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Breschel bribed Italian riders to help him

In a new book, former Danish rider Matti Breschel reveals that he paid some Italian riders from a different team to help him chase down a breakaway.

It was during the Tour of Luxembourg 2015. Breschel was leading the GC, but the breakaway threatened his overall win, as the gap was growing. Fabrizio Guidi in the team car and Breschel discussed what could be done: "He asked a minor Italian team if they would help me, and they would. It cost 1,000 euros per man. Guidi recommended three of them. 'Fine,' I replied, 'send them up here, I'll take care of the payment later.'

The three Italians reeled in the breakaway, and had it not been for Guidi's abilities of negotiating, I hadn't won the race. The Italian riders got their money in cash at a parking lot."

In the part of the book that has been published so far, there is also good stuff about Oleg Tinkov.

 
"I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" tactics are definitely not uncommon. What did Pirazzi get for helping Nibali in the 2016 Giro, for instance?
Sometimes a rider will even bribe his own teammates to get them to work harder for him or to not contest the win themselves.

Looking at the startlist from the 2014 Tour de Luxembourg, the riders in question must have been from Neri Sottoli.
 
In a new book, former Danish rider Matti Breschel reveals that he paid some Italian riders from a different team to help him chase down a breakaway.

It was during the Tour of Luxembourg 2015. Breschel was leading the GC, but the breakaway threatened his overall win, as the gap was growing. Fabrizio Guidi in the team car and Breschel discussed what could be done: "He asked a minor Italian team if they would help me, and they would. It cost 1,000 euros per man. Guidi recommended three of them. 'Fine,' I replied, 'send them up here, I'll take care of the payment later.'

The three Italians reeled in the breakaway, and had it not been for Guidi's abilities of negotiating, I hadn't won the race. The Italian riders got their money in cash at a parking lot."

In the part of the book that has been published so far, there is also good stuff about Oleg Tinkov.

Do you mean 2014? Because he didn't race Luxembourg in 2015.
 
"I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" tactics are definitely not uncommon. What did Pirazzi get for helping Nibali in the 2016 Giro, for instance?
Sometimes a rider will even bribe his own teammates to get them to work harder for him or to not contest the win themselves.

Looking at the startlist from the 2014 Tour de Luxembourg, the riders in question must have been from Neri Sottoli.
With many riders having to bring their own sponsor/pay to ride on that team I can't say I blame them.
Often it's probably also just helping a training buddy/a guy you like. When you have almost no chance of winning the stage and aren't chasing down a teammate I see nothing wrong with that one. Maybe you also help someone because he's riding against someone that you dislike...
 
"I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" tactics are definitely not uncommon. What did Pirazzi get for helping Nibali in the 2016 Giro, for instance?
Sometimes a rider will even bribe his own teammates to get them to work harder for him or to not contest the win themselves.

Looking at the startlist from the 2014 Tour de Luxembourg, the riders in question must have been from Neri Sottoli.
And it must’ve been early in the stage, those guys only had 1 finisher.
 
And it must’ve been early in the stage, those guys only had 1 finisher.

The stage finished on a pretty short circuit, so they probably withdrew before the last lap/last few laps.

tour-de-luxembourg-2014-stage-4-profile.jpg
 
"I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" tactics are definitely not uncommon. What did Pirazzi get for helping Nibali in the 2016 Giro, for instance?
Sometimes a rider will even bribe his own teammates to get them to work harder for him or to not contest the win themselves.

Looking at the startlist from the 2014 Tour de Luxembourg, the riders in question must have been from Neri Sottoli.
In the Risoul stage of the 2016 Giro also Ulissi worked in the valley like never before (and after) in his life but in his case there is the chance he was riding for himself since he was flying in that Giro. I remember also Wegmann pulling like a madman in the Falzes stage for Cunego and Tiralongo giving his life for Contador in Fuente Dé, just to say two striking cases.
 
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