{"id":917332,"date":"2026-10-02T03:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917332\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T03:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T03:02:16","slug":"why-should-we-expect-people-to-watch-seven-hour-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/917332\/","title":{"rendered":"Why should we expect people to watch seven-hour races?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

For Hushovd, entertainment must become a core part of cycling\u2019s evolution. “All sports, and cycling too, are entertainment. So we have to think about how we entertain the public today, live or the TV audience,” he explained.<\/p>\n

Asked about the possibility of the UCI organizing a criterium World Championship, the Norwegian argued it merits study. “There’s no doubt that a race set up like this is more entertainment than a five hour road race from A to B. So I think this is something we should look into,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

The idea also ties into the safety debate. Richard Plugge<\/a>, CEO of Visma | Lease a Bike, recently floated staging more races on short circuits given the growing challenges of securing 200-kilometre routes on open roads.Circuits versus long-distance road races<\/p>\n

Hushovd agrees that traditional road races pose major safety challenges. “In a road race, it’s impossible because you have 200 kilometres and there’s two sides of the road, so that’s 400 kilometres. It’s almost impossible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Norwegian believes organisers and the UCI must seek solutions, though there are financial limits. “You cannot cover every tree because it costs too much money. So then we will lose these organisers,\u201d he warned. For Hushovd, circuits could offer a more manageable alternative.<\/p>\n

The ex-rider cited cross-country skiing in Norway, where short formats have gained prominence over the years. “When I grew up there was only 10k, 15k, 30 and 50. But today there’s a sprint and qualification. And they are maybe the most popular today,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\"ThorA commercial opportunity for teams<\/p>\n

Hushovd\u2019s proposal goes beyond spectacle. He also sees economic arguments for races that pass several times through the same locations. A circuit would create new commercial opportunities and make hospitality structures easier to build around the event.<\/p>\n

“If you pass through a town, it’s hard to build up a full hospitality structure. But if you pass this town five times, you can actually sell a package. And there you have another external income,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Hushovd does not present circuits as a definitive solution, nor is he certain how the model should be implemented. However, he believes it is essential to start debating alternatives. “How it will be and how we should be structured, I have no idea,” Hushovd said. “But at least we have to start to think about something in that direction.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Hushovd, entertainment must become a core part of cycling\u2019s evolution. “All sports, and cycling too, are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":917333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,172089,82,154972,14508],"class_list":["post-917332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-richard-plugge","tag-sports","tag-thor-hushovd","tag-uno-x-mobility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}