ENECO Tour: not that good, actually // "Cycling: a bit hard"
Published by Halverde on 8/19/2006 at 10:42.
We were all set to say how rubbish the ENECO Tour is, then Stefan Schumacher won the prologue, Tom Boonen won the following stage and took the race lead, and Manuel Quinziato won the second stage with a superbly timed attack 2km from the finish. Next year we'll have to send a memo to all the riders we like, telling them that we can't write nasty things about the race if they keep winning in it.
Of course, when a route has a highest point of five metres above sea level it's obvious that the whole race is going to be fairly neutralised. At least moving the time trial from the very end to halfway through the race means that Bobby Julich or George Hincapie won't move up from 12th place to win the whole race on the last stage. And this way we get to see Joost Posthuma gritting his teeth as he dangles six seconds ahead of the peleton on the final day in a last ditch attempt to make up the 15 seconds he trails the race leader by.
Still crap though. Even with a course designed to cause at least 20 crashes a day, no stage race that has less climbing than the Tour of Britain should be allowed into the ProTour.
Something we got e-mailed, and presumably are expected to get all riled up about:
An article on Cyclingpost.com, claiming that cycling is too hard without doping (obviously they haven't heard of the ENECO Tour). Because footballers play two matches a week, apparently that legitimises the theory that shortening races prevents doping.
We're already writing a serious article for another website on this matter, so we'll keep it brief: To get through a grand tour, you need a strong preparation and adequate nutrition -- DRUGS ARE TAKEN TO BE COMPETITIVE. Here's some shocking news: David Millar didn't take EPO in the 2003 World Time Trial Championships because he thought that he couldn't make it around the 41.6km course. He did it because he wanted to win.
To return to Cycling Post's football analogy, to suggest that shortening stages and races would prevent doping is like suggesting that football matches be reduced to thirty minutes to prevent diving. Quite amazingly, someone probably got paid to write that article. Perhaps shortening his working hours would cut back on the rubbish he writes?
Of course, when a route has a highest point of five metres above sea level it's obvious that the whole race is going to be fairly neutralised. At least moving the time trial from the very end to halfway through the race means that Bobby Julich or George Hincapie won't move up from 12th place to win the whole race on the last stage. And this way we get to see Joost Posthuma gritting his teeth as he dangles six seconds ahead of the peleton on the final day in a last ditch attempt to make up the 15 seconds he trails the race leader by.
Still crap though. Even with a course designed to cause at least 20 crashes a day, no stage race that has less climbing than the Tour of Britain should be allowed into the ProTour.
Something we got e-mailed, and presumably are expected to get all riled up about:
An article on Cyclingpost.com, claiming that cycling is too hard without doping (obviously they haven't heard of the ENECO Tour). Because footballers play two matches a week, apparently that legitimises the theory that shortening races prevents doping.
We're already writing a serious article for another website on this matter, so we'll keep it brief: To get through a grand tour, you need a strong preparation and adequate nutrition -- DRUGS ARE TAKEN TO BE COMPETITIVE. Here's some shocking news: David Millar didn't take EPO in the 2003 World Time Trial Championships because he thought that he couldn't make it around the 41.6km course. He did it because he wanted to win.
To return to Cycling Post's football analogy, to suggest that shortening stages and races would prevent doping is like suggesting that football matches be reduced to thirty minutes to prevent diving. Quite amazingly, someone probably got paid to write that article. Perhaps shortening his working hours would cut back on the rubbish he writes?
