Has Team Sky lost its mojo?

[Anonymous]

team sky - 8 wins, one semi classic, a classic podium, some non existent showings, but stage wins in both paris - nice and tirreno - adriatico. decent, not poor by any stretch. in football analogy, they are fulham, mid table some good wins, performing admirably when needed but some poor losses.

they certainly have done better than bianchigirl, moondance etc are saying

Wigan has 9 wins, Fulham has 11. It think you are being generous. We will go with Wigan...West Ham if you want to be accurate.

 

[stefrees]

Wigan has 9 wins, Fulham has 11. It think you are being generous. We will go with Wigan...West Ham if you want to be accurate.

the current season has 2 games left, so 90% done?

bmc = hull, omega pharma lotto = burnley (rubbish except one big win v man utd) euskatel = blackburn (dont notice them) astana = arsenal (some classy players but a few cheats/divers) saxo bank = man utd (one man team {cancellara - rooney} but with some underperforming strikers {schlecks - berbatov})

 

[Boeing]

Rider to rider they are good IMHO

I haven't seen them put together a consistent tactical team effort race to race. if they can get that to jell results will follow.

 

[Anonymous]

the current season has 2 games left, so 90% done?

bmc = hull, omega pharma lotto = burnley (rubbish except one big win v man utd) euskatel = blackburn (dont notice them) astana = arsenal (some classy players but a few cheats/divers) saxo bank = man utd (one man team {cancellara - rooney} but with some underperforming strikers {schlecks - berbatov})

if you really want to compare sky to anyone i dont think liverpool would be an unfair comparison. they have the players, but havnt gelled as a team yet. underperformed a little, but in with the chance of one trophy this year even if it isnt one of the top ones.

 

[ingsve]

Rider to rider they are good IMHO

I haven't seen them put together a consistent tactical team effort race to race. if they can get that to jell results will follow.

Ya, it seems like they have been too early in alot of lead outs for example.

 

[luckyboy]

Rock Racing = Portsmouth?

 

[sublimit]

Portsmouth compared to a nondescript semi pro cycle team - i really hope not.

Portsmouth FC have plenty of morons, money launderers and various criminals running the club in recent years but won the FA cup a couple of years back, and in the final again.

 

[oevkride]

Rider to rider they are good IMHO

I haven't seen them put together a consistent tactical team effort race to race. if they can get that to jell results will follow.

Their primary road captain, Arvesen, been out with injury a big part of the season. His return might improve the situation. He did a great job while captaining the "Saxo All-Stars".

 

[Torrrr]

team sky - 8 wins, one semi classic, a classic podium, some non existent showings, but stage wins in both paris - nice and tirreno - adriatico. decent, not poor by any stretch. in football analogy, they are fulham, mid table some good wins, performing admirably when needed but some poor losses.

they certainly have done better than bianchigirl, moondance etc are saying

Fulham just qualified for a Europa Cup final tonight - solid in the league but gearing towards European success once Premier League status assured, methinks. Possibly still a good analogy for Sky targetting TdF over other races.

 

[Tugboat]

I had to thread dredge this off of page 4 but its probably time to ask the original question again after a 1st and 5th in the first stage of the Giro.

 

[bianchigirl]

Sky have had excellent results in terms of individual efforts but their riding in defence of a jersey has been absolutely abominable - so expect them to lose it tomorrow as the team collectively either a) falls in a canal or b) get's their wheel rims stuck in the tram tracks

 

[Barrus]

I had to thread dredge this off of page 4 but its probably time to ask the original question again after a 1st and 5th in the first stage of the Giro.

I'll wait and see what the team in its entirety does in the normal stages and especially wether Wiggings is able to do anything uphill in this Giro before singing praise and hossannah

 

[Tugboat]

From a sponsor perspective just pulling on a single maglia rosa is fantastic exposure.

 

[Moondance]

It's a great result for them in their first ever Grand Tour stage... No doubt about it. If they can hold onto the pink in the next two stages with Henderson, and defend it in the TTT (perhaps winning it too) I'd say they'll be on route to an excellent Giro.

But my original question still stands. Sky came in talking a good game and riding aggresively, but their classics season (short of Flecha's win in Omloop and his 3rd in Paris-Roubaix, both excellent results) was pretty shocking... They were nothing short of invisible.. A TT win is great, and I imagine they'll be out in force on front of the peleton tomorrow protecting Wiggins and setting up Henderson... But when they don't have the Pink to defend anymore, do they stay aggressive and prominent.... We'll see.

 

[Goldberger]

I see Wiggins is now talking about helping Dario Cioni for the overall.¨

Is Cioni strong enough for this? I remember him getting 4th in 2004, and being a decent climber then, but he's not peformed as well since. Maybe only top 15 is realistic?

 

[Moondance]

I see Wiggins is now talking about helping Dario Cioni for the overall.¨

Is Cioni strong enough for this? I remember him getting 4th in 2004, and being a decent climber then, but he's not peformed as well since. Maybe only top 15 is realistic?

The idea that Cioni is an overall contender is laughable. He might, just might, be able to scrape a Top-20... If he's lucky.

 

[Mambo95]

but their classics season (short of Flecha's win in Omloop and his 3rd in Paris-Roubaix, both excellent results) was pretty shocking... They were nothing short of invisible.

They did pretty well, certainly not 'shocking' (especially as EBH was injured). They won Omloop and were on the podium at Roubaix, Strade Bianche, KBK and Harelbeke. There aren't many teams who matched that. It's better than Quick Step did, and they're all about the classics.

 

[Moondance]

They did pretty well, certainly not 'shocking' (especially as EBH was injured). They won Omloop and were on the podium at Roubaix, Strade Bianche, KBK and Harelbeke. There aren't many teams who matched that. It's better than Quick Step did, and they're all about the classics.

To say Sky did better than Quick Step is questionable at best. Boonen did get 2nds in Milan-Sanremo and Flanders. That's certainly a better achievement than the top Sky classics guy (Flecha, who only got his 3rd in PR after sitting on Boonen wheel not even trying for a good 30 minutes).

The fact is that there were races where Sky went completely AWOL, you simply didn't see them. I understand that you can't win every race, but at least you could at least try to make an effort each time out. And there were races where Sky didn't do that (Amstel Gold, Liege, Flanders) and I didn't see anyone from them the whole day. That's shocking for a cycling team that is supposed to be the "Manchester United" of the peleton, in my opinion.



P.S. What you call "Harelbeke" is known by everyone else as the E3 Prize.... Just a friendly reminder, since I had to think for a minute before I got which race you were referring to.

 

[Mambo95]

To say Sky did better than Quick Step is questionable at best. Boonen did get 2nds in Milan-Sanremo and Flanders. That's certainly a better achievement than the top Sky classics guy (Flecha, who only got his 3rd in PR after sitting on Boonen wheel not even trying for a good 30 minutes).

The fact is that there were races where Sky went completely AWOL, you simply didn't see them. I understand that you can't win every race, but at least you could at least try to make an effort each time out. And there were races where Sky didn't do that (Amstel Gold, Liege, Flanders) and I didn't see anyone from them the whole day. That's shocking for a cycling team that is supposed to be the "Manchester United" of the peleton, in my opinion.



P.S. What you call "Harelbeke" is known by everyone else as the E3 Prize.... Just a friendly reminder, since I had to think for a minute before I got which race you were referring to.

Some points in response:

1. I knew you'd dispute whether they did better than QS (at least Sky had a win). But QS are almost a pure classics team. That they matched them is pretty decent.

2. All teams (even Saxo) went AWOL in some races. You can't do well in them all. Sky did better than all but a few teams.

3. What were you expecting from them? They're a brand new team, with a key rider injured. If you thought they were an all conquering team who were going to win everything, then more fool you. They've never claimed to be the Man U of cycling, bar that Wiggins quote.

4. Manchester United haven't won much this season.

PS People like me who have been following cycling for about 25 years often refer to E3 as Harelbeke (it used to be called GP E3 Harelbeke. We also tend to call 'Omloop', Het Volk, just out of habit. But a newbie like you wouldn't remember the old days. A classics man like Leif Hoste refers to it as Harelbeke. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoste-on-home-turf. Perhaps you might like to be as stupidly patronising to him too).

Edit: Oh look! Tom Boonen calls it Harelbeke too. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/an-interview-with-tom-boonen-4. How stupid are you feeling now?

 

[pedaling squares]

Ouch. I think he was actually trying to be friendly... not sure that his question deserved two stupids and a newbie. Lighten up mambo, you guys are having a good debate. You've both made some good points, why ruin it?

 

[Anonymous]

I see Wiggins is now talking about helping Dario Cioni for the overall.¨

Is Cioni strong enough for this? I remember him getting 4th in 2004, and being a decent climber then, but he's not peformed as well since. Maybe only top 15 is realistic?

Cioni has been named as team leader since early february. His season has always been built around the giro. Its only the british press have been building brad up as team leader.

If sky can with the TTT or brad can win one of the remaining time trials, and/or Hendo can either pick up pink tommoro, or as is more likely the points jersey and defend that for a few days, and/or coini can pick up a top ten overall by doing a cadel and just sitting on wheels and finishing in the lead group each day without doing any attacking or putting pressure on, then that will have been an extremely succesful tour.

I think they will top 10 cioni. But i dont think you will find it very attractive. More of a top ten by default/wheelsucking. But, still a top 10.

 

[Anonymous]

The pink jersey wont be on brads back after tommorow though, of that there is no doubt. Theres not even much point sky trying to defend it. Brad is not going to get through two sprint stages with it still intact.

Let the day take its course and try and get hendo up there in the sprint.

 

[pedaling squares]

i dont think you will find it very attractive. More of a top ten by default/wheelsucking.

The old Paris-Roubaix tactics again. Ils manquent de panache.

 

[Anonymous]

The old Paris-Roubaix tactics again. Ils manquent de panache.

well lets be realistic.. Cioni is hardly going to attack sastre and evans on the climbs and try and win the giro. A good result would be top 20, a very good result would be top 10, a positively spectacular result would be podium. theres not too many ways of doing that,
a) get in a big breakaway
b) wheelsuck

lets face it, the top ten in the tour last year all wheel-sucked save for contador. (dont take that statement too literally)

 

[ingsve]

And there were races where Sky didn't do that (Amstel Gold, Liege, Flanders) and I didn't see anyone from them the whole day. .

Sky has a team for the cobbled classics and not really for the ardennes so the fact that they were less prominent in AGR and LBL should come as no surprise to anyone.

As for RVV then you are mistaken. Going into the Eikenberg they still had six riders left in the main group which attests to the fact that they rode very well as a team that day. Unfortunately Flecha didn't have as good legs that day as he had in some of the other classics but overall it's wrong to say that they were invisible in RVV. Ultimately they ended with three riders in the group sprinting for 5th so if that's not enough then I guess only four riders got a passing grade in RVV?