Robots. Automatons. Modern professional cyclists. I am tempted to say these three terms are interchangeable, but I know that’s not right because a “robot” endeavors to convey the impression that it acts of it’s own intent, whereas automatons and professional cyclists are merely self-operating machines.
It is difficult for a Velominatus to look at old cycling photos and not have their minds wander to days gone by when racing was inspiring, unpredictable and, above all, courageous. Take this photo: it looks like Hinault has just attacked so hard that Joop Zoetemelk’s eyebrows got dropped. The Guns of Navarrone have been fired and it is clear from the look in his eyes that Hinault reckons he’s got two options: continue the attack until he’s worn the tape off his bars and dropped the two Dutchman clinging to his draft, or die. Obviously he favors the first option.
This year’s World Road Race Championships distinguished itself from the other races this season in two principle ways. First, it put on display some of the most courageous and exciting racing I’ve seen in ages. Second, it was held without the use of race radios. I’m not the first one to say it, but in my estimation, the lack of radios directly fed into the quality of the racing that saw the riders demonstrate that they can still show initiative, patience, cleverness, and loads of Rule #5 without having instructions yelled in their ear.
The argument for allowing race radios generally revolves around safety concerns for the riders, citing improved communication about road conditions, crashes, and any other hazards one might encounter during a bike race. The argument against radios mostly centers on the fact that they help make races less exciting by taking the tactical decisions away from the riders and placing them in the hands of the Directeurs Spotif who instruct their riders based on loads of realtime data available from inside the team car. Like most things, this matter is probably a much more complicated one than it appears on the surface, but I intend to ignore all the “facts” or “reasons” why this might be the case and instead focus on the points that are easy to think of and support my viewpoint.
The finale of the Elite Men’s Road Race was sparked by Phillipe Gilbert big-ringing it up the last climb. Sure, you can do that with a radio, but if you did you can bet your DS would be peppering you with statistics that show a correlation between riding in a big gear and knee injuries. I don’t need to tell you that kind of information can be very distracting when you’re racing.
Behind, the chase was led by an impressive Cadelephant who showed no consideration whatsoever for riding a “smart race” and instead grabbed the race by the short hairs and gave it the berries. No one telling them to look around for help, no one telling them the bunch was bearing down from behind. Just execution of one of the most simple principles in cycling: to go faster, you push harder on the pedals. The rest of the guys in the move did what they could to hold the wheel in front of them and contribute to the pace when possible. No games, no passengers, just full gas until the bunch plucked them up like a falcon does a field mouse.
There were no robots to be seen, and I have a feeling it might have been a refreshing change for the riders, too. It didn’t revolutionize the race – all the big names still made the big moves and the bunch still caught the break, – but the racing showed something we haven’t seen in quite a while: courage, guts, and glory.
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That's what I was talking about. And to top that off he goes off the back at the beginning of the final lap.
Great article and I agree that no radios makes for better racing, especially from a fans perspective. I like the fact that if you're going to be World Champion then you have to do it on your own without needing a disembodied voice telling you when to step on the gas.
I'm generally a fan of Spartacus and like watching him ride, but it goes out the window when he starts whining about radios.
Great piece Frank. My sentiments exactly. The racing was like none I've seen for quite a while, every rider was balls out (especially Elephant) giving it the full V, just like it's meant to be.
The UCI now needs to show the same balls as the riders and ban radios altogether; then we will see the same sort of racing as Sunday, where we're shouting at the tv like we were on the side of the road.
Frank, great article.... and my heart agrees with you... but, even though I fear these views will be unpopular (and I haven't got quite the drive and passion and pigheadedness of Adrian), I fear that we are harking back to the good old days where everything is in black and white. The cat is out the bag, the train has left the station, pandora's box is open (poor girl). It's hard enough for teams/riders not to cheat with the whole doping thing... the technology for radios has been around since WW II (I?), they can be disguised in SRM power meters, heart rate monitors, ipods... it is just another grey area for teams to exploit... like Formula 1 banning ABS or traction control... Benetton and Schumacher still (allegedly) found a way around it... or we are left looking like the shambles that is football that categorically refuses to use goal-line technology... it's just village. I cry inside when I see the photo up top, I love your words in the article, and I really, really enjoyed these worlds - BECAUSE they didn't have radios - but you make this systemic, and the teams will start to game it.... my heart rate monitor 'sticks' at 160 (break is 2mins ahead); my power meter pulses (briefly) at 1200W (yellow jersey's legs have blown and his guns are out of ammo)... it will become a secret, dirty war. God, I hope I'm wrong. But we can't turn back the clock. the technology exists. It's why in 5 years time, people will laugh at us for our manual gear shifts, etc. etc. etc. And it's why we love black and white photos... there were only three things that mattered: how deep our heroes were prepared to dig, how deep their nemeses were prepared to dig, and the rich tapestry that the combination of course, terrain, weather etc. could weave around them.
Fine Worlds and a great article, Frank! Nice going.
I love the last 5 km and haven't seen it since the early hours of Saturday morning. Time for a work break and time to watch it again.
I love racing without radios. I am against too much tech at all levels, even club races. Jeez, after our Thursday rides no one is cracking beers or having a good time - they all are too busy blathering about their HR readings and what their Power Meter is telling them. Eck! Makes me hope back on my bike and head off. I like passionate cyclists, not damn nerdy number crunchers on bikes!
Down with radios! Up with the replay I'm about to watch. Only heard it in French on Saturday so this is going to be great from the BBC (I understand English much better:))!
And yes, some structuring, punctuation and paragraph breaks would probably be a good idea.
Wow, I'd had a few beers by the end of the race and watching it again I realize how damn awesome the last 5k were!
- Evans and Martins chase is great. They are flying! Evans accelerating at 4:09 mark after all the miles is stunning.
- Anyone know what saddle Gilbert was riding? Looked almost like an older 1990s era Flite.
- It is pretty incredible how hard even the pros need to work to bring back a breakaway (I mean when it is a small group chasing one or two up the road).
Seems Gilbert was caught and passed by Gusev right before the big right hander before the Esplanade. It's about 5:37 into the video. I think that was him, what other Belgian could it have been? Cool paint scheme on the Belgian bikes as well.
Weird camera lag too on the sprint. We see Thor starting his sprint but still a couple lengths behind then they switch to another camera and he's in the lead all of a sudden heading for the line.
Good writing Frank. Agreed. Blackboards and flags only. Bring back instinctive racing.
Whilst I like the idea of no radios, I am not sure that radios would have made a huge difference to that day's racing?
1. What was left of the field caught the attackers very late to make for a bunch sprint. As I understand it, this exact circumstance is the key criticism of radios?
2. Radios wouldn't have helped The Douche and his buddies from getting spat.
3. Maybe radios might have gotten the late escapees to work a bit better and stay away?
4. Still reckon that Gilbert's attack would have been more than encouraged by a DS - it was his only option.
5. The only thing that radios might have done was stay a little closer to the initial break so the whole field wasn't so close to getting removed, ie. if the early break had completed their first lap before the bunch arrived. This was avoided by only a couple of minutes.