Tour de France Guideless

colema
colema Posts: 31
edited June 2013 in Road general
Went into local supermarket to get a Tour guide. Cycling weekly the Thursday before the Tour is usually good - double issue, profiles, up to date information.... and I find a normal size mag, with a pathetic barely legible postcard sized heavily sponsored 'guide' stapled to the outside. Realise the publishers want you to buy their glossy accompaniment at 7.99. Once I had prized this open, I found that only selected stages had profiles ( eg Stage 1 and 2 had none), and they were low on detail.

On to the 'official' ProCycling guide at 9.99. Lots of bits, bit more detail on the stages, but wallchart a joke. I note people are selling this pack on ebay for double the cover price.....

In previous years, the mags had a poster, with far more detail, and something you might actually put up on the wall.

Is this finally the demise of this kind of printed media? I don't want to go online to get this info - I want it in a near instantly accessible format, cluttering up my living room.
M Cole
Oxfordshire

Comments

  • supermurph09
    supermurph09 Posts: 2,471
    There is an official one out for £9.99. Magazine, wall chart, map, DVD of last year etc.
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  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    I blame Wiggle
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  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,804
    Cycling News website stage guide. It's free. Job done!
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 3,957
    You don't want to go online for the free detailed and up to date information but would rather pay a premium for the sketchy, inaccurate and printed 2 months earlier stuff? You are the kind of consumer the magazine publishers foolishly believed would still be around in their millions in 2013 :wink:

    Serious example tho, I could quickly look up the days stage profile of the Tour online whilst doing my work at my desk and my manager wouldn't be too fussed at all. However, if I had a mag spread open and was busy flicking through the pages it would create a whole different impression. Printed media is old hat without a doubt.
  • butcher of bakersfield
    butcher of bakersfield Posts: 1,233
    Printed media, for all of its downsides, is still more of a pleasure to read though.
  • greasedscotsman
    greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
    colema wrote:
    Went into local supermarket to get a Tour guide. Cycling weekly the Thursday before the Tour is usually good - double issue, profiles, up to date information.... and I find a normal size mag, with a pathetic barely legible postcard sized heavily sponsored 'guide' stapled to the outside. Realise the publishers want you to buy their glossy accompaniment at 7.99. Once I had prized this open, I found that only selected stages had profiles ( eg Stage 1 and 2 had none), and they were low on detail.

    The double issue of Cycling Weekly was out last week.
  • RDW
    RDW Posts: 1,900
    greasedscotsman wrote:
    colema wrote:
    Went into local supermarket to get a Tour guide. Cycling weekly the Thursday before the Tour is usually good - double issue, profiles, up to date information.... and I find a normal size mag, with a pathetic barely legible postcard sized heavily sponsored 'guide' stapled to the outside. Realise the publishers want you to buy their glossy accompaniment at 7.99. Once I had prized this open, I found that only selected stages had profiles ( eg Stage 1 and 2 had none), and they were low on detail.

    The double issue of Cycling Weekly was out last week.

    Yes, looks like this week's pocket guide just recycles material from the previous issue (which does have profiles for each stage, etc.). I think they also did this last year.
  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    Stupid official program still has Wiggins in it!
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  • tyschultz
    tyschultz Posts: 4
    I know this isnt exactly what your looking for, it seems like your want more depth. But If your looking for an app to track the tour, check out Allez-Tour Tracker. It has custom stage profiles for all 21 stages and also tracks the top overall contenders.

    Its Free:
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/allez-t ... ?ls=1&mt=8

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