Why is the tdf getting shorter?

The tour de france is getting shorter all the time, consider this:

2006 Floyd Landis 89h 39m 30s 3639K
2004 Lance Armstrong 83h 36m 02s 3391K
2002 Lance Armstrong 82h 05m 12s 3278K
1989 Greg LeMond 87h 38m 35s 3250K
1988 Pedro Delgado 84h 27m 53s 3300K
.. . . and then there were men
1931 Antonin Magne 177h 10m 3s 5095
1930 Andre Leducq 172h 12m 10s 4818
1929 Maurice De Waele 186h 39m 16s 5286
1928 Nicolas Frantz 192h 48m 58s 5377
1927 Nicolas Frantz 198h 16m 42s 5348
1926 Lucien Buysse Belgium 238h 44m 25s 5475
1925 Ottavio Bottecchia Italy 219h 10m 13s 5430
1924 Ottavio Bottecchia Italy 226h 18m 21s 5427
1923 Henri Pelissier France 222h 15m 30s 5386
1922 Firmin Lambot Belgium 222h 8m 6s 5378
1921 Leon Scieur Belgium 221h 50m 0s 5484
1920 Philippe Thys Belgium 228h 36m 0s 5503
1919 Firmin Lambot Belgium 231h 7m 15s 5560
* * * No Tour de France - World War I * * *
1914 Philippe Thys Belgium 200h 28m 49s 5414
1913 Philippe Thys Belgium 197h 54m 0s 5387
1912 Odile Defraye Belgium 184h 50m 0s 5229
1911 Gustave Garrigou France 195h 35m 25s 5544
---------
1911-1931 over 5000 K, around 200 hours
After that it dropped to 4200 K around 120 hours.
Now the modern era it's around 3300 K around 85 hours

So as equipment has evolved, and technology has improved, it seem the race
organizers have less confidence in the riders, as they make the race shorter
and shorter to meet the lower standards of the modern rider. The iron-men
of the 20's and 30's are long gone.

On Jul 6, 9:02 pm, "Callistus Valerius" wrote:

The iron-men of the 20's and 30's are long gone.

After 80 years, I would expect most of them to be dead too

The difference between now and then is that today's racers are
averaging 40+km/h compared to the 30km/h of the past era. That's quite
a difference in output. I don't think very many people would be
interested in watching a group of bikers pudding along at speeds most
healthy people can easily attain themselves.

Callistus Valerius wrote:
The tour de france is getting shorter all the time, consider this:

2006 Floyd Landis 89h 39m 30s 3639K
2004 Lance Armstrong 83h 36m 02s 3391K
2002 Lance Armstrong 82h 05m 12s 3278K
1989 Greg LeMond 87h 38m 35s 3250K
1988 Pedro Delgado 84h 27m 53s 3300K
. . . and then there were men
1931 Antonin Magne 177h 10m 3s 5095
1930 Andre Leducq 172h 12m 10s 4818
1929 Maurice De Waele 186h 39m 16s 5286
1928 Nicolas Frantz 192h 48m 58s 5377
1927 Nicolas Frantz 198h 16m 42s 5348
1926 Lucien Buysse Belgium 238h 44m 25s 5475
1925 Ottavio Bottecchia Italy 219h 10m 13s 5430
1924 Ottavio Bottecchia Italy 226h 18m 21s 5427
1923 Henri Pelissier France 222h 15m 30s 5386
1922 Firmin Lambot Belgium 222h 8m 6s 5378
1921 Leon Scieur Belgium 221h 50m 0s 5484
1920 Philippe Thys Belgium 228h 36m 0s 5503
1919 Firmin Lambot Belgium 231h 7m 15s 5560
* * * No Tour de France - World War I * * *
1914 Philippe Thys Belgium 200h 28m 49s 5414
1913 Philippe Thys Belgium 197h 54m 0s 5387
1912 Odile Defraye Belgium 184h 50m 0s 5229
1911 Gustave Garrigou France 195h 35m 25s 5544
---------
1911-1931 over 5000 K, around 200 hours
After that it dropped to 4200 K around 120 hours.
Now the modern era it's around 3300 K around 85 hours

So as equipment has evolved, and technology has improved, it seem the race
organizers have less confidence in the riders, as they make the race shorter
and shorter to meet the lower standards of the modern rider. The iron-men
of the 20's and 30's are long gone.




The TdF is not the only race in a Pro's season.

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu (http://www.nb.nu)

On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 05:22:32 -0700, tiborg wrote:

The iron-men of the 20's and 30's are long gone.

After 80 years, I would expect most of them to be dead too

The difference between now and then is that today's racers are
averaging 40+km/h compared to the 30km/h of the past era. That's quite
a difference in output.

Although I would bet that they draft more tightly and share the workload at
the front more effectively than they did 80 years ago, too.

I don't think very many people would be
interested in watching a group of bikers pudding along at speeds most
healthy people can easily attain themselves.

Well, in the early days I suppose the fact that the riders had to maintain
that moderate pace for 14-15 hours at a time was impressive. These days
the endurance aspect of the race is spread over many more days, so they
can work harder at any given time if necessary.

Entropy?

R

tiborg wrote:
On Jul 6, 9:02 pm, "Callistus Valerius" wrote:

The iron-men of the 20's and 30's are long gone.

After 80 years, I would expect most of them to be dead too

The difference between now and then is that today's racers are
averaging 40+km/h compared to the 30km/h of the past era. That's quite
a difference in output. I don't think very many people would be
interested in watching a group of bikers pudding along at speeds most
healthy people can easily attain themselves.



http://www.raceacrossamerica.com/

P.S. It's a natural consequence of television coverage. Pre-TV, interest was sparked by newspaper stories, which can better represent tangible feats of endurance than subtle yet substantial differences in speed and power.

Callistus Valerius wrote:

2006 Floyd Landis 89h 39m 30s 3639K
[snip]
1911 Gustave Garrigou France 195h 35m 25s 5544

Pretty weak troll if you ask me.

in 1911 the average speed was ~28.4km/h and in 2006 it was ~41km/h
Anyone that rides a bike must know the difference between these two
speeds. Any Fred can do 28km/h

Even the RAAMers can do that g

Do the math... Shorter tours mean higher speeds and generally better
television.

Iron men my ass ....... sheesh.

Bill

in message et, Callistus
Valerius ') wrote:

The tour de france is getting shorter all the time, consider this:

1911-1931 over 5000 K, around 200 hours
After that it dropped to 4200 K around 120 hours.
Now the modern era it's around 3300 K around 85 hours

So as equipment has evolved, and technology has improved, it seem the
race organizers have less confidence in the riders, as they make the race
shorter
and shorter to meet the lower standards of the modern rider. The
iron-men of the 20's and 30's are long gone.

These days we consider drug-taking a bad thing. The riders still do it, of
course, but it's no longer considered proper.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Perl ... is the Brittney Spears of programming - easily accessible
;; but, in the final analysis, empty of any significant thought
;; Frank Adrian on Slashdot, 21st July 2003

Callistus Valerius wrote:

So as equipment has evolved, and technology has improved, it seem the race
organizers have less confidence in the riders, as they make the race shorter
and shorter to meet the lower standards of the modern rider.

No. What happened was that the early Tours were brutal endurance tests,
often with riders finishing an excruciating 300+ km stage alone, or in
small groups, minutes or hours apart. I doubt that there would be much
interest in such an event now. It would be amusing, though, to return
to the practice of requiring riders to make their own field repairs,
including changing flats.

--

David L. Johnson

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on
no account be allowed to do the job.
-- Douglas Adams

David L. Johnson wrote:
:: there would be much interest in such an event now. It would be
:: amusing, though, to return to the practice of requiring riders to
:: make their own field repairs, including changing flats.

Amusing? Why? You like seeing people suffer needlessly?