Cycling: It's no secret that cycling in general has a spectator problem. As a result, officials are attempting to reinvent cycling through rule changes and adjustments. Holger Gerska met Nikias Arndt (Sunweb), Jasha Sütterlin (Movistar) and Robert Wagner (LottoNL-Jumbo) for Deutschlandfunk during the Tour Down Under for a sports talk. It was also about the future development of the sport and how it could be made more attractive for younger spectators.
Praise for the Hammer Series
Nikias Arndt, Jasha Sütterlin and Robert Wagner survived the Australian heat well. During the Tour Down Under it was over 40 degrees in the shade at times. On the sidelines of the tour, the three pros met for a sports talk on Deutschlandfunk. The first thing to talk about was the good weather and the Chris Froome case. Ultimately, it was also about cycling in general. Although the three belong to at least two different generations of cycling, they basically agreed: cycling has to make itself more attractive to spectators without forgoing the beautiful traditions. The best example of this is last year newly launched Hammer Series. It is entertaining, exciting and refreshing. At the same time, all three professionals agreed that the typical classic formats should remain untouched.
Sagan is good for cycling
Probably the most popular driver in the peloton is – worldwide – Peter Sagan. This is quite astonishing, because often the most successful athletes are less popular in their industry. Especially in cycling, the dominant professionals often have an image problem. With Peter Sagan, however, things are different. Robert Wagner also thinks that Peter Sagan is good for cycling.
"Personally, I'm glad that we have a very eccentric world champion in Peter Sagan. Such a person is good for cycling, someone who sometimes only rides on the rear wheel to register, greets the fans or does a wheelie on the mountain. I can't, but people like that are good for our sport."
Sagan doing 1 hand wheelie, uphill, on a corner, whilst grabbing a cookie=best #2017 #cycling photo pic.twitter.com/2tNSyxrDFh
— Joe (@geologyjoe) 2 January 2018
Little enthusiasm for fewer starters
Our three German drivers are less enthusiastic about the fact that the UCI races have had to be contested with smaller teams since this season. This means that jobs will be lost and more security is not guaranteed. They also wonder if that really makes the races more exciting.
Robert Wagner: “A lot of jobs will be lost, including some physiotherapists and mechanics. It is justified with security. Then just 20 men less go along. Does that make it safer? I doubt it. I don't see a big advantage there. I also doubt whether the races will become more interesting.” Jasha Sütterlin definitely agrees with him on this point: "I agree. That it makes it more interesting is nonsense.”
More dates & more Dutch enthusiasm
In contrast to the reduction in the starting field, Nikias Arndt sees the technical development as positive. Onboard cameras and live data would make the sport more interesting to watch. According to Arndt, the young generation in particular is happy to accept these things: "In other sports you can see that it's interesting."
We can see from the Netherlands and Germany that there can be big differences even within the sport. While the German fans are rather skeptical and only approach cycling cautiously, our neighbors are much more open and enthusiastic. Robert Wagner spotted Tom Dumoulin being welcomed in Maastricht after his Giro win.
“That was great. In addition to football and speed skating, cycling is more important there, in Belgium anyway. Cycling is a religion there, on an equal footing with football. That's what people are passionate about. In Germany, yes, we still have a few problems and a few construction sites. But I personally take my hat off to Willi Bruckbauer, the inventor of the Bora-hansgrohe team. He just recognized it and now such a great success with his team. I think that was absolutely the right way to go into cycling as a company.”
The prize box of Tom Dumoulin is no longer valid. Maandagavond will be in zijn geboorteplaats Maastricht uitgeroepen tot sportman van het jaar. https://t.co/C98eRqroIL pic.twitter.com/MbZDUVbwBR
— 1Limburg Sport (@1Lsport) 15 January 2018
Here you can listen to Deutschlandfunk's sports talk with the three German cycling pros.