Surfer34

I am not a huge pro cycling and road racing fan, but I dont understand why sprinters get so much attention. They rarely ever win stage races or time trials and they are the cockiest and most arrogant riders in the peloton.

seanthebear

Because they ride their bikes, like, really, really fast? Which is kind of the point of any race...

chasm54

You're not a huge fan of the sport, but you know that sprinters are the cockiest and most arrogant riders. Hmm. I can think of a few multiple stage race winners who might bust that particular generalisation...

They get a lot of attention because a bunch sprint is one of the most dangerous and spectacular features of the sport. They don't win stage races or time trials because they aren't climbers or, mostly, time triallists. But they do win many stages in stage races. One of the beauties of cycling is that there are many different types of rider. One of the beauties of stage races is that there are many different types of stage.


I don't understand why Usain Bolt gets so much attention. He almost never wins the marathon or the high jump...

DXchulo

You could switch your statement against any type of rider.

"I don't understand why climbers get so much attention. They rarely ever win sprints or time trials and they are the cockiest..."

"I don't understand why time trialists get so much attention. They rarely ever win sprints or climbs and they are the cockiest..."

Surfer34

Bolt doesnt compete in or enter those races.

In cycling, sprinters enter and compete in stage races but they rarely win them as far as I know.

Surfer34

I thought the point was to win.

Pb_Okole

For about five riders, the point is to win. Realistically, that is about how many riders have a shot at winning the Tour. All of the other riders are there to either support one of the contenders, hunt for stages, go for KOM, or the green jersey. If the only reason to ride the Tour were to win the GC, we would have a pretty small peloton each year.

chasm54

There are very few riders in the Tour, or in any major stage race, who are seriously trying to win the general classification. The rest are there to try t win individual stages - each stage counts as a race in its own right - and/or to win the points competition(sprinters) or the mountains jersey(climbers) or just to help their team leaders to one of those goals.

So the comparison with Usain Bolt is not as ridiculous as it may appear. There are races within races in the grand tours. They are competing to be the best sprinter in the field, not to win the GC.

seypat

Why do the GC contenders get all of the attention? Without their teams they might not contend in any stages of the race or for the overall. At least the specialists such as the sprinters and climbers win stages.

I would much rather watch the escapees, the Cavendishes or Thor from last year than the GC contenders "checking each other" and staying in the peloton.

fly:yes/land:no

in the past ten years, a sprinter has won more stages than any other rider 8 times. at the end of the season win totals, a sprinter will almost always be on top. additionally, look at how a sprint is done compared to climbing. i am far from a sprinter myself, but you have to have a certain kind of mentality to be able to trade elbows, jump wheels, and get every watt out of your body when travelling 45+ mph in a pack of aggressive and powerful riders.

there is a whole world of cycling out there that you do not know about because you only watch one race a year through the gc context.

jdon

I typed this into my wifes marital dialogue translator that says your real question is " Why is Cavendish such a smug and smarmy doosh?"

kenyan_boy

Spot on!

gear

Cav will pass LA in stage wins during this TdF.

benlees

What they do is insane. Watch the last 5km from stage 2 the other day. You will be on the edge of your seat; they're cocky because they risk it all.

Chaco

Exactly -- I was just in awe. On my club rides, we go down a long downhill in a group that's not even 1/4 as tightly packed as they were. We reach speeds of 35 mph and I get incredibly nervous. The whole idea that they are going 10 mph faster, with only inches between them and the next rider, just boggles my mind. I guess a track and field sprint would be that exciting if they had a pack of lions running after the sprinters, but short of that, there's no comparison.

Bacciagalupe

There is a lot more to cycling than the Grand Tours.

For example, there are a lot of prestigious and popular races in the spring (the "Classics"), most of which are one-day races, and are dominated by sprinters and the occasional TT specialist. The guys who have no chance in the GC are the guys who also gun for the top spots in Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Nice, Fleche-Wallone, Milan-San Remo and the like.

The Grand Tours are also so big that they have become like a Bollywood musical -- a little something for everyone. If you like watching the sprints, the ITT's or the climbs, it's all in there. It is multiple competitions rolled into one very big event.

As to the arrogance, c'est la guerre. Not all of them are that bad, though. E.g. I never thought of Boonen as being anywhere near as arrogant as McEwen.

Keith99

I was going to snipe a bit since Armstrong does not have the most stage wins, either total or in a single Tour.

But then I realized he has any active sprinter beat in the cockiest and most arrogant competition.

Keith99

Not any. Almost all. But not all.

Which is why I think so highly about the only 2 riders since WW II to cross the final stage finish line first in Yellow. (Hint they are also the only 2 riders to win each of the 3 Jerseys in the TDF).

It seems there were 2 who could do it all.

Surfer34

Too bad they include mountains in the race.

chasm54

You're pretty determined to cling onto your ignorance, aren't you? Get this - a GT is not a single race. It is twenty races, and three major competitions. The GC is the most prestigious, of course. But the others are of huge importance to those who know what they are talking about.

Then there are the Classics. But I don't expect you to know much about them. And since you don't know about them, they can't matter...

chasm54

I'd add Coppi to that list. KOM, GC and an hour record, among other things. I think that might entitle him to a place on our podium...

LansingWes

Maybe someone can correct me, but Cavendish (a sprinter) is wearing the World Champion Jersey, no?

HardyWeinberg

Absolutely!

achoo

Wow.

You know all those pro rider personally, close enough that you can tell how cocky and arrogant they all are, in some sort of competition.

Do they know you post about them to BF?

Keith99

I put Fausto as second best of all time. Ahead of one of the 2 I alluded to previously. Left him out in this context as his sprinting ability could be questioned.

I will point outthat properly phrased he has the most difficult to match single season accomplishment in the history of cycling.

He won all the major jerseys in both the TDF and Giro in one year. Never done before and never done after.

Less carefully phrased he won both the GC and KOM in both when they were the only major awards. Even that has not been matched. In fact only Eddy has something close 2 Jerseys in both the Giro and Vuelta in the same year.