boycott TDF

>no EPO/PEDs
>muh traditionalism
Those are the two main reasons why the tour isn't as exiting as before. The riders simply can't put out 7 W/kg for entire climbs.

The traditionalism because Sky rides to win. As a 9 man team with a single objective. None of the other teams challenge Sky as an entire team but they have 1 or 2 guys with the Sky train on climbs and then everyone complains how it's impossible to attack Sky when they need to drop 5 guys before the GC rider is alone. The Sky way of riding isn't traditionalism and if there is one defining factor in cycling it's traditionalism. That is why Sky's way of riding pisses people off so much.

Well that attack is really hard if you're alone or have 2 men to do it. However if you rode like Sky and had 5, 6, or 7 guys to pull off that attack it isn't as impossible anymore. Sky obviously has world class riders that could be the captains on a lot of other teams helping their GC rider. But that isn't to say other teams don't have the resources to acquire a team of similar caliber.

Sky will dominate the tour for as long as it takes for other teams to realise why they're losing and fix their shit.

Watch a discipline that actually requires skill instead of just fitness.

>>985641
Sagan really is a refreshment to the sport, so unpredictable...just look at his Richmond ride, risked everthing and won by 3s. He remindes me of Tom Dwan in poker, I hope those triathleete faggots will loose.

>>985647
>Watch a discipline that actually requires skill instead of just fitness.

cant blame you for the impression though, but cycling is very different than fitness oriented triathlone and other autist disciplines.

>why so boring?
I think the criticism/boredom factor comes from the fact that a highly orchestrated team effort backed by the best science and training programs money can buy is too far removed from the universal experience of cycling. When you watch videos of Merckx breaking away on his own, it's inspiring and fun to watch because you don't have to be an elite athlete to understand the joy of going fast on a bike and the pleasure outracing other people. Likewise you can enjoy watching really great climbers and sprinters because they're doing things that are fun and exhilarating even if you're not elite. Sagan is liked because he's exuberant - we know how he feels and we'd be just as excited if we could race like he does. But it's hard to be inspired by a dispassionate elite sports teams - most professional cyclists will never get to feel what it's like to be part of a dominant team, much less us ordinary fans and riders.

>>985649
>cycling is very different than fitness oriented triathlone and other autist disciplines
I'm talking about other cycling disciplines. Road cycling is pretty much all fitness.

>>985647
Cycling is mostly about tactics, fittest rider wouldn't come close to winning if he had a shitty team and poor tactics

>>985639
its boring because Sky has the most money focused on a single target, they have the best team money can buy, riders, coaches

they have analyzed what works and what doesn't more than the others, this lets them play it safe

cycling has been pretty boring since the EPO days ended, best racing was 1995-2007

tinkoff had a good plan to make cycling more exciting (salary caps) and profitable (profit sharing)

I think Merckx era cycling was usually more boring than races today desu

Vuelta is usually pretty good these days, Giro has been ok. One day races can be pretty good. Shorter stage races like tour of switzerland and dauphine are pretty good sometimes.

Because they're as efficient as possible

>>985653
>Sagan is liked because he's exuberant - we know how he feels and we'd be just as excited if we could race like he does.

This, definitely this. I would much prefer watching someone like Sagan race instead of watching Froome race. I respect Froome's achievements but sometimes he might as well just be a robot on a bike.

>>985663
>Cycling is mostly about tactics, fittest rider wouldn't come close to winning if he had a shitty team and poor tactics
I wouldn't call team support and tactics skillful. Give those to a fit person who hasn't ridden competitively before and they'd still do well, even beating others that have been riding for much longer if they're not as fit.

On the other hand stick the top road cyclist in almost any other discipline and if they don't have decent bike handling skills they're going to be absolute shit (not saying that road cyclists are unskilled, just that it's not really a requirement).

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>>985665
>Froomey looks like a robot on bike
Did you watch a single stage of the tour this year?

>>985659
race a bike lad. I race mtb and road and let me tell you, road is a fuckload of skill AND fitness. Crits are a great example of this, and long road races are another. TTs are just pure efforts, sure, but they aren't the be all and end all of bike racing.

>>985682
i agree its not 'skill' like basketball or hitting a baseball, its still quite different than a test of fitness really, the tactics about what the team does is a key component, as much as fitness or at least almost as much

although an area where skill can make a difference is in descending, that is very much a learned skill and it has become in recent years more important to the overall outcome of a race

>>985639
Chris froome is ugly that's why I don't like him.

>>985783
Agreed, Sagan on the other hand is handsome as fuck, no homo

>>985639
the whole sky team is a bunch of freds really

>>985828
>fred's really

what did he mean by this?

they should stravafy the fucking tours by awarding points for KOMing segments of each day's ride, which would make it more fun to watch as people go batshit trying to win as many segments as they can

>>985894

They already do that kind of stuff with stage races. There are usually prizes for winning segments, getting up a tough climb fastest, etc

I don't know the specifics of the ones you are talking about, but chances are good that there is stuff like that.

>>985897
Oh yeah, I forgot about that, probably because it's never publicized at all. I was thinking more along the lines that it would be interesting if the GC winner were determined by whomever has the most points.

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Bring back EPO.

>>985639
>why are team sky lame and boring?
Too stacked and they are, like, the only team working like a team in the tour.
>why is TDF so lame generally?
Because you care about the yellow jersey. Green, white and spotted is where it's at.
>no tactics
Not entirely true.
>climb-climb-climb-TT-TT-TT
You best not watch track cycling then.

>>985641
>>no EPO/PEDs
Fuck off.
>>muh traditionalism
My only gripe is with the conservative bike designs.
Bring back the Cheetah!

>>985902
That's what the points jersey is for.

Everyone is wearing radios and team cars are watching live feeds from helicopters on iphones.
Rider breaks, bonks, blowouts and crashes can be seen in real time.
The terrain is all logged, digitized and analysed beforehand.
Performance data of opposition teams from previous stages is collated and analysed.
A script is written for each days race and riders pace at known wattmeter thresholds in response to radio messaging.
As boring a F1 tbhfamalam.

I only watch for the scenery now.

>>985649
>Sagan really is a refreshment to the sport, so unpredictable...just look at his Richmond ride, risked everthing and won by 3s.
This, desu.
>>985653
>Sagan is liked because he's exuberant - we know how he feels and we'd be just as excited if we could race like he does.
I think he's part showman but somehow he looks genuine. Also he's skilled and brutal. Froomey, for the other hand, it's like an emotionless skeleton and yes he's the winner and all but it's hard to feel excited when I watch him climbing or descending or whatever.

>>985688
kek


Also, remember that cycling as a competitive sport always have been filled of riders using a lot of enhancement drugs and has been exciting since for. Maybe the abuse of technology is making cycling boring, idk.

>>986060
2bh that's really TTs. Watch Orica BikeExchange's Backstage Pass videos, a lot of every day is still up in the air.

Plus, this is the highest level of the sport. You'd expect this kind of thoroughness by this point.

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>>985659
>Road cycling is pretty much all fitness.

Im coming from MTB backgorund and used to think the same, fitness basis is more important than in MTB but try controling a road bike on50-60 km/h in the group its quite challengeing + add wind direction and constant repositioning in a race

sprint, some rad skill here + a lot of tactics regarding positioning you dont have in MTB

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13BENuYp19w

regular riding. a tage that was one by Sagan purely on timing regardign perfect positioning on the side wind that split the group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYzqkxCSCS8


these kind of moments are quite rare in tdf but in Paris robuaix its like playing chess on a bicycle, to with the yellow jersey you dont need them, that is what sucks in tdf

>>986144
I love these videos, the first one had me sweating cold

>>986144
>>986186
For real. Road racing is fucking intense. So cool to see all the best riders in the world pushing each other around

I love road but when compared to track cycling it looks like shit, track is infinitely more entertaining to watch. Not to mention women are included and are entertaining as fuck to watch, some times more so then the men.
Track is the pinnacle of a spectator friendly sport. It's even more rewarding to do because you can entertain a crowd and put on a show.

>>986218
>trackstands: the sport
>spectator sport
i have no face when

>>986060
It's a shame the transam race isn't televised. there is so much less planning behind it so it's still really exciting. I would watch the fuck out of that

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>>986218
If you watch track cycling for entertainment that's really sad.

>>985641
>as long as it takes for other teams to realise why they're losing
You honestly think 'other teams' don't realise why they're losing? Yes they do, and there are teams with enough depth (Movistar, Tinkoff, Astana) to take on Sky. But they don't. Why? Prepare your tinfoil hats...

If they attack Froome and go for the win they will force him to ride to his peak power output. It will be plain to see he's on PEDs when he's busting out 50Kw/kg for the last 20km of the race up Mont Ventoux. Sky will be on the back foot trying to make excuses for Froome's riding which they don't want to repeat after 2013 TdF.

Contrast that to the 2016 TdF where Froome:
>attacked downhill
>pull an easy ITT win out of his ass
>basically towed Quintana uphill into 3rd place in the GC

I believe there's a gentlemen's agreement in the Peloton where Sky win the Tdf "every other year", and during Tours where Sky are marked to win, the peloton basically bow down to the Sky train and complain ad nauseum about how controlling they are, nothing can be done, their "marginal gains" are too effective etc...

Complete bollocks.

>>986425
>every other year

You a bit dumb lad?

>>986226
I'm guessing you've never been to a major track event?

>>986456
The only kind events I'm going out of my way to watch is dh and slopestyle

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>>986425
>If they attack Froome and go for the win they will force him to ride to his peak power output. It will be plain to see he's on PEDs when he's busting out 50Kw/kg for the last 20km of the race up Mont Ventoux. Sky will be on the back foot trying to make excuses for Froome's riding which they don't want to repeat after 2013 TdF.

MINd=BLOwn

I like watching races, but probably the main reason I watch the tour it's because one of the commentators is Perico Delgado, former Tdf winner and awesome and funny guy, I like hearing him tell stories from the past and random stuff that happened to him when he raced.Sometimes the manage to get some Spanish pro that is available at the moment to join the cast. It's pretty awesome having a team like that commentating all the big races.