Garmin biggest cowards in today peloton

[Mellow Velo]

This is precisely why I got so riled up about it.

The whole 'make cycling interesting' shtick. Then the fight with the UCI over race radios. The race situation (Cance powering off, seemingly invincible and the prospect of a boring finish). And of course the exact wording: 'Let the other teams work' and 'we sprint for 1st or 3rd, it doesn't matter'. It all came together in this karmic moment of cosmic irony. It will haunt JV for the rest of his (hopefully short) career as DS.

The point is, he probably didn't have to say it at all. As others have pointed out, Garmin didn't have much support. Hushovd was feeling weak (Boonen and Cance had just stomped past him). And the race doesn't suit either Hushovd or Farrar. Was any of the two considering working at the front? Probably they had enough sense not to anyway. The whole comment by JV was pointless to begin which just adds to the travesty.

This.

In reality, I don't think any of us realized that Garmin were in such dire straights, at the time.
As to why, I am mystified, since that hadn't exactly bossed the peloton to this point.
Apart from Roger H and the occasional sighting of Thor (hardly mistakable) towards the front, they were virtually invisible throughout.
I wasn't aware that their preparation had gone so badly.........as with M - San Remo.

I really have trouble understanding anything you post lately.

I don't. I have his condescending highness on permanent ignore.
There's a big difference about being negative towards some aspects of the sport and fellow posters.

 

[jaylew]

Your post was really confusing to me at first. One of you "cobble" guys really needs to change screen name.

 

[roundabout]

It's already been mentioned, but I'm also surprised how badly Garmin did as a team. No tactic in the world can help when the team collectively doesnt have it.

 

[Granville57]

Your post was really confusing to me at first. One of you "cobble" guys really needs to change screen name.

There's a 100k of sanity between that "S" and that "D"

 

[meandmygitane]

I didn't read that yet, but you only have to watch this, from the 4:55 to 6:15 mark, to get a sense of the team vibe.
Team Cayman-Cervelo
Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

Just thought I'd link a translated piece on Hushovd's statement here

NB: Hushovd may be right or wrong but it could indicate that (former) Garmin is trying to "promote" their riders and Cervelo their riders with resulting conflicts.
We'll see how it will develop but I predict a lot of finger pointing internally in the team if P-R goes down the drain as well.

I'm no great judge but it seemed that Vaughters were trying to unite them in the video but the mood in the bus was a bit awkward - no real openness and willing to share fears and hopes, time for a team building camp á la Bjarne Riis?

 

[Epicycle]

I didn't read that yet, but you only have to watch this, from the 4:55 to 6:15 mark, to get a sense of the team vibe.
Team Cayman-Cervelo
Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

That is not good, Thor looks extremely underwhelmed.

They did what they could today but obviously next week is a different story. Too bad they won't have Maaskant.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

As lame as JV's call was, it was the right one.

Garmin don't have the top riders for a race like Flanders. For P-R, it's a different story, but they don't have a Cancellara, Boonen, Gilbert, or a Devolder. JV sensed the race was coming back together, and it did. As for the rest, his riders couldn't deliver. What was he supposed to do? Tell them to ride like crazy, catch the break, and then get dropped? Might as well save some energy in case they could survive.

 

[maltiv]

The team today was not Garmin-Cervelo, it was just the old cervelo + Farrar. With Maaskant and Vansummeren out with injury, in addition to Haussler being out of shape, they really didn't have much chance. It was disappointing yes but when they're missing their 2 most important motors then there's not much they can do.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Another quality Ryo Hazuki post! I'm surprised you were watching De Ronde, there are no Colombians in it.

You didn't notice Duque?

 

[Race Radio]

You didn't notice Duque?

Yeah, what was that? That little guy was top 20 today. Impressive.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Anyway, I think Garmin was really missing Maaskant. As Flanders goes, he is there best bet imo... He's certainly not worse than Langeveld who finished 5th today. Maaskant finished 4th 2 years ago already

 

[cycledp]

I didn't read that yet, but you only have to watch this, from the 4:55 to 6:15 mark, to get a sense of the team vibe.
Team Cayman-Cervelo
Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

I agree. Thor and Heinrich see to be saying "What did we get ourselves into?"

 

[sublimit]

Anyway, I think Garmin was really missing Maaskant. As Flanders goes, he is there best bet imo... He's certainly not worse than Langeveld who finished 5th today. Maaskant finished 4th 2 years ago already

The three leaders expected an armchair ride to finish so its likely Maaskant would of been told to sit on if he raced today.

Hammond actually made an effort and can hold his head high but the other riders were nowhere, Dan Lloyd did hit the front of the peleton once but promptly fell off on his own.

 

[Christian]

I really have trouble understanding anything you post lately.

I think he was trying to say that there is a lot of schadenfreude on the forum, which might not be 100% wrong ...

 

[ansimi]

I agree. Thor and Heinrich see to be saying "What did we get ourselves into?"

The looks on their faces remind me of how I've felt in so many meetings. Haussler looks so uncomfortable - like a teenager being lectured.

 

[maltiv]

Huge pressure on Hushovd to win P-R now. If he doesn't, Garmin-Cervelo's classic season is pretty much a failure, but they can still save it...

 

[User Guide]

Too many chiefs and not enough indians(and the chiefs dont look happy).I liked both garmin and more especially cervelo test team.Not keen on new team ;especially the sidelining(and shrinking) of womens team; which i would imagine isnt going down too well with cervelo as Libertine suggested.much of the growth in some key markets iscoming from women and as cervelo dont have a "shrink it and pink it " marketing policy, the womens team is key for them.

 

[Flamin]

Cowards? It was definitely not up to Garmin to chase. Haussler, Hushovd and Farrar were not good enough. So why would they?

 

[Granville57]

It's no secret that I've been taking shots at JV and his squad all season (and I still have some more ammo left ) but that's only because many of my favorite riders are on the team, and I dig the bikes!

But with all the fire power they have, they were still missing some key components, as many have stated.

Haussler is still finding is form after recovering from injury.
Millar was out due to health issues, and don't forget, he finished in the same group with Tyler (5th) and Roger Hammond (7th) in last years edition.
And Maaskant is still dealing with several broken ribs from his horrible crash at Paris-Nice.

But I am ultimately optimistic, based on what we saw at Stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriacto, that a cohesive team, that is greater than the sum of its parts, is still possible. The final kilometer was simply awesome to watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chMibQSCYKI&playnext=1&list=PL5CA1155939CD84D6

The overhead replay, from the 6:30, mark is poetry in motion.
I'd just like to see more of that, please.

Now the pressure is ON for Paris-Roubiax.

 

[jens_attacks]

of course at the moment it seemed like but others explained very well after the race the situation.the garmins were all dead and they got just farrar in the group.so pretty logical move by vaughters.and yes i love those cameras.

 

[Mellow Velo]

At least it proved one thing. On race radios there can be no arguments.
Everything fed to the riders were racing instructions in one form or another; a constant stream.
Safety? Yeah, right.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Garmin has done the best they can. The problem is that their best isn't very good. Farrar will be consistent and get some wins, but no one else seems to have the form that we expected them to have. There is an overestimation of fitness from many sources: the riders, staff, and spectators.

 

[Barrus]

I do wonder what happened to JV his statement about the fact that race radios did not change the course of a race:

The riders make their own decisions. They’re at the front of the race, they see what’s happening, they know what they have to do. The most intelligent rider with the best strategy will make the best decision.

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

At least it proved one thing. On race radios there can be no arguments.
Everything fed to the riders were racing instructions in one form or another; a constant stream.
Safety? Yeah, right.

It exposed several things - the safety argument for the canard that it is, and that with the exception of BMC, everyone else was ready to throw in the towel. It showed just how much influence the DS's have on the races (ie 'mark Ballan' order to Gilbert).

Did having the cameras in the cars make it more - exciting? Not really. It was interesting because it showed up Vaughters for the show pony he is, but other than that, it added very little to the excitement of the race. I wasn't sitting their watching think 'ooh I can't wait till we get another car shot'

 

[Barrus]

It exposed several things - the safety argument for the canard that it is, and that with the exception of BMC, everyone else was ready to throw in the towel. It showed just how much influence the DS's have on the races (ie 'mark Ballan' order to Gilbert).

I don't think this is the case, certainly Vacansoleil-DCM did do pulls on the front especially with De Gendt and Devolder