The Death of the Grand Tour

LeMond and Fignon do battle in the high mountains.

Suspense. It defines the thrill of watching a bike race. Johan Van Summeren, his deflated rear tire clanging over the last secteurs of cobblestones in Paris-Roubaix with Fabian Cancellara breathing down his back; Laurent Fignon snatching seconds from Greg LeMond on each mountaintop finish, as LeMond snatches those same seconds back in the time trials. From the spectators standpoint at least, suspense categorically defines good bike racing.

Bike racing is a monumentally difficult sport, with even the one-day races representing a magnificent display of endurance. Many one-day races are 200 or more kilometers over difficult terrain and in awful weather, where riders need to be fit, strong, and alert at all times during a competition that lasts upwards of six hours. Grand Tours distinguish themselves by aggregating the challenges from the one-day races into a three-week event; their sheer length cause riders to not only battle each other but themselves as fatigue creeps in, brought on by racing twenty days along windy coastal roads, over high mountains – in baking heat or torrential rain. Simply finishing a Grand Tour labels a rider as a “Giant of the Road”, the designation given to those few who were good enough and hard enough to endure this ultimate test of determination and stamina. Those who manage to win one will be defined by the accomplishment for the remainder of their career and, quite possibly, their lives. The V, brought to life and personified in each one of them.

Historically, one of the distinguishing factors of Grand Tour contenders has been their superiority over their rivals in one discipline or another, while typically being bested in another discipline. The Grimpeur who soars over the mountains shows weakness when they go contre la montre. The Rouleur who gains an advantage in the time trials struggles to limit their losses over the high passes. The route, the terrain, their weaknesses, and their ability to respond to the tactics of each stage characterizes the three-week struggle for domination. There is no other event on Earth like it.

The grimpeur versus the rouleur has been the Grand Tour’s great struggle, for what Merckx giveth in the Mountains, Merckx taketh away in the Time Trial. The emaciated body that the climber uses to float up the steepest gradients is little more than a waifish weather vane in the time trails where sheer strength and power are the keys to success. Conversely, the additional body mass required to generate time trial-winning power becomes an anchor when pointed uphill, allowing gravity and physics to do their cruel work.

Where in the past we’ve seen riders who could ride amongst the best in both the mountains as well as the time trials, these riders were never the dominant figure in either of both disciplines. Anquetil was strong in the time trials but struggled in the mountains – the same goes for Indurain. Hinault, LeMond, and Ullrich were strong in the time trails and, while good climbers, were always bested by others on the high passes. Fignon and Pantani could take time away from their rivals on the vicious slopes of the high mountains, but struggled to maintain their advantage in the time trials. It all came together to form a ferocious battle of riders pitting their strengths against their rivals’ weaknesses, and their rivals coming back to do the same another day when conditions were more in their favor.

Yet, in the last decade, we’ve seen an alarming shift in the qualities of some top Grand Tour contenders. With Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, we have seen a new class of rider who is the best climber in the world while also the best time trialist; while an awesome display of skill, it puts paid to the excitement of watching a Grand Tour unfold. Each of Armstrong’s wins came at the hands of devastating mountaintop wins coupled with domination in the Time Trials. Similarly, Contador’s 2009 record-setting VAM (Vertical Ascension in Meters) on the climb of Verbiér came alongside his defeat of World-Champion time trialist, Fabian Cancellara, his frail climber’s body managing to best the most powerful rider in the peloton.

Whatever lies at the root of this transformation, it seems these riders have found a way to abolish their weakness in these opposed disciplines, and can execute their race plans with surgical, three-week precision. With that precision comes the death of the Grand Tour; for it is the weakness of our heros that lends us the opportunity to revel in the thrill of their victories. Without that weakness, we have gained an impressive show of dominance, and lost the spectacle of suspense.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

View Comments

  • @scaler911

    I'd like to try Guinness over there some day - I've heard it's good. I'm not such a big fan of the stuff we get over here. Though if I ever find myself in Ireland I'll probably be too busy drinking the whiskey...

  • @scaler911

    Ah Guinness, my fall back if I don't think I'm going to be able to get a decent pint of English real ale (which is quite often!) A friend of mine who owns a pub gave me a Guinness Surger for my 40th. Simply put, you pour a can of special flat Guinness into a pint pot, pop it onto the Surger press the button and hey presto, witchcraft happens (or a ultra sonic pulse - it's a bit hazy) and the flat black stuff is turned into a pint that you wouldn't be able to tell apart from a very good pint of draft Guinness. It's a dangerous thing to have in your garage. "Oh Chris, go on, just the one, you will, you will, you will, ah go on!"

  • @mcsqueak

    @scaler911
    I'd like to try Guinness over there some day - I've heard it's good. I'm not such a big fan of the stuff we get over here. Though if I ever find myself in Ireland I'll probably be too busy drinking the whiskey...

    Did bring home a 100 y/o bottle of Jameson. Was meant to be a gift for my father-in-law. Too bad for him I don't like him much.

  • @sgt
    @frank and @all
    Be in US it's great for many reasons, one no less important among the others is to be 'closer' to a lot of Velominati! I'm
    Now heading to San Francisco, I'll be there for the 4th of july...
    Ps sorry for being completely off topic!

  • @Buck Rogers

    Yeah, I am not sure why they are going away from 2 long ITT as well as mountain stages. I'm no historian, and could be completely wrong, but I seem to remember there always being at least 2 decent ITT back in the 70"²s-90"²s. Also, I do not think that there are that many more mountain stages than in the 70"²s-to-2000. I would lobby for at least 2 50k+ ITT and 5 mountain stages. But then again, nobody asked me!

    ....maybe this is their way of giving Endy his 30 seconds back....?

  • On the matter of Guinness
    1. Flaherty's Pub on roundabout entering Dingle Village
    2. McSwiggan's in Galway City
    3. Patrick's Bar in Glenties in Donegal
    4. The Green Room, Magharee's Headland, northern Dingle Peninsula
    5. Smuggler's Creek in Rossnowlagh

    All in beautiful cycling countryside
    Have a pint of Guinness in any of these places, and you will know why we don't drink it overseas (in fact, worth making a tour out of those 5 spots - 1 and 4 are only 30 miles apart, with the spectacular Connor's Pass, bit like a small but equally misty Tourmalet climb, between them

  • @Dr C
    The Green Room! Great little joint! Been off topic most of the day so I'll finish with this: Ross Castle used to be in my family........

    And, HA!! to the re: Le Velo. A buddy sent it to me. Same guy that did the 'performance' video. Local racer.

  • @frank

    @Oli

    Indurain didn't struggle that badly in the climbs - he was routinely second or third on almost all of the big mountain stages of the Tours he won, and it could be argued he could have claimed a few if he wasn't such a gift-giver!

    Oh, it's good to be sparring with you again, old friend. It's like Vader and Oli-Wan meeting again on The Death Star.
    Indurain struggled like a bat trying to read War and Peace. He said so himself. Hanging with Cappuccino and Virenque was almost the death of him, by his own account. That's not to be confused with successfully making it up with the front-runners by the sheer force of The V. In fact, he was quite a good climber, winning mountain stages when he was younger, so he could absolutely get over the hills.
    The point I was trying to make, perhaps poorly, was that his strength was the Time Trials where he was unmatched, while in comparison to the best climbers - not just the other GC contenders - he struggled. When it came to climbing he was in a different class than the true mountain goats.
    And, before you point it out, Anquetil, while a worse climber than Indurain, could also hold his own up the hills...the battle on Puy du Dome comes to mind.

    Well Lord Vader, I thought it was universally accepted that they all struggle? After all, in the words of Greg LeMond, "It never gets easier, you just go faster." However, I do see your point.

    (I wasn't going to mention Maitre Jacques...)

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