New NZ Cycling Team formed

[Ryo Hazuki]

You are real modernized eh? You like to watch sport at the highest level...probably never been there yourself!! Most if not all of those women could kick your ***!! Your post is ignorant at best.

to be honest I'm/was a semi professional mma fighter(I still train regularly) and the reason I didn't want to turn pro is because it wasn't that big of a deal for me but I trained with some guys who are pro's now or are still pursuing that and that's fine with me as I like my life the way it is better for myself but don't come and tell me I'm not modernized or have no clue about sporting at a high level. because you haven't got a clue.

besides I know numerous girls that don't like to watch woman sport either but prefer men sport for the same reason I gave.

 

[Barrus]

Please shall we not do this discussion again. It ended up ridiculous the last time already. Shall we focus on the topic at hand, the NZ team, which should be a developmental squad

 

[jaylew]

In fairness, nowhere in that article do I see it mentioned that winning the TdF with a New Zealand rider is the goal. The only goal I see stated is the goal of having the Team in the Tour by 2015.

 

[mowie133]

they can't be any wrose then most of the crap spainish an french teams going around at the big tours......

the aussie team (fly v) is doing very well an would of done more then most teams at this years big tours..
will be good to see a aussie an a nz team going around atleast then we will have some clean teams

 

[tgsgirl]

they can't be any wrose then most of the crap spainish an french teams going around at the big tours......
the aussie team (fly v) is doing very well an would of done more then most teams at this years big tours..
will be good to see a aussie an a nz team going around atleast then we will have some clean teams

Thanks! Late night comedy is always fun.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

In fairness, nowhere in that article do I see it mentioned that winning the TdF with a New Zealand rider is the goal. The only goal I see stated is the goal of having the Team in the Tour by 2015.

Exactly. The dream is to be the Footon Servetto of the 2015 tour, not to win the tour. Apart form that, the parochial cringe factor is pretty high.

 

[131313]

Why are you guys so down on the Kiwi national team? There are a lot of good Kiwi bike racers out there, though most of them end up racing in the US, so the euro cycling fans don't hear much about them.

I actually think putting together a national team with big euro aspirations would be good for the development of the sport in NZ, and I definitely think they have the talent out there.

Watch out for Paddy Bevin, the kid is going to be really good. He's more all-arounder than stage racer at this point, but at 19 he's strong as hell and has a good head on his shoulders.

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

I actually think putting together a national team with big euro aspirations would be good for the development of the sport in NZ.

No question. Given the innate kiwi affection for the underdog, they wouldn't even need to win anything to have that effect. I do think they would need to ride the tour to get the publicity necessary to really move the sport forwards in NZ though, and I'm not convinced that is very realistic by 2015. But since you picked Hesjedal for 7th, if you think otherwise I could be convinced.

 

[hrotha]

Why are you guys so down on the Kiwi national team? There are a lot of good Kiwi bike racers out there

I too am looking forward to seeing Julian Dean as a GC contender.

edit: also Jeremy Yates!

 

[khodder]

Don't forget Hayden Roulston, 10th at Paris-Roubaix this year.

 

[blaxland]

In fairness, nowhere in that article do I see it mentioned that winning the TdF with a New Zealand rider is the goal. The only goal I see stated is the goal of having the Team in the Tour by 2015.

Spot on jaylew something a lot of posters haven't managed to read....Good luck Kiwi's and hopefully like Sky there will be more teams competing for the Tour in the near future....

 

[Kender]

everyone knows that the only reason teams go to the TdF is to win the GC. look at HTC Columbia, BBox, AG2R, Lampre, Cofidis, Quickstep, Caisse, Etc etc. they always send someone that will challenge for a podium... oh wait

get real folks, noone said the team was going to win the tour, just that they want to get there. Can they do it? probably not by 2015, but i sure hope they do.

Julian Dean has raised the profile of cycling in NZ quite alot in recent years. It's getting more bike races on TV instead of only covering the TdF. A team of mostly Kiwi's might mean we get even more coverage. We got the ToC this year which i was surprised about, and we even got some live coverage of our own tour of southland which was even more surprising.

Maybe the TdF is a little unrealistic. but if they managed to get invites to ToC, the Giro or the Vuelta by 2015 that would be great for NZ cycling. they might not be in it to win it, but that doesn't mean they can't race for some stage wins

I too am looking forward to seeing Julian Dean as a GC contender.

noone thinks you're funny

 

[131313]

I too am looking forward to seeing Julian Dean as a GC contender.

edit: also Jeremy Yates!

OUCH!!

haters....

Honestly, they have to say stuff like "we'll be in the Tour by 2015" because people don't want to sponsor teams that don't get to ride the Tour. Fact is, for a Kiwi team to make it to a tour-level team, it would have to be like Garmin, who are an "American" team with a few Americans and a lot of foreign riders.

I do think that Bevin will be a guy who can be competitive at the top level of the sport in 3-5 years, in some capacity or another. He's more classics than climber, though. He's the creme of the crop of the Bici Vida guys, and could end up being the sort of guy you build a team around. Then again, he's 19, so it's probably best not to get too carried away at this point.

 

[hrotha]

noone thinks you're funny

Maybe not, but when you're done being all offended by a harmless remark, you might want to consider the point I was subtly making, which is that New Zealand doesn't have the pool of riders to even think of having a top class NZ team anytime soon, and that, as others have suggested, they shouldn't put the cart before the horse but rather create a pool of talent first.

 

[Elagabalus]

Why not, though?

If people are willing to give you money just go for it. 7-11's first year was certainly less than stellar. Hampsten was 16th. The year before he was fourth (Ok, not quite on the level of Wigo's epic fail but still...). 7-11 begot Motorola which begot the most awesome team, mop the floor with the rest of the peloton take that, b!tches, USPS! These things take time...

 

[dirkprovin]

Can agree with some previous suggestions that a Kiwi development team/2nd level team may be worthwhile but one cannot take this proposition seriously for one important factor.

$$$$$$$$

WHO/which NZ entity is going to be willing or capable of sinking/committing the amount of $$$ that will be required ?? Which NZ entities have the global exposure/ambitions to make such a commitment a worthwhile investment ?

With the best will in the world, I can't find one & unless such backing is there .... this proposition ain't going anywhere !

 

[danyela]

The problem is that you don't develop cycling in your country in this way, you need to develop it at the youth and the grassroots level and not by creating a team intent on winning the tour

We have it at the grass roots level here, just check out the U19 team who just went to the Tour de l'Abitibi in Canada. There are some very good young riders coming up through the ranks. The problem is, being so isolated anyone who wants to make it in cycling has to head to Europe or USA which is very difficult coming out of NZ. NZ has never had a pro cycling team so I don't get why it is a problem for one to be started now to try and aid NZ riders as much as possible in their careers, and part of that is aiming to compete in the TdF in the future.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

get real folks, noone said the team was going to win the tour, just that they want to get there. Can they do it? probably not by 2015, but i sure hope they do.

with the goal of racing in the Tour de France by 2015 and ultimately winning the Tour de France with a New Zealand rider

i don't really have a problem with it. I just don't believe in it.

 

[Barrus]

We have it at the grass roots level here, just check out the U19 team who just went to the Tour de l'Abitibi in Canada. There are some very good young riders coming up through the ranks. The problem is, being so isolated anyone who wants to make it in cycling has to head to Europe or USA which is very difficult coming out of NZ. NZ has never had a pro cycling team so I don't get why it is a problem for one to be started now to try and aid NZ riders as much as possible in their careers, and part of that is aiming to compete in the TdF in the future.

As most others in this thread I did not know this
Than perhaps it would be interesting for them to create a squad, if this would mean these riders have a bigger chance of breaking out, something that does not really seem to happen at the moment. In that case I would be happy with such a team

 

[NickBVK]

An Australasia/Oceania team is a better idea.

However Fly V Australia want to be at the Tour by 2012

 

[Kazistuta]

It seems to me that the most benificiary thing to do was to form a team at pro continental level. That way a lot of the younger Kiwi riders will get a chance to race abroad.

And no offence to the New Zealanders in here, but atm it doesn't look like you've got either the quality or quantity to be competitive. If the 17-18 year-olds racing in Canada should be the backbone of a newfounded Kiwi team, it would probably take longer than five years to get anywhere near the TDF.

Every country could need a talents team/ a team to develop and teach national riders how to behave in a pro cycling environment. I don't see a NZ team in TDF in five years though, at least not with a Kiwi main contender - well, a major cooperation could always "pull a BMC" and get a wild card, but as stated before, I think it would benefit the cycling community of NZ more to form a pro cont team.

 

[craig1985]

Thanks! Late night comedy is always fun.

mowie still thinks Chris Sutton rides for Garmin

 

[abbaskip]

You are real modernized eh? You like to watch sport at the highest level...probably never been there yourself!! Most if not all of those women could kick your ***!! Your post is ignorant at best.

He wasn't ignorant at all. He never claimed that the women cyclists couldn't beat him. He claimed that they're not at the highest level, which they're not.

If woman were at the same level in cyclng (and other sports like Football and Tennis which they complan about lack of coverage in), then why do you need a separate woman's division?

Tennis particularly annoys me, that they get equal grand slam prize money. That's HUGE sexism just there. They play shorter matches, get smaller TV Ratings (where a large chunk of tournament revenue comes from), and aren't as good as the men (see point above, if they were as good, let's combine them all and combine prize money).

 

[Njbb1995]

New Zealand are Getting good international results!-http://www.roadcycling.co.nz/RaceTalk/latham-tts-into-yellow-at-elk-grove.html

 

[Barrus]

Okay, now stop with the talk about women's cycling, or start a new thread. We don't need that debate in this thread again