Holy crap, this thing's for real.
Discovery Channel announced their participation this week. That means that Kevin Livingston has been doing his job. And it bodes well for additional ProTour teams to be mixing it up with domestic teams. That usually makes for good racing because the domestic teams want to mix it up with the big boys.
It's also a good guess that BMC (US domestic team) will be involved because of Dan Schmatz' ties to the area (Dan recently performed well in Tour de Nez and placed 3rd in the second stage of the Nature Valley Grand Pr).
Moreover, it looks like support is still there in the upper ranks, based on this Velo News article. And with the announcement of Disco's participation I'd be willing to be a higher number of secondary sponsors signing up. Because, Lance does own part of the team and that means there is a .00000000000001% chance his highness will show up! OMG!
Not likely. But, still, this solidifies my plan to take off a lot of that week, go down to the Branson Time Trial and yell every minute or so for a few hours, go hang out at the start line in Lebanon to see what signatures I might be able to snag, wander over to the St. Charles finish race since I could actually ride my bike to the route I'm willing to bet they'll take and might as well go to the circuit race in downtown St. Louis. Why not?
Why is it that everyone bows to Discovery? They're a team of dopers who are thisclose to getting caught.
ReplyDeleteIt's time to start supporting the clean guys on the domestic scene.
Jeez. Cycling fans are willing to talk about doping with any subject.
ReplyDeleteUh. Who's bowing? I noted that a major ProTour team was coming, plus the hope of a major domestic team. Then I noted that the presence of the ProTour teams will spur the domestic teams to race even harder. I also noted that the marquee name would be good for the tour. And it will be.
The reason why sponsors and people outside of cycling fans get all creamy over Disco is because of Lance. He has name recognition, for better or for worse.
And, seriously? You think all the doping only occurs in the European peloton? You honestly believe that a domestic racer won't do whatever it takes? You don't think some Cat 2 racer will do whatever it takes to win some goofy crit with a $50 preem?
Let's face it, doping is an issue that goes beyond the usual suspects we like to complain about and we, the fan, are complicit in this. Just look at the ratings for races that are "clean." We apparently can make a big deal out of it, but if a rider doesn't leave six of his major organs out on the road to Ventoux and then come out the next day and do the same thing, we complain.
Or, for that matter, no matter who wins we automatically start the rumors. Stuey won PR? He must have doped to do it. Jens Voigt wins the Tour of Germany? He must have doped.
Call me when cycling ,including us fans, gets some sort of consistency about doping and then I'll believe that it's being taken seriously.
And, as far as supporting clean guys on domestic teams who is the one active racer I mentioned in that post? Dan Schmatz. On BMC.