The ProTour....
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I think there are two distinct problems - on the one had the Grand Tours hold too much power and are unwilling to relinquish any. I believe they should comprimise in the interest of the sport.
The second problem is that the protour does not reconise diversity within the sport! This for me is a big issue. In swiming/running you have different events and champions. We are trying to narrow all cycling into one title and jersey. We should have a protour winner for TT, Grand Tour, small tours and one day races. Look at motor sport imagine having to compete in F1, Paris Dakar, Rally to win the title - yet this is teh pressure we put riders under. Obviously we need to limit the no to 3/4 titles in cycling else it would result in confusion and devalue the importance. but if you do it right it will also remove the pressure on riders to be race so often and on all terrain.0 -
I thought the World Cup was working well? It gave the one day riders something to aim for which, by the time it was abandoned, had become quite well established.
The Grand Tours will always hold most of the power but the one day 'monuments' also continue to hold there own.
In such a vast calender, not all the races can expect to prosper. I don't think the Pro Tour has provided any great benefit to the peloton.0 -
I say bring back the World Cup. I'm not a fan of the Protour. Its too much of a closed shop.
<font size="1"><b><font color="red">I have pain!!!</font id="red"></b></font id="size1">I have pain!0 -
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Bring back the UCI points classification. It seems unfair for prolific winners who win every week from january to October like Boonen to not have that consistency recognised. The Super Prestige Pernod was great because there was the Grand Prix de Nations TT in it, a good all round test.0
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I agree, ditch the ProTour and bring back the World Cup. The ProTour is a bit silly in that it is for all types of races, stages and one day classics. In these days of specialisation no one can be a master of all and no one really cares for a competition that requires you to be. The one day riders care about winning a Classic and the stage racers about winning a classification in one of the big three.
Furthermore the reduced number of wild cards available for organisers means that there is less diversity in the peleton and the small teams don't get a piece of the pie.0 -
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, Verdana" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by grimpeur</i>
I agree, ditch the ProTour and bring back the World Cup. The ProTour is a bit silly in that it is for all types of races, stages and one day classics. In these days of specialisation no one can be a master of all and no one really cares for a competition that requires you to be. The one day riders care about winning a Classic and the stage racers about winning a classification in one of the big three.
Furthermore the reduced number of wild cards available for organisers means that there is less diversity in the peleton and the small teams don't get a piece of the pie.
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In the current Pro Tour, Valverde is quite well ahead of Boonen as an all round cyclist, doing the Liege/Fleche double and then 2nd in the Vuelta, plus we don't know what he'd have done in the TDF 06-there's no way Boonen could compete with him for the Pro Tour win given Valverde's GC point scoring and ability to net a classic or two per season. But all the same, Boonen was much more consistently up there winning in the first 4 months of the season, and that should be recognised too and the pro tour doesn't reflect Boonen's excellent haul of wins during big parts of the season. In the 1980s, Lemond , Fignon, Roche, got some big Grand Tour wins that Kelly didn't- like the Giro or TDF , but Kelly was UCI World Number 1 and deservedly so for racing for wins all season, forcing himself into the limelight0 -
The Prestige Pernod was the best in my book0
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Are you listening Pat Mc Quaid ... ?0
