{"id":183974,"date":"2021-06-14T10:26:47","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T10:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=183974"},"modified":"2021-06-14T10:27:35","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T10:27:35","slug":"how-do-second-tier-riders-get-treated-at-the-worldtour-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2021\/06\/14\/how-do-second-tier-riders-get-treated-at-the-worldtour-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Second-Tier Riders Get Treated at the WorldTour Level?"},"content":{"rendered":"

To be among road racing\u2019s elite as a member of the WorldTour and take part in the Giro or Tour de France, even as a domestique, must fill a cyclist with pride and a real sense of accomplishment. All the dreams, ambition and, especially, hard work have led you to be among the world\u2019s best and to be treated like the royalty of the sport. So it\u2019s not much of a surprise to hear that some of them actually act like royalty.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Being a star apparently gives some riders a sense of entitlement and a feeling of superiority they don\u2019t hesitate to express when riding in a Grand Tour next to a so-called second-tier rider who competes on the ProTeams circuit and participates in a Grand Tour only by special invitation.<\/p>\n

\"Burgos
Burgos BH Team in July 2020. \u00a9\u00a0Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Willie Smit, a South African pro riding for the second-tier Burgos-BH team, he has often been told to get lost, in no uncertain terms, when he tried to take part in a final sprint just because of the jersey he was wearing. His reaction? \u201cFair enough mate, just write us a book of who is allowed to compete in the finals and who isn\u2019t,\u201d Smit tweeted<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is a definite hierarchy in the peloton, Smit said, and the better-known riders often look down on less well-known pros. \u201cIn the\u00a0Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>, I had a couple of instances where Big riders asked me why the [obscenity] we were sitting here in the peloton,\u201d he said. \u201cThe irony was half his team were dropped, but according to him we are [obscenity] and should go to the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

He made it clear that not all the top-level riders shared this attitude. \u201cYou would never hear a guy like [Movistar rider Alejandro] Valverde say stuff like that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe guy is pure class.\u201d But some star riders are not adept at bike manoeuvring and tend to resent it if they get out-positioned by someone they consider to be an inferior cyclist. \u201cThis is what many riders in smaller teams have to endure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/COn0SQZM1h2\/<\/p>\n

The irony of that is, he went on, that the star riders need the lesser riders to illustrate the hierarchy. \u201cAt the end of the day, you only look good because you are beating the riders you categorize as unworthy,\u201d Smit noted, adding: \u201cQuite hypocritical if half your team is already dropped without having done any work yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knows the WorldTour atmosphere well because he used to be a WorldTour pro with the Katusha-Alpecin team. He said that during his time at the elite level, he never saw himself as more worthy or talented than another rider. \u201cWhen I raced next to them, I respected them as I fought their battles to reach the top for many years in the amateur ranks, with no stepping stones at my disposal except a borrowed bike, a few grand in my bank account, and a random Spanish family that opened their doors for me to live with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Cycling is and will always be an absolute beautiful sport & fulltime job. But it can also be one of the few jobs in the world where you sacrifice your life for it and give your best but sit without a job the next year. It is truly a sport for only HARD MEN! pic.twitter.com\/VSAjmpuVWb<\/a><\/p>\n

— Willie Smit (@williesmurfy) July 29, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n