Richie Porte - what do we know about him?

[Wiggo Warrior]

No.

He worked 80.

Brailsford lied.

From David Walsh's latest article in the ST, Leinders contract was for up to 80 days a year on call. He worked for 67 days in 2011. He worked at 8 races, short stage and one day, until June 2012 after which his contract was paid up and he was told the team would not be using him again, while the team carried out an internal investigation. His 8 race program prior to that accounted for about 40-42 days by my estimate. David Walsh also reported in his latest article that Leinders worked 44 days in 2012 before his pay off and the investigation, which means my estimate was quite close

What proof/indication/evidence/reason for concern/suspicion do you have that a) Brailsford lied about any of this to Walsh and b) Leinders actually worked for 80 days in half a year, despite the fact that his contract was only for up to 80 days in a whole year?

I am not just addressing this question to you thehog, particularly part a) as other people seem to be sharing this belief of yours that this constitutes a lie and there must be a reason why you believe what you stated above and can account for what Libertine Seguros posted earlier other than just a general dislike of the team and their PR.

Of course, if it is just a general suspicion based on the fact that he was involved in doping at Rabobank and is therefore a Bad Person, and anyone who employed him/met him is therefore a Bad Person too so must be lying whatever they say, then that is okay, even if it doesn't fit with my personal ethics and beliefs.

Richie Porte related content;

From the same article I can understand Porte not being happy at being asked questions about the state of Dutch cycling in the Paris-Nice winners press conference. He's never ridden in a Dutch team and his only links to the Dutch cycling scene as far as I know were a team doctor who worked for 44 days last year, quite a few of them on races where Porte wasn't there and an ex-DS who admitted to past doping and left the team.

What were the journalists expecting him to say?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

It does depend if he was working part time or not. In was not that long ago that posters were saying he did not turn up to races which goes to prove that he must have been hired for doping. Then when it turned out he was at races it was another sign that he was clearly there only to dope the riders.

btw If you read my post I was asking the question not stating fact. I have no idea either way.

Same, though Wiggo Warrior's estimating at 42 days based on the race program he did up until June seems to be pretty legit. If he was then not invited to the Tour and then placed on internal suspension pending investigation then of course he wouldn't have done any more work for the team in that period, which would account for Brailsford's 40 days. It's a conservative figure of 40, rounding down, but with Walsh then saying 44 its a minor playing-down of figures rather than some of the more egregious half-truths and discrepancies that have come out of the team over the last 18 months. I'm happy to accept that Leinders likely did around 40-45 days of work in the half season he was actually working in 2012.

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

Same, though Wiggo Warrior's estimating at 42 days based on the race program he did up until June seems to be pretty legit. If he was then not invited to the Tour and then placed on internal suspension pending investigation then of course he wouldn't have done any more work for the team in that period, which would account for Brailsford's 40 days. It's a conservative figure of 40, rounding down, but with Walsh then saying 44 its a minor playing-down of figures rather than some of the more egregious half-truths and discrepancies that have come out of the team over the last 18 months. I'm happy to accept that Leinders likely did around 40-45 days of work in the half season he was actually working in 2012.

Fortunately TheHog must have proof he worked for all 80 days so it is just a matter of him posting it.

Of course what he did in his time is still a bone of contention...

 

[BYOP88]

Why doesn't Dave Brailsford just release the details of what days the good Doctor worked in 2011 and 2012. Would clear alot of things up. I think that the good Doctor worked pretty close to 80 days in 2011, I would also accept that he may have only worked 40ish days last year.

 

[Don't be late Pedro]

- Brailsford then went on to say only a few seconds later that people don't change, dopers are always dopers. Which then completely contradicts his argument from only a few seconds before, that just because Leinders may have doped people at Rabobank doesn't mean he doped people at Sky.

btw As you mention that is somewhat of a hole in his logic. Then again according to Brailsford all of these dopers should probably now be crack addicts...

 

[northstar]

Richie Porte related content;

From the same article I can understand Porte not being happy at being asked questions about the state of Dutch cycling in the Paris-Nice winners press conference. He's never ridden in a Dutch team and his only links to the Dutch cycling scene as far as I know were a team doctor who worked for 44 days last year, quite a few of them on races where Porte wasn't there and an ex-DS who admitted to past doping and left the team.

What were the journalists expecting him to say?

Most athletes respond to journalist’s questions using sport’s clichés which are boring and add nothing to an interview (for example, I’ve been training too hard to follow the doping scandal). But there’s always that small chance that the athlete may give an interesting non scripted response. Maybe the journalist at the press conference was hoping Porte would give a thoughtful response to a timely question. Sky does have a press officer and it’s their job to prepare the riders for all types of questions. In any event, no rider should be complaining publicly about doping questions in a press conference.

Has Wiggins been asked any doping questions this year? Looking forward to that.....

 

[thehog]

It's always up to theHog to separate the truth from the BS.

Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford says that he would never have hired controversial doctor Geert Leinders if he knew the full extent of the Belgian's past, but also admitted that he has doubts over what effect a 'truth and reconciliation' process would have on cleaning up the sport.

Leinders was employed on an 80-day-a-year contract with Sky until last October after he was linked to alleged doping practices during his time with the Rabobank team.


http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news...-part-of-the-process.html#g77YFMvuE6bHUpM4.99

“I think we’re addressing the issue”

Over two months on from claiming that Team Sky would conduct an internal investigation into Dr. Geert Leinders’ time as team doctor at Rabobank, team principal Dave Brailsford has yet to announce the results of his inquiry.

Questioned by Cyclingnews on the matter in Maastricht on Sunday, Brailsford divulged no details on the nature of the investigations or his findings, simply saying that a conclusion would be reached “soon.”

Leinders was the team doctor with the Rabobank team in 2007 when Michael Rasmussen was expelled from the Tour de France while in yellow for evading doping controls in the build-up to the race. Leinders left Rabobank in 2009.

In May of this year, former Rabobank manager Theo De Roy told Volksrant that doping had been tolerated on the team up until at least 2007, saying that it was “a deliberate decision of the medical staff.”

Leinders joined Sky in the winter of 2010 in a part-time capacity, working 80 days a year for the team. His appointment came less than a year after Team Sky had pledged that it would only employ doctors who had never before worked on professional cycling teams, supposedly in order to ensure that the sins of cycling’s past could have no place in this new team.

“Look at the story. US Postal take del Moral who was at ONCE. Why do you take these doctors? And why do you take them from teams that have done rubbish things? It’s always the same story. Festina was Festina because they took Rijkaert from PDM, Postal was Postal because they took Del Moral. Why would Sky take Leinders? Where did he work before? Why didn’t they go for the doctor at FDJ? Why did they even take a doctor at all? Is there a need for a doctor in the team at all? Leinders was not the model of integrity."

 

[Digger]

People say Sky go to Tenerife for the peace and quiet and altitude...that and the fact they have gone there 8 times and been visited by testers once. So there we have the bio passport. They test the most successful team right now, by a mile, once.
Brailsford only had to ask De Jongh, Hayman and Flecha about Leinders. Instead he's having us believe that it never occured to him to ask those guys, but sent the team shrink instead to interview Geert...Peters himself admits he knew next to nothing about doping. The irony here is that Skt talk about professionalism and marginal gains, yet if we take this account as truth, and the fact that Brailsford can't seem to count days, then it's the most badly run team currently out there.
But look each time they open their mouth they contradict themselves.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Why doesn't Dave Brailsford just release the details of what days the good Doctor worked in 2011 and 2012. Would clear alot of things up. I think that the good Doctor worked pretty close to 80 days in 2011, I would also accept that he may have only worked 40ish days last year.

Buried in that reply is the totally failed assumption what Sky would say can be relied upon as truthful. It wouldn't clear anything up as we don't know what would be true and what would be lies. The list of clever and not so clever half-truths all the way to ridiculous ephemeral twin lies told by dopers is endless.

At best, settling on 40 days or 80 days is a waste of energy. Either way a doping program can be established and maintained. Lienders doesn't need to be around for doping administration in most cases, especially if baseline was established in 2011.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

People say Sky go to Tenerife for the peace and quiet and altitude...that and the fact they have gone there 8 times and been visited by testers once. So there we have the bio passport. They test the most successful team right now, by a mile, once.
Brailsford only had to ask De Jongh, Hayman and Flecha about Leinders. Instead he's having us believe that it never occured to him to ask those guys, but sent the team shrink instead to interview Geert...Peters himself admits he knew next to nothing about doping. The irony here is that Skt talk about professionalism and marginal gains, yet if we take this account as truth, and the fact that Brailsford can't seem to count days, then it's the most badly run team currently out there.
But look each time they open their mouth they contradict themselves.

de Jongh was apparently the one that recommended Geert.

 

[thehog]

de Jongh was apparently the one that recommended Geert.

Apparently De Jongh had some of the biggest saddle sores back in the day. Geert tended to them with some synthetic cells.

Worked a treat.

 

[Wiggo Warrior]

Most athletes respond to journalist’s questions using sport’s clichés which are boring and add nothing to an interview (for example, I’ve been training too hard to follow the doping scandal). But there’s always that small chance that the athlete may give an interesting non scripted response. Maybe the journalist at the press conference was hoping Porte would give a thoughtful response to a timely question. Sky does have a press officer and it’s their job to prepare the riders for all types of questions. In any event, no rider should be complaining publicly about doping questions in a press conference.

Has Wiggins been asked any doping questions this year? Looking forward to that.....

The article does state that he had been warned by the press officer to expect doping questions, I think it was the fact the question was about Dutch Federation and Rabobanks doping mostly before he was actually a pro that wrong footed him.

I seem to recall Wiggins actually raised the subject with the assembled press in Mallorca training camp and discussed it at length, although far too politely and informatively to be truly newsworthy, although I think there was a video around somewhere, BBC maybe. I think his 'interesting' responses to the tough questions only tend to come when he's just come off his bike in an important race so we'll have to wait a little bit longer.

 

[hfer07]

So..... next step for Richie's "new found abilities" will be to beat Contador in Pais Vasco...

 

[Cycle Chic]

Porte's Rapid ascent

http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/nvc-article/top-world-team-nabs-gun-launceston-cyclist/

Tasmanian Times - 10.10.2009

The young gun has only been in the sport for three years, but in his phenomenally short career he has already made it to the sport’s top level..... Porte only took up cycling at 21

What do we Know about Richie Porte - well his RAPID ascent to GT contender is what !

 

[Fortyninefourteen]

Apparently De Jongh had some of the biggest saddle sores back in the day. Geert tended to them with some synthetic cells.

Worked a treat.

Ergo....Training in Tenerife yields the biggest, nastiest saddlesores requiring treatment from the most advanced minds of science.

Tenerife = Saddlesores

Saddlesores = Treatment

Treatment = Lienders

Lienders = Marginal Gains

Marginal Gains = Yellow Jersey

Therefore:

Tenerife = Yellow Jersey

 

[will10]

Even with their current level of dominance, it would be quite something to see Sky control a race like Pais Vasco. Should be interesting.

 

[thehog]

Even with their current level of dominance, it would be quite something to see Sky control a race like Pais Vasco. Should be interesting.

Which borgs do they have in the race? Richie Borg and whom else? The Dawg?

 

[roundabout]

Bargain basement edition

11 PORTE Richie
12 BOSWELL Ian
13 DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd
14 EDMONDSON Joshua
15 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio
16 KIRYIENKA Vasil
17 TIERNAN-LOCKE Jonathan
18 ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Bargain basement edition

11 PORTE Richie
12 BOSWELL Ian
13 DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd
14 EDMONDSON Joshua
15 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio
16 KIRYIENKA Vasil
17 TIERNAN-LOCKE Jonathan
18 ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier

Porte only needs Henao on the climbs and Vasil for the heavy lifting.
The rest are on a training ride.

 

[thehog]

Bargain basement edition

11 PORTE Richie
12 BOSWELL Ian
13 DOMBROWSKI Joseph Lloyd
14 EDMONDSON Joshua
15 HENAO MONTOYA Sergio
16 KIRYIENKA Vasil
17 TIERNAN-LOCKE Jonathan
18 ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier

JTL might be borged to extremes. Richie should smash Contador. KIRYIENKA (yes cut & paste) will blow up this field.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

JTL always gave me the impression of being too independent minded to become a team robot. Hope I'm right.

 

[gooner]

Edmondson was impressive in Algarve. He look like one to watch for the future.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Edmondson was impressive in Algarve. He look like one to watch for the future.

He chose the right team. 2017 tour winner is known.

 

[gooner]

He chose the right team. 2017 tour winner is known.

A Borg in the making.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Edmondson was impressive in Algarve. He look like one to watch for the future.

highly subjective of course, but personally feel better about riders who are competitive relatively early and performs somewhat broadly in the season.

Lets see what Joshua can do here. It will be harder racing than Algarve no doubt.