has american cycling finally arrived?

longanecker4

one of the proudest days EVER for american cycling! certainly the most memorable for an american team... don't even try to discount this ride by the americans as a fluke or as the result of so many "foreign" riders on the team. this is ligit baby!!! finally usp beats once!!! finally the american-based TEAM shines in a tour where only individual americans have thrived!!! incredible! historic! yes!!!!!!

Vo2

I think if there's a country that should be proud, it must be Australia.
We are only 4 days into the Tour and they have worn Yellow, Green and White.

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claggy

there is no doubt that american cycling is getting better and better . but us postal is an american based team not a team full of americans is it . well done to them though they are by far the best prepared team , they deserved that win ....................and they certainly were not lucky.

australian cycling is also really booming , with 7 riders (would have been 8 if not for the unfortunate evans) not only that they are also mostly competitive .

what is the media coverage of cycling like in your countries?

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Tour de Lance

i live in switzerland and the media coverage is very good.they show tour de france everyday LIVE (i watch it on eurosport though) and papers write everyday of it,but in my native country (Italy) the media coverage was much better cos u know we have lots of riders and lots of tradition in cycling.

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Go Lance and Us Postal team! Go Oscar,Tyler and all italian boys!

longanecker4

yes vo2... certainly the aussies should lead the tour in nationialistic pride. i envy the fact that austrailia has embraced cycling unlike america... here, the media reports results, but they are truly uninformed and do not understand the dynamics of the peleton (oh, and they ONLY report on lance). they say things like, "lance STILL fails to lead the tour today, and he is being beaten by his own teamate!"... wow, how ignorant our press is of this great sport. i have to say that the enthusiasm i had when i began this thread is only the result of seeing the "team aspect" of cycling portrayed on our televisions. overall, it is hard to be an american cycling fan, because our sports fans usually know little more than the NBA, NFL, and MLB... cycling is baffling to most americans and to our sports media...

o.k. now i'm really depressed! ... by the way, my apologies for the name calling on the lucifierion thread.

DiabloScott

Vo2 ArchAngel said:

"I think if there's a country that should be proud, it must be Australia. We are only 4 days into the Tour and they have worn Yellow, Green and White."

Yeah - good job Australia. We should get some of you guys on our team since you don't have one of your own. We don't need any sprinters though, just climbers and time trialers.

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Shabby

I'm surprised noone has mentioned that the "American" team only has three Yanks in it.

By that logic, FDJ can be classified as an Aussie team as well and USPS can be classified as Spanish.

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claggy

which is why im delighted liverpool have signed harry kewell.

the ausie sportsmen are always the ones to look up to , they seem to have confidence and determination that in general is lacked by other sporting nations. its a big complement coming from someone who lives in england by the way , a country used to regular sporting defeats at the hands of the ausies.

having said all that you cant knock the determination of guys like tyler and lance.

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DiabloScott

Seriously, the really great thing about having an American team in the Tour and other Euro events is that an American sponsor and several co-sponsors have realized that the sport has enough appeal to American fans that they're willing to pay the big dollars to be a part of it. That will lead the way for more sponsors and more teams when Lance is no longer around and USPS decides they've had enough.

Now that the Aussies have had plenty of well-deserved success maybe some Australian companies will make the same decision and we'll see some Australian sponsors of teams that have a multi-national roster riding the big races.

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2WheelsGood

I've always had a bit of a hard time with the country pride thing, especially with American cyclists.

Let's face it; if a racer from the US is successful in European racing, it isn't because he's American--it's in SPITE of the fact that he's American.

With the exception of a few select areas in this country, by and large the US is not a cycling-friendly place to live.

To be a successful racer here is almost a matter of survival. Aside from the fact that the rest of the country looks at this sport like it's a freak show, training on the roads in most parts of the US is a suicide mission. You want to see how well America supports its cyclists? Let's do a quick check... raise your hand if you live in the US and get hassled from motorists on almost a daily basis. I see a lot of hands.

And on top of all that, where do these successful American pros live for most of their racing season? Europe.

Perhaps I'm partly bitter because of all the flag waving I see from Americans who wouldn't even know who Lance Armstrong is if it wasn't for his cancer story. But now, suddenly, because they know who he is they feel some strange pride in the fact that he's American.

My point: being American is far more of a handicap to being a great cyclist than it is an advantage.

But aside from that, I do still love this country.

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i2ambler

Well, I dont get hassled on a daily basis.. However, one out of every 3 times an idiot will yell slanderous remarks or honk. I dont get the honking.. as if I am supposed to get out of the way, when I am riding 4 inches or less from the curb.. owell..

longanecker4

by the way... i'm not one of "those" americans who wouldn't know of lance unless his story was so big. i raced against lance on several occasions from 1990 to 1992 (both cycling and triathlon)... so yeah, i'm proud of him and i'm proud for american cycling. even if the support from the "uneducated" american sports fan is superficial at best, this is still the greatest moment for u.s. cycling, hands down. don't be such a cynic!

Seraphim

My congratulations for the Australians...

They definitively manage to show themselves!

Feanor

In general I agree with many of your points, but it is still wrong to completely lump the entire country into a single stereotype concerning cycling and respect of cyclists on the road.

I think the same thing happens when people make comments like "The French hate Lance Armstrong because he is an American spoiling the purity of their sport" When in fact, people who have actually been to France and observed reactions to Lance (particularly recently) report that he has a grand following and garners tremendous respect and even rampant fandom in France...

It might be another case of the malcontents getting the big press... You know, like someone burning a picture of Lance and waving a french flag having the cameras on him, when just to the side of that fan are 500 more cheering him on...

I JUST started road cycling very recently in the Joe-Average suburb of San Francisco that I live in... People here give me a very wide berth as they drive by and have, at least so far, slowed to make sure I was clear before turns etc...

And of course, a most memorable event in my extremely short cycling career is found here

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t33801.html

I think that what you might deem as animosity, and a need for cycling survival, might actually be an unfortunate mix of bad luck, and unfamiliarity with the sport. Both of which can change fairly easily over time compared to things such as racial prejudices etc...

I think that the general perception in this country of how Lance is viewed negatively in Europe is incorrect, and I think that the perception of cyclists in this country is also not as negative as it might seem...

Have a good one!

Feanor