The Rights of Fans vs The Rights of Stars

Tuesday’s stage in the Tour de France was interesting and, in its way, revealing. Ultimately, it was about power and interest. Should the race be run be its organisers or, effectively, in partnership with the peloton and the teams? And, just as importantly, should the interests of the teams be placed ahead of the interests of the fans?

The Tour organisers decreed that yesterday the riders would ride without the radios they’ve come to rely upon. The teams, unsurprisingly, objected and, equally unsurprisingly, the riders agreed not to race properly until the closing kilometres of the stage. Levi Leipheimer summed up the mood in the peloton when he said that it wasn’t “fair” that a rider could lose time because he lacked a vital piece of information or had the misfortune to puncture some distance from his team-car. Fabain Cancellara, mind you went one better, invoking the trendy terror of our time – security – and claiming that radios played a vital role in keeping riders informed about potential threats to their security.