German Cycling

[taiwan]

"The German Cycling Federation is an amateur! No nomination criteria, no professional guidance. No one has the idea of professional cycling."

Not a subject I know a huge amount about: I freely admit I don't have all the history. However I'm interested to begin a discussion. A few stories relavent to this title out recently: Schumacher's imminent return, Levi's borderline test and Kohl's story also on Gerolsteiner, Milram more likey than not to disband, and possibly the most important German race on the calendar tomorrow. Haussler renouncing his passport, and the response: still the best German rider for a GC, Andreas Klöden, applauding Heinrich's move and having a rant at the 'amatuers' running German cycling.

Is this as bad as it's been? Will there be another German team in the Protour anytime soon? Is too much of the talent on HTC and elsewhere? What's wrong with the way the sport is run in Germany? Will it all be okay if Tony Martin finally overpowers Cancellara in the WC TT (not very likely at all)?

 

[craig1985]

Klöden in bad mouthing German Cycling Federation shocker. Nothing to see here, move along. But in all seriousness, this could be a Clinic issue.

 

[taiwan]

Klöden in bad mouthing German Cycling Federation shocker. Nothing to see here, move along. But in all seriousness, this could be a Clinic issue.

Yes I suppose the thread will go the way of the clinic soon. Maybe the mods can just move it if necessary. Does Klóden often poo poo the German Cycling Federation?

 

[boardhanger]

Cycling in Germany took an terrible hit when Ullrich got caught. But in general what all of cycling had come to, turned Germany and it's huge market off cycling. We should be thankful that we had Gerolsteiner, Milram etc. Cycling needs Germany. Who here can say that their cycling federation is perfect?.

 

[craig1985]

Yes I suppose the thread will go the way of the clinic soon. Maybe the mods can just move it if necessary. Does Klóden often poo poo the German Cycling Federation?

I think it has been going on for a few years.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Judith Ardnt gave "the bird" to the German Cycling Federation for a selection issue at the Athens Olympics.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

but German women's cycling is very healthy - Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Sarah Düster, Trixi Worrack, Claudia Häusler, Judith Arndt are just the tip of the iceberg. However, even there there were problems; Düster turned up to the Worlds last year only to find that the federation hadn't registered her so she couldn't ride.

German men's cycling is struggling - and not just German, but all German-speaking areas. Clinic issues have left sponsors unwilling to invest, and races are disappearing in droves. We've lost the Hessenrundfahrt/3-Länder Rundfahrt, Thüringen has become an U23 event, the Deutschlandtour, Regio Tour and the Sachsen Rundfahrt have all gone the way of the dodo recently. Teams are disappearing and not being replaced. T-Mobile have obviously become HTC, and many of the more talented Germans are there; Milram seem to see themselves more as a placeholder for German cycling than anything progressive in any way, and their more talented riders like Gerdemann, Wegmann and Rohregger have stagnated while there. Gerolsteiner collapsed, and other teams like Elk Haus-Simplon and Wiesenhof-Felt have not survived constant waves of doping allegations. And while there are a few useful teams at lower levels - Nutrixxion-Sparkasse, LKT Team Brandenburg, Seven Stones, Heizomat, Thüringer Energie Team - the only one that shows any hint of being willing to progress to the next level is Team NetApp. They have seemed determined to prove their worth, the only Continental Team to get three riders to finish in the Frankfurt May Day Classic. I have hopes for them doing what Bessons Chaussures-Sojasun did last year, i.e. picking up the remnants of a ProTour team that was disbanding (Crédit Agricole) and using those riders' experience to build themselves for a ProContinental berth.

 

[roundabout]

It's a very good summary apart from two minor quibbles: Elk Haus is Austrian and Thüringen Rundfahrt has been U23 for as long as i can remember.

 

[craig1985]

Is it clinic issues that stop sponsors from investing in teams, because during the Tour, either Paul Sherwen or Phil Liggett (yeah I know) said that German TV ratings for the Tour were at record levels (or close too)! But I'm not sure how much truth there is to it though, since Sherwen is known to make things up.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's a very good summary apart from two minor quibbles: Elk Haus is Austrian and Thüringen Rundfahrt has been U23 for as long as i can remember.

I know Elk Haus is Austrian - but the woes of German cycling have repercussions in the rest of German-speaking Europe, as I mentioned at the start of the paragraph. Bernhard Kohl is Austrian, but his positive was a major negative for Germanophone cycling.

I may be confusing Thüringen with its female equivalent.

 

[joy118118]

Thüringer Energie Team seems to be satisfied with its Continental Team status. In such awful environment, Thüringer Energie is a admirable sponsor in German cycling.

 

[taiwan]

I have hopes for [Netapp] doing what Bessons Chaussures-Sojasun did last year, i.e. picking up the remnants of a ProTour team that was disbanding (Crédit Agricole) and using those riders' experience to build themselves for a ProContinental berth.

it's the ideal time, really. It sounds like some Milram riders will go to the Schlecks' team, but others willl likely be available. It seems funny that there isn't any team above conti level if Milram goes. It might be a better move for developing riders to go abroad anyway i suppose, if the domestic racing scene isn't of the best quality.