It's only rare that a cycling team goes to war with itself, but it happens. It happened last Saturday at Omloop-Het-Niewsblad. Etixx simply had too many Belgium cycling stars, all with classics ambitions. Quick Step should have won the race but there appeared to be mass confusion between and Bonnen, Tempesta, Stybar and Vandenbergh.
I was trying to explain to a non-cycling friend what the term "ambitious" means in cycling. It means of course that an "ambitious rider" or a "rider with ambitions" aspires to win races even at times when he has been designated by the team DS as a support rider that day. A rider with ambitions is sometimes tempted to put his personal aspirations over his team's instructions. Remember in the 2001 Amstel Gold Race when Lance A and Eric Deckker were off the front? I don't remember who the Rabbobank DS was, but he kept pulling up along side Erikk yelling at him and telling him to drop back for the designated team leader that day, but Dekker was super ambitious that day - and he won the race. If he had lost the race he would have been finished, so it was a huge gamble. A rider with ambitions is a rogue rider at times and lacks discipline. To a certain degree, both ambition and discipline play a vital role in a team's psychological balance - in that it is ambition that often keeps riders motivated. Competitive psychological health is fragile - even (and sometimes especially) when an athlete is coming off of a big win. On top of the world one week - it is the fear of failure and the fear of loosing a team leadership position that keeps many cyclists motivated.
Patrick Lefevere is very familiar with the team balance of ambition and discipline. In fact it is something he has used to his and Quick Step's credit for many years. However, on Saturday the Etixx team dynamics completely broke down and they did not follow any type of cooperative plan. Instead they went to war and threw the race away. It was mutiny - and every man for himself. Has LeFevere lost the ability to contain his athletes? Could it mean that there are real problems at Etixx? I would say definitely not - but I also think we are going to see a change in direction from LeFevere. More discipline obviously needs to be instilled - the question is how?
It is rumored that Peter Post used to punish his riders by making them ride for long hours not allowing them to use low gears, forcing them to ride in and out of the red zone, and not allowing them to consume any food or water.
I am a little confused as to which races radios are still allowed (if any?), but if Etixx had radios, the riders were obviously not listening to them - or they had the volume turned way down - because I am sure Patrick Lefevere was screaming his head off and using Flemish, Dutch, Italian, and English words few of us have ever heard.
I was trying to explain to a non-cycling friend what the term "ambitious" means in cycling. It means of course that an "ambitious rider" or a "rider with ambitions" aspires to win races even at times when he has been designated by the team DS as a support rider that day. A rider with ambitions is sometimes tempted to put his personal aspirations over his team's instructions. Remember in the 2001 Amstel Gold Race when Lance A and Eric Deckker were off the front? I don't remember who the Rabbobank DS was, but he kept pulling up along side Erikk yelling at him and telling him to drop back for the designated team leader that day, but Dekker was super ambitious that day - and he won the race. If he had lost the race he would have been finished, so it was a huge gamble. A rider with ambitions is a rogue rider at times and lacks discipline. To a certain degree, both ambition and discipline play a vital role in a team's psychological balance - in that it is ambition that often keeps riders motivated. Competitive psychological health is fragile - even (and sometimes especially) when an athlete is coming off of a big win. On top of the world one week - it is the fear of failure and the fear of loosing a team leadership position that keeps many cyclists motivated.
Patrick Lefevere is very familiar with the team balance of ambition and discipline. In fact it is something he has used to his and Quick Step's credit for many years. However, on Saturday the Etixx team dynamics completely broke down and they did not follow any type of cooperative plan. Instead they went to war and threw the race away. It was mutiny - and every man for himself. Has LeFevere lost the ability to contain his athletes? Could it mean that there are real problems at Etixx? I would say definitely not - but I also think we are going to see a change in direction from LeFevere. More discipline obviously needs to be instilled - the question is how?
It is rumored that Peter Post used to punish his riders by making them ride for long hours not allowing them to use low gears, forcing them to ride in and out of the red zone, and not allowing them to consume any food or water.
I am a little confused as to which races radios are still allowed (if any?), but if Etixx had radios, the riders were obviously not listening to them - or they had the volume turned way down - because I am sure Patrick Lefevere was screaming his head off and using Flemish, Dutch, Italian, and English words few of us have ever heard.
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