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After all Quickstep was a fairly mediocre team 10 years ago until HTC collapsed and they picked up a lot of their staff and those pushed them to modernize and adapt to modern cycling.
Ala also wore yellow last year.Their TDF is already a great success. From now anything is a bonus. They had 3 wins last time and the green but no yellow
And WAAAAY more publicity this time around, courtesy of Cav. PL played this one beautifully.Their TDF is already a great success. From now anything is a bonus. They had 3 wins last time and the green but no yellow
Problem is that Bennett isn't reacting to Lefevere (the guy who pays his salary).I bet Lafavare is sending Sam Bennet the replay to todays sprint in an angry email.
Lefevere has been slandering an employee in the media. In most employment contexts, he would hear back through a lawyer. There’s no reason to believe that Bennett has failed to communicate with him after his media outbursts though, beyond Pat snivelling (again of course in the media) that he didn’t get a response to some text.Problem is that Bennett isn't reacting to Lefevere (the guy who pays his salary).
If I was Lefevere, I would have fired him already.
I think this is a very good point, we all act like Quickstep’s stage/sprint/classics domination has been a fact of life, but it’s not that long ago that they were losing a 3v1 to Stannard and Kittel and Greipel were winning 4 and 5 Tour stages for Lotto and Giant.I mean they are putting out quite a bit of Youtube content these days.
Other than that, I really start to wonder how much of Quicksteps succes over the last years has to do with Lefevre running that team or rather a great team around/just underneath Lefevre running the ship succesfuly despite Lefevre. After all Quickstep was a fairly mediocre team 10 years ago until HTC collapsed and they picked up a lot of their staff and those pushed them to modernize and adapt to modern cycling.
really?
If you (and I quote Patrick Lefevere) haven't got any response from your employee, after you already made clear you have a lot of questions, after you initiate contact and get a message back 'I'm on the bike now' and nothing after that message, one has to wonder what Bennett is aiming for. If he thinks like "I'm injured and recovering and have nothing to say at the moment" is the right way, when your employer clearly wants some explanation, you're doing it wrong.Lefevere has been slandering an employee in the media. In most employment contexts, he would hear back through a lawyer. There’s no reason to believe that Bennett has failed to communicate with him after his media outbursts though, beyond Pat snivelling (again of course in the media) that he didn’t get a response to some text.
If you (and I quote Patrick Lefevere) haven't got any response from your employee, after you already made clear you have a lot of questions, after you initiate contact and get a message back 'I'm on the bike now' and nothing after that message, one has to wonder what Bennett is aiming for. If he thinks like "I'm injured and recovering and have nothing to say at the moment" is the right way, when your employer clearly wants some explanation, you're doing it wrong.
Or maybe Bennett doesn't want any else than not having to race again this year. Who knows. If he is really this uncertain, and Lefevere is bullying him so much, I would think that Bennett doesn't even dare to show up anymore.
No, you don't do that. I totally agree.Even if Bennett was in the wrong here (and I'm not sure if he's even stated his side of the story), Lefevre *** called him a mentally weak, deceptive, ungrateful coward in public. You don't do that.
Too be fair, they tried being HTC with Cav when they weren’t.I think this is a very good point, we all act like Quickstep’s stage/sprint/classics domination has been a fact of life, but it’s not that long ago that they were losing a 3v1 to Stannard and Kittel and Greipel were winning 4 and 5 Tour stages for Lotto and Giant.
I think Cav was quite open about that from what I saw earlier, training in case something happened (not that suprising imo given Bennett had pulled out of Belgium and he'd been called up there)Did anyone see the post-race interview with Michael Morkov in which he said that Cav had secretly carried on training as if he were to ride the tour on the offchance that something happened.?
Am I reading too much into that it has the plot just thickened?
I mean I was specifically speaking of 10 years ago so not sure what your quoting results from the 90s, early 2000s etc. for?really?
Mapei - Quickstep 1999
Mapei - Quickstep was the name of the cyclingteam in 1999. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comMapei - Quickstep 2000
Mapei - Quickstep was the name of the cyclingteam in 2000. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comMapei - Quickstep 2001
Mapei - Quickstep was the name of the cyclingteam in 2001. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comMapei - Quickstep 2002
Mapei - Quickstep was the name of the cyclingteam in 2002. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Davitamon 2003
Quickstep - Davitamon was the name of the cyclingteam in 2003. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Davitamon 2004
Quickstep - Davitamon was the name of the cyclingteam in 2004. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2005
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2005. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2006
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2006. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2007
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2007. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2008
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2008. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2009
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2009. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep - Innergetic 2010
Quickstep - Innergetic was the name of the cyclingteam in 2010. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuickstep Cycling Team 2011
Quickstep Cycling Team was the name of the cyclingteam in 2011. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comOmega Pharma - Quick-Step 2012
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2012. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comOmega Pharma - Quick-Step 2013
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2013. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comOmega Pharma - Quick-Step 2014
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2014. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comEtixx - Quick Step 2015
Etixx - Quick Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2015. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comEtixx - Quick Step 2016
Etixx - Quick Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2016. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuick-Step Floors 2017
Quick-Step Floors was the name of the cyclingteam in 2017. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comQuick-Step Floors 2018
Quick-Step Floors was the name of the cyclingteam in 2018. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comDeceuninck - Quick Step 2019
Deceuninck - Quick Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2019. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.comDeceuninck - Quick Step 2020
Deceuninck - Quick Step was the name of the cyclingteam in 2020. The main riders on the team this season were , and .www.procyclingstats.com
That's 22 consecutive years leading the team ranking.
Let that sink in.
I totally messed up, thinking I was backing up my argument with all these links...I mean I was specifically speaking of 10 years ago so not sure what your quoting results from the 90s, early 2000s etc. for?
Even results clearly after what I had been making a point of?
I could've been more clearly though and admit that I shoud have specified that I was mainly talking about their 2011 campaign. They had only 8 victorys, which is pretty bad given their history which you yourself pointed out, and two of them were Curacao champs.
Of course wins only tell part of the story but it's pretty clear that 2011 was a low point to which they reacted and brought in a lot of the staff from the folded HTC team. After which they were only getting better again. That was my point which I hope is clearer now.
I'm well aware of their history and was just trying to make the point that Lefevres staff and performance team might play a more important role than he himself nowadays, a development which could've started back in 2011.
HTC folded in 2011, Boonen 2012 happened?I think this is a very good point, we all act like Quickstep’s stage/sprint/classics domination has been a fact of life, but it’s not that long ago that they were losing a 3v1 to Stannard and Kittel and Greipel were winning 4 and 5 Tour stages for Lotto and Giant.
Bennett, Ackerman, and EwanDQS weren’t the dominant sprint team in 2019, which is surprisingly recently. They won the most races overall, as usual, but not in the sprints. Bora beat them in total number of wins and Lotto dominated the Tour sprints.
»A wolf pack has a definite social structure and rules of conduct. The pack leaders are the alpha male and female. These two animals are dominant over all the other wolves in the pack. The alpha male and female are the only wolves that breed and produce pups in the pack, and they also get to eat first at kills.«Title suggestions:
"It's all about Don Patrick"
or
"The elephant among wolves"