surrey. though we do have the Ride London event....
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,812
    philbar72 wrote:
    Mad_Malx wrote:
    Alejandrosdog wrote:
    Is it worth watching?

    Nice scenery but otherwise it has been dire. There must be some more selective routes in southern Scotland and Northern England.
    I’m usually easily pleased.
    todays course should be better. my family are from around that way. decent roads and some fruity climbs. hopefully no level crossings. :D


    By far the best stage of the race, not that it's saying much.

    tour-of-brittain-2019-stage-4-profile-a21d01a7fd.jpg
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • flite
    flite Posts: 219
    Well, I'm off to watch today. Over the Roof of England.
    It should be the best day, but it's up to the riders to make it competetive.
    After all, you have said that stages in the Vuelta that should be selective haven't lived up to the billing.
    I always enjoy seeing proper cyclists whizz up the hills I grind up slowly, whether that's live or on TV.
    There is a level crossing, near Stanhope, at the start of the Bollihope climb, but it's a heritage railway, so not likely to be operating today. However the surface is so poor, someone might fall off...
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,560
    phreak wrote:
    If the race is boring though, fewer people tune in and see the nice scenery.

    Isn't this one of the great fallacies of professional cycling? The TV audience aren't how the sport makes money.
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    Flite wrote:
    Well, I'm off to watch today. Over the Roof of England.
    It should be the best day, but it's up to the riders to make it competetive.
    After all, you have said that stages in the Vuelta that should be selective haven't lived up to the billing.
    I always enjoy seeing proper cyclists whizz up the hills I grind up slowly, whether that's live or on TV.
    There is a level crossing, near Stanhope, at the start of the Bollihope climb, but it's a heritage railway, so not likely to be operating today. However the surface is so poor, someone might fall off...
    :lol::lol::lol::lol:
  • Tashman
    Tashman Posts: 3,400
    Dorset Boy wrote:
    Mr Goo wrote:
    A quintessentially Tour de North Britain.
    I guess that there's no money in the south to host a Start/Finish.
    I've always maintained that a Dorset stage would be both challenging and picturesque.

    Totally agree, could be a few cracking routes, but Dorset's councils won't pay the money sadly. A Lyme Regis start with a finish in Shaftesbury would sort out some gaps after a couple of different ways up Bulbarrow and a spin around the Purbecks.
    They could finish up Gold Hill just for laughs on bread delivery bikes!
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Well maybe after Brexit Boris will be out. Scotland will be independent then Wales will be next. Then we will all have our own stage races and people won’t complain that the race didn’t visit their town in the South of England.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    dish_dash wrote:
    phreak wrote:
    If the race is boring though, fewer people tune in and see the nice scenery.

    Isn't this one of the great fallacies of professional cycling? The TV audience aren't how the sport makes money.

    Surely the sport is funded by advertising, and advertising depends on a large audience to make it worth while? Organisers fund it by selling TV rights etc?
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • jimmythecuckoo
    jimmythecuckoo Posts: 4,712
    I think the thing with the ToB is that with many of us forumites living in the country we will all be thinking the race should go up our local climbs and favourite roads.
    http://fendrieneu.home.blog
    My blog and pod...
    Beers of Belgium Cycling Club UK
  • redvision
    redvision Posts: 2,958
    Local authorities have to financially bid to get a stage of the TOB, although in Wales the funding generally comes from the assembly.

    Tv revenue is essential for the teams but the local authority hosting the stage relies on income generated by roadside viewers and those attracted to the area by the race (tourists).

    Iirc, there was a stat from a stage in 2016 which showed the income generated on the day was estimated to be 10x the cost of hosting the stage.

    I believe the strategy to broadcast the full stages was not due to the popularity of the race but to showcase the scenery and places the race goes through - so basically to try to attract more tourists.
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Is the cameraman trying to get every single spectator
    On the TV today :evil:
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,470
    Gazzetta67 wrote:
    Is the cameraman trying to get every single spectator
    On the TV today :evil:

    I always think the ToB looks amateurish on TV, but the TdY looks really good. Yes i realise that Yorkshire > Britain, but i wonder if the tv production plays a part. Even something as silly as the contrast on the picture could affect it visually. The awful commentary doesn't help.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • natrix
    natrix Posts: 1,111
    What has happened to Cav?? I was hoping to see him in some of the sprints..................
    ~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~
  • bradsbeard
    bradsbeard Posts: 210
    gsk82 wrote:
    Gazzetta67 wrote:
    Is the cameraman trying to get every single spectator
    On the TV today :evil:

    I always think the ToB looks amateurish on TV, but the TdY looks really good. Yes i realise that Yorkshire > Britain, but i wonder if the tv production plays a part. Even something as silly as the contrast on the picture could affect it visually. The awful commentary doesn't help.

    Don't the ASO control the television production on ToY? Same as TdF
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Thankfully we won’t be hearing these 2 on Eurosport - Hayles should
    Stick to BBC Radio during the Tour best place for him (who listens
    Anyway to the tour on radio)
  • -Dash
    -Dash Posts: 179
    Haha. Have to laugh at the camera motorcyclist (or the cameraman on the back) pinching the whole bag of Haribo.
  • ShutupJens
    ShutupJens Posts: 1,373
    natrix wrote:
    What has happened to Cav?? I was hoping to see him in some of the sprints..................

    Where have you been for the past couple of years?
  • 6wheels
    6wheels Posts: 411
    -Dash wrote:
    Haha. Have to laugh at the camera motorcyclist (or the cameraman on the back) pinching the whole bag of Haribo.

    That was funny, great footage for a TV advert.
  • natrix
    natrix Posts: 1,111
    ShutupJens wrote:
    natrix wrote:
    What has happened to Cav?? I was hoping to see him in some of the sprints..................

    Where have you been for the past couple of years?

    I thought that he'd got over his illness and that this was going to be his comeback, showing why he should have been selected for the 2019 TdF...............
    ~~~~~~Sustrans - Join the Movement~~~~~~
  • dish_dash
    dish_dash Posts: 5,560
    iainf72 wrote:
    dish_dash wrote:
    phreak wrote:
    If the race is boring though, fewer people tune in and see the nice scenery.

    Isn't this one of the great fallacies of professional cycling? The TV audience aren't how the sport makes money.

    Surely the sport is funded by advertising, and advertising depends on a large audience to make it worth while? Organisers fund it by selling TV rights etc?

    Basically what RedVision says.

    The cycling model was not constructed with TV audiences as the primary revenue source. I'm not saying that TV audiences aren't important but they aren't the be all and end all.

    That's why you get any number of races across the cycling heartlands of Belgium/France/Italy/Spain who do the minimum TV coverage if at all.

    Race organisers get local authorities and sponsors to pay - they create a local event.

    Even team sponsors use the sponsorship in ways other than just reaching eyeballs. Hence the eccentric cast of sponsors.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,553
    The race isn't boring today, it's turning into an excellent stage with non-stop attacking from the big team riders since I first turned on.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,553
    Watched the last 45km today, definitely worth catching the highlights for anyone who hasn't seen it. One of the better hours of racing I've seen this season.
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    Pross wrote:
    Watched the last 45km today, definitely worth catching the highlights for anyone who hasn't seen it. One of the better hours of racing I've seen this season.
    good good. recording it and am off soon. be good to see what happened.
  • Alejandrosdog
    Alejandrosdog Posts: 1,975
    natrix wrote:
    What has happened to Cav?? I was hoping to see him in some of the sprints..................

    I think he got ill and retired a few years ago. I don't think he's in this race
  • bradsbeard
    bradsbeard Posts: 210
    Gazzetta67 wrote:
    Thankfully we won’t be hearing these 2 on Eurosport - Hayles should
    Stick to BBC Radio during the Tour best place for him (who listens
    Anyway to the tour on radio)

    :D

    Only way to follow it at work some days.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,812
    Nice stage with the inevitable result.
    The camerawork today was shocking. The constant swinging from riders to show every piece of street art, spectator and at one point, even a mobile phone mast, gave me motion sickness.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.

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