A FAN’S PERSPECTIVE
enter the fray once again.
Cycling is also a business,
a marketing business. Pro
Tour teams have budgets in
the multi-millions of Euros
and this is paid by sponsors
who want to place their
products or services in front
of the millions of viewers who
sit glued to the hours and
hours of TV, online and print
coverage that cycle races
get. Riders are employees as
much as sportsmen. They all
have jobs and different roles
in the ‘company’. Some are
there to win, others are there
to help them win. Some are
there to get TV time in the
Then there is the cutting-
edge technology. Modern
bicycles are high-tech,
composite marvels. Riders’
physical data is monitored
by scientists and doctors
using state-of-the-art
measuring devices and
software. Every minute detail
is scrutinised, analysed and
assimilated so that nothing is
left to chance. Riders spend
weeks in training camps
at remote, high-altitude
locations to change and
improve their physiology.
They use races to develop
‘race-rhythm’ in order to
improve their condition for
scrutinised and discussed.
Performances are analysed
and criticised or praised,
and plans and tactics are
formulated for the next day.
But, in the heat of the
moment, at the critical
instant, a rider must make
blazing heat or freezing rain.
The passion of the directeur
sportif who has seen all
his neatly laid plans shot to
ribbons but who bursts into
tears when his rider grabs
the unexpected victory. The
passion of that rider who
early breakaway and garner
that valuable exposure for
the team and their sponsors,
even if the chance of a win
is remote. Roles do change
in a season, and even in
a race. There are always
opportunities that present
themselves that go against
the designated roles. Often
these can provide riders with
career-altering prospects
if seized upon, just as they
would in the corporate world.
34 | TO U R
D E F R A NC E 2019
their target races, but keep
to set outputs in order to
peak at precisely the correct
time. At the races, out on
the road, team managers
watch live TV coverage in
the team car and instruct
their riders on the race
situation, route information
and the situation of their
rivals via sophisticated two-
way radios. Race routes are
previewed and planned for.
Post-race the results are
the decision which will
decide between victory and
defeat. When the plan was to
wait but the rival is showing
weakness, it is time for a risk.
Do they take it or follow the
plan? This is what makes
cycling mesmerising for me.
For all the control and the
technology, the numbers
and the planning, it is the
passion that makes cycling.
The passion of the people
standing on the roadside in
crosses the line, arms aloft
with elation – and also relief
on his face because there is
so much more to this victory
than just coming first on
this day. Then there is the
passion of the rider who falls
at speed, ripping his already
frail-looking body to shreds,
but whose first thought is to
get back on his bike… and the
manager who understands
and lets him try because he
too was a rider once… and
the fans who will push him
up a mountain to help him
finish, despite the fact that
they support another team –
because they appreciate that
this is what makes cycling
what it is. ●
ASO/PAULINE BALLET
Tour de France fans often put on as
much of a spectacle as the riders,
especially in the high mountains, and
when stars such as Peter Sagan arrive.