Comments on: The case for the individual pursuit

By: velodromer

velodromer — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:14:43 +0000

John is right - the omnium has to go. Honestly, who is paying attention to it after the first event? However, the problem is not the individual pursuit vs. the omnium.

As a track rider, I can tell you that the sport has taken what could be the most exciting venue in cycling for fans and screwed it up by putting in races that require a supercomputer to determine who is winning (that would be you, Madison and Points races).

If they want viewers, add the Keirin to the Olympic slate. It's easy to understand, exciting, and sometimes gives the Nascar fans in the audience the bloodbath they came to see. Most of all, it's short.

I loved the kilo, but seriously, it is a horrible race to watch. One guy at a time against the clock for a minute? Please! Hand me the remote control.

The Olympic sprint does favor the few nations with sprint depth and eliminates the vast majority of competitors. It's not a "fair" event in Olympic competition and not one that will bring droves of new riders to the track, nor viewers to the television (because, let's face it, a small minority of people tune in to watch events where their country does not stand a chance).

Here's an idea, and I know it's track heresy: make the Miss and Out an Olympic event. Does it favor a sprinter or distance rider? Depends. It favors both, but it rewards brains, too. It can be a spectacular event for viewers - little cycling knowledge is required, and every lap is a nail-biter. Most of all, something important happens every lap - an element that will keep eyes glued to the television. No computer required to comprehend it, and maybe, just maybe, it would add an element of "fun" to the track events - something that is definitely not present at the moment.

By: John Houston (California)

John Houston (California) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:24:11 +0000

I love the individual pursuit, but in all honesty its a tough call to make if something has to go….and at the end of the day that's why we need to depend on commissions & committees; to help assess and make these tough decisions. Could they be biased to favor their own backgrounds, own countries' strengths or future interests? Of course they could, but one can hardly argue with their pedigrees as individuals in the sport, or their passion to see it develop. I suspect that if the US team was as deep in quality as the Australians, French or British this would not even have raised an eyebrow of John Wilcockson. You can only please all of the people some of the time…..

By: 2wheels&aniceseat4yourArse

2wheels&aniceseat4yourArse — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:51:46 +0000

KEEP Individual Pursuit. Its da Best.

By: van man

van man — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:03:15 +0000

I would sign the petition if it wasn't for the forced 'donation'. What's the deal with that??

By: Connie Carpenter

Connie Carpenter — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:22:07 +0000

Thanks John for clarifying the points. Historically when an event is slated to be omitted from the Games, there is some sort of public discussion. This decision was made behind closed doors and thus came as a complete surprise. Please sign the petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/keepindividu... – it's all you can really do to support the Pursuit (as well as other track endurance events). The Pursuit is one of the few events where a rider from an underfunded national track program can succeed.

By: Emile de Rosnay

Emile de Rosnay — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:59:00 +0000

As a pursuit specialist, I’ll be the first to admit (and disagree with John’s assessment) that the pursuit is less tv friendly than the team sprint. As an endurance rider, I LOVE wathing the sprint events, but that’s because I’m always in the enduro events. If John has attended any track events, he will know that the pursuit is almost always on the morning of the first day, and hardly anyone shows up to watch it. Several times, I’ve noticed this. But this is besides the point. What track cycling really needs to do is get more tv-friendly. Anything can be tv friendly. I can’t imagine anything more boring than soccer, yet people all over the world are excited to watch 90 minutes of people kicking a ball around with the rare goal here and there. It’s unfortunate that the Olympics have been reduced to TV market forces, and that events are determined according to profitability. The pursuit, regardless of whether it is TV-friendly or not, is one of the toughest events in all sport, where your body can hurt more in less than 5 minutes than it will after 4 hours of road racing.

By: Katy Slater

Katy Slater — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:56:41 +0000

Very technical, honed for the serious athlete, don't fully understand the issue…but I like the individual bike, team is tough outside pro sport. kt

By: djfrey

djfrey — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:26:56 +0000

About the individual pursuit in the Olympics: who do we email/write to/phone? I will gladly voice my opinion, if Velonews has an address for the officials mentioned. If I missed where you had it listed, sorry—-could you reprint? Thanks. dj frey, Gallatin, Tn.

By: female

female — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:37:42 +0000

Notice that the commission isn't gender neutral?