Greipel's griping

[Highlander]

Even if you want to come at it from that purely selfish perspective, he is still better off keeping his mouth shut. Do you think him going to the press and complaining about not getting a ride at M-SR is going to make his DSes more likely to have the team ride for him in the future? Of course not. It is going to make them annoyed at him, and make them think that he is not a team player. It may even hurt his chances of landing a better contract next year, because teams will be wary of hiring a guy if they think he is going to rush to the nearest reporter every time a decision is made that he disagrees with.

However, the DS needs to make sure that the team wins. Do you think that in the latter stages of a race, he's going to think that Greipel complained too much after MSR and decide that he's not going to have the team work for him anymore? Or that even before the start of the race that he'll designate another sprinter that doesn't have the same kick? Regardless of what Greipel says now, I don't think that it will have much impact at all about how he is treated by the team for the rest of the year since HTC probably wants to start getting back on the winning side soon.

 

[Jamsque]

Cycling is a team sport, and being a good member of a team is about working for the good of the team as a whole, not undermining the authority of your team's leaders by questioning their decisions. The managers decide who start the races, not the riders.

The professional thing to say when asked about how he felt about not riding M-SR would have been something more along the lines of "I'm a bike racer, of course I want to ride the big races, but the DS made the decision and I trust him to do what is best for the team." Like I said, if he feels that he deserved a ride at M-SR he should go talk to his DS about it, not a journalist.

People seem to be getting the impression that I am just bashing Greipel now, which is not what I meant to do at all, so I am going to back out of this thread. The point I was trying to make is that the comments he made, regardless of who initiated the conversation, displayed a lack of professionalism for a sportsman in a team sport. That doesn't change the fact that he is a very talented sprinter, and that he may well have had a better shot than Cav at winning M-SR given his and Cav's current form.

 

[Four Winds]

It does seem like Columbia would have been better served at San Remo by taking Greipel instead of, say, Peter Velits or Matt Goss QUOTE]

Yes, only Rogers made it over the Poggio anywhere near the front, but it seems like Columbia had to do a load of chasing down early on. Stuff we didn't see on television. First Cav's wheel went (second time in 4 days- faulty batch or what?), then as they got back to the bunch he went on his backside again resulting in another chase. I think Columbia did a lot of work getting him back into position, pulling for about 100k. This might explain why so many Columbia riders didn't finish.

 

[Moondance]

Cycling is a team sport, and being a good member of a team is about working for the good of the team as a whole, not undermining the authority of your team's leaders by questioning their decisions. The managers decide who start the races, not the riders.

The professional thing to say when asked about how he felt about not riding M-SR would have been something more along the lines of "I'm a bike racer, of course I want to ride the big races, but the DS made the decision and I trust him to do what is best for the team." Like I said, if he feels that he deserved a ride at M-SR he should go talk to his DS about it, not a journalist.

Cycling is not a 'pure' team sport, there is always the individualistic element to it.

Also, i think it's a little ridiculous to talk about things like 'undermining authority'. What he said was pretty damn mild:

-That was a real blow for me. My riding hasn't been so bad that I didn't deserve to start.

-Cavendish is having his problems right now. I have ridden some good races. When it comes down to a sprint, you can count on me.

It's not like he suddenly has become the new Riccardo Ricco. Also, he probably has talked with Stapleton about it. It wasn't too long ago that Stapleton has called Greipel a "selfless teammate"....

 

[Feldy82]

Cav won the race last year. Regardless of form, he earned the privilege of a team supporting only his efforts. If Cav didn't win, then yeah send two potential winners, but this year was Cav's race to win or lose.

EDIT: granted he has six wins, but consider what he has won, most of those are regarded as scrimmages by most of the peloton.

Even though Cav won last year, his form this year has been pretty dismal. They should have taken AG as a backup plan. AG deserves to race the big races and has proven he can win against the best. I can't wait to see him win the sprint jersey at the Giro.

 

[flicker]

Griepel

A German Robot. Boring personality.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Griepel

A German Robot. Boring personality.

And you know this because you know him personally?

Susan

 

[franciep10]

Griepel

A German Robot. Boring personality.

why because he's not an *** hole like Cav, anyway he is one of the top 3 sprinters in the world he deserved to be at MSR

 

[*G*K*S*]

Does anyone know what was the best placing for Greipel at Sanremo?
I ever thought he was a great sprinters for races around 150-200kms.

He's never started MSR.

 

[titan_90]

Greipel should have been at the start of MSR even if Cav was in top form. The guy is one of the top sprinters in the world. Time for him to move on.

 

[Michele]

He's never started MSR.

Thanks for the info!

 

[ImmaculateKadence]

The guy is darn good, but he really hasn't proven himself against the best sprinters in the world yet. He had a good Vuelta in 09, but nobody was really there to challenge him in the points classification. Maybe a slightly off form Tyler Farrar, fresh off contesting every sprint in the Tour. Other than the Vuelta, Greipel doesn't much in the way of Palmares: Two TDU Ochre jerseys is it.

 

[maltiv]

Greipel should have been at the start of MSR even if Cav was in top form. The guy is one of the top sprinters in the world. Time for him to move on.

Indeed, no wonder pretty much every good rider except from Cav (and poor Tony Martin) left Columbia. It's almost like it's a more one-man-team than Radioshack. I can't even see one good reason why Greipel wasn't there in MSR. On a top day, he could have been top 3 for sure.

I bet Cavendish started whining when they suggested it though. And they obviously do anything they can to please Cavendish's ego.

 

[BikeCentric]

Cycling is a team sport, and being a good member of a team is about working for the good of the team as a whole, not undermining the authority of your team's leaders by questioning their decisions. The managers decide who start the races, not the riders.

The professional thing to say when asked about how he felt about not riding M-SR would have been something more along the lines of "I'm a bike racer, of course I want to ride the big races, but the DS made the decision and I trust him to do what is best for the team." Like I said, if he feels that he deserved a ride at M-SR he should go talk to his DS about it, not a journalist.

People seem to be getting the impression that I am just bashing Greipel now, which is not what I meant to do at all, so I am going to back out of this thread. The point I was trying to make is that the comments he made, regardless of who initiated the conversation, displayed a lack of professionalism for a sportsman in a team sport. That doesn't change the fact that he is a very talented sprinter, and that he may well have had a better shot than Cav at winning M-SR given his and Cav's current form.

I don't agree. The DS clearly made a bad decision in leaving Greipel out because Cav is fat and not on form right now. Greipel is on form and was Columbia's best chance to win MSR. He has every right to make his discontent be known and making it public makes it clear that he's probably looking for a new team for next year as of now. The ball is now fully in the court of Columbia management. They created his discontent by mis-managing this athlete and now they can decide to try to fix it or part ways.

 

[flicker]

And you know this because you know him personally?

Susan

I have seen him sprint. I have heard him interviewed.. Unlike Levi who is part of our community I do not know Griepel personally.

He just comes off to me as expressionless. Nothing against the Germans, I loved Zabel,Aldag,Ulrich,Kloeden No humor in Griepel no expression. Quick in a sprint though.

 

[BikeCentric]

Levi who is part of our community just comes off to me as expressionless.

Fixed that for you Flicker. I agree!

 

[flicker]

Fixed that for you Flicker. I agree!

I see that you know Levi also.

 

[*G*K*S*]

Greipel should have been at the start of MSR even if Cav was in top form. The guy is one of the top sprinters in the world. Time for him to move on.

Or just sit tight until Cav moves on. Not sure what Cav's contract status is, but you've gotta think that Sky will want to sign him badly when the time arrives.

 

[bobbins]

Cav won't race in the same race as Griepel as he can't stand him. Cavs contract is up and the team are messing him around so he's not happy with them at the moment. He's paid less than many other sprinters so it's about time stapleton paid him what he's worth.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Cav won't race in the same race as Griepel as he can't stand him. Cavs contract is up and the team are messing him around so he's not happy with them at the moment. He's paid less than many other sprinters so it's about time stapleton paid him what he's worth.

Cav has a contract with Columbia HTC until the end of 2010 with the option of a one year extension.

 

[palmerq]

Greipel for sky....... it would be good for both of them except sky is meant to be about british riders :S Although maybe if columbias lead out train is getting worse cavendish could end up at sky then greipel can stay at columbia(if they still want him).... But sky would be a great place for him if he was british.. Not sure if there are many teams who are good for greipal that can afford him..

i think he's quite right with his complaints this time.

 

[hektoren]

Greipel for sky....... it would be good for both of them except sky is meant to be about british riders :S Although maybe if columbias lead out train is getting worse cavendish could end up at sky then greipel can stay at columbia(if they still want him).... But sky would be a great place for him if he was british.. Not sure if there are many teams who are good for greipal that can afford him..

i think he's quite right with his complaints this time.

The day that a British cycling Team lets a German onto their team is a day that is quite common in never-neverland, and otherwise figures most prominently in the figments of the mind of surrealists. IOW, it won't come to fruition.
Andre is too Teutonic, too German, too good, to ever figure on a team that believes too firmly in its own image among "ze-pritishers"

 

[Night Rider]

Indeed, no wonder pretty much every good rider except from Cav (and poor Tony Martin) left Columbia. It's almost like it's a more one-man-team than Radioshack. I can't even see one good reason why Greipel wasn't there in MSR. On a top day, he could have been top 3 for sure.

I bet Cavendish started whining when they suggested it though. And they obviously do anything they can to please Cavendish's ego.

+1 from me

 

[Four Winds]

Would it be a good move for Cav to move from a team who are making the green Jersey one of their top aims of this season, and throwing everything behind it, to a team who state their main aim as winning the TdF with a British rider (Wiggins) in 3 years. Don't think so.

Wiggins already left High Road as he "didn't want to be Cav's bottle carrier." Can't see Cav wanting the roles to be reversed.

Even if Sky offers more money, I genuinely believe he would race for less if it guaranteed more wins.

 

[blaxland]

AG did get 20 wins last year, even if Cav is their main man it's total BS they don't give him a little more respect.

i've said it before, but a lot of Cav's dominance is the leadout and work rate his team provides, and already they seem weaker this year, almost everything they've won this season has been from Greipel.

I hope AG leaves, in theory he could do well at milram. Ciolek, kluge, forster leading him out would be a pretty good train. Otherwise i'm sure one of the stronger teams would be happy to work for him.

when does his contract end?

agreed Timmy............i think he should go to Team BMC?They need a Sprinter?