burnthesheep

I saw this a while back, and have heard it before. IMHO it is about time. Sure, fans know what colors a team are and most likely who is in the break or watching.........but I think the permanent jersey # just makes sense. Footballers, basketball, car racing, etc.........all use the same number per event.

I understand the "nostalgia" of pinning on a number. But, that isn't a practicality necessary for pros. Amateur fields have walkups, and walkups need printed and pinned numbers. So everybody gets a printed and pinned number. I don't see that ever going away. When 1/3 of the field are
walk-ons, you have to do this. Shoot though, our local cyclocross and crit series DO allow you to keep your number for the whole series........some of them if there isn't a disparity allow you to take it to next season also. It's a more durable jersey like material for the numbers. I'll probably be re-using my cyclocross # this fall/winter from last year.

You could with amateurs for USAC season license holders. Optional $10 extra to ship out a one-time durable number to you. Still pinned on, but I'd be down with that.

Pros? I can't imagine the teams in the WT cycle through so many people per season on the overall roster they couldn't have a permanent team #.

Marketing wise, you could then get into selling rider specific merch at a premium also. Bernal #1 for Ineos jersey, or Dumoulin #2 , etc.....

ZHVelo

But who would get number 1? Or would each team have a number 1?

Iride01 

Permanent for the team or cyclist?

Either way, with some cyclist changing teams often I think it'd be confusing. At least for tours and grand tours, I like that that 1- < 9 goes to the team with the winning rider of last year. And then all the others starting with x1 are generally the team captains. Of course I don't know how common that is, but it seems that it's worked that way in many that I cared to try and figure it out.

Heck, if we had the same number for the rider, then the announcers probably will be the only ones that successfully remember most of them. Then I would not get to yell at the TV when the announcer gets the rider names mixed up. That's part of the fun too! <grin>

nomadmax 

No.

Numbers, especially in the TDF should be earned.

79pmooney

Easy. Keep tradition. #1 always goes to last year's winner. (And yes, last year's winner doesn't get to wear "his" number. But being the Tour's (for example) #1 isn't really that big a hardship. )

burnthesheep

I'm down with that, keep the reward/earning for the top spot.

It may seem trivial to some, but the ITT kiss of death of the "ill fitting" leader's yellow skinsuit is a real deal also. I think they should relax that one to just a yellow helmet or something. I'm not making excuses for pros given that the leader's yellow skinsuit is still likely better fitting than mine is...........but..........that stuff matters a LOT at 35 freaking mph riding alone. If my "training" skinsuit is about 1/3 to 1/2mph easily slower than my Bodypaint 3.3 race-day suit is at a mortal and pedestrian 25 to 27mph........their slightly ill fitting yellow skinsuit is slower at over 30mph.

Iride01 

Putting the leader in a skin suit that isn't their own might be thought of as a way of giving others a chance. I know that's not the actual intention. But it can be thought of as sort of a backward way of doing a handicap. Maybe they should pull a drogue shoot <grin>.

Prodigy4299

This, and freaking rider names on the back, like in other sports. How many of us have watched a race where even the commentators don't know which rider is being shown!

Iride01 

To me, yelling at the commentators on TV when they mess them up is part of the fun! <grin>

The logical grouping of numbers by team for each event just make so much more sense to me. It doesn't take much to figure out that the guy with 1 is last years winner. And that in each group, the one with xx1 is likely the team captain, but not always.

With teams having many more riders than can ride at one event, there'd be a lot of numbers to pass out and reserve. Many teams have twenty five to thirty riders.

I'm definitely for the current and longtime status quo on this.

Prodigy4299

You definitely bring up good point re: numbers. But is it completely necessary for riders to all have unique numbers within the peloton? (This is a legitimate question, not rhetorical.) Would it be so confusing if riders on different teams had the same number (like they do in other team sports)?

Iride01 

In other team sports, it's usually two teams. And many times the teams have two or more sets of distinctly colored kits or clothing. Before the game it is determined whether to wear one over the other so not to look similar to the other. Only realizing my mistake on team when I identified the number.

In cycling there are 19 UCI world teams and 19 UCI pro teams. So many kits can look similar and a shared number among them will be more confusing to me. As when I have the unique number I can quickly find the name of the rider.

I might be okay with each team being issued a block of numbers that stays with them. Say nn1 - nn8 and they give them out to whomever they have riding for them in that race or tour. Don't know what we'd do with nn0 and nn9 as teams can only bring a max of eight riders to a grand tour and seven for a tour.

Still they wouldn't be unique to the cyclist, but you'd know that any with n2n and n3n were on different teams. Not certain if any value in that, but there are times watching the video/TV that I got the number but mixed up the team kit.

Still I prefer the current way it's done. I haven't heard or read any decent argument for changing. I think commentators will still say the wrong name irregardless because many times they don't see the number before starting their comment. And by the time the number is seen it's sometimes heat of the moment and to make an on air correction would mean losing time for more valuable comment on what is happening.

Prodigy4299

I see this discussion as part of a larger discussion on how to 'professionalize' professional cycling, build stronger fan following among a larger audience and create a more sustainable financial model. Permanent #'s are not the main obstacle, but it is part of the equation. That way hopefully cycling can become less dependent on

(a) shady businessmen using cycling teams to launder money
(b) egomaniacs with money to throw around
(c) Middle Eastern dictatorships using cycling teams as a proxy in their regional rivalry.

Would be great to support a cycling team without having to hold one's nose for a change,

Iride01 

What other sport can we watch without having to "hold our nose" ? Cycling is certainly not unique with any of the things you mention and allude to.

Leinster

Keep the numbering system as-is.

Allow teams to put names in 2"/50mm high letters across a rider's shoulders, per soccer/American sports. If some teams try it and feel it works, more teams will follow.

Some teams can maybe try having squad numbers. It'd be interesting to see who grabs which number on each team; presumably a lot of them will want whichever number their favourite footballer/basketball player/athlete growing up wore, or what they wore on their own little league team etc. They'll be fighting over number 9, 10 and 11 more than number 1!

Riveting

Is the permanent "13" put on upside down?

john m flores 

In motorcycle racing, the world champion would use the coveted #1 number plate the following year. But that changed with Valentino Rossi, who chose to use his iconic #46 throughout his entire career, even when he was world champion. Fans loved wearing gear with his stylized #46 on it. Now all famous racers do the same, choose a number and make it their own. It’s pretty cool