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Radio Shack already done with Cycling???

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Jun 28, 2009
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I think the best move for Phinney would be going to Columbia. It is an American team that builds young talent as well as anyone.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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I'm just amazed that after the exact same thing happened with Discovery, people are surprised at this.
 
Apr 1, 2010
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Clemson Cycling said:
I think the best move for Phinney would be going to Columbia. It is an American team that builds young talent as well as anyone.

As much as I hate thinking of Phinney being wasted as a Cav leadout, It would be a pretty good fit for him. Also, I read somewhere on CN that he is good friends with Tejay VanGarderen: Another big incentive for Columbia.

Edit: Or both could move to BMC/Lux.
 
Nov 17, 2009
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Dr. Maserati said:
UCI rules are that any neo-pro gets a minimum contract length of 18 months(usually its 2 years).

Doesn't really apply.

RS can sign him for 2 years, but then he'll still be without a job in a year when RS folds.

By that time, his star may not be shining so brightly if he has no results of note while trying to adjust to the pro pelaton, trying to find a new team.
 

flicker

BANNED
Aug 17, 2009
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My bet is Phinney rides the Radio Shack bus next year. The Shack will be a n entity for the next 5 years, I see Nissan getting seriously involved. As much as the haters hate on the mug of my hero Lance, get used to it. Remember Smilin Bill Clinton during the Monika trials....
 
Jan 19, 2010
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issoisso said:
I'm just amazed that after the exact same thing happened with Discovery, people are surprised at this.

Has it been conclusively reported that the organization of the Radio Shack sponsored team will be folding at the ned of 2011?

or is that just an assumption...
 
Clemson Cycling said:
I think the best move for Phinney would be going to Columbia. It is an American team that builds young talent as well as anyone.

Do you actually think of Columbia as an American team? They only have two American riders and neither of them is a team leader, though TJVG is on his way to being one.
 
Squares said:
Has it been conclusively reported that the organization of the Radio Shack sponsored team will be folding at the ned of 2011?

or is that just an assumption...

Most teams with sponsorship deals expiring always face speculation about their future.

Has RadioShack given any indication that they will continue sponsoring the team post-2011?
 
Apr 28, 2009
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I don't see Radioshack continuing past 2011 unless they have a big American name to market to the same fanbase they already have. And Phinney would fit the bill exactly.

Would anyone else?
 
Jun 28, 2009
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Do you actually think of Columbia as an American team? They only have two American riders and neither of them is a team leader, though TJVG is on his way to being one.
The team is based out of and train in California, has American ownership, and American sponsorship. Is Arsenal an English football team even though only two players on the 20 man roster are English?
 
May 15, 2009
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Clemson Cycling said:
The team is based out of and train in California, has American ownership, and American sponsorship. Is Arsenal an English football team even though only two players on the 20 man roster are English?

Train in California? Their training camps were in Mallorca for years.

If sponsorship decides it, Garmin and Columbia are Taiwanese teams :p
 
Clemson Cycling said:
The team is based out of and train in California, has American ownership, and American sponsorship. Is Arsenal an English football team even though only two players on the 20 man roster are English?

Haven't the slightest idea as I only follow international competition and know absolutely nothing about the European leagues.

I obviously don't know, but I'm guessing Arsenal has an English history? Columbia is a continuation of T-Mobile/Telekom and still has a more substantial German representation than American. My association with them definitely is not American, though that will probably change if they stick around a bit longer and pick up more American riders. I just don't see the "heart and soul" of the team being American. Not that I actually care one way or another, I like it when teams have a truly international roster.

I'm not a big fan of the squad in general but it has absolutely nothing to do with any of the above and everything to do with their sprint focus. I'm definitely a fan of TGTJVG, though.
 
jaylew said:
Do you actually think of Columbia as an American team? They only have two American riders and neither of them is a team leader, though TJVG is on his way to being one.

TJVG isn't a sprinter. HTC are all about the squeezing-the-life-out-of-the-race sprinting and sending A-grade sprinters to tiny races to pad their win count a bit like the Pats keeping Brady throwing to Moss in the 4th when they're 35 points up. Tejay will really have to go some with very little support to become a proper team leader in that team.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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Libertine Seguros said:
TJVG isn't a sprinter. HTC are all about the squeezing-the-life-out-of-the-race sprinting and sending A-grade sprinters to tiny races to pad their win count a bit like the Pats keeping Brady throwing to Moss in the 4th when they're 35 points up. Tejay will really have to go some with very little support to become a proper team leader in that team.

Oh yea, thats what I'm talking about!! Your reference to the Pats and Brady/Moss hits the nail on the head. God I hate the Pats...

I think however that TJVG may just have the moxie to make a real go as a grand tour leader with HTC...time will tell.
 
Jul 2, 2009
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Libertine Seguros said:
TJVG isn't a sprinter. HTC are all about the squeezing-the-life-out-of-the-race sprinting and sending A-grade sprinters to tiny races to pad their win count a bit like the Pats keeping Brady throwing to Moss in the 4th when they're 35 points up. Tejay will really have to go some with very little support to become a proper team leader in that team.

They also get riders in the top ten on GC on a very consistent basis. There's more to them than sprinting.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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Mambo95 said:
They also get riders in the top ten on GC on a very consistent basis. There's more to them than sprinting.

other than TJVG and Rogers who??? sprinters races and the tour of Britain don't count. I think everyone is dismayed by Tony Martin being invisible at the Tour other than a TT, leadout inside 5K and gettign dropped on the first mountain in the white jersey, Michael Rogers not doing much in GTs (I know about Epstein Barr) and the mass exodus of guys that might do something and that won non-sprints EBH, Kirchen, Lovkwist (sp.?), Burghart spring to mind. Its probably or was before becoming so Cav-centric a great place to cut you teeth but not to grow.
 
Why would an American retail business with ZERO stores in Europe sponsor a continental European team participating in a sport that largely is invisible in the US, especially when they stand roughly zero chances of wining the one event that draws any interest in America?
 
Jul 2, 2009
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Nick C. said:
other than TJVG and Rogers who??? sprinters races and the tour of Britain don't count. I think everyone is dismayed by Tony Martin being invisible at the Tour other than a TT, leadout inside 5K and gettign dropped on the first mountain in the white jersey, Michael Rogers not doing much in GTs (I know about Epstein Barr) and the mass exodus of guys that might do something and that won non-sprints EBH, Kirchen, Lovkwist (sp.?), Burghart spring to mind. Its probably or was before becoming so Cav-centric a great place to cut you teeth but not to grow.

In ProTour stage races:

Rogers (6th T-A, 3rd Romandie)
Pinotti (5th Pais Vasco, 7th Romandie, 9th Giro)
TJVG (3rd Dauphine)
Martin (1st Eneco, 6th Suisse)
Albasini (4th Poland)
Greipel (1st TdU - Ok that's a sprinter's one)

So they've been top ten in 9 of the 12 ProTour stage races - more than any other team.

Monfort, Hansen, Rabon and Rogers (2) have all won lesser stage races.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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Mambo95 said:
In ProTour stage races:

Rogers (6th T-A, 3rd Romandie)
Pinotti (5th Pais Vasco, 7th Romandie, 9th Giro)
TJVG (3rd Dauphine)
Martin (1st Eneco, 6th Suisse)
Albasini (4th Poland)
Greipel (1st TdU - Ok that's a sprinter's one)

So they've been top ten in 9 of the 12 ProTour stage races - more than any other team.

Monfort, Hansen, Rabon and Rogers (2) have all won lesser stage races.

OK, but I think they can no longer be seen as the team they were in the '08 Giro when they were out of hand and fun with everyone getting a shot.

and now that I think about it I am a fool Rogers, won the 2nd biggest stage racer in the world.:rolleyes:
 
Pinotti I'll give you. Most of the rest came from TTs or just being there or thereabouts without really bringing much to the race. Tejay did an awesome job to protect his spot on Alpe d'Huez (with Chris Horner pacing him up the last couple of km iirc) but he had his spot because of a TT.

That's how Columbia rolls - get in as many national TT champions as you can - not only can they help pull back the breaks 90% the time, but they can get into a good GC position (it helps if, like Rogers, Martin and Pinotti - and Tejay seems to be another - they can do at least a decent job of climbing even if they'll be my least favourite type of GC rider, ie the Bruyneel-inspired 'do a great TT then suck wheels up the climb' type) and even win in races like the Vuelta a Murcia where the TT is almost invariably decisive.
 
StyrbjornSterki said:
Why would an American retail business with ZERO stores in Europe sponsor a continental European team participating in a sport that largely is invisible in the US, especially when they stand roughly zero chances of wining the one event that draws any interest in America?

I was going to point out the same thing to the "Love Shackers".
It isn't about "hate", but common sense.
RS signed on for the Armstrong name and got 4 weeks exposure to the home market, via The Tour and California.
Take away the brand name and you are left with the same 4 weeks, but with far less US interest.

That's millions of dollars for an advertising strategy that relies upon a minority sport for one month out of the year.

That's a lousy return on their investment. It cannot continue.
 
Jul 2, 2009
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Libertine Seguros said:
Pinotti I'll give you. Most of the rest came from TTs or just being there or thereabouts without really bringing much to the race. Tejay did an awesome job to protect his spot on Alpe d'Huez (with Chris Horner pacing him up the last couple of km iirc) but he had his spot because of a TT.

That's how Columbia rolls - get in as many national TT champions as you can - not only can they help pull back the breaks 90% the time, but they can get into a good GC position (it helps if, like Rogers, Martin and Pinotti - and Tejay seems to be another - they can do at least a decent job of climbing even if they'll be my least favourite type of GC rider, ie the Bruyneel-inspired 'do a great TT then suck wheels up the climb' type) and even win in races like the Vuelta a Murcia where the TT is almost invariably decisive.

If they're all achieved by TTs (although T-A and Poland don't have TTs) then blame the course designers, not HTC. They're just racing in the best way they can to get results and doing it rather well. There's very few riders who can attack up a climb and make it stick, and they cost a lot of money.