Sky may have already done the best transfer of 2011

[Zinoviev Letter]

Sky underperformed their hype last year, but I don't think they particularly underperformed more realistic expectations.

 

[Jamsque]

They burst on to the scene with a huge song and dance and a lot of talk, which certainly inflated expectations, but in the end they had a very solid year for a brand new team at the top level of the sport.

 

[maltiv]

sky acquired really crappy and or overrated riders like gerrans, lovkvist, wiggins, henderson, cioni, augustyn, arvesen and others. there's nothing strange about them not succeeding and I thought everyone could see it last year. no topsprinter, no topclimber, no top classics guy except flecha for the cobbles but he's no winner and no top gc guy

I'm not sure why you would include Arvesen on that list, he's getting old and he's not quite as good as he used to be, but he's still a decent domestique and that's what he was hired for. But you're right that Gerrans for example has been quite disappointing.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I'm not sure why you would include Arvesen on that list, he's getting old and he's not quite as good as he used to be, but he's still a decent domestique and that's what he was hired for. But you're right that Gerrans for example has been quite disappointing.

I also meant over the top. arvesen is a bigger name then the cyclist he is now. I'm sure sky paid more for him then what he showed.

 

[ergmonkey]

I also meant over the top. arvesen is a bigger name then the cyclist he is now. I'm sure sky paid more for him then what he showed.

Maybe. I'd be legitimately interested to know what sort of deal Arvesen got.

Maybe he scored big; but, at the same time, I can't see too many teams going nuts over him. He was a natural fit for Saxo Bank (the only Scandinavian team); aside from that, he'd probably be very desirable from HTC's perspective. Not sure of too many others, though, and I don't think Saxo Bank had much interest in getting into a bidding war over him.

 

[The Hitch]

They burst on to the scene with a huge song and dance and a lot of talk, which certainly inflated expectations, but in the end they had a very solid year for a brand new team at the top level of the sport.

I dont think they did. They started ok but other than Flecha Omloop and Wigo stage 1 Giro, it didnt really justify their getting invited to every race they wanted to.

Especialy with their attitude which could be argued, fell barely short of contempt to the idea that they actually had to ride races outside the Tour de France.

When thats your attitude and you fail at the Tour big time, not a great season + dont make up for it too much elsewhere, thats not a great season.

This season even if they lost Omloop, has looked better imo and Uran and Wiggins will do better in the GTs.

 

[maltiv]

Maybe. I'd be legitimately interested to know what sort of deal Arvesen got.

Maybe he scored big; but, at the same time, I can't see too many teams going nuts over him. He was a natural fit for Saxo Bank (the only Scandinavian team); aside from that, he'd probably be very desirable from HTC's perspective. Not sure of too many others, though, and I don't think Saxo Bank had much interest in getting into a bidding war over him.

Lots of teams wanted him, he was incredible in 2008 and he did a great worlds in 2009. I'm not sure why he suddenly got so much worse at Sky (I have my suspicions though) but I'm pretty sure he's still rather valuable as a road captain.

 

[ingsve]

Lots of teams wanted him, he was incredible in 2008 and he did a great worlds in 2009. I'm not sure why he suddenly got so much worse at Sky (I have my suspicions though) but I'm pretty sure he's still rather valuable as a road captain.

Well, beiong injured most of last season doesn't really help. And at his age getting back into past glory shape after an injuryyear like that isn't exactly automatic I would think.

 

[ergmonkey]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Arvesen fan. I think he's a great addition to any team needing guidance in the Classics and/or first ten days of a grand tour, and he is also capable of a few wins of his own.

My only point is that, for a number of reasons, I'm not sure that Arvesen's contribution to a team necessarily translates into a very large salary. For starters, he's Norwegian--a very small media market for cycling. Next, his contributions are rarely high-profile. Third, he's old enough that no team will ever be confident of his continuing to perform at his usual level after they sign him.

Definitely there were teams out there thinking that Arvesen would have been a good signing, but that doesn't guarantee that those teams were willing to part with any particular number of hundreds of thousands of Euros.

 

[Captain_Cavman]

they don't speak any english, that's why they got other guys in like zandio

Did they bring in any guys like Zandio who aren't in fact Zandio?

Flecha can presumably translate but wouldn't often appear in the same races.

So does this mean that Zandio guarantees a place on the GTs where there are Colombians?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

sorry I didn't mean guys like zandio are translators, they bring in a guy like zandio for uran to have a buddy who speaks spanish

 

[meandmygitane]

sky acquired really crappy and or overrated riders like gerrans, lovkvist, wiggins, henderson, cioni, augustyn, arvesen and others. there's nothing strange about them not succeeding and I thought everyone could see it last year. no topsprinter, no topclimber, no top classics guy except flecha for the cobbles but he's no winner and no top gc guy

Yeah, I see their problem, they are not Colombians! Perhaps they can change nationality and become god-like cyclists that way? No?