You said that there would be 6 riders to help the Schlecks who would only help for the first 3 laps. 11 laps into the 15 lap race last year, 8 Luxembourg riders were still in the race...

Only having 1 rider, if true, well in part thats down to bad luck in terms of injuries. Luck, which is one of the Dutch 'scapegoats' for olny having 6 riders in there.

didnt mean that litteraly of course... thought youd get my point.



Found the news item now I was thinking about: They where to send 4 riders, 5 if Frank wouldnt have been injured.
I can vaguely remember reading both Kirchen and Andy not planning on riding the WC either. Don't know about the other two (Didier and Drucker).

So, still, they where planning on sending 5 riders. Not 9.
No bad luck, just no riders to send.

Go on, just admit that you were exaggerating, rather than trying to twist what you said. (The 'didnt mean that literally' argument is just a pathetic response considering you made that 2nd '1 rider' post to try to support your original exaggeration)



Well they had 9 last year. So I could just go like Ruben and detail how it is all bad luck that its now only 4/5

Man, that would be damn boring and unfair. 9 riders of one country against 1 rider of another country is enough already.

So... should I have said half a lap instead to make you believe it?
It's not a pathetic response at all. It's the truth. My point was, the riders arent able to compete at world level, which is nothing but the truth.




We're living now, and now they havent got 9 riders.

I think, with Luxembourg, the sport is growing more popular due to the Schlecks and Kirchen, and the majority of the talent has just not developed yet. They could easily be a force within a few years. Having, the Schlecks, Kirchen, a developed Didier, and Gastauer. That country has great potential to do good.

I dont understand why mrlol and ruben keep on doing it?

Because SN keeps coming up with ridicolous responses

You're both making somewhat logical arguments, and ignoring the other.

These two facts are certain:
1) In general, the best riders in the world are supposed to ride the world championships. This is the allure of worlds...line all the best up (theoretically), and see who is the "champion of champions."

2) Cycling, unlike almost any other sport in the world, is predicated almost entirely upon who claims victory. A team whose rider ekes out a win will celebrate wildly in the bus, while a team whose rider finishes second by centimeters in a six hour race (thus putting out essentially the same performance) will focus on the "what ifs."

As such, an "all eggs in one basket" approach is the way of cycling. So yes, teams ARE measured by their best rider, moreso than almost every other sport out there.


So by argument 1) you end up with selecting the 200 best riders in the world, close to regardless of nationality (the limit being nine per country, of course).

By argument 2), you end up with the teams with the best "theoretical" shot to win (aka the best "leaders") getting the strongest teams. The best single leaders have the best help until the end, when they all come out to compete and all is dependent on them. If you think about it, this is the way cycling works normally.

Obviously, the UCI takes this view. It is certainly a very strong counterargument to be made, however, that the best riders belong at the "world championships," since that's just the intuitive way that world championships work. It's sometimes hard to have it both ways, though.


Naturally, the fact that certain courses favor certain types of riders (who may or may not have accumulated all of a nation's points over the course of a season) complicates things even further. But whatever.

I think you may have done more with that one post to get Americans respected on this forum than anything else anyone has ever done.

Bravo

respect is overrated

I saw this as a comment on youtube, I'm sure its been around but I'd never seen it before then: "Arguing on the internet is like running in the special olympics... even if you win, you're still retarded"

The canadian pro tour events will be September 10th and 12th.

Clashing with the Vuelta.

Oh.. and the Tour of Britain that enjoyed so many PT teams this year because it clashed with nothing, the tour of poland was moved and now some candian races come along... great for our national tour.

Considering the strength of field at the TOB this year Quality of riders from katusha and columbia. I dont think some teams will be bothed about this race. Also team sky will send a shocking squad And i cant see katusha sending riders across half the world for 2 days of racing lol. Anyway the american teams will send there better riders. My question is are the uci trying to wreck the vuelta so only spanish riders race??

Consider this, which PT teams will send their good riders to Canada in September? Knowing the worlds are in Australia next year..

Probably none. This will be a D-field PT race, even worse than the ENECO Tour and Tour of Poland combined

the question should be : why does canada get 2 PT-races? what do they have of other great cycling races in Canada?
conclusion : none

Something about health
status Bellis ?

Absolute Classic !!!

Because UCI wants to make cycling international

UCI = Fail

How is trying to make cycling a World Wide sport failing?