I see the issue that highlight packages are, for all but the very biggest races, either don't exist or are just a run of the last 30km. If you have a life where you can't watch two stages in one day (most of us!) then it IS difficult to keep up with two races at once. Personally I pick one and follow and just keep an eye on reaults of the other.
That's definitely what I tend to do. I never watch highlights packages, I scroll back and watch the last x number of kilometres - however long I have spare. Have you seen the new feature that Discovery+ has put on some of the major races? The track markers allowing you to skip to important events?
Yes Cillian, totally agree, its just not complicated as far as the races are concerned. Working out that Tadej actually rides for the team formerly known as Lampre–Farnese Vini is another thing...
Enjoyed this Cillian - I've literally just posted about why I love the fact that both happen at once! I genuinely think the the cumulative impact of following along with both elevates them - week-long stage races can have a tendency to fall a bit flat depending on the structure of the week, and I think having them both on at once actually masks any potential for slow days, or less exciting GC battles. Just my two cents.
Aha! Yes, I just read yours. I had a paragraph written and then deleted it for reasons I can't remember where I suggested ways to make this crossover MORE of a feature. Like if the same teams wins a stage, or finishes top 3, on the same day in each race then the UCI points double. They could really lean into it and hold it up as something to be celebrated rather than to be admonished or abolished.
That would be really good - though I fear it would be monopolised by UAE but some kind of imaginative way of boosting the dual-race situation could be great. Imagination isn't really the UCI's strong suit though so I won't hold my breath.
Rather than the highlights of who won etc would like to see the stories of the races. For instance the how the Ineos plan unfolded to lead to Sheffield winning. Stuff that can’t be in the live coverage. But maybe that’s because I have watched it live and a highlight programme is for those who haven’t. It worked quite well to watch the Tirreno live and use ITV highlight for Paris Nice.
I take a slightly different approach to this. It’s not that it’s too difficult. It’s that there are weeks with no races at all, so why have a week with two at once? Why not have them on successive weeks so we can totally immerse ourselves in each race? 🤷♂️
Yeah that's a fair point. But then, both races ostensibly serve as a prep race for Milan-Sanremo. Before either were televised, the overlap was never a problem. It's only a problem now because the option to see both exists. Maybe they should just stop televising one of them? Problem solved.
I see the issue that highlight packages are, for all but the very biggest races, either don't exist or are just a run of the last 30km. If you have a life where you can't watch two stages in one day (most of us!) then it IS difficult to keep up with two races at once. Personally I pick one and follow and just keep an eye on reaults of the other.
That's definitely what I tend to do. I never watch highlights packages, I scroll back and watch the last x number of kilometres - however long I have spare. Have you seen the new feature that Discovery+ has put on some of the major races? The track markers allowing you to skip to important events?
Yes Cillian, totally agree, its just not complicated as far as the races are concerned. Working out that Tadej actually rides for the team formerly known as Lampre–Farnese Vini is another thing...
Kwiatkowski used to be teammates with Lance Armstrong - actual teammates. Get your head around that!
The final 30 minutes of msr is the most exciting 30 minutes of the year. But if I watched the 7 hours before it I would be brain dead by that point.
Well seven hours is for the purists. That is pure cycling. Anyone who does it has my utmost respect.
But let’s call it two hours. Two is enough to get and deserve the payoff
Enjoyed this Cillian - I've literally just posted about why I love the fact that both happen at once! I genuinely think the the cumulative impact of following along with both elevates them - week-long stage races can have a tendency to fall a bit flat depending on the structure of the week, and I think having them both on at once actually masks any potential for slow days, or less exciting GC battles. Just my two cents.
Aha! Yes, I just read yours. I had a paragraph written and then deleted it for reasons I can't remember where I suggested ways to make this crossover MORE of a feature. Like if the same teams wins a stage, or finishes top 3, on the same day in each race then the UCI points double. They could really lean into it and hold it up as something to be celebrated rather than to be admonished or abolished.
That would be really good - though I fear it would be monopolised by UAE but some kind of imaginative way of boosting the dual-race situation could be great. Imagination isn't really the UCI's strong suit though so I won't hold my breath.
Rather than the highlights of who won etc would like to see the stories of the races. For instance the how the Ineos plan unfolded to lead to Sheffield winning. Stuff that can’t be in the live coverage. But maybe that’s because I have watched it live and a highlight programme is for those who haven’t. It worked quite well to watch the Tirreno live and use ITV highlight for Paris Nice.
I think the ITV highlights are just about perfect, and much like Match of the Day, I don't know how they do it in time day after day after day.
I take a slightly different approach to this. It’s not that it’s too difficult. It’s that there are weeks with no races at all, so why have a week with two at once? Why not have them on successive weeks so we can totally immerse ourselves in each race? 🤷♂️
Yeah that's a fair point. But then, both races ostensibly serve as a prep race for Milan-Sanremo. Before either were televised, the overlap was never a problem. It's only a problem now because the option to see both exists. Maybe they should just stop televising one of them? Problem solved.