Bernhard Eisel has hit back at suggestions that the flat stages of this year's Tour de France have been monotonous or boring, telling Cyclingnews, "We're not a circus act, this is serious business."
Eisel is one of the respected veterans of the peloton, who often defends rider interests when problems arise with the UCI and race organisers. The Austrian speaks four languages and has ridden the Tour de France 12 times. He is a vital teammate for Mark Cavendish and is the Dimension Data road captain. He is also the de facto boss of the gruppetto, who calculates the effort the riders need to make to finish within the time limit on mountain stages.
While the mountain stages at this year's Tour de France have seen some dramatic racing, the flat stages have been dominated by breakaways being allowed to jump clear at kilometre zero, the peloton rolling along behind and then high speed sprints, most often won by Marcel Kittel from behind while his rivals waste their strength and speed by fight for position.
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Television now offers live coverage of every kilometre of every stage. However this has seemingly not inspired the riders, with allegations that the bigger WorldTour teams and the sprinters' teams have bullied would-be escapees and dissuaded them from attacking so that the riders can enjoy a more relaxed time in the peloton.
It has been suggested that the flat stages have even been damaging to the image of the sport. However those accusations have angered riders like Eisel.
"What people have to understand and what makes me angry, is that we're not here just to put on a show for television," Eisel told Cyclingnews.
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