I'm unsure that I can identify ANY sport that hasn't been affected by such intense research and improvement. Usually, efforts at the ultra-competitive levels eventually filter down to the recreational level ... and I am glad. Wooden tennis rackets, horrible footwear, unprotective wear in many sports (headwear, padding), and a number of other antiquated devices are thankfully gone from sports in general. Materials, medical, and engineering sciences have made it better for most folks to take up & to continue with sports.
Having said that, I wish there was more life sciences investigation into repetitive stress on the body. There seems to be relatively few investigations about repetitive stress & nutrition in kids & teenagers, women, older athletes, and recreational athletes. A little more investigation would improve training/development and reduce injury for many folks. Gee... we might have even more handle on ACL issues among female soccer/basketball players (
), metatarsal issues among male basketball players (and ballet dancers, gymnasts), and other issues out there in every sport.
As far as the élan ... my daughter is watching the time trials because of the cool designs on the helmets. She also is more intrigued by the fact that her little bicycle is probably heavier than many of the ones she sees. The Sandy Casar crash-and-win performance yesterday seemed mildly interesting. If any of these things foster her interest in cycling, GREAT!!
She may actually want to go see next year's Tour de Georgia. Then she could really appreciate the élan.
Now what would probably foster more interest is if they'd show more diverse races ... after all, women DO cycle, right? Any great African (besides Robbie Hunter), Asian, and South American participation would greatly improve the TdF.
My favorite tour race that I've seen was the 2004 Tour de Madagascar, the northern stage. VERY cool!
Cheers,
Lavabe