WordsPete
r^ Cossins^ Photos^ Cor
V
osVos celebrates her
stunning La Course victory
Once again, La Course illustrated why
running a women’s Tour concurrently
with the men’s would be a logistical
headache for the media. It’s not so much
the long days that would be an issue,
although they would be very lengthy if
the racing were to start every day at 8am
and fi nish at 5.30pm, meaning far earlier
starts and much later fi nishes. Instead,
it’s the need for journalists to be in two
diff erent places at the same time that
makes covering both events problematic.
While this year’s use by both the men
and women of a closed circuit starting
and fi nishing in the same town reduced
these issues a little, it still meant the press
had to make a choice: watch the end of
the women’s circuit race and get
post-event reaction or be two kilometres
away at the start of the men’s time trial,
canvassing riders and directors for
opinion before that crucial test got under
way. That inevitably harms the exposure
of the race.
When the two races are road stages,
as they were last year between Annecy
and Le Grand Bornand, these diffi culties
are magnifi ed. It is, of course, impossible
to be at the fi nish of one race and the
start of another when they are 100kmand more apart. Fielding two teams of
journalists is often suggested as a
solution, but most media outlets would
certainly baulk at a doubling in costs and
it would increase the size of the Tour
entourage immensely, perhaps making
some regions of France inaccessible to
the race because of the lack of
accommodation. Let’s have two races,
but enable all of us to give both of them
our full focus.“LET’S HAVE TWO
RACES BUT ENABLE
US TO GIVE BOTH
OUR FULL FOCUS”OPINIONMy view
PETER
COSSINS
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