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Kittel

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DFA123

DFA123

Nov 7, 2010
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Not sure why Kittel is being accused of being disloyal when he could have left them years ago. Kittel did much more for Giant, than Giant did for him. He would have been a star on any team - being comfortably the fastest guy in the world. However, until this year, he was the only truly world class star that Giant had. He was the name that was attracting the co-sponsor - which was changing nearly every year and he was basically the one rider that allowed the team to become a viable World Tour team.

Then, when he went through his first period of poor form/injures, they dropped him from the TdF team, replacing him with several riders that had no hope of doing anything. An out of form Kittel still had a great chance to win one of the flat stages if he was delivered close to the finish - it was a ridiculous decision not to take him and suggested something going on behind the scenes.

It seems to me like Giant were fairly content to move Kittel on once Degenkolb made the step up to become a global superstar this spring.
 
Kwibus

Kwibus

May 25, 2010
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Re:

DFA123 said:
Not sure why Kittel is being accused of being disloyal when he could have left them years ago. Kittel did much more for Giant, than Giant did for him. He would have been a star on any team - being comfortably the fastest guy in the world. However, until this year, he was the only truly world class star that Giant had. He was the name that was attracting the co-sponsor - which was changing nearly every year and he was basically the one rider that allowed the team to become a viable World Tour team.

Then, when he went through his first period of poor form/injures, they dropped him from the TdF team, replacing him with several riders that had no hope of doing anything. An out of form Kittel still had a great chance to win one of the flat stages if he was delivered close to the finish - it was a ridiculous decision not to take him and suggested something going on behind the scenes.

It seems to me like Giant were fairly content to move Kittel on once Degenkolb made the step up to become a global superstar this spring.
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Yeh right. He could barely follow the bunch in the Ster ZLM tour.

They both owe eachother a lot.
 
S

saganftw

May 21, 2010
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im surprised how quickly is a team willing to change its makeup - from sprinter/classics to classics/GC after one good GT perfomance,goes to show that sprinters are really not that valued and also kittel is a kind of guy who needs ppl to get him through the stage,he is probably the worst cyclist among sprinters,cavendish and greipel can take care of themselves to some extent,kittel needs everybody to support him
 
I

IndianCyclist

Nov 12, 2010
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Re:

DFA123 said:
Not sure why Kittel is being accused of being disloyal when he could have left them years ago. Kittel did much more for Giant, than Giant did for him. He would have been a star on any team - being comfortably the fastest guy in the world. However, until this year, he was the only truly world class star that Giant had. He was the name that was attracting the co-sponsor - which was changing nearly every year and he was basically the one rider that allowed the team to become a viable World Tour team.

Then, when he went through his first period of poor form/injures, they dropped him from the TdF team, replacing him with several riders that had no hope of doing anything. An out of form Kittel still had a great chance to win one of the flat stages if he was delivered close to the finish - it was a ridiculous decision not to take him and suggested something going on behind the scenes.

It seems to me like Giant were fairly content to move Kittel on once Degenkolb made the step up to become a global superstar this spring.
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He could not even finish a number of 3rd string races. He would have been dead last possibly abandon the TDF if selected. Kittel chose with his heart instead of his brains.
 
PremierAndrew

PremierAndrew

May 9, 2014
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staubsauger said:
Some people tend to believe that Kittel broke with Giant after his Tour non-selection. He was angry in first instance, of course. But I don't think that there was too much burned wood to go on together.

This deal just makes so much sense for everyone. Giant can shift it's focus to classics / heavy sprints with Degenkolb and gc action with Dumoulin / Barguil an receives a big check. Quick Step gets the best sprinter of the world and can concentrate on classics and sprints rather than having a lonely gc guy on board that they can't support strong enough. Kittel gets back absolute team leadership for the gt sprints and probably a bigger paycheck due to Lidl.

The only loser here is in fact Alpecin who lose their perfect posterboy. The question is, will Kittel become Lidl's male pendant to model Sophia Thomalla for their cosmetic and health food range. :D
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Realistically, even if Kittel was angry, it's not like his place for the Tour the following year was under threat - especially considering that the Giro organisers basically made the Giro for Dumoulin
 
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robin440

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pastronef said:
robin440 said:
Bye Bye Bicycle said:
Kittel DNF'ed his last race with Giant today. Leaves a bitter taste...
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He abandoned with 10 km to go. A win in his last race would be nice.
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abandon 10 to go? :eek:

this says both parties are angry and not in good terms
why drop out at 10 to go if not ill or crashed?
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I don't know. The first 120 km were pretty hilly but i he survived that, then a 50 km flat run into münster + 3 short city laps, but he only did the first lap and then went to the teambus. Weird.
Pace was probably too high, he was already grimacing with 15 km to go.
 
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Tych23

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According to radsport-news Kittel will earn 250k € less than at Giant. Giant agreed to terminate Kittels contract so Etixx did not even have to buy him out.
 
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ray j willings

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I can't understand the hateful comment's
Unless you have some actual real knowledge of the facts then why start throwing toys out the pram. I don't get the hater's. When he wins xxx stages at next years tour and give a nice interview you will all be saying what a great ride and a nice bloke.
I do know that Kittel is a awesome sprinter and has not had the best year. That's all I know everything else is just assumption.
 
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KubaWinter

May 20, 2010
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Bavarianrider said:
Jspear said:
The CN article doesn't say....anyone know how much cheaper he was than Cav?
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Why the hell should a way younger, way faster, way better looking and way more charismatic guy be cheaper than Cavendish :confused: :confused: :confused:
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Because he quite doesn't have Cavendish's profile and, more importantly, got a terrible season. It's also a buyers market for him at the moment.
 
H

Happy dude

Jul 27, 2014
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Re: Re:

Bavarianrider said:
Jspear said:
The CN article doesn't say....anyone know how much cheaper he was than Cav?
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Why the hell should a way younger, way faster, way better looking and way more charismatic guy be cheaper than Cavendish :confused: :confused: :confused:
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Way younger? 3 years. Way faster? Not this year. Way better looking? Bieber lookalike Indeed? More charismatic? Wtf he's boring as hell. Greipel was the best sprinter this year. Not Kittel :)
 
MellowJohnny

MellowJohnny

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Questions,

Will Kittel be bringing any riders with him over to Quickstep?, if not what sort of lead out train will he have with Renshaw and Pettachi leaving.

Also does anyone think Cavendish jumped before he was pushed out by Kittel?
 
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