August 20, 2026
This summer, as the Tour de France reached the half way mark I started to lose interest. It’s a bummer as every July since I was a kid, it entertained and captivated me. This year the race was faster than ever, climbing records on France’s iconic ascents were broken, and we were watching one of the best riders in the history of the sport dominate. But, the imbalance of power had stripped away intrigue, and most of the aspects that make sport attractive to the audience. For Tadej Pogacar, and his UAE teammates, their control of the race and the way in which they throttled the competition at their whim with apparent ease not only eliminates intrigue but also the qualities that make cycling so attractive to an audience. Of course, my attention was held due to my love for the sport and the panache with which a handful of riders rode, animating the race. That culminated with the final stage into Paris, where Mathieu van der Poel collapsed with fatigue, full of emotion, emptying himself in pursuit of victory, which he narrowly achieved in a nail biting finish thrilling hundreds of thousands of people. He raced on instinct and emotion and seemed to reach beyond his known physical capacities to fulfill a dream.
Fortunately, the week after the men’s Tour ended, the women’s Tour, the Tour de France Femmes had an unpredictable battle for the yellow jersey that came down to the final climb of the race, the ascent of the Col d'Eze, an historic climb in the cycling world that casts its shadow over Nice. No team was dominant enough to throttle the race, suffocating their rivals, and tactical decisions kept the racing alive and interesting. Over the last three editions, the Tour de France Femmes has had all the elements to provide the spectators with a thrilling race.
The unknown variables of the sport are what brings interest. Courses change daily, the weather influences outcomes, riders falter or grow under the pressures of the race, riders bluff, teams make poor or strong tactical decisions…etc. The more factors a team, or rider, can control the greater their chance of winning. A team with economic resources can buy the best riders, and hire the top staff to control those variables, wiping away the factors that bring the audience to the edge of their seat. As the race wears on, fatigue sets in, riders are injured, others quit, and variables become harder for teams to control, yet, not even illness could derail Pogacar and his team in the last week of the Tour. The imbalance of power within the peloton needs to be addressed by the organizing and governing bodies to eliminate predictability and maintain, or grow the audience.
In the 1970’s film biography of Eddy Merckx, La Course en Tête, a journalist asks Eddy if he thinks cycling is popular because, quoting scientist and Nobel Prize winner Jacques Monod, “people admire courage, calculation and will power, all of which are primitive instincts.” Eddy ponders the question and then nods his head in agreement. “Cycling is pure and primitive as men are seen suffering at their utmost on a simple machine”. It is these qualities that draw in the audience and the unpredictable qualities the race provides with its varied courses and shifting weather. It is a test of endurance, with bursts of speed, where strategy plays out over three weeks or in the turn of a pedalstroke. The goal of a rider and a team is to control as many variables as possible to ensure the victory, but in doing so, the audience loses what it loves if competition is unbalanced.
As the Vuelta a Espana starts this week, Pogacar is likely to dominate again, as he has done each time he has raced in the last year, with a powerhouse of a team built around him to achieve the goal. No longer do we see signs of suffering on Tadej Pogacar’s face as he storms away from his rivals, even when we learn he was sick during the final days of the race. Like a metronome, his pedals tick over, his cadence doesn’t fluctuate, his accelerations never wane or falter as the gradient increases. His face is void of fatigue or strain. He is in control and appears to have another gear if he is ever challenged. He’s amiable and never loses his temper or speaks ill of his rivals. Everyone seems to be his friend even when he dominates his rivals in the race. No matter the gradient, his attacks are so potent that the competition no longer tries to unseat him on the toughest stages. In the Tour this year, his rivals first rode to limit their losses, then after two weeks of racing Pogacar’s lead seemed insurmountable and, defeated, his rivals raced each other for second place. Vingegaard, the only rival who was racing to win, and who has beaten him in past Tours, crashed out. The media no longer questioned who would win, but who would finish on the podium alongside Pogacar. The races within the race were entertaining but ultimately it’s the race for yellow that draws the audience that reaches beyond keen cycling fans.
Professional cycling has a long history of dominant riders and teams turning from heroes to near villains. In the 70’s Eddy Merckx, was nicknamed the Cannibal as he devoured his competition winning more than any rider in history. Many fans went from adulation to annoyance and as he pursued his sixth Tour de France victory in 1975 he was punched as he climbed the Puy de Dome in the abdomen by a French spectator who resented his dominance. Eddy later said that the punch cost him the overall Tour victory. When Lance Armstrong and his US Postal team rolled over their competitors to win seven Tours de France cycling fans soured on his domination as they did when Team Sky rode their rivals into submission for seven Tours. Both teams had spectators spit and hurl expletives at them.
In a sport where teams are financed through sponsorship contracts, as the riders are rolling billboards, an imbalance of power in the peloton negatively affects the teams who fail to achieve significant results. Sponsors flock to the winners only increasing the inequality in team structure and talent.
Anyone who has ridden a bicycle knows the struggle of the climb, the sense of completion and the freedom it gives. When a rider dominates his rivals and wins with apparent ease the spectator can no longer identify with the racer. For a period there is awe around performance, but when a team or rider finds a formula for consistent victory that the rivals can’t match the race becomes predictable and mundane.
The passion of the rider emoted as they struggled to the finish, emptying themselves physically and emotionally in that pursuit is what makes the sport a beautiful spectacle which is what we witnessed in the Tour de France Femmes or as van der Poel rode to victory on the final stage of the Tour.