Blasphemy & Contradictions

I am not generally one for the Grand Tours. There, I said it, bicycle racing blasphemy.

With Le Grand Boucle starting in Brest tomorrow (or maybe it was riding on dirt roads and past the local lavender farm today), it got me thinking. It isn’t that I don’t appreciate stage races, or am not a fan at all (I religiously watched the Giro, the Dauphine and the Tour de Suisse on cycling.tv this spring), but I’ve always held the Classics in higher esteem. My trip to Le Tour last year was one of the highlights of my life, and I truly believe that all cycling fans need to make the pilgrimage to witness the spectacle.

I believe it was the Indurain years that tarnished Le Tour for me. Odd to say, especially considering all of the scandals that have occurred since he retired. But it was the style of racing and the specialization that did it.

Despite his immense talent, I frankly found Indurain’s tour wins boring and predictable. Not that they were void of all action, but he essentially followed wheels and then dominated the time trials for 5 sequential years. Not too exciting. With Cadel Evans considered this year’s front runner for Le Maillot Jaune, I hope he breaks away (pun intended) from his reputation, and continues the attacks he showcased in races earlier this season.

But getting back to my original point, the classics are never boring. Their simplicity leads to action and the parcours invite drama. Bergs, Rain, Pave, Mud, Wind, and a different cast of characters battling it out each race, just appeals to me more. The classics are like 1 round boxing matches; there is no room to hide, and like in video games if you die today, you can live again to fight tomorrow.

But this said, this year’s tour fascinates me more than most, based largely upon the war between the ASO and the UCI; I just can’t wait to see how it all turns out. I may be one of the few, but I side with the ASO on this one. While most describe the battle as one of doping, I see it as more of a battle of who decides the participants in invitational events; the race organizers (who put their livelihood on the line) or the governing body (who want to sell a concept that just doesn’t work). The Pro Tour isn’t working, and if the ASO believes that a few Continental Teams will appeal more to their audience than a Pro Tour team, then so be it.

Which brings me back (again) to the classics. This season saw plenty of aggression from Continental Teams, which often put their bigger budgeted Pro Tour brethren on the defensive. The give it all, we’ve got nothing to lose attitude just lends itself to great racing. So let’s hope that Agritubel, Barloworld, and Slipstream (Garmin) keep the trend up, and thrive rather than survive. I’d like to see them give the ASO a return on their investment. Vive Le Tour!