flicker said:I agree, cycling should be more of a boot camp compared to what, kite surfing at a Dutch Carribean Island?
I think a camp like Liquigas in the snow at alLtiude makes way more sense.
I know that the band playing while the boys learn agility skills and practice their after retirement athletic skills is part of Riis idea OF A JOKE AND YES BJARNE IT IS A JOKE.
Once again flicker, my questionably sane little muse, speaks reason.
I fear that we may both be tied to the 'old school' of bike racing, where for generations it was a nice escape for the genetically gifted to escape the coal mine or the shoe factory.
Now the 'sport' and its attending followers want to see the finer points of being rich and famous.
A training camp? F*ck training. The top guys have enough money to buy their own island, why not accomodate their whims? The grunts making less than a teacher? Well, they'll like the time in the sun as well. And it doesn't really matter because they're expendable. We can get them jacked on a good enough program that they PROBABLY won't get popped, and if they happen to get a positive (since the UCI really wants to ignore the big guns), it's good PR for 'clean cycling' and really didn't cost the team too much. They're replaceable, and only cost a little bit...
Sad, sad, sad...
THIS is the new era of cycling.