2020 Tour de France

[MORNE]

Sorry I should explain . . . .

 

If the race had been cancelled, the spectators would have been entitled to some sort of a refund. By pushing on with the race, no refunds had to be given and the teams that didn't participate (on grounds of safety) took the brunt of the anger.

 

Not fair, but when there's BIG MONEY involved . . . . .

OT - sorry mods:

 

to be fair....Michelin lobbied for chicane to be placed on the final corner when they realised late on Saturday a 'flaw' in their tire design meant they wouldn't last 10 laps before exploding the way they had been all weekend up to that point. Bridgestone did not have any issues. The Fia deemed it 'unsafe' (track homologation processes and all) to effectively create a new corner the night before the race and allegedly told Michelin that  the only option would be for them to pit more often....to which the teams declined...obviously, and basically all rage quit.

 

It was also considered unfair to the Bridgestone teams since their tires were working just fine. I suspect the Bridgestone teams were also steadfast/butt hurt at the time because of ongoing grumbles regarding Michelins thread width/sidewall design still being questionable since 2003 as I presume you know.

Anyway, those Michelin teams deserved all the flack they got for rage quitting rather than adjusting their pit strategies to 4 or 5 stops...could have been fun - like  France 2004 imo.

But yes, it could have been handled better globally if fans were ever the real reason the show gets put on....which unfortunately, it probably isn't anymore. It is a corporate D1ckswinging/marketing exercise - like most others these days. Also why ALOT of sports are considering running closed events later this year...so the money machine can keep ticking over....all they need is the TV time for their sponsors to keep "win on sunday - sell on monday" going.

 

I agree however that the TDF and the whole ambiance/atmosphere of the event would not make this an option (running a closed event). They could just as well make them all run around a closed racetrack like Spa in Belgium for a few hundred laps and call it a day. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by morneS555

[Shebeen]

OT - sorry mods:

 

to be fair....Michelin lobbied for chicane to be placed on the final corner when they realised late on Saturday a 'flaw' in their tire design meant they wouldn't last 10 laps before exploding the way they had been all weekend up to that point. Bridgestone did not have any issues. The Fia deemed it 'unsafe' (track homologation processes and all) to effectively create a new corner the night before the race and allegedly told Michelin that the only option would be for them to pit more often....to which the teams declined...obviously, and basically all rage quit.

 

It was also considered unfair to the Bridgestone teams since their tires were working just fine. I suspect the Bridgestone teams were also steadfast/butt hurt at the time because of ongoing grumbles regarding Michelins thread width/sidewall design still being questionable since 2003 as I presume you know.

Anyway, those Michelin teams deserved all the flack they got for rage quitting rather than adjusting their pit strategies to 4 or 5 stops...could have been fun - like France 2004 imo.

But yes, it could have been handled better globally if fans were ever the real reason the show gets put on....which unfortunately, it probably isn't anymore. It is a corporate D1ckswinging/marketing exercise - like most others these days. Also why ALOT of sports are considering running closed events later this year...so the money machine can keep ticking over....all they need is the TV time for their sponsors to keep "win on sunday - sell on monday" going.

 

I agree however that the TDF and the whole ambiance/atmosphere of the event would not make this an option (running a closed event). They could just as well make them all run around a closed racetrack like Spa in Belgium for a few hundred laps and call it a day.

F1, WWE such a yawn. The funniest thing is F1 fans complaining about how boring it is to watch! Can we rather talk about real sports here?

[MORNE]

F1, WWE such a yawn. The funniest thing is F1 fans complaining about how boring it is to watch! Can we rather talk about real sports here?

So you want to talk about mountaineering or bullfighting instead?

 

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.” - Ernest Hemingway

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by morneS555

[Bonus]

OT - sorry mods:

 

to be fair....Michelin lobbied for chicane to be placed on the final corner when they realised late on Saturday a 'flaw' in their tire design meant they wouldn't last 10 laps before exploding the way they had been all weekend up to that point. Bridgestone did not have any issues. The Fia deemed it 'unsafe' (track homologation processes and all) to effectively create a new corner the night before the race and allegedly told Michelin that  the only option would be for them to pit more often....to which the teams declined...obviously, and basically all rage quit.

 

It was also considered unfair to the Bridgestone teams since their tires were working just fine. I suspect the Bridgestone teams were also steadfast/butt hurt at the time because of ongoing grumbles regarding Michelins thread width/sidewall design still being questionable since 2003 as I presume you know.

Anyway, those Michelin teams deserved all the flack they got for rage quitting rather than adjusting their pit strategies to 4 or 5 stops...could have been fun - like  France 2004 imo.

But yes, it could have been handled better globally if fans were ever the real reason the show gets put on....which unfortunately, it probably isn't anymore. It is a corporate D1ckswinging/marketing exercise - like most others these days. Also why ALOT of sports are considering running closed events later this year...so the money machine can keep ticking over....all they need is the TV time for their sponsors to keep "win on sunday - sell on monday" going.

 

I agree however that the TDF and the whole ambiance/atmosphere of the event would not make this an option (running a closed event). They could just as well make them all run around a closed racetrack like Spa in Belgium for a few hundred laps and call it a day. 

 

Thanks for the insight Morne.   

[T_Boss]

Just think how long its going to be for air travel to start opening up for business as usual.. airlines are taking a massive knock.

 

We all took for granted how we could be teleported to anywhere in the world in a dozen or so hours.

I beg to differ. I am sure a few new SOPs will be put in place, but pretty much as soon as governments reopen their airspace to passenger flights, the airlines that manage to survive the lockdowns will be operating at close to capacity almost instantly.

[Bonus]

Bare in mind that there's going to be a delay between ending the Lockdown in various countries and then opening of the Borders. This will be dependent on each country being at the same point as it's neighbours.

 

Come Tour time, unless Frances neighbours are all up to the same point that France is, then they will not be allowed to enter France to watch the tour. Equally, if France is the country that is behind then the neighbours won't let their citizens pop over to France.

 

Everyone needs to be on the same page.....

[Tim Brink]

F1, WWE such a yawn. The funniest thing is F1 fans complaining about how boring it is to watch! Can we rather talk about real sports here?

I have got sucked into watching some E-sports F1 racing. The F1 drivers are beginning to join in, and it is actually quite fun to watch. That may be because there is nothing else to watch, but check out the number of people who were watching the 'Chinese Grand Prix' last night. 

[Mamil]

When I try to imagine life / sport / TDF happening and what it might look like (and when) my mind gets all bent out of shape and fuzzy, starts handling like a bike with a double flat .... I just can't see how things will look. Very disconcerting actually.

 

Bare in mind that there's going to be a delay between ending the Lockdown in various countries and then opening of the Borders. This will be dependent on each country being at the same point as it's neighbours.

 

Come Tour time, unless Frances neighbours are all up to the same point that France is, then they will not be allowed to enter France to watch the tour. Equally, if France is the country that is behind then the neighbours won't let their citizens pop over to France.

 

Everyone needs to be on the same page.....

[Jewbacca]

When I try to imagine life / sport / TDF happening and what it might look like (and when) my mind gets all bent out of shape and fuzzy, starts handling like a bike with a double flat .... I just can't see how things will look. Very disconcerting actually.

When I watch TV shows now I find myself thinking 'why are they standing so close?' and 'why are they making plans? Aren't they also in lockdown?!' then realise it's a TV show filmed way before CV19....

 

I can't see the TDF happening. Straya mate have closed borders till November. As an indicator.

 

If they did would they have a fully mobile/separate cordoned off living space for the busses etc and a spectator free route? How do you stop the fans from misbehaving/getting close/throwing wee at Froomie?

 

The whole thing would be a massive undertaking. I'm almost certain the French overlay service provider I used to work for is quoting on tent cities and 100% non permanent living spaces outside of towns etc... We used to (probably still do) build the grandstands at the start/finish and on the Champs.

 

The logistics of moving the kit  and bodies as well as the whole event is just huge. Unless we have a vaccine by end of May with a quality roll out planned, it will be pretty tight getting in any sort of large scale event before year end.

 

I have a heap of old work friends stuck in Tokyo who were all gearing up and preparing the Olympics. It makes me incredibly grateful I got out of that game.

[Bonus]

Could be that the Tour doesn't run but one of the other biggies does. You could concievably run the Vuelta right up until the end of November or the beginning of December if you wanted to (weather wise I mean). 

 

Even Nov / Dec might be optimistic though :-(

[kosmonooit]

We will have to see how things open up - but it looks to be with a fair deal of constraint, especially with air travel which we all took for granted. The future has never been deterministic, even more so now.

[Red Bird]

Virtual Tour currently happening on Zwift. Ryan Gibbons took first stage.

Stage 1 footage:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCOtDI1oQpg/?igshid=mg215t8ishl

Team NTT still in the yellow jersey after stage 2. Louis Meintjies on top 10.

 

Stage 2 footage:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CCRKSgqIU2H/

[NotSoBigBen]

I just can't... [emoji12]

[Gen]

I just can't... [emoji12]

Ha ha ha yeah..I think we've all had our fill of virtual anything..I watched that first virtual race when LD started and thought..yeah that's a no from me..

 

Lol

 

[J Wakefield]

Who you all got as the Top 5 for GC at the Real TDF?

[Guest]

Open race thats for sure... everybody's training plans have had to be revised. I'm thinking a surprise winner?