Kenny may have abandoned the Tour de France, but don’t forget that there’s a fourth and a fifth week of the Tour – the post tour criterium circus. Assuming Kenny’s leg injury is okay, I guarantee we’ll see this popular rider winning one of these crits in front of his hometown crowd in Holland. How can I guarantee this? Well, I’d hate to go as far as saying these races are fixed, but these races are fixed! Not to mention there are no hills in these crits and Kenny is already a gun sprinter, the odds are pretty good that we’ll seeing some of this:
During the first 2 weeks straight after the Tour, towns throughout Europe hold criteriums where the Tour riders line up against local riders in circuit races around 2 hours in length. These races are a show that the riders put on for the fans to see their heroes in person after the Tour de France. It’s basically a publicity exercise for the riders and teams where they get to promote their sponsors. Most of the riders don’t earn a great deal of prize money during the Tour, so they can make up for it in appearance money by riding the post Tour crits. Jersey winners from tour can make appearance fees between 20-60 thousand euro and the others get the rest. For example, the budget of a criterium such as the Ronde van Boxmeer is approx 135,000 euro. If a rider like Contador costs 60,000 euro, and a few local TdF heroes are given another 35,000 euro, the organizer makes the choice as to how many (and which) Tour riders he wants with the remainder of that budget as well as allocating prize money. (info taken from here)
Before the age of high base salaries (but still pretty meagre for a pro athlete) , post-Tour criteriums used to be an important part of a rider’s program, as they could earn a lot more money in proportion to their normal salaries.
Keep an eye on Kenny in some of these post tour crits!
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Fixed? I seriously doubt it
Perhaps you’re right. They’re not fixed. Cyclists don’t use drugs. And Tom Boonen lives in a big candy house on Lollipop Lane.
Check:
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=post_tour_crits
Interesting link. Also interesting that Wade appears to have lifted direct text from this article. That’s just plagiarism. Why wouldn’t you just cite the reference? (e.g. “according to …”)
Generally, I think your writing is excellent, but this is fairly dodgy.
Good call Pete. I did use some things from that same article that I overlooked referencing. I wouldn’t say I cut and paste it, but the same info is there in that paragraph. Apologies -wasn’t trying to slip anything by anyone and I usually cite everything I poach. Was just plain lazy today.
No big deal CT. I’ve seen many other sites/blogs not reference their material. The difference is that you owned up to it and immediately corrected it.
Yep, nice one. Re-reading my post, I might have come across more belligerent than I intended. You’re totally correct, I have noticed you often citing other posts. No offence intended. Keep up the great work!!!
You should read this book, a frank account of racing in Belgium by Joe PArkin (an Amercan ex-Euro PRO). It’s an eye opener.
http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Hat-American-Betrayal-Belgium/dp/1934030260
Who cares whats next for him.
I’d like to hear more about your suggestion of race fixing! Do you have more information?
Those races were the only way Bob Roll ever made any money back when he was racing.
Jas.
The post-tour crits are fixed such that usually it is the podium that is already decided but the rest of the field can do what they want, this is common knowledge.
It is no coincidence that when Contador shows up to one of them wearing his yellow jersey, that, OMG, Contador is in the break that goes up the road with 2 laps to go that no one chases down and then wins…
The thing is, these guys can just crank along at between 40-60km/h the whole time, so it is still a spectacle for the fans.
Like WW alluded to, think of them less as a “race” and more of a procession of your favourite riders. You watch these events not to see who wins, simply to see the riders in action.
Bummer…Kenny will be out for a couple weeks and won’t be participating in the post-tour crits. From skil shimano website
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