Radioshack Fail

[luckyboy]

Jup you've said it all, there's no way they'll win TdF not as long as Conta and Andy are around.

Don't see them winning it if those two didn't race..

 

[flicker]

Yeah, that's why he didn't attack today or try hard in the TT. Whatever.

Moose please... you are trying my patience. Levi is a weenie and I just do not have the time to understand that weenie. Wait Levi supports animal birth control....yeah I can get behind thaat.

 

[saganftw]

i consider 3rd,4th and 9th place overall hardly a "fail",its not like they didnt try brajkovic was very active,just didnt work out ,two other riders were better in GC

what i see as a problem is that they are getting too old to do something,LA,levi and horner (kloden,zubeldia too) they are all declining naturaly and brajkovic with popo are underachievers,they should look at liquigas and bring some new fresh riders (with no doping allegation)

 

[erader]

Oh, I don't know about that. I suspect their sponsors are quite happy with the ATOC.

i'll bet the sponsors are white knuckling it just like tiger wood's sponsors the morning after he wrecked his escalade.

ed rader

 

[SpartacusRox]

there's a big doubt in my mind if RS will even be at the tour and if they are i think they will be demoralized and hardpressed to get one man in the top 10.

ed rader

Lol I just love posts like this. Demoralised? They are a professional team not schoolkids. They will be there and they will be competitive. They will probably have three in the top ten.

Having said that, yeah ToC was a disappointment but they came up against a strong team in HTC and also Garmin. Tony Martin was riding like a beast.

 

[SpartacusRox]

i consider 3rd,4th and 9th place overall hardly a "fail",its not like they didnt try brajkovic was very active,just didnt work out ,two other riders were better in GC

what i see as a problem is that they are getting too old to do something,LA,levi and horner (kloden,zubeldia too) they are all declining naturaly and brajkovic with popo are underachievers,they should look at liquigas and bring some new fresh riders (with no doping allegation)

They will bring in new riders over the next couple of years. Taylor Phinney is obviously their main protege and I can see him in the team next year. Jesse Sergeant is also likely to move up into RS and these two kids are real talent.
They have big money and given the uncertainty over sponsorship of several teams for next year there will be plenty of riders around looking for contracts.

Also I don't recall Garmin winning much in their first year but noone seems to be whining about that now!

 

[SpartacusRox]

I think that RS doesn't want to win. Winners are always tested. And the cut in Armstrong's face ,I think, was smaller thant it looked. The solution is artificial blood. Because of beeing accused of doping Lance wanted to leave the race and was in need of "plausible" reason.
I'm an illustrator and would say that the blood looks partly faked.

Wow he must have applied it real quick then...are you for real?

I don't think OGrady really broke his collarbone either and no way did Hausler really hurt his knee again. As for Boonen, did you see those scrapes when he crashed earlier in the week? Obviously faked. Notice he never contested any sprints?? Didn't want to be tested...yeah thats it.

 

[erader]

I think that RS doesn't want to win. Winners are always tested. And the cut in Armstrong's face ,I think, was smaller thant it looked. The solution is artificial blood. Because of beeing accused of doping Lance wanted to leave the race and was in need of "plausible" reason.
I'm an illustrator and would say that the blood looks partly faked.

phil said during today's coverage that bruyneel said that armstrong's was stitched up in the team bus. i'm not saying i agree with you but if armstrong didn't have his elbow x-rayed at a hospital i might say you are on to something .

ed rader

 

[SpartacusRox]

phil said during today's coverage that bruyneel said that armstrong's was stitched up in the team bus. i'm not saying i agree with you but if armstrong didn't have his elbow x-rayed at a hospital i might say you are on to something .

ed rader

You perhaps missed a couple of relevent details: He also said it required seven stitches and was done by a doctor. I think the doctor would have recognised fake blood.

Of course he is probably on the RS payroll...Oh were does this dastardly conspiracy end!!?

Of course it may have been just: The guy crashed, a doctor examined him in the bus, stitched up his eye there, end of story... Nah just doesn't have the intrigue does it!

 

[santacruz]

I heard rumors the doctor had to ask him some questions to try and discern how that messed up eye could have happened, those types of things usually happen to old people, and the doc wanted to know if he was taking any medications or whatnot that could have led to his eye getting that way.

 

[Cerberus]

I think that RS doesn't want to win. Winners are always tested. And the cut in Armstrong's face ,I think, was smaller thant it looked. The solution is artificial blood. Because of beeing accused of doping Lance wanted to leave the race and was in need of "plausible" reason.
I'm an illustrator and would say that the blood looks partly faked.

So you think that RS faked a crash, LA then with lightning reflexes reach into his pocket to grab some artificial blood and smear it on his face in a somewhat credible manner while using his secret training as a conjurer to conceal it from the spectators who are presumably watching? Things like that just don't happen outside of movies like Ocean's 11. It's stupid and needlessly complicated. If he wanted to pull out he could just claim gastroenteritis or similar, people might speculate, but no one would be able to prove anything. Messing around with artificial blood and fake crashes in front of spectators just runs the risk being caught out, which would be incredibly incriminating. It's a huge risk to run for practically no gain. As we can see it's not like pulling out after a crash doesn't invite speculation.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Also I don't recall Garmin winning much in their first year but noone seems to be whining about that now!

Garmin didn't have the same hype, funds, or big riders... not to mention they didn't get automatic entry into the PT without ever riding a single race
When comparing, try to consider all the variables.

 

[saganftw]

Garmin didn't have the same hype, funds, or big riders... not to mention they didn't get automatic entry into the PT without ever riding a single race
When comparing, try to consider all the variables.

you should consider the fact that RS doesnt have riders to win a lot of stages (maybe steegmans could do something in sprint?) ...just look at the names,they are all stage race riders or domestiques,they can place well in GC but in terms of number of wins overall its not very promising...its not well balanced squad,columbia or liquigas are much better in that department,im not surprised they dont win as much as other teams

 

[SpartacusRox]

Garmin didn't have the same hype, funds, or big riders... not to mention they didn't get automatic entry into the PT without ever riding a single race
When comparing, try to consider all the variables.

Well entry into the PT was based on the quality of riders in the team so wheres the big deal there? How many races did Sky win before getting an automatic entry??

Hype and funds have little to do with it plus there are always variables in any race. Crashes etc can always conspire against any team. If every team that tagetted a race and didnt win it are failures then they all must be because it has happened to most if not all pro teams. On that logic Saxo were a fail team at last years tdf because Andy did not win. Its just a stupid argument levelled at one team because some people dont like that team.

 

[Cerberus]

Well entry into the PT was based on the quality of riders in the team so wheres the big deal there? How many races did Sky win before getting an automatic entry??

Hype and funds have little to do with it plus there are always variables in any race. Crashes etc can always conspire against any team. If every team that tagetted a race and didnt win it are failures then they all must be because it has happened to most if not all pro teams. On that logic Saxo were a fail team at last years tdf because Andy did not win. Its just a stupid argument levelled at one team because some people dont like that team.

Ehm, hello. Reality check here. The Tour of California is not the Tour de France. Being the runner up in the most important race of the year that everyone who can puts as their top priority is not the same as being 3rd place in a second tier race that few if any top tier riders target. Getting 3 stage wins and several other important wins in different races and many smaller wins helps to. The TDF hasn't happened yet, so we don't know how RS will do there, but so far their season has been disappointing for a team with RS budget. The problem isn't that they didn't win California, the problem is they've hardly won anything at all.

 

[hamperium]

team Radioshack is too old but well be honest they have the future with Taylor Phinney. he was very strong in Holland during the Olympia's tour
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamperium_espana/4630754137/

 

[Galic Ho]

I would give them a tad bit more credit when it comes to teamwork during races. The team points speak for themselves. Whenever I have looked, Radioshack was higher in team classification pts than say, Astana.

Look again. You get points for winning and placing. Astana has been doing a lot of that. RS aren't even in the top 10 teams last time I looked. Astana are in the top 3. Tried finding the latest standing but the UCI website is crap.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

You perhaps missed a couple of relevent details: He also said it required seven stitches and was done by a doctor. I think the doctor would have recognised fake blood.

Of course he is probably on the RS payroll...Oh were does this dastardly conspiracy end!!?

Of course it may have been just: The guy crashed, a doctor examined him in the bus, stitched up his eye there, end of story... Nah just doesn't have the intrigue does it!

great sarcasm

 

[Michielveedeebee]

hey I want Lance to win. If you do not like Phil give him a call. You guys are on the same level in cycling verdad? It was in Levis interest not to win the ToC this year. On many different levels. The race belonged to Rodgers. Goood on em.

Yes indeed, winning the biggest american stage race in an american team really is not important at all! what was I thinking

 

[Libertine Seguros]

They will bring in new riders over the next couple of years. Taylor Phinney is obviously their main protege and I can see him in the team next year. Jesse Sergeant is also likely to move up into RS and these two kids are real talent.
They have big money and given the uncertainty over sponsorship of several teams for next year there will be plenty of riders around looking for contracts.

Also I don't recall Garmin winning much in their first year but noone seems to be whining about that now!

According to Yaroslav Popovych, they're currently riding 'for a team in 2011'. Not everything is rosy at the Shack.

Speaking of rosy, a few days in the maglia rosa will do Caisse d'Epargne (one of the teams uncertain over sponsorship, and whose riders would become a highly sought-after commodity) no harm whatsoever.

 

[eleven]

So you think that RS faked a crash, LA then with lightning reflexes reach into his pocket to grab some artificial blood and smear it on his face in a somewhat credible manner while using his secret training as a conjurer to conceal it from the spectators who are presumably watching?

Oh, if you review the threads you will find that many people here thought the accident was faked or done on purpose to give LA a chance to bail.

Absurd? Sure. But not surprising.

 

[Christian]

Also I don't recall Garmin winning much in their first year but noone seems to be whining about that now!

That's true but Garmin never had such high ambitions or such a high budget as RadioShack or Sky, so they were probably satisfied with their first season.

It was in Levis interest not to win the ToC this year. On many different levels.

If he had a similar result as Andy Schleck, I'd agree - but given the fact that he won thrice and finished only seconds back I think he really wanted to win it

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

Tried finding the latest standing but the UCI website is crap.

http://www.uci.ch/templates/BUILTIN-NOFRAMES/Template3/layout.asp?MenuId=MjExMw&LangId=1

Astana 3d, RadioShack 13th.

Susan

 

[Angliru]

Oh, I don't know about that. I suspect their sponsors are quite happy with the ATOC.

Yep, negative publicity, Armstrong crashing out in a bloody mess, no stage wins, no overall victory. Yep they're quite happy.

 

[Angliru]

hey I want Lance to win. If you do not like Phil give him a call. You guys are on the same level in cycling verdad? It was in Levis interest not to win the ToC this year. On many different levels. The race belonged to Rodgers. Goood on em.

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