BroDeal said:Kloden does not deserve any sympathy. He sold out, and he knows it.
The young riders got screwed, but their managers should have known that they were signing on to an Armstrong vanity project. Maybe they did not realize to what ridiculous extremes it would be taken, i.e. Brakjovic wins the Dauphine and he may not get a Tour slot. Poor Fumi Beppu bought out his Skil cotnract to join RS, probably thinking that he would get a chance to increase his stature in Japan by finishing the Giro or Vuelta; talk about screwed.
Remember Popo's interview where he talked about (1) Lance probably retiring after the Tour and not knowing whether the sponsor would still be around, and (2) going to races and having no strategy given to the team by the DS - no plan in place, just ride for training because this race doesn't matter.
Popo's interview took place before the Landis allegations came to light. If they knew then that LA was going to retire after the Tour and the team possibly cease to exist, what must they think now?
I think Unipublic were wise not to waste a Vuelta invite on a team that may not even exist at the time of the race. Better to invite a team with more chance of being around at race time.
But I too, would've invited Vac or Skil instead of Sky.