the big ring said:
Froomador - you seem to accept whatever people in Sky tell you. Am I right in suggesting this, or do you have an "in" with Sky that allows you to see first hand what is going on.
I generally accept either a) what I know for sure b) what people who know for sure tell me c) what logic or facts dictate
the big ring said:
Marginal gains was in existence long before Vaughters had a pro team... You seem to think professional riders and teams do not want to win the Tour de France etc and refuse to do the simplest things that will help them win.
I am not foolish enough to think that at all. The concept of making gains, marginal or otherwise, has likely been considered since the time that competitive sport began.
However, my point was that no professional cycling team or organisation has previously invested as much effort into scientifically researching mental and physical improvement than Sky / British Cycling has, largely because those other teams have never had the level of financial and/or technical resource as what Sky & BC has available to them. Before you start howling 'fanboy' or 'must be British' at me, I am neither.
Believe me when I tell you that a lot of the top WT teams are structured surprisingly primitive and a part of the reason why riders get into trouble is because the teams don't offer much in terms of managing the pressures placed upon them or rider development. So the riders end up seeking their own training advice, own coaches and own doctors or take a referral from the once tainted DS/elder teammate who sends them back to 'Dr Death' for a 'training programme'. In comparison, the level of research and approach taken by Sky as opposed to two-thirds of the WT teams is like comparing F1 to Go-Karting.
the big ring said:
My feelings on Vaughters are not hidden. If he took a rider who had done nothing on the road and did nothing in 2010 then 2 years later won every multi-stage race he entered I would be saying exactly the same thing.
I mentioned Vaughters by comparison because he is also an open advocate of gains by non-doping methods but unfortunately lacks the financial clout that Sky has.
the big ring said:
So like a Sky person to try and muddy the message with references to balding and other things.
Let's play a logic game here:
1. Do osymmetric rings give you 10% (or any) more power, as their inventor suggests?
2. If so, why is noone on Garmin using them?
3. If not, why is almost everyone on Sky using them?
In terms of muddying the message, I was not the person who even mentioned osymetric chain rings in the first place. But to answer your logic game:-
1. I very seriously doubt it. Does anyone claim this 10% to be true other than the inventor and their promotional advocates? Sounds like good old fashioned marketing spin to me. I've never used them to be fair and none of the riders I know who do use them claim them to be miraculous but they choose to use them anyway. I did try biopace chainrings over 20years ago but in my experience they didn't do a great deal so I switched back to conventional round versions. What has this subject got to do with my original comments regarding organisation anyway?
2. Because like I said, some people like them and/or believe what they hear about them, others don't. It is the choice of the individual team. Each to their own.
3. Please refer to answer 2
Other comedy theories I'm reading here are:-
"Wiggins withdrawal from the Tour of Britain means all the doping is catching up and he's fried" etc - the theory being when he's flying he's doping, when he's fried he's doping too. Ok, so he didn't have a stomach bug (the guy has his own chef and is meticulous about hygiene - overgrown sideburns excluded - so chances of viral contamintion are fairly minimal). He's actually both bored and tired. He's done his job for the year yet fulfilled his sponsors obligation/request to start the Tour of Britain but obviously can't say to Joe Public that what he actually wants to get back to the family and pub - hence team message = stomach bug.
"Froome/Rogers withdrawal from ITT Worlds is because they are overdoped/winding down to prepare their blood for next year" etc, etc -
Same "doped if he does, doped if he doesnt" theories. Could it surely have nothing to do with the fact that Froome is coming off the back of two top four Grand Tour placings and an Olympic Games all within nine weeks. How dare the boy feel tired!!!
Sky's focus for 2012 has never extended beyond the Tour de France and Olympic Games so it's hardly surprising the wheels are starting to fall off for this year. Next year focus will be a spring classic and usual GT aspirations.
By the way Bianchigirl, Froome attended one Majorca and two of the Tenerife camps this year... I suppose that's him doomed in the eyes of the Clinic!
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