Kuurne Brussels Kuurne 1.1 26/02

[DominicDecoco]

Who's ridiculing Greipel? Not me! He's a top guy and very fast, but he isn't on the same level as Cav.

According to Brian Holm he is faster than Cav.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Look on the bright side.
Cav winning is bound to breathe life into this place.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Who's ridiculing Greipel? Not me! He's a top guy and very fast, but he isn't on the same level as Cav.

According to Brian Holm, Greipel is faster than Cav. He lacks many of the other necessary abilities in compare though.

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

According to Brian Holm, Greipel is faster than Cav. He lacks many of the other necessary abilities in compare though.

It's about the scores on the doors though isn't it?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

To be fair, it didnt seem like the rest of the peloton dished out rough justice or coped with SKY's marginal gains today.

Infact I'd say that SKY are pretty much Top Daddy's in most races they're in nowadays.

I didn't say they weren't.

The péloton dished out rough justice in 2010, when Sky's mouth was cashing cheques they couldn't cash. They got taught a few lessons about road racing, and they promptly went away, learnt them, and now have a much, much better team.

Don't rewrite history; Sky's 2010 was disappointing in quite a few ways, and they had a lot of work to do to become a potential dominating force in the sport. They did that work.

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

I didn't say they weren't.

The péloton dished out rough justice in 2010, when Sky's mouth was cashing cheques they couldn't cash. They got taught a few lessons about road racing, and they promptly went away, learnt them, and now have a much, much better team.

Don't rewrite history; Sky's 2010 was disappointing in quite a few ways, and they had a lot of work to do to become a potential dominating force in the sport. They did that work.

Who's rewriting history? They made their mark at the start and have continually improved. The peletons rough justice seemed like it amounted to attacking when Boassen Hagen was having a slash. When they first started I don't think that they claimed that they were the real deal straight away and it was often mentioned that it was always going to take time to gel etc. I think winning whilst wearing skinsuits on the first outing upset a few, whilst having all mod cons to hand will always engender a 'Them and Us' type mentality from other teams who obviously saw that they would have to up their game from then on.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Who's rewriting history? They made their mark at the start and have continually improved. The peletons rough justice seemed like it amounted to attacking when Boassen Hagen was having a slash. When they first started I don't think that they claimed that they were the real deal straight away and it was often mentioned that it was always going to take time to gel etc. I think winning whilst wearing skinsuits on the first outing upset a few, whilst having all mod cons to hand will always engender a 'Them and Us' type mentality from other teams who obviously saw that they would have to up their game from then on.

Ey? They entered the sport under fanfare of "bringing science to the sport" and all manner of preposterously overblown hype. All the "massive names about to be announced!!!" as the roster was announced in dribs and drabs, followed by such incredibly insightful articles on the main page as "Team Sky perfect sprint train in sprint training" and "Team Sky prepare for TTs on TT bikes", followed closely by Wiggins' and Brailsford's embarrassing quotes like calling the TTT win in Qatar "like winning the Champions' League", prompting the likes of Marc Madiot to point out "I put my riders in wind tunnels too, I just don't have to put out a press release to say so"... they came to the sport with an avalanche of hype that they couldn't possibly match up to with their 2010 roster.

In reality, the "bringing the science to the péloton" has not amounted to very much at all except maybe occasionally wearing skinsuits. They found out that the stuff like the mood lighting on the bus and the strobe lighting to tell riders where the team car is... it's gimmickry. Road racing is much more complex than the track in some respects, and Sky have actually become better by shutting up about the science and concentrating on improving in tactics and recruitment, plus preparing race calendars better so that the right riders are peaking at the right times.

They are now one of the best teams in the sport. But they came into the sport under such fanfare, before unleashing underwhelming rosters and issuing embarrassing press statements dressed up as news stories, that they were almost a dress rehearsal for GreenEdge. Like GreenEdge they made a big deal of being good in their first race together (and like GreenEdge there was something stupid to do with kits and the TDU - Sky asked their Aussie and NZ riders not to race the nationals so that they could debut the new kits together at the TDU). However, unlike GreenEdge, Sky remembered to be good for another month or two after that.

Sky arrived with a bang at the TDU, Qatar, Oman and Omloop. Then they got some stage wins in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. But there can be no denying that their 2010 season rather fell apart after that; Flecha's Roubaix podium, though uninspiring, was all they got from Classics season; they won the Giro prologue, then disappeared entirely for the rest of the race except for Steve Cummings getting in breaks. Their first Tour was a horror show, and of course tragedy derailed their Vuelta.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Not even wearing skinsuits was a novelty. Theo bos already did that regularly at Rabobank last year.

 

[pmcg76]

Who's rewriting history? They made their mark at the start and have continually improved. The peletons rough justice seemed like it amounted to attacking when Boassen Hagen was having a slash. When they first started I don't think that they claimed that they were the real deal straight away and it was often mentioned that it was always going to take time to gel etc. I think winning whilst wearing skinsuits on the first outing upset a few, whilst having all mod cons to hand will always engender a 'Them and Us' type mentality from other teams who obviously saw that they would have to up their game from then on.

Really, they amount of hype they were putting out was unreal for a new team, they were going to totally revolutionaize pro cycling. They did ok first season but nowhere near matched the expectations they had set.

As libertine pointed out, they have developed into a top team and noticeably toned down on all the other stuff.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Not even wearing skinsuits was a novelty. Theo bos already did that regularly at Rabobank last year.

They also scored a bit of an own goal when Brailsford was trumping up Nicole Cooke's Olympic Gold in a skinsuit as an example of the kind of scientific marginal gain genius he would be bringing to the sport, whilst simultaneously ignoring her as she begged cap in hand for a contribution to keeping her team alive after the replacement sponsors pulled out at the 11th hour.

 

[Gloin22]

gingerwallaceafro, Sky definitely disappointed in the first year on many levels, it was a decent year for a new team but they failed with the promises etc. They've learnt from the mistakes and came back very strong last year and now are a Top team that continues to improve.

 

[Andy99]

Ey? They entered the sport under fanfare of "bringing science to the sport" and all manner of preposterously overblown hype. All the "massive names about to be announced!!!" as the roster was announced in dribs and drabs, followed by such incredibly insightful articles on the main page as "Team Sky perfect sprint train in sprint training" and "Team Sky prepare for TTs on TT bikes", followed closely by Wiggins' and Brailsford's embarrassing quotes like calling the TTT win in Qatar "like winning the Champions' League", prompting the likes of Marc Madiot to point out "I put my riders in wind tunnels too, I just don't have to put out a press release to say so"... they came to the sport with an avalanche of hype that they couldn't possibly match up to with their 2010 roster.

In reality, the "bringing the science to the péloton" has not amounted to very much at all except maybe occasionally wearing skinsuits. They found out that the stuff like the mood lighting on the bus and the strobe lighting to tell riders where the team car is... it's gimmickry. Road racing is much more complex than the track in some respects, and Sky have actually become better by shutting up about the science and concentrating on improving in tactics and recruitment, plus preparing race calendars better so that the right riders are peaking at the right times.

They are now one of the best teams in the sport. But they came into the sport under such fanfare, before unleashing underwhelming rosters and issuing embarrassing press statements dressed up as news stories, that they were almost a dress rehearsal for GreenEdge. Like GreenEdge they made a big deal of being good in their first race together (and like GreenEdge there was something stupid to do with kits and the TDU - Sky asked their Aussie and NZ riders not to race the nationals so that they could debut the new kits together at the TDU). However, unlike GreenEdge, Sky remembered to be good for another month or two after that.

Sky arrived with a bang at the TDU, Qatar, Oman and Omloop. Then they got some stage wins in Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico. But there can be no denying that their 2010 season rather fell apart after that; Flecha's Roubaix podium, though uninspiring, was all they got from Classics season; they won the Giro prologue, then disappeared entirely for the rest of the race except for Steve Cummings getting in breaks. Their first Tour was a horror show, and of course tragedy derailed their Vuelta.

Don't forget sky are a media company. telling stories about cr@p is what they do.

Most of it was aimed at the typical British football fan who didn't even know cycling as a sport existed prior to the sky team being launched. They had to talk about something to justify putting stuff out on their sky sports (football) news channel.

I don't think it was ever really intended to impress the sport itself. But by their very nature, 'press releases' aren't very often kept secret.

 

[theyoungest]

Not even wearing skinsuits was a novelty. Theo bos already did that regularly at Rabobank last year.

Sky did it before Bos though. Only old farts Smeets and Ducrot didn't know.

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

Ey? They entered the sport under fanfare of "bringing science to the sport" and all manner of preposterously overblown hype. All the "massive names about to be announced!!!" as the roster was announced in dribs and drabs, followed by such incredibly insightful articles on the main page as "Team Sky perfect sprint train in sprint training" and "Team Sky prepare for TTs on TT bikes", followed closely by Wiggins' and Brailsford's embarrassing quotes like calling the TTT win in Qatar "like winning the Champions' League", prompting the likes of Marc Madiot to point out "I put my riders in wind tunnels too, I just don't have to put out a press release to say so"... they came to the sport with an avalanche of hype that they couldn't possibly match up to with their 2010 roster.

In reality, the "bringing the science to the péloton" has not amounted to very much at all except maybe occasionally wearing skinsuits. They found out that the stuff like the mood lighting on the bus and the strobe lighting to tell riders where the team car is... it's gimmickry. Road racing is much more complex than the track in some respects, and Sky have actually become better by shutting up about the science and concentrating on improving in tactics and recruitment, plus preparing race calendars better so that the right riders are peaking at the right times.

They are now one of the best teams in the sport. But they came into the sport under such fanfare, before unleashing underwhelming rosters and issuing embarrassing press statements dressed up as news stories, that they were almost a dress rehearsal for GreenEdge. Like GreenEdge they made a big deal of being good in their first race together (and like GreenEdge there was something stupid to do with kits and the TDU - Sky asked their Aussie and NZ riders not to race the nationals so that they could debut the new kits together at the TDU). However, unlike GreenEdge, Sky remembered to be good for another month or two after that.

It's about setting standards. The fanfare and marketing of the team at the outset has stood them in good stead, the care the riders get and the attention to detail needed to be shouted out, they're seen to be at the cutting edge and ambitious which pleases sponsors and attracts good riders.

Of course it would always be difficult to begin with and of course they would always improve. No team is the finished article straightaway and I don't believe anyone at SKY said that back then. What they did say was that they will do things differently and implement marginal gains in all departments and I think it is this approach and the organisation that has helped them improve continually, which is essentially what they have done. Through that 'Marginal gain drivel'.

 

[webbie146]

Awesome win by Cav!

 

[Andy99]

Awesome win by Cav!

Yeah, back to the real story of today!

LOL at Van Hummels face

 

[theyoungest]

LOL at Van Hummels face

He always looks like that in a sprint. Def no points for style.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It's about setting standards. The fanfare and marketing of the team at the outset has stood them in good stead, the care the riders get and the attention to detail needed to be shouted out, they're seen to be at the cutting edge and ambitious which pleases sponsors and attracts good riders.

Of course it would always be difficult to begin with and of course they would always improve. No team is the finished article straightaway and I don't believe anyone at SKY said that back then. What they did say was that they will do things differently and implement marginal gains in all departments and I think it is this approach and the organisation that has helped them improve continually, which is essentially what they have done. Through that 'Marginal gain drivel'.

Whereas I disagree, and consider that most of that 'marginal gain drivel' has been discarded or at least is no longer talked about, and instead they've got rid of extraneous nonsense and concentrated on how to do better at bike races.

Putting out the best numbers in the world can't help you if you have no tactical sense or are racing the wrong races in the wrong form. It's that that Team Sky have sorted out.

Team Sky are not a revolution, nor are they even a change. They are just another bike racing team, and have developed into a very good one.

 

[theyoungest]

Whereas I disagree, and consider that most of that 'marginal gain drivel' has been discarded or at least is no longer talked about, and instead they've got rid of extraneous nonsense and concentrated on how to do better at bike races.

Putting out the best numbers in the world can't help you if you have no tactical sense or are racing the wrong races in the wrong form. It's that that Team Sky have sorted out.

Team Sky are not a revolution, nor are they even a change. They are just another bike racing team, and have developed into a very good one.

I don't completely agree with you on that, they currently seem to have quite a good team of trainers/coaches behind them. The way Porte and Nordhaug have already won races in dominating fashion, or last year Froomey, there has to be something revolutionary going on there (or something clinicy, but let's not go there).

 

[gingerwallaceafro]

And BTW, nowhere did I say that SKY had a great start results wise in their first year.. I mentioned that they made their mark.. SKY winning the first race in skinsuits was a great start for them and the PR it generated. There are a lot of elements to the way that they have done things that I find distasteful but I do like the fact that they have a winning attitude and they're a British team and I believe in their athletes credibility. I don't like the way it's a bit of a British Cycling clique, but I guess that always happens to an extent.

 

[Echoes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeWmMJ-J45c

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Awesome win by Cav!

Yeah, back to the real story of today!

LOL at Van Hummels face

Classic!

As Cav said there was nothing else he could do when the team reeled in the break and 'delivered me like that'. So that was an Awesome SKY too.

Post-race Cav gave a nice explanation how it went after Oman, and how the team responded today instead of just telling him to FO. Lots of praise for his teammates today, deservedly so.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

And BTW, nowhere did I say that SKY had a great start results wise in their first year.. I mentioned that they made their mark.. SKY winning the first race in skinsuits was a great start for them and the PR it generated. There are a lot of elements to the way that they have done things that I find distasteful but I do like the fact that they have a winning attitude and they're a British team and I believe in their athletes credibility. I don't like the way it's a bit of a British Cycling clique, but I guess that always happens to an extent.

To be fair, the PR it generated was almost entirely self-created. Nobody else gave a damn about the Cancer Council Classic, except for the guys probably being paid to be in the break (I'm not saying it wasn't a natural break, but very interesting that it included Armstrong and Pereiro, the 2 TDF winners present, and Evans, the Aussie WC, in a pancake flat crit). The win they got in the TDU proper was also a crit. Then they won the Qatar TTT.

By the time they'd actually won something meaningful (Henderson's win in Paris-Nice after Caisse d'Epargne formed echelons and broke the race up), they were no longer celebrating so egregiously. From the way they celebrated the Cancer Council Classic you'd have thought they'd just won San Remo.

 

[Andy99]

To be fair, the PR it generated was almost entirely self-created. Nobody else gave a damn about the Cancer Council Classic, except for the guys probably being paid to be in the break (I'm not saying it wasn't a natural break, but very interesting that it included Armstrong and Pereiro, the 2 TDF winners present, and Evans, the Aussie WC, in a pancake flat crit). The win they got in the TDU proper was also a crit. Then they won the Qatar TTT.

By the time they'd actually won something meaningful (Henderson's win in Paris-Nice after Caisse d'Epargne formed echelons and broke the race up), they were no longer celebrating so egregiously. From the way they celebrated the Cancer Council Classic you'd have thought they'd just won San Remo.

Get a room you two

 

[Echoes]

Hats off to the Vacansoleil and Vöckler. Cav, their leader, should be grateful to them.