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Sky abandon zero tolerance policy for staff

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Jul 6, 2010
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TeamSkyFans said:
Theyve got five DS's, and up to three people who can step in, Rod Ellingworth, Jullich etc. Not sure they need anymore. Not heard anything.

Apparently the full article will be meatier.

i reckon they are preparing for some news, Barry or yates.

A la Flandis?

I'd rather not, but some bubbles are made to be burst....
 
May 20, 2010
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What staff member in pro cycling doesn't have at least a bit of a murky history though? Its kinda facing up to the truth and no denying it.

I doubt there is a **** storm about to happen but perhaps the tide is coming in and when the final wave has cleared we will be left with a clearer sport (or lots more flotsam and jetsan on the beach). 2011 has always felt like a year when something is going to chance.

edit: Also is it better to attempt to have a zero tolerance policy and be public about the short comings, or just inviting an ex and currently banned rider to your training camp?
 
Feb 1, 2011
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I must admit that I am inclined to agree that the Sky / Brailsford interview does seem like a pre-emptive strike against some bad news coming down the tracks. The teams are now very media savy, and the best defense is often a quick offensse. Case in point, JV coming on here and posting a reponse to the Garmin email before the thread even reached page 2! - for me that is on the ball and not some random late night web surfing by a man with a glass of Pinot Noir in one hand and a few hours to kill.

BB
 
Jun 12, 2010
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Mambo95 said:
Or c) they're trying to hire a new DS and have found that the only realistic options have a past or a rumoured past.

The thing with DSs or prospective DSs, is they may not have doped very willingly. Many, maybe most, would have been pressurised into it or seen no other option with it being so widespread. Many will have resented doing it, and be quite anti-doping now, and now see an opportunity to help do it the right way.

Most riders that dope are not presured in the sence " do this or else".
They have a choice. Cheat or accept your natural limits.
A fair portion wouldnt even have a pro licence without having doped.
As for any sence of shame or guilt why should they have when they know most everyone else is ?. I havnt yet met a rider that doped express regret and that go`s for any Sky/ BC backroom staff.
Thy aint all known and they aint all convicted iether, rather like the Peloton eh?
Untill theres isn`t a single DS with a dodgy history the sport has no chance of ever being truly clean.
It all starts with good Ethics..a bloody rare thing amongst DS`s:(
 
Darryl Webster said:
Most riders that dope are not presured in the sence " do this or else".
They have a choice. Cheat or accept your natural limits.
A fair portion wouldnt even have a pro licence without having doped.
As for any sence of shame or guilt why should they have when they know most everyone else is ?. I havnt yet met a rider that doped express regret and that go`s for any Sky/ BC backroom staff.
Thy aint all known and they aint all convicted iether, rather like the Peloton eh?
Untill theres isn`t a single DS with a dodgy history the sport has no chance of ever being truly clean.
It all starts with good Ethics..a bloody rare thing amongst DS`s:(

I think cheat or build cement forms is a fair level of pressure for the average 20 year old kid.
Good ethics is a rare thing amongst successful bike racers, so stands to reason it will be rare in each new crop of DS's. But we could do worse than skipping the EPO generation and moving on to younger candidates.
 
Sep 9, 2009
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Brailsford also pointed out that Michael Barry, who was tarred with the same brush Floyd Landis took to the likes of other former US Postal riders Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie and most notably Lance Armstrong, was signed before Landis' allegations emerged last year.

"When we signed Michael Barry we took him on face value. You have to have experienced riders of that calibre in your team. They need to help the leaders. They need to be wise to the peloton and how it all works," explained Brailsford.

"Michael had a personality we liked. He came from a period of riding with Columbia [now T-Mobile] and we were very confident in Bob Stapleton's set-up and that they were a very clean team and so we took him on that basis.

"We didn't have any information to suggest anything else. Who knows where these things will end up. But we'll base our decisions on facts when they appear. As it stands we support Michael and give him the benefit of the doubt.

"But if something comes out in the future then we'll review it as we go along. All decisions will be based on the fact that anything we do should be proportional. But he has been such an asset to us. He's got a lot of respect and people like his persona."

Shorter Brailsford: "Barry is a nice guy, and everyone knows nice guys don't dope. Especially nice guys who do nothing but domestique all year then come 7th in the World Champs that happen to take place on native soil."
 
I dunno.

Mambo95 said:
Or c) they're trying to hire a new DS and have found that the only realistic options have a past or a rumoured past.

The thing with DSs or prospective DSs, is they may not have doped very willingly. Many, maybe most, would have been pressurised into it or seen no other option with it being so widespread. Many will have resented doing it, and be quite anti-doping now, and now see an opportunity to help do it the right way.

I don't have your level of faith that people so committed to winning when they were riding doped. They want the big wins and they don't come dope-free in some cases. Best case scenario, they look the other way as a DS.

It would be a happy surprise if they did better. But I'm not holding out any hope.
 
Jan 2, 2010
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JPM London said:
But, oh no, we can't have Millar on the team - no, no...

Until he turns 40, then he can join the staff...

I'm glad that Team Sky is maturing - they started off as a pretty obnoxious organization. They have some great riders.

Has the Canadian Cycling Association completed it's investigation into Barry? I don't think I've heard of any of the national associations actually reporting any findings or closing any files on those named in the Landis emails.
 
Feb 14, 2011
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Shame

Shame Brailsford has done this, but if you want to win the Tour you need to hire the top men, and if all the top men have a past you have little choice.
 
TeamSkyFans said:
... snip ...

b) a **** storm is about to blow up about one of Sky's ds's practises as a rider, and DB is premeditating it by saying the past is the past, and although that DS doped as a rider he doesnt encourage riders to do that now.

Im going to go with option B, and Sean Yates is going to stab Lance in the ****.

I would also go for option B, but isn't it more likely to be Bobby Julich?
 
Mar 19, 2010
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A very brave move by Braislford, on which I must congratulate him. People will speak ill of it.

Team Sky must be ethically run. I sincerely hope they believe as much as all their fans in sport science, that yes, aggregating marginal gains is a way to be completive and that cheating is unnecessary within cycling as it's currently run. Also that a team is valued on more than race results...
 
Feb 14, 2011
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Sooner or later, if he has not already, Sean Yates will have to speak to Federal Investigator Novitzky. It will be interesting to see hear what Yates has to say.
Is Brailsford preparing the way?
 
TeamSkyFans said:
or

b) a **** storm is about to blow up about one of Sky's ds's practises as a rider, and DB is premeditating it by saying the past is the past, and although that DS doped as a rider he doesnt encourage riders to do that now.

Im going to go with option B, and Sean Yates is going to stab Lance in the ****.

I ruddy hope so. He should have done that (literally) a long time ago instead of just pinning the young PoS against the bus when he was getting mouthy. Would have saved us all a lot of hassle.

So when you think of it, the last 12 years have been Yates's fault.
 
Jan 19, 2011
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Fester said:
A very brave move by Braislford, on which I must congratulate him. People will speak ill of it.

Team Sky must be ethically run. I sincerely hope they believe as much as all their fans in sport science, that yes, aggregating marginal gains is a way to be completive and that cheating is unnecessary within cycling as it's currently run. Also that a team is valued on more than race results...


Yes very brave of Dave. It would seem he's smelt the roses. Selective ethics, I love it. Is Dave going to call ricco about a job as a D.S.
As for a team being more valued than race results, I would enjoy your view on FDJ demotion?
 

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