On Cycling (and soccer): The charm of niche sports.

It seems like we have this discussion with a couple of sports every year. Why don't they grip America? Why is it that none of them can crack the big 3-4 major sports that ESPN and newspapers cover. It's a silly discussion, really, but I'll get to that later. For now, I want to talk about one of my favorite annual events--the Tour de France--and explain what I see in it that the majority of America does not.

In order to understand where I'm coming from I'd like to address the stumbling blocks that an American audience encounters when it comes to tuning in to the TdF.

1. Who's winning?
This is the first and biggest problem with cycling races, because it is a rather difficult question to answer. I had someone ask me this very question today upon seeing that I had live coverage of the TdF up on the computer. Well, do you mean who is winning the overall, this stage, or who is setting themselves up best for the real climbs when we get to the high Alps? Already, you're lost. Here's why:

The TdF is not just one race but a series of 21 stages that determine five different champions: the overall General Classification (GC) winner (this is the guy in the yellow jersey), the best sprinter (the guy in the Green Jersey), the best climber (the guy in the polka dot jersey), the best young rider (the guy in the white jersey), and the best team (the team with the green numbers on their backs). Some riders are going for yellow, some for green, some for polka dots, or white; some riders are part of a strong team, and other riders are going for a stage win. Personally, I find it fascinating that so much is going on at the same time, but it can also be quite confusing... which leads us to question #2...

2. Who are these guys?
Name recognition is key to any sport, especially one that is individual-oriented. Cycling is both a team and individual sport (more on that later), but if you don't know any of the guys it's hard to get the least bit involved in the action. Luckily, unlike baseball, football, soccer or even golf there are far fewer contenders. In fact, if you want to follow the yellow jersey race all you need to know is that Alberto Contador is the two-time reigning champ, Andy Schleck is his biggest challenger, and Cadel Evans is the only other rider up at their level. There's a few other contenders: Frank Schleck, Damiano Cunego, Samuel Sanchez and Ivan Basso. Thomas Voeckler currently leads the race and so he has the yellow jersey, but he isn't considered a main favorite, though when in yellow there's always a chance! Then there are a few Americans of interest: Chris Horner (crashed out earlier in the race), Levi Leipheimer (not in his best form right now) and Tom Danielson. Those are the only yellow riders to be concerned about.

As far as the green jersey goes, Mark Cavendish is the big favorite; then there are a few guys who can beat him on a given stage: Tyler Farrar (American), Andre Greipel, Thor Hushovd, Tom Boonen (crashed out earlier), Alesandro Petachhi, and then there's Philippe Gilbert, who isn't really a sprinter but he goes on crazy attacks to try to win some sprint stages; i.e., Gilbert is a guy to know even though he doesn't fit into conventional categories.

As far as every other race is concerned, you don't need to know anybody. Seriously. Don't worry about learning about guys like Sandy Casar, Edouard Boassen Hagan, Ryder Hejesdal, or Jelle Vanendert. These are the kinds of guys who can win stages, but most likely won't contend for anything else. If you get behind one of two of them it makes the race more interesting, but it is by no means necessary. Also, you don't need to fret about the King of the Mountains or Young Riders--at least not at first. Those are sort of the sabermetrics competitions of the TdF--i.e., for advanced viewers only.

3. Is this a team or individual competition?
This is where cycling is at its most interesting. There is no way to win any cycling race--least of all the TdF--without the help of other cyclists. So, racers ride in teams of 9. Some teams have sprinters (HTC-High Road rides almost exclusively for Mark Cavendish), some have the GC, yellow jersey contenders (Saxo Bank rides for Alberto Contador and nothing else), and others have a mix of riders looking for stage wins. Then there's the team competition, which consists of adding up each team's top three riders to cross any traditional stage.

Riders generally ride in the peloton (a French word for the large group of riders) which helps protect them from the wind, and most stages consist of a breakaway group that tries to outlast the peloton. These riders have to work together to stay away, and since generally they are all from different teams this often becomes something of a struggle. The peloton, too, must remain organized. Generally, the peloton catches the riders, but sometimes it doesn't. Often the riders in the breakaway are more interested in showing off their form than winning the stage. The teams that believe they can win the stage or protect their leaders--especially the yellow jersey--will most often pace the peloton to make certain they catch the breakaway.

Team composition is key, because you can't have nine guys trying to win the race. Some days are suited for climbers, some for sprinters, some for break-aways. A strong team like Leopard-Trek will have two GC contenders--Frank and Andy Schleck--as well as several "strong men" who can pace them up difficult climbs before falling off the pace, then there will be a few other "domestiques" who bring water bottles, food, and rain gear to the top riders, as well as keep them out of the wind. Other teams, like Garmin-Cervelo, have rather diversified interests. They have a couple of outside contenders for the GC--Tom Danielson and Ryder Hejesdal--then they have a sprint specialist--Tyler Farrar--another sprinter who is more suited for climbing as well--Thor Hushovd (who happens also to be the world road racing champion)--and several domestiques to help those four out--one of these is the American, Christian Vandevelde, who has finished top 10 in the TdF before. If you're looking for an American team to get behind, Garmin-Cervelo is a good option; they wear the blue helmets with the stylized "c" on their shoulders.

4. Isn't it long and boring?
One of the great things about the TdF is that you can watch the last 30 minutes and understand everything that's happened. Sure, there might have been a crash early on, but how is this any different than picking up a basketball game in the 4th quarter or a golf tournament late on Sunday? In fact, Versus has compacted coverage into 2-hour segments most days.

5. Cycling will never be a popular sport in America, so why should I even bother?
This is the most important question and one of the most misunderstood ones in my opinion. People ask the same thing about soccer all the time. Americans don't like watching soccer en masse as much as baseball, football and basketball, so every time a big soccer event comes up we debate whether soccer will ever reach those levels. Frankly, it's a stupid question because soccer in America simply shouldn't strive for that and neither should cycling. They both fit into the category of niche sports. (Here I feel like I should say that more people are likely to play soccer or ride a bike than play football or baseball past the age of 20, but that's a different issue)

In the United States, there are three big sports: Football, baseball and basketball. Then, there are three second-tier sports: hockey, NASCAR and golf (soccer could fit into this category, but as I will explain below it probably shouldn't try). And finally, there are a host of niche sports that are best served outside of the limelight. Niche sports are great because they don't need the kind of coverage the top tier sports do. In fact, they are better off having a big event every few years than repeated coverage every couple of weeks. This is why the World Cup and Olympics are such a big deal. In fact, I think cycling would do well to have a World Cup every four years that is bigger than the TdF, but such a thing is probably too much to hope for.

Most importantly, niche sports are usually more entertaining than second-tier sports! It's strange but their inaccessibility in general makes them much more interesting in those few times where they come into the spotlight. This is why I believe soccer should stop trying to be a mainline sport and embrace it's niche-iness.

This brings me to the final question:

6. What is the A#1 reason to watch the Tour?
To see human beings pushing themselves to a level of endurance far exceeding anything you have seen before outside of maybe an Ironman Triathlon. These guys are absolute machines. I read recently that a normal human being can pull 400 watts on a bicycle for a couple of seconds, while the average TdF rider can pull 400 watts for an hour or more. Have you ever gone 50 mph on a bike? These guys do on mountain descents with sharp curves. They push the limits of human endurance.

It's not a perfect sport; in fact, it's rather rough around the edges; but there is something about the TdF that fascinates me every year. If you've never seen it before take a look. Seriously, it's worth checking out, and this time of year it's basically on Versus all hours of the day, or online for free every morning on Eurosport or countless other services.