Why doesn't TdF open one at large, by invitation only team - Let's say China or Japan to

I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.

I know this sounds outrageous, and I am open to criticism from those
who believe in traditionalism, that if you don't have the points, you
don't deserve to compete in the TdF. I say, let's make a an exception,
on a year-to-year basis. I bet China could field one hell of a team.
Look at them in swimming and diving, gymnastics, soccer and
basketball.

Just thought I would post something different for a change.

Marcello do Guzman wrote:
I bet China could field one hell of a team.
Look at them in swimming and diving, gymnastics, soccer and
basketball.



Dumbass -

They don't put much effort into cycling, therefore their riders aren't
good enough, therefore they don't warrant a team. It's bad enough when
crap French teams get in.


Just thought I would post something different for a change.


That's just great.


thanks,

K. Gringioni.

In article ,
Marcello do Guzman wrote:

I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.

Short answer: those countries don't produce Tour-grade riders.

Long answer: being a bicycle commuter is not effective training for
becoming a bicycle racer, and the racing cultures in these countries are
not big. You may wish to compare to countries with strong mountain-bike
or triathlete racing scenes, which turn out to be a pretty good ways to
find and create roadies

Further, Japan has an indigenous parimutuel bike-racing scene (Keirin)
which pays well and probably pulls a lot of good riders away from the
Euro-Pro route.

Meanwhile, countries with indifferent bike commute stats and relatively
small populations (Australia) produce disproportionate numbers of
roadies. Australia does it with a very athletics-oriented culture and a
pretty serious commitment to track racing.

I know this sounds outrageous, and I am open to criticism from those
who believe in traditionalism, that if you don't have the points, you
don't deserve to compete in the TdF. I say, let's make a an exception,
on a year-to-year basis. I bet China could field one hell of a team.
Look at them in swimming and diving, gymnastics, soccer and
basketball.

It's not about traditionalism, it's about finding riders who could keep
up.

China has focused on other sports in a way they haven't with cycling,
for whatever reasons, be they cultural, political, or whatever. Unless
China is hiding away some top-secret team of world-class riders, an
all-Chinese TdF team would do nothing in the race, except maybe set a
record for earliest "hors delais" departure of an entire team.

For a good idea of the state of Asian cycling, take a look at the most
important stage race in Asia, the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia:

http://www.tdl.com.my/results/stage_10_rgc.asp

That's the final standings from this year. The best Asian rider (which
is also a seperate jersey classification) was Koji Fukushima, who
finished 17th on GC and came second in the mountains classification.

That's not bad, and an Indonesian rider (Tonton Susanto) finished only a
second behind, but if you look at the competition, this is an early
season race that is mostly contested by the "major" US teams and
second-rate Euro teams (Barloworld, the bottom half of Discovery's
lineup...). Team Iran finished mid-pack in the teams classification, and
won the Asian Team award. Yay Iran.

Share & Enjoy,

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

"Marcello do Guzman" wrote in message
...
I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.

I know this sounds outrageous, and I am open to criticism from those
who believe in traditionalism, that if you don't have the points, you
don't deserve to compete in the TdF. I say, let's make a an exception,
on a year-to-year basis. I bet China could field one hell of a team.
Look at them in swimming and diving, gymnastics, soccer and
basketball.

Just thought I would post something different for a change.

The idea isn't new. Henri Desgrange tried it already in 1936, inviting teams
of four countries without any TdF tradition (Austria, Holland, Rumania,
Yugoslavia). In 1937 he also gave a British/Canadian team a chance. In 1961
Félix Lévitan tried again, creating the Tour de l'Avenir, to give riders of
nations all over the globe a chance to prepare for the Tour. And of course
in 1983 he invited a team of Columbian amateurs to participate.

Benjo

On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 12:55:46 -0700, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

In article ,
Marcello do Guzman wrote:

I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.

Short answer: those countries don't produce Tour-grade riders.

Long answer: being a bicycle commuter is not effective training for
becoming a bicycle racer, and the racing cultures in these countries are
not big. You may wish to compare to countries with strong mountain-bike
or triathlete racing scenes, which turn out to be a pretty good ways to
find and create roadies

Further, Japan has an indigenous parimutuel bike-racing scene (Keirin)
which pays well and probably pulls a lot of good riders away from the
Euro-Pro route.

Thos keirin riders are mainly masters fatties I think. Discovery has a
decent Japanese road race. Kam Po Wong is perhaps capable of riding a
grand tour. But a team of just Japanese or just Chinese guys would go
flying out the back. The sport is not deep enough in those countries.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************

On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 17:51:49 -0400, John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

But a team of just Japanese or just Chinese guys would go
flying out the back. The sport is not deep enough in those countries.


But if they (the countries in question) WANTED to become more active, I'm
sure with a billion+ persons to select from, they could easily find enough
qualified riders.

jj

In article ,
John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

Kam Po Wong is perhaps capable of riding a grand tour.

I think that if he was on a decent Euro team and had a good DS, he could
do pretty well. He can certainly climb, and has shown a reasonable sprint a
few times. I'm not saying he could win, or even finish in the top ten. But
he seems like he could have a respectable showing.

--
tanx,
Howard

Butter is love.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 12:55:46 -0700, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

In article ,
Marcello do Guzman wrote:

I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.

Short answer: those countries don't produce Tour-grade riders.

Long answer: being a bicycle commuter is not effective training for
becoming a bicycle racer, and the racing cultures in these countries are
not big. You may wish to compare to countries with strong mountain-bike
or triathlete racing scenes, which turn out to be a pretty good ways to
find and create roadies

Further, Japan has an indigenous parimutuel bike-racing scene (Keirin)
which pays well and probably pulls a lot of good riders away from the
Euro-Pro route.

Thos keirin riders are mainly masters fatties I think. Discovery has a
decent Japanese road race. Kam Po Wong is perhaps capable of riding a
grand tour. But a team of just Japanese or just Chinese guys would go
flying out the back. The sport is not deep enough in those countries.

JT

****************************
Remove "remove" to reply
Visit http://www.jt10000.com
****************************
Hey JT
Sometimes affirmative action is a bad idea. Let's set it up for them to
place teams in the lesser events with an eye to creating Grand Tour
contenders. I don't see any reason they couldn't be competitive and in
China's case dominant. The potential is off the scale, and the
geography would be incredible to run Pro-Tour levgel events.
Most Euros and Americans have no clue about the history of the China,
Korea, Japan dynamic. They were so far ahead of Europe for the Dark,
and Middle Ages it isn't even funny. Even after the "Renaisance" they
were just beginning to catch up to the emphasis and respect for
learning that were the hallmarks of those kingdoms, especially China. A
really great bike race would let them start to teach the western world
about their heritage.
Bill C

In article ,
says...
I am proposing that each year the TdF open one at large, by invitation
only team. It could be a team from China, Japan, or other country not
known for their bike riders. Surely China or Japan could field a team,
maybe coached by Americans, French, Germans or Italians. This opens up
the field to countries with heavy bike ridership. China is like No 1,
but you never read about them competing on the level of TdF. I can't
think of a single Chinese or Japanese rider.
I know this sounds outrageous, and I am open to criticism from those
who believe in traditionalism, that if you don't have the points, you
don't deserve to compete in the TdF. I say, let's make a an exception,
on a year-to-year basis. I bet China could field one hell of a team.
Look at them in swimming and diving, gymnastics, soccer and
basketball.
Just thought I would post something different for a change.

YOu need to give those countries plenty of advanced notice. That way they can
prepare some riders from an early age. You don't think they could just pull
a TDF rider out of a hat?
--------------
Alex