ProTour Coup - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

bluegoose · 07-16-2008, 12:39 AM

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/a...censes-for--09

17 of the 18 licensed teams announced that they will not be renewing their ProTour license next year.

It sounds to me like this is the end of the ProTour as we know it.

For those in the know (creek, RCV) what does this mean for European cycling? Will it continue on as is, under different leadership and a different name?

MikeWaters · 07-16-2008, 12:45 AM

Where is Mark Cuban when you need him?

creekster · 07-16-2008, 04:48 PM

I am not sure what will happen. ASO and buddies look ascendant and the UCI looks screwed. As you probabyl know the eurpoean race season has never been organized like a league or a series. Each race was, in the past, on its own. Then the UCI tried to bring uniformity and most recetnly created the Pro Tour circuit and tried to force the grand tours to play along. The grand tours essentially refused, knowing that racers and fans would still show up, even if the UCI threatened to ban them from other races (they briefly did so a year or two ago). So now the UCI is again talking about penalties but I doubt very much it will happen. INstead, I think there will be some sort of rapproachmetn with the UCI having some control but the Pro Tour will be dead. All the classics you know and love will probabyl continue to be held. To the casual fan like me, it will not be much different, is my guess.

Why would we need cuban, btw? Bike racing is already full of self-important blowhards that could never ride a bike when they were younger.

07-16-2008, 12:39 AM	#1
bluegoose Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Northern California Posts: 2,919	ProTour Coup http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/a...censes-for--09 17 of the 18 licensed teams announced that they will not be renewing their ProTour license next year. It sounds to me like this is the end of the ProTour as we know it. For those in the know (creek, RCV) what does this mean for European cycling? Will it continue on as is, under different leadership and a different name?

07-16-2008, 04:48 PM	#3
creekster Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: the far corner of my mind Posts: 8,711	I am not sure what will happen. ASO and buddies look ascendant and the UCI looks screwed. As you probabyl know the eurpoean race season has never been organized like a league or a series. Each race was, in the past, on its own. Then the UCI tried to bring uniformity and most recetnly created the Pro Tour circuit and tried to force the grand tours to play along. The grand tours essentially refused, knowing that racers and fans would still show up, even if the UCI threatened to ban them from other races (they briefly did so a year or two ago). So now the UCI is again talking about penalties but I doubt very much it will happen. INstead, I think there will be some sort of rapproachmetn with the UCI having some control but the Pro Tour will be dead. All the classics you know and love will probabyl continue to be held. To the casual fan like me, it will not be much different, is my guess. Why would we need cuban, btw? Bike racing is already full of self-important blowhards that could never ride a bike when they were younger. __________________ Sorry for th e tpyos.

07-16-2008, 12:45 AM	#2
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	Where is Mark Cuban when you need him?