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I agree it's better as a spectacle to have a close race, but it never happens that way! And in a way that's a good thing.
Well, I don't mean, on a 4,000km race, people chasing each other along the same road only a couple of kilometres apart. In that type of race, 'close' means within a couple of dozen kilometres so that the lead can change again with a long rest, etc.
The chances of two or more riders being equally matched, with no drafting, after 7 or 8 days is very small.
And if they were close, the pressure to ride themselves into the ground to get an edge would keep building. So, as a rider, I'm kind of pleased that it's not close at the front now so that there isn't too much extra pressure on them. The later stages of these races are weird as a drug trip and highly emotional already!I would worry about this if it were a professional sport, but then, as in boxing, there would probably be people in the athletes' 'corners' who would intervene in case there was evidence that someone couldn't continue. I'm not worried about that in amateurs.
One is reminded of mikes close ride in Australia near the end of the race . The turn off the route to get a rest that became one of his last.
I'm not sure what you mean with the reference to Mike?
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Oliver Schick
pacef8
I agree it's better as a spectacle to have a close race, but it never happens that way! And in a way that's a good thing.
The chances of two or more riders being equally matched, with no drafting, after 7 or 8 days is very small.
And if they were close, the pressure to ride themselves into the ground to get an edge would keep building. So, as a rider, I'm kind of pleased that it's not close at the front now so that there isn't too much extra pressure on them. The later stages of these races are weird as a drug trip and highly emotional already!