bianchigirl
|
Spanish Cycling in Crisis?On the UCI's top 100 rankings, there's not a single young Spaniard - plenty of household names and ex-dopers but not a single Spanish rider under 25.
Do we extrapolate from this that the Spanish sport is in crisis? That. despite having the world's best rider in Contador, young Spaniards aren't flocking to the sport? I mean, even the French have the U23 world champion.
Do the Spanish face a 'mediocre' future in the sport?
|
Mrs John Murphy
|
They obviously aren't training hard enough anymore and their refusal to use modern training methods. Spanish riders are all crap. 
Interesting - but then how much value do you attach to the UCI rankings?
Unless he gets banned Dertie should be good for another 10-12 years - so maybe the crisis isn't a crisis yet.
|
SlowRower
|
Is there an impact from football sucking in the junior athletic talent due to the ease with which even squad players can get filthy rich, so it's a more attractive option than cycling.
I know UK athletics coaches are concerned at the number of young sprinters who want to play footy instead. Likewise, in the Caribbean, lads who might well have the talent to be fast bowlers want to play basketball now, as they think they could get rich quickly in the NBA, having had exposure to it via TV that they didn't get previously.
|
Nolte
|
look at the pro tour teams.
there isn't actually a real spanish pro tour team
euskaltel - basques
caisse d'espargne - owned by a french bank
fuji-servetto - emm? who actually knows. servetto is spanish. i think fuji are american bike manufacturer. who knows
|
Superbagneres
|
| Nolte wrote: | look at the pro tour teams.
there isn't actually a real spanish pro tour team
euskaltel - basques
caisse d'espargne - owned by a french bank
fuji-servetto - emm? who actually knows. servetto is spanish. i think fuji are american bike manufacturer. who knows |
So in the 1980's did you regard Toshiba and Panasonic as Japanese teams? Caisse d'Epargne in particular are very Spanish, regardless of the sponsor. Not so sure about Fuji-Servetto, but I wouldn't put too much store by where the sponsor is an incorporated company.
|
Nolte
|
| Superbagneres wrote: | | Nolte wrote: | look at the pro tour teams.
there isn't actually a real spanish pro tour team
euskaltel - basques
caisse d'espargne - owned by a french bank
fuji-servetto - emm? who actually knows. servetto is spanish. i think fuji are american bike manufacturer. who knows |
So in the 1980's did you regard Toshiba and Panasonic as Japanese teams? Caisse d'Epargne in particular are very Spanish, regardless of the sponsor. Not so sure about Fuji-Servetto, but I wouldn't put too much store by where the sponsor is an incorporated company. |
ok, the flaw in the question "So in the 1980's did you regard Toshiba and Panasonic as Japanese teams?"
in the mid 1980's, i celebrated my birth
|
ventoux
|
| Nolte wrote: |
ok, the flaw in the question "So in the 1980's did you regard Toshiba and Panasonic as Japanese teams?"
in the mid 1980's, i celebrated my birth |
Tsk.... kids... always got a smart answer...
|
kellyrocheearly
|
Spanish cycling is in a crisis. A good few races have disappeared recently and a few smaller teams. Motor Sports and Tennis have taken over from Cycling in Spain.
|
Enchantress
|
| kellyrocheearly wrote: | | Spanish cycling is in a crisis. A good few races have disappeared recently and a few smaller teams. Motor Sports and Tennis have taken over from Cycling in Spain. |
I do not live in Spain so maybe we need to hear from Kathy who does live in or near Murcia if I recall.
I can see where Tennis, thanks to Rafa, and motorsports, perhaps due to Dani Pedrosa and others, are doing well.
Still, with Contador the best GT rider and just hitting his prime, I would say a spaniard will be winning or contending for GT's for many years.
Now regarding young riders or sprinters, there does seem to be a dearth at the moment.
|
kathy
|
I don't know about the rest of Spain, but Alejandro Valverde, and particularly, Luis Leon Sánchez have many avid fans in my area. There are still bike shops in every small town, and cycling clubs everywhere, so I think the sport is healthy at the grass roots level. In terms of spectator sports, football is still by far the most popular, although people do seem to rave about people like Alonso and Pedroso.
This month there is the annual memorial race for Leon Sánchez, Luis Leon's brother in the town of Mula, near their home. This is always a very well-supported event.
When I went to the Vuelta this year, I was amazed by the crowds at the finish. I arrived two hours early and couldn't get withing 50 metres of the finish line. All the bars on the main street in Caravaca had laid on special events and meals, and the Vuelta was on wide-screen TV in all of them. The place was packed!
|
Mrs John Murphy
|
It is a valid question as to whether or not the Dertie/LLS/Piti group represent the end of a 'golden age' of Spanish cycling which effectively began with Delgardo, Mig, Olano, Sastre, Piti, Dertie.
|
bianchigirl
|
It's cyclical, isn't it? The French had a 'golden age' that started with Anquetil and ended with Fignon (Jaja at a real push). Belgian cycling may be entering a purple patch with Gilbert's recent success. Italy always ranks strongly yet domestic success rarely translates to the wider stage.
Kathy's post about the strength at grass roots level certainly translates to France - maybe promising young riders enjoy the sport enough at that level, racing for primes and in local races rather than wanting to make the commitment of turning pro. Some are superb at a certain level but simply can't translate it to the bigger stage. Some don't want to be part of the circus and all they know it entails.
And how do we judge success? Unfortunately, increasingly, it comes down to 1 - at a push 4 - races: the Tour, then the Giro, Vuelta and Worlds.
|
Mrs John Murphy
|
I am not so sure - Gilbert and Boonen but other than that Belgian riding is pretty thin. Certainly no GC contender on the horizon.
Wiggins' 4th is probably as good as it gets for British road cycling.
I suspect that you could say this for any state though with perhaps the exception of the Italians.
|
kathy
|
I have spoken to one or two teenagers who live in my village and who ride with the local club. I asked them if they didn't fancy turning pro. The answer, 'No, we don't want to do drugs.'
A sad reflection on the current state of the sport.
|
Fontfroide
|
Ranking - Cycling - Road 2009
Men Under 23 Nations Cup Nations
Nation
Rank Name Nation Points
1 (3) FRANCE FRA 108
2 (2) GERMANY GER 100
3 (1) DENMARK DEN 79
4 (4) COLOMBIA COL 66
5 (5) SLOVENIA SLO 61
6 (9) UNITED STATES USA 57
7 (6) RUSSIA RUS 54
8 (7) BELGIUM BEL 43
9 (16) NETHERLANDS NED 40
10 (13) BELARUS BLR 36
11 ( CZECH REPUBLIC CZE 35
12 (1 SOUTH AFRICA RSA 35
13 (14) SPAIN ESP 34
14 (11) GREAT BRITAIN GBR 31
15 (10) PORTUGAL POR 27
16 (12) NORWAY NOR 24
17 (15) ITALY ITA 22
18 (17) UKRAINE UKR 19
19 (19) LATVIA LAT 16
20 (26) SWITZERLAND SUI 16
21 (-) ERITREA ERI 15
22 (20) ESTONIA EST 14
23 (21) CANADA CAN 13
24 (22) MOLDOVA MDA 13
25 (23) LUXEMBOURG LUX 12
26 (24) SERBIA SRB 11
27 (25) EL SALVADOR ESA 3
28 (27) LITHUANIA LTU 2
Having been introduced to the under 23 Nations Cup by BG, I thought the results of this year might be helpful. I still do not understand exactly how the results are compiled, so in fact, I am not sure it is helpful at all.
Seems that somehow, the Italians and the Spanish have not had much success in this league, although again I don't know why not. The French are tops, but again I haven't a clue why. I don't understand the high ranking of Denmark and Holland either.
Anybody out there able to explain any of this, how the scoring works, why Colombia is so high, or France for that matter, when at the Pro Tour level neither seems to be all that visible.
It should be possible to read some kind of information off this league as to the health youngish cycling in various countries, but for the life of me I can"t figure it out.
|
|
|
