Fuglsang punished

[Leonardus]

Another chapter Bruyneel can add for his new handbook 'How to annihilate a cyclingteam in one season'.

Fuglsang should have been a professional of course about missing the Tour. A reprimand could be expected but this is too harsh and Bruyneel with his experience should be wisest here.

 

[PCutter]

This is hardly unique.

Last year JV pulled the Meyer's and Bobridge from WT races, including the Vuelta, and he announced that fact well before they'd officially left Garmin, stating the exact same reason as JB has (ie, why give WT points away to another team).

The same happened last year with Wes Sulzberger at FDJ and Alan Davis at Astana(?).

This happens all the time at the end of every season

 

[rickshaw]

simple

JB just wants stuff like this he can put on his resume. Maybe there's a prison guard job he has his eye on.

 

[Catwhoorg]

I'm not surprised, if you publicly announce you are leaving, don't expect favours and the best rides.

 

[BillytheKid]

He's going to have to learn from this. Privitely he has the right to gripe and you can fashion a protest to an extent, but he could have kept other team talk privite till after the Tour. Johan's not the only director who might reward a wayward son as such. It does seem harsh, but with a team that has areadly had its share of discord, it was a blunder on Fuglsang's part to add fuel to the fire.

I hope in the long run he finds a home where things will work out for the better.

 

[goggalor]

The WT points system sucks, and I think JB is trying to prove that. As mentioned, his BFF Vaughters did the same with Bobridge/Meyer last year, then kicked Thor off the Vuelta team and a month ago he said he wouldn't take Nibali to the Tour if he was the Liquigas boss.

 

[Dr.Sahl]

then why are they not releasing him from his contract?makes more sense for both sides...

Because he is too good to fly away to others yet. They just wanna punish hm and ruin riders like they have always done.. "yes I dislike JB" but look at the bright side, CH can race and show people over 40 can be the best on the team "haha"

 

[LaFlorecita]

Stupid Hog, Fuggles get the **** out of there NAO!!

 

[T-Nielsen]

Well he can't really punish the Schlecks so why not go for Andys close friend instead.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I'm not surprised, if you publicly announce you are leaving, don't expect favours and the best rides.

Erm, mostly like to leave, has said as much, but is still team leader for Le Tour.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...or-tour-conclusion-to-choose-2013-team_217089

Meanwhile, we have Pappy Horner's public thoughts about his Tour exclusion.
http://bicycling.com/blogs/thisjust...‘devastated’-not-to-be-riding-tour-de-france/

Fuglsang a soft target for a bit of Bruyneel chest thumping, as he too sits out the Tour.
Ironically, their situations not too dissimilar.

 

[gustienordic]

How angsty of Johan. He acts like a 13 year old teenager. Seriously.

 

[BillytheKid]

Some folks around here seem to have short memories.
Erm, Chris Horner ring a bell?
He spoke out, quite bitterly about his non-Tour selection.
Did he get the same message? No, he got Fuglsang's Tour slot.
No consistency whatsoever.

Of course, while he was being very disloyal then, he more than repaired the damage, with a load of old guff about Armstrong being "clean".
I guess that shows what Bruyneel's priorities are.
Certainly not the Tour or WT races.

I think Horner had a genuine misunderstanding, and had earned to be on the US Olympic team by virtue of a 2nd to Nibali at TA, a top 10 at Basque with a top three on the climb to Arrate (despite being sick). He voiced it in a manner that address it as a possible misunderstanding by lack of a direct communication with Bruyneel. His early results and WT points earned for RSNT deserved at least a long list selction. True, Horner went public with it, but I don't feel it had the hard edge that Fuglsang has shown. Maybe Fuglsang only shows his lack of tatcially thinking skills by not playing the game. It's not like his public comments would change the final decision as where Horner's could and did have effect when he spoke out.

 

[cineteq]

Maybe Fuglsang only shows his lack of tatcially thinking skills by not playing the game. It's not like his public comments would change the final decision as where Horner's could and did have effect when he spoke out.

Fuglsang didn't play the game right, plus he doesn't have the leverage that Horner has. Tour of Lux means nothing. TBH Fuglsang should have been in the Tour squad instead of Popo which was clearly a political/old friend pick by the Hog.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Erm, mostly like to leave, has said as much, but is still team leader for Le Tour.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...or-tour-conclusion-to-choose-2013-team_217089

Nibali is a far better rider. They have no one to replace him with, basically. The team would look bad.

 

[thehog]

Fuglsang didn't play the game right, plus he doesn't have the leverage that Horner has. Tour of Lux means nothing. TBH Fuglsang should have been in the Tour squad instead of Popo which was clearly a political/old friend pick by the Hog.

Couple of things at play here. I think both JB and Fuzzy can share equal blame. Its a pure breakdown in communication. JB doesn't speak to his riders in the same way as Riis did. Riis invested time and emotion into his cyclists. JB is more head master type. The Shlecks did bond well with the approach and neither did Fuglsang.

I feel for Jacob a little. He's been kept in the dark most of the season since the merger. He really didn't know what his race calendar was apart from that he'd be doing the Giro. JB wasn't really speaking to any of his riders and is obvisously distracted by other events in his life.

JB is not good with nurturing riders. It doesn't come easy to him. In the days when you could send the young guys off to a doctor and they'd start to fly you'd get results. These days it takes a lot more to make a successful rider.

Outside of Armstrong I'd say JB has had more riders disillusioned with him than ones that have become better riders.

 

[zigmeister]

Maybe we should add this to the Brunyeel depreciation thread?

 

[patrick767]

Funny, Bruyneel thinks it's fine to bad mouth his own riders in the press, but he gets ****y when they say anything.

 

[Pippo_San]

I don't get the criticism for Bruyneel in this situation. Surely I don't like him a bit, and I would've preferred to not see him involved in cycling anymore (one would argue the same about people like Riis, Savio, Holczer, Lefevre and so many more...)...

but

Fuglsang has been acting like the worst Andy Schleck at least since last year without having even HALF the skill and capabilities of an Andy Schleck.
He's acted like a total moron on the press, and now people start saying he doesn't deserve it??
He's a rider of a team, that is to say he's an EMPLOYEE and should behave like that.
Champions are usually forgiven for their behaviour because of a greater sake, but we're talking about a guy that since 2009 hasn't even shown a GLIMPSE of light.

If anything he should be grateful he's got a VERY WELL paid job considering what he's delivering.

 

[pugdog]

Everyone bears a share of the blame for this mess. Using the media for communication is never wise. The basic problem is too many good riders for a few cherished places. However the most important thing that comes out of this, as mentioned by others on the forum, is the utter inequity of the points system. If the poodles at UCI could just take note perhaps the riders could actually get to do a full season without panicking about their contract.


My apologies to poodles btw. They are wonderful dogs, it's just the curly-haired stare I want to convey.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

There are three slightly distinct issues here:

1) Fuglsang criticised the team and team management in public.
2) Fuglsang spoke to the media about looking for another team outside of the transfer window.
3) Fuglsang, because he is leaving, will score points for another team rather than his current one.

(1) is not really all that relevant here, although it won't have predisposed his team to kindness over the other two issues. (2) Would get you in major trouble at, say for instance, a football club and might well get you benched. (3) Is a result of an idiotic system unique to cycling which actually makes it rational to bench one of your athletes in favour of one who he might have the edge over on sporting criteria alone.

I bow to few in my lack of sympathy for Bruyneel, but while you can and should blame team management for the deteriorating situation inside the team which leads riders like Fuglsang to want to leave, it's difficult to argue that Bruyneel is being irrational in his response to that statement. Once it's gone that far, from Bruyneel's point of view, the rider is a liability rather than an asset.

 

[T-Nielsen]

Yeah lets use some riders that will earn points for the team... because the team will certainly be around next year...

I wonder if JB have any respect from the former LT riders.

 

[Christian]

Bruyneel sinks to a new all-time low ....

 

[Zerak-Tul]

Haha, and to think all these riders felt they were being mistreated riding for Riis, something tells me a few of them miss ridding for old Barney at this point.

 

[mewmewmew13]

Funny, Bruyneel thinks it's fine to bad mouth his own riders in the press, but he gets ****y when they say anything.

Very good point.

 

[franciep10]

stay classy johan