Team Ineos (Formerly the Sky thread)

[Dear Wiggo]

Re: Re:

Mikel Landa: "Next year I'm going all out, 100 percent"
Spanish climber talks about his move to Team Sky.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mikel-landa-next-year-im-going-all-out-100-percent/

Coz like, in 2015 I was only going 90% ya know?

roflcopters.

Gonna be great to discuss these riders in this thread now.

Yeah, now that he is over the cytomegalovirus he is totally ready. Although he wasn't too shabby 2015.

Did we know he had this virus last year? Is it the new badzhilla?

Yeah I am not sure if that helps or hinders, given the delay in training and racing meaning he's fresher later in the year, but on balance I think it would be better to not suffer from virus effects at all.

Seems unusual to fall under its spell in the off-season when you should be well rested and have plenty of time and support for recovery.

Smells a bit like bilharzia, yes.

 

[GreasyMonkey]

Re: Re:

Mikel Landa: "Next year I'm going all out, 100 percent"
Spanish climber talks about his move to Team Sky.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mikel-landa-next-year-im-going-all-out-100-percent/

Coz like, in 2015 I was only going 90% ya know?

roflcopters.

Gonna be great to discuss these riders in this thread now.

Yeah, now that he is over the cytomegalovirus he is totally ready. Although he wasn't too shabby 2015.

Did we know he had this virus last year? Is it the new badzhilla?

The Astana program had to be dialled back somewhat with the attention in 2015, next year, 100% on the Skyborg program - protected now from surveillance & oversight by the SKY "cone of invisibility"

 

[LeindersGains]

Re:

Mikel Landa: "Next year I'm going all out, 100 percent"
Spanish climber talks about his move to Team Sky.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mikel-landa-next-year-im-going-all-out-100-percent/

Coz like, in 2015 I was only going 90% ya know?

roflcopters.

Gonna be great to discuss these riders in this thread now.

He will follow the same path as Porte. Win all the one-week races he shows up in but with a bigger margin than Porte since he is a natural climber. Tirreno - Adriatico and Basque Country should be a a piece of cake.

Former prologue expert Porte turned into a goat, so I guess Landa will turn into a mountain lion. Be afriad, be very afraid. Froome and Landa are the only riders in modern cycling who can a MTF with a 1 min margin. Landa has the potential to drop everyone by a 2 min margin with Sky pillows.

 

[Benotti69]

Re:

Mikel Landa: "Next year I'm going all out, 100 percent"
Spanish climber talks about his move to Team Sky.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/mikel-landa-next-year-im-going-all-out-100-percent/

Coz like, in 2015 I was only going 90% ya know?

roflcopters.

Gonna be great to discuss these riders in this thread now.

I read into the 90% that things were held back a little under at Astana UCI orders, but now with Sky who have UCI on board he can go 100%.

 

[LeindersGains]

Re:

I see LRP and TJVG having mixed results next year and some leadership squabbles as a result. If Porte does fly too close to the sun then we all know one thing is for sure - no +ves will show up from his Sky years, even though he had his best form there.

The question is, will LRP go nuclear if he does get busted? If his ex teammates throw him to the wolves I think it's likely.

Yep it will either be from his days with Bjarne who already has a bad reputation in cycling or as a new kid in the school with teacher Ochowicz who appears to be corrupt.

But the code of Omertà will prevent him from saying anything. If he gets a 1 or 2-year ban, he'll be desperate for a comeback. There is a reason why they let Porte go, the guy doesn't get anything.

 

[LeindersGains]

I have the idea that 2016 will be the ultimative full genius year. Just say f--- it and win all the stage races.

Paris-Nice with Thomas and Tirreno - Adriatico with Landa. Froome will have some sort of "mild chest infection" or "sore back" as always. I guess Froome's preparation for requires a lot of blood. He is glowing too much early in the season.

 

[djpbaltimore]

I read the 100% quote in the Landa article as referring to being held back at times by the leadership hierarchy of Astana. I doubt Astana were holding back anything doping-wise at the Giro. The Tour? Possibly.

 

[Rollthedice]

Amazing how these things work. Get a nasty virus or infection, something uncommon that lingers in the organism, perform like ***t then in the last year of contract somehow get rid of it (not for good though since it might be useful later), prove you are the next great cycling sensation and get a new contract, preferably with Sky. Froome did it with tremendous success, now Landa. Poor Little Richie, no badzilla, no GT, had to go eventually.

 

[djpbaltimore]

In fairness, CMV is not a rare illness. Almost all people are exposed over the course of their lives. Oftentimes the infection is asymptomatic, but it can cause symptoms similar to Mononucleosis. It often will go latent, but it should not be a recurring illness unless the person is immune-compromised. Landa's story sounds a lot more plausible than Froome's story IMO.

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Re:

In fairness, CMV is not a rare illness. Almost all people are exposed over the course of their lives. Oftentimes the infection is asymptomatic, but it can cause symptoms similar to Mononucleosis. It often will go latent, but it should not be a recurring illness unless the person is immune-compromised. Landa's story sounds a lot more plausible than Froome's story IMO.

But similar to Herpesvirus, rest and recuperation are the cure, right?

So how is he racing all of 2014 fine and then getting it in the off season?

Doesn't sit well with me.

 

[djpbaltimore]

Agreed, there is some curious timing to the whole issue for sure. It is not as laughable as the science behind Bilharzia, but that is a low bar to clear.

 

[veganrob]

Re: Re:

In fairness, CMV is not a rare illness. Almost all people are exposed over the course of their lives. Oftentimes the infection is asymptomatic, but it can cause symptoms similar to Mononucleosis. It often will go latent, but it should not be a recurring illness unless the person is immune-compromised. Landa's story sounds a lot more plausible than Froome's story IMO.

But similar to Herpesvirus, rest and recuperation are the cure, right?

So how is he racing all of 2014 fine and then getting it in the off season?

Doesn't sit well with me.

and then be ready to kick ass in the Giro...

 

[Benotti69]

Rapha pulling out of sponsorship from Sky! have they seen the future and it aint black & blue?

Rapha made a fortune, imo, on their sponsorship of sky, why pull out end of 2016? They went from a minor cycle sports clothing company to major clothing cycle sports. Maybe Sky want too much!

 

[thehog]

Re:

Rapha pulling out of sponsorship from Sky! have they seen the future and it aint black & blue?

Rapha made a fortune, imo, on their sponsorship of sky, why pull out end of 2016? They went from a minor cycle sports clothing company to major clothing cycle sports. Maybe Sky want too much!

It cost them a fortune, it didn't work out. They are still a small company expanding into new countries. There money is better spent on that expansion not seeing Froome in see through jersey's!

 

[Dear Wiggo]

Re:

Rapha pulling out of sponsorship from Sky! have they seen the future and it aint black & blue?

Rapha made a fortune, imo, on their sponsorship of sky, why pull out end of 2016? They went from a minor cycle sports clothing company to major clothing cycle sports. Maybe Sky want too much!

At a guess
1. Sky expect to win more with their recent signings and unearthing of G Thomas talent
2. more wins = more exposure, so they probably asked Rapha for more $$

Rapha probably disagree.

 

[thehog]

Re: Re:

Rapha pulling out of sponsorship from Sky! have they seen the future and it aint black & blue?

Rapha made a fortune, imo, on their sponsorship of sky, why pull out end of 2016? They went from a minor cycle sports clothing company to major clothing cycle sports. Maybe Sky want too much!

At a guess
1. Sky expect to win more with their recent signings and unearthing of G Thomas talent
2. more wins = more exposure, so they probably asked Rapha for more $$

Rapha probably disagree.

If anyone is interested in the Rapha business there is a very good article here:

http://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/wheels-of-fortune

In this spirit, Rapha launched, in 2004, with an exhibition staged in the Truman Brewery in London’s Brick Lane during the Tour de France. The company screened stages of the Tour each day and exhibited cycling imagery from the 1950s and 1960s, when riders were fêted as film stars.

Rapha’s message failed to have immediate impact, however, and in its first three years, the company grew slowly. By 2007, Rapha had only 7 employees and 11,000 customers worldwide.

But in 2008, everything changed. “It just exploded in London. I guess it was probably when the Tour came to London and the whole ‘fixie’ thing was really at its peak,” said Mottram. “We took a big step and made our first profit in 2008. We’ve grown by 50 to 70 percent a year since then — last year was 50 percent — and we took in £17 million in revenue.”

It’s not just the UK that is doing well for Rapha. In fact, only 27 percent of Rapha’s sales are domestic, with the US and Japan comprising most of what remains, followed by Continental Europe. “We have always been international. Cycling is such a tight community, so you can get to those influencers. That’s what I spent a lot of time working out: how do you get to those passionate people like me in every part in the world?"

The company's Team Sky replica kit, which launched in January, already makes up a sizable 11 percent of Rapha's overall sales.

“We don’t want to be a niche brand in a niche sport. My ambition is to make the sport more popular, but we can’t do that by selling Lycra shorts, it’s not enough,” he said. “I think that cycling as a sport is interesting, beautiful and rich enough to be a platform for a whole lifestyle — and that could support a fantastic fashion and style range of clothing, which we’re already doing.”

“What I would like to do — which is what the surf brands have done — is to take the idea of a sport and project it into clothing that anyone can wear at any time.”

Their retail stores cost them a fortune but they plan to continue them. Their sponsorship worked better at a grass roots level in cyclocross and amateur teams. Sponsoring at a Pro Cycling level turned people away from the brand as some thought Rapha and Sky were one, not separate entities.

 

[Night Rider]

It's nice to see a company taking notice of it's customers. Customers say too much Sky, Rapha says no more Sky.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I love Steven de Jongh mocking Team Sky PR horsecrap on his tweeter account it's especially funny cause he used to work for Sky
I'm easily entertained

 

[Electress]

I've just seen on twitter, Matt Slater is blocked by Froome/Sky. Geez, these guys must be the most oversensitive bunch. How can anyone believe their transparency horses hit when they do things like this? I mean, I'm assuming he's not sending tweets calling Froome an alien. Maybe he too has retweet Digger. Geez

 

[the sceptic]

the Dawg twitter account is just some PR person or automatic program that searches twitter and blocks everyone who has a tweet including the words "Froome" and "(something negative)"

Pretty funny that Matt Slater got blocked though since he is a true believer.

 

[oldcrank]

Re: Sky

When Dr. Morton talks, anyone interested in improving athletic
performance with proper nutrition should listen very closely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5f1MJfBBCY

 

[StryderHells]

Re:

I love Steven de Jongh mocking Team Sky PR horsecrap on his tweeter account it's especially funny cause he used to work for Sky
I'm easily entertained

No surprise really considering he had to "leave" his job with them thanks to the ZTP, I wouldn't be to happy being forced out of a job for doping in the past thanks to a PR stunt like the ZTP with the knowledge that doping is still going on.

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Rapha pulling out of sponsorship from Sky! have they seen the future and it aint black & blue?

Rapha made a fortune, imo, on their sponsorship of sky, why pull out end of 2016? They went from a minor cycle sports clothing company to major clothing cycle sports. Maybe Sky want too much!

It cost them a fortune, it didn't work out. They are still a small company expanding into new countries. There money is better spent on that expansion not seeing Froome in see through jersey's!

Rapha made a fortune out of the Sky deal, their brand recognition has gone through the roof. They may not be selling huge amounts of replica kit but their standard lines are now everywhere here in Aus at least and I hear it's the same in the UK. Over the last 3 years their share of the market has increased drastically.

My guess is that Rapha are pulling out of the Sky deal because they've achieved their goal of a greater market share and no longer need to advertise through such an expensive sponsorship.

 

[Digger]

well steven de jongh and even julich have been shafted by sky in comparison to Knaven. Sky BS right there along with their hacking nonsense. Any sky fans in here try and defend that

 

[gooner]

Re:

the Dawg twitter account is just some PR person or automatic program that searches twitter and blocks everyone who has a tweet including the words "Froome" and "(something negative)"

Pretty funny that Matt Slater got blocked though since he is a true believer.

Matt Slater has been asking plenty of questions behind the scenes and in and around the British cycling scene like VO2 max etc.

The only difference with him is that he doesn't go around grandstanding on it or shout from the rooftops that he's posing questions to them.