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Is Brian Nygaard a professional comedian?

Apr 14, 2011
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Ridiculous indeed. It reminds of reading the report of the stage Cunego won in L'equipe: the article was entitled "The pride of the greats" and more than half of it was dedicated to Schleck's ride. At least Nygaard has the excuse that his job is to promote the team...
 
Apr 14, 2011
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theyoungest said:
Andy won the KOM jersey, and thus he was the strongest climber. Seems fair, no? Too bad Ten Dam lost the jersey on the final day, otherwise he would have been the best climber in the race. Alas...
He's just lucky Charteau and Matt Lloyd weren't riding.
 
Jul 15, 2009
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Seriously, he's mainly a PR guy. What's he supposed to say, that Andy is a lazy bum that does diddly squat when not in peak form? They're currently still looking for a title sponsor, so this does not surprise me at_all.
 
I understand as a PR guy he has to spin things and put them in a positive light, but I'd rather he didn't insult our intelligence while doing so.

But ok, I suppose his target audience is the most casual of casual fans.
 
Spine Concept said:
How can you be so confident in that statement? Do you - like several on this forum - think that Riis was the recipe for Andy's success at peaking properly?
It will come down to preparation and team tactics. Obviously, not having Riis and a well established, organized team will make a difference for them this year.
 
theyoungest said:
Not necessarily their peaking. But definitely their tactics, which are ridiculous this year.

I was wondering about that because I've seen several statements in that regard. As far as their tactics go, I agree. However, call it a gut feeling, I still think Andy will be up there come July. This is his race, this is what he works for the entire first half of the season, the race that means everything to him. One would think he'd do everything perfectly to peak at that point in the season. It just seems too easy to underestimate him for the tour based on his results prior to the big one. Then again, maybe it's too easy to overrate him as well based on his last couple of tour results. He's a huge x-factor in that regard.
 
Mar 31, 2010
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hrotha said:
I understand as a PR guy he has to spin things and put them in a positive light, but I'd rather he didn't insult our intelligence while doing so.

But ok, I suppose his target audience is the most casual of casual fans.

have you ever visited ans or cauberg during agr and lbl? there you can see the schleck fans. I've met empty aquariums with more knowledge of cycling than those
 
Ryo Hazuki said:
have you ever visited ans or cauberg during agr and lbl? there you can see the schleck fans. I've met empty aquariums with more knowledge of cycling than those

Haha the Cauberg ambience was great. Every Dutch, Belgian, English, Swedish, whatever nationality except Luxemburgian were cheering for Gilbert when he passed Andy Schleck. And all Schleck-fans wanted to throw themselves of the mountain, they left immediately after that and didn't even go watch the podium.
 
Spine Concept said:
I was wondering about that because I've seen several statements in that regard. As far as their tactics go, I agree. However, call it a gut feeling, I still think Andy will be up there come July. This is his race, this is what he works for the entire first half of the season, the race that means everything to him. One would think he'd do everything perfectly to peak at that point in the season. It just seems too easy to underestimate him for the tour based on his results prior to the big one. Then again, maybe it's too easy to overrate him as well based on his last couple of tour results. He's a huge x-factor in that regard.

He has all the tools except the ability to focus on the task at hand. Maybe his confidence in himself is such that he thinks he can skate by and still reach his goals, I just find it interesting that he's twice on record for forgetting to eat/hydrate in major events. The first was the Tour in 2008 with the result being he completely dropped out of contention and the top 10 in the gc and now at the TdS. Considering the consequences of his bonk in 2008 (a possible Tour victory) one would think that he and his teammates/managers would be certain to remind him to eat till he didn't want to hear anymore and then remind him again. I can't believe the TdS circumstance can be attributed to him being isolated from his teammates (he was riding as a super domestique wasn't he?) or the action so heated that he just couldn't squeeze it in amongst all the aggression.

A lack of focus could maybe explain his shifting issues. Add to that the tendency to drift back to the team car in the mountains for bottles when the domestiques are there for that task. Is he that confident that he thinks his opponents aren't worthy of his complete attention?
 

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