Cycling is a factory for drama.
The outcomes aren't fixed, but there is a certain amount of rigging going on. Outcomes that make certain people happy are more likely than would be in a pure competition.
<red> we note the existence of certain Criterium races that are fixed.
But the #GCKuss phenomenon this year is certainly the beneficiary of rigging. Certainly Vingegaard would have passed Kuss on GC if they were not on the same team.
But team tactics are extremely allowed in cycling. And if the team management wants to win a third grand tour with a third rider, it is allowed.
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Cycling is a factory for drama.
It is like a soap opera, only all the characters are men of a certain build. Or, rather, one of a few types of builds; the climbers are generally smaller than the sprinters.
And, this year, Jumbo-Visma won everything except the consolation prizes. Remco Evenepoel won all the consolation prizes.
<red> one of the problems with cycling as spectator sport is that the outcomes are too predictable. more precisely, the outcomes of the first half of the race correlate with the second half of the race.
But it is a factory for drama. And if "will the sixth place rider pass the fifth place rider" is all the drama remaining in week three, it is certain the media will play it up.
Cycling is a factory for drama.
There is a certain sense in the media that various disputes are boiling just under the surface. None of them are so grave as to show up during the race. But the next weeks (months?) of cycling media will discuss them in exhausting detail.
The sporting season must have breaks, but the drama season will never end.