Jonathan Vaughters guest appearance

[Daniel Benson]

Hello,

Exciting news! This Thursday at 11:30am Colorado time; 6:30pm in the UK, Garmin-Barracuda boss Jonathan Vaughters will appear in the forums for around an hour to answer your questions.

If you've got a question on the state of the sport; breakaway leagues; the UCI; the fight against doping; clean sport or the Tour de France you can post it here. If you want to know about wine and Argyle you can ask that too!

To ensure things move smoothly questions will have to be moderated and please bear in mind that Jonathan is here to answer questions on a variety of topics. He'll do his best to answer as many as he can but please don't be offended if he can't answer every single question.

You can start submitting questions NOW and we'll begin posting a few of them before Jonathan comes online. That way we hope to have a few answers ready and in the pipeline.

Thanks

 

[A.Rabadan]

Jonathan, how can it be accepted by the Pro Cycling Council that the UCI via Global Cycling Promotion is setting up WorldTour races? The UCI exists just to regulate sport, not to take part in the organization business, isn't it? Now we have a conflict of interest against the true organizators, specially when the China races will be key in the team's fight for points in order to secure a WT place.

 

[ingsve]

You lost a lot of riders to GreenEdge ahead of this year. Was this something you saw coming early, did you fight to try and keep these riders or did you willingly let them go in order to focus on finding replacements?

Among the riders you lost were two great lead out men in Lancaster and Dean. What will losing them mean to a sprinter like Farrar and what rider do you see taking over the crucial role of being the final lead out in your sprint train?

 

[UCI_Overlord]

The Classics Season

Since Tyler Farrar is struggling with the sprints early this season, could we see him switched to a classics specialist? Have you considered psychological coaching for what seems to be a string of third or fourth place finishes to start the season?

Any thoughts on the fact that Gilbert will not be doing Paris-Roubaix and Thor will be the sole leader for BMC? Does that prospect frighten you?

 

[Froome19]

1) What is your response to the UCI's attempts to globalise by doing things like making the Tour of Beijing Worldtour, are they finally taking a step down the right path or are they going about taking the whole wrong approach?

2) Garmin were considered to be the strongest team going into the classics last year yet underperformed until Johan Vansummeren won in Roubaix. They have got riders like Maaskant, Vanmarke and Farrar who can all do well never mind Haussler and Vansummeren Do you expect more from your classics team this year and who do you think will shine of your rising stars?

3) What is your opinion on the backdated bans which are now becoming commonplace?

 

[DominicDecoco]

What's up with the sideburns?

 

[Escarabajo]

Jonathan: what is your position on the fact that National Federations investigate and sanction their own country riders on doping matters? Isn’t that a conflict of interest? Isn’t this one of the reasons why we have so many delays in the sanctioning of the riders, because most of the times we have the WADA/UCI appeals?

What choice would you recommend?

moderators: feel free to adjust the language as english is not my first language. Thanks.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

How much power (wattage (@threshold?)) and w/kg) did Thomas Dekker push in his best physical tests at Garmin so far?

 

[will10]

Andrew Talansky seems to have started this season brightly, will we see him at Le Tour?

 

[Race Radio]

What are the key elements needed for Pro Cycling to build a large, sustainable fan base in the US? More teams? More events (both participatory and spectator) Better coverage?

Cervelo's "Beyond the Peloton" documentaries were ground breaking and well received by fans. Did you think they added sufficient additional exposure to be a good investment?

If you were in charge of the globalization of the sport where would you push to add new races?

Do you have any good groupie/Podium girl stories?

 

[maltiv]

What do you expect of Dan Martin this season? Do you think he can get control of his allergies and be a contender for the Ardennes?

 

[Havetts]

Who do you see as the biggest talent in cycling, the biggest underachiever and who is the next tour-top-10-out-of-nowhere on your team ?

 

[Beech Mtn]

As head of AIGCP, are you concerned about the possibility that the UCI will strip SaxoBank of World Tour status, thus making the current roster over the limit for a ProConti team, and requiring innocent riders to be released from their contracts for (1) something beyond their control, and (2) something that happened on a different team (Astana 2010) anyway.

 

[Boeing]

Damn I was hoping he would be on Dancing with the Stars

 

[Thorn Cycling]

Mr. Vaughters,
If you could only choose one: Which is cooler, Argyle or Sideburns?

 

[fmk_RoI]

Aigcp q

There was talk of bringing in an outsider to run the AIGCP - is the search still ongoing or has it been abandoned?

 

[pmcg76]

In light of the recent cases of Contador and Ullrich which took forever to conclude. What steps should be taken to streamline anti-doping procedures so that it doesnt look like a bad joke done on a whimsy?

Who in your view should be responsible, UCI, WADA, AFLD or some other organsisation and what should be the situation in regards to appeals of bans? Should riders be suspended during appeals or allowed to ride like Contador, especially when they are proven guilty to start with.

How on earth did all the ProTour teams miss Jonathon Tiernan-Locke? Garmin were at the Tour of Britain so no excuses for not seeing him. He already has as many wins as the entire Garmin team!!

Whom of the boys in Girona has got the hots for Emilia Fahlin?

 

[JV1973]

To Ingsgrave

Ingsgrave, We did lose a lot of riders to green edge, but I did not fight for them, as you said. I focused on new recruits, as I figured Australians would like to be part of a new "national" team. Julian was looking for a change, and we needed to refresh the position anyhow. Brett never participated in any lead outs in 2011, as he did not have the form to race many of the top events, so I can't really say if he would have been good or not.

If you look at the 6th stage of Oman, I think you'll see that our "new" lead out is considerably better than in the past. Tyler did not have the legs to take full advantage of it yet, but he'll get there.

If you look, historically, to the riders that have left this team vs the ones we've recruited in the last 4 yrs, we've made large net gains in performance each and every year. Go take a look at who we lost in 2008, 2009, 2010 and see what they did the year after they left.

Emotionally its hard for fans to see guys leave, and I think they feel that their favorite guy was absolutely key to the team. It's human nature to look at the "stars" of each season. But it's my job to try and see a bit beyond what guys have done, and predict what they will do and what they can do.

 

[Daniel Benson]

This is from JV (sorry it came via email)

Rabadan,

I agree with you entirely, that a governing body should not be also attempting to run profitable businesses in the sport it's supposed to be regulating. Imagine if the SEC bought Goldman Sachs....How would that work? I imagine the regulations would be considerably different and the risk of "favors" and malfeasance would be very high. we need to avoid conflicts of interest in cycling, not bring more upon ourselves.


Sadly, the teams and athletes are not united enough to prevent such things from happening, and since cycling has such a along history of conflicts of interest just being accepted and/or ignored, it seems this one will be forced upon us.


regards to the CCP, it is a non-functional board, as there has yet to be one actual vote by its members in the 3 yrs Ive been going. These items don't get voted on, they get presented to us by the UCI and everyone seems to just accept it... I'm usually the only one who speaks up. I need to start calling for votes on each and every item.

 

[JV1973]

Overlord,

If you watch 2010, the last time Tyler did Qatar/Oman, it was a very similar story, lots of 3rds and 4ths. Or even going back to Tour of California in 2008, where he was 3rd in the prologue, but nowhere in the sprints. Tyler has never been one to be overly fit in february, as he spends much of his time cross country skiing in the winter. he develops a robust fitness for the classics, but isn't that speedy. Its a typical pattern for him, so I'm not too worried.

But, does he win on instinct? No. When Tyler wins, it's because he is blatantly the strongest. That's why it's crucial to have a very fast lead out train around him, as he doesnt do the duck and weave as well as Cav. He's just a very strong rider that likes to sprint, as opposed to just being a sprinter.

For me, Cancellara is the major threat in Roubaix. If BMC plays the card pulling for one leader, then it plays very well to Cancellara, as he doesn't have to rely on his own team, which isn't as strong for Roubaix. His team couldn't hold the race together in 2011, and he had to do a lot of work early on his own, which is why we won. But if BMC holds it together for him, he'll be lethal on the last 3 sectors of pave, where teamwork is out the window, and legs are what counts.

 

[JV1973]

Gooner, It does seem unfair to place new races with no history straight on to the World Tour, agreed. Also, what sort of incentive does this give independent race promotors to improve and strive for more? Not much. Again, regulators should regulate, and try to avoid conflicts of interest, not dive straight into them, inviting even more controversy in cycling. Hein Verbruggen once told me he wanted GCP to become ASO's biggest competition. At least the intentions are clear.

 

[Thibaut Pinot]

Hypothetically, if you could get one Dutch climber (Gesink, Kruijswijk, Mollema or Poels) for free to join the Garmin team. Which one would you pick? And why?

 

[JV1973]

Froome, I'm a big proponent of globalization, and the sport needs the UCI to accomplish this. But would it not be better if the UCI helped existing race organizers expand their businesses by giving them the chance to own/operate the expansion races? In any case, the answer to your questions is, yes I think it's a step down the right path, but the execution of the overall globalization plan is far from ideal.

What's interesting about last yrs classics team, is that we got a lot of hype, but the reality was, there was not one rider on the team in 2011 that had ever won a classic! Not even Thor. Vansummeren is the first. People don't realize that in races like Flanders and Gent-Wevelegem 2011, all of our key workers were dropped fairly early, leaving us with few options. Now, for 2012, there's a lot less sizzle, but a lot more steak. Maaskant has returned from injury (he didn't race any classics in 2011) Haussler is much better, Vanmarcke is fast improving... we have a solid core, which will allow us to play the numbers game. We won't win with bravado solo moves, but we can win with carefully nuanced tactics...the type that **** people off!

If dan can control the allergies that affect him from March-June, then he could become one of the best riders in the World. Dan's talent and engine are second to none and his TT is greatly improved (you'll see...) BUT...he has to get the allergies under control, which is hard. you can win many races breathing through a straw.

 

[JV1973]

Dominic, Ive had them since I was 17. Guess I just fear losing them. Its dysfunctional and codependent relationship.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Hello Jonathan,

First of all thanks for doing this!

What type of rider do you expect Navardauskas to become? As he has shown a lot of potential in the hills with winning LBL U23 but he also showed potential in the cobbled classics, and now he has also shown he can climb pretty well in Oman (although I think he is to big for that). + Will Navardauskas already ride some of the classics this year since he showed good form in Oman, and what will be his role in these races?

And another question.

Do you think Danielson will already have form in Langkawi this year and be able to compete for the overall? Since he was not so strong in the early season in 2010 and 2011