Team Ineos (Formerly the Sky thread)

[Franklin]

Yes, why aren't they bashed in the Sky thread????

Ohhhhh dang this is the SKY thread.

Really, stop trolling.

 

[Ferminal]

Rogers admitted to dealing with Ferrari in 2006, Sky knew that when they signed him.

 

[Franklin]

OK guys, what would you prefer?
A off the cuff comments by people who think (wrongly) its nothing to do with them & haven't had time to read the report & are still on auto-pilot
B corporate tactful responses approved by press officers
or C Omerta?

Choose A, B or C and then blame Sky for it

Or D be transparent and accept the implications?

Imagine that huh? More options than your three "Sky is really a victim here" sniffs.

 

[Franklin]

Rogers admitted to dealing with Ferrari in 2006, Sky knew that when they signed him.

Yeah, but that was just training advice

 

[Tinman]

The question is whether anyone will act on it? My guess is that with all the attention on Armstrong, Sky hope that the likes of Yates, Barry, Possoni and Rogers can avoid being dragged in.

Yes they will act. Remember News of the World. BSkyB/Murdoch cannot afford more deceipt. That's why Leinders disappeared on the eve of the report. BRailsford didn't even mention him today when talking about his great disappointment in Armstrong. The new word is CLEAN. Perceived CLEAN and NO RISK clean. Sky will be clean in 2013, we may not see any results, but it will be clean.

But they can't dump the lot overnight. Have to be careful with public perception of the brand. So where are the biggest liabilities... Personally cannot see Mick & Yates survive... Just not the right look...

 

[coinneach]

Or D be transparent and accept the implications?

Imagine that huh? More options than your three "Sky is really a victim here" sniffs.

OK I agree, but that's looking for a considered response from the team management. You can't get that from individual riders in the middle of the Tour of Beijing

 

[Gubby Allen]

Sky are a funny bunch aren’t they? When all others teams are saying nothing they’re out there setting the record straight.

Whatever for a I wonder.

My feeling is they want DB to do all the talking and deflect away from Wiggins having to say anything.

Don’t want those old Postal quotes coming back to haunt them.

Then there’s Geert, Yates, Rogers etc.

You place a ridiculous level of emphasis on comments made within 24 hours of being thrown out of your first decent GT, with the end in sight.

 

[Ferminal]

Yeah, but that was just training advice

I don't mind them hiring dopers, just don't do it under some pretense that you are the cleanest team ever.

 

[Franklin]

OK I agree, but that's looking for a considered response from the team management. You can't get that from individual riders in the middle of the Tour of Beijing

Okay that was unclear and makes your question a lot better.

The problem here is that this isn't exactly a shock as we all knew it was coming. The content might be a surprise, but the impact on Lance was already apparent. The riders will have made up their minds on Lance already.

I personally don't mind "He's still a champion". That's just an opinion and especially from people as Ricco I actually think it's refreshingly honest.

But denying the evidence or saying "Doping doesn't matter" is quite something else and is hardly a spur of the moment sentiment. It shows a very disconcerting attitude.

 

[Franklin]

I don't mind them hiring dopers, just don't do it under some pretense that you are the cleanest team ever.

Considering what DB said I actually do mind

If DB lies about this, what does it do the credibility of every other statement?

 

[MartinGT]

Team Sky's new anthem will be "You never Walk Alone"

Always the victim eh?

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

Team Sky's new anthem will be "You never dope Alone"

fixed that for you

 

[MartinGT]

fixed that for you

Mwahahahaha

 

[thehog]

I get the feeling there’s more to come.

And where’s the Michael Rogers thread?

 

[coinneach]

But denying the evidence or saying "Doping doesn't matter" is quite something else and is hardly a spur of the moment sentiment. It shows a very disconcerting attitude.

Yes, you could say that. But IF you are a young successful rider who has never doped AND you are in a team that has just won the TdF clean, you might actually believe that its nothing to do with you. You'd be wrong, but I can see how how he'd think that.

 

[MartinGT]

I get the feeling there’s more to come.

And where’s the Michael Rogers thread?

I get that feeling too, its sickening tbh

 

[Franklin]

Yes, you could say that. But IF you are a young successful rider who has never doped AND you are in a team that has just won the TdF clean, you might actually believe that its nothing to do with you. You'd be wrong, but I can see how how he'd think that.

There is a slight problem though... even a young man as he is has at least 5-6 years high level competition behind him. The idea that he's just forming an opinion seems ludicrous.

But that said: I do not read in his statement that he either dopes, condones doping or has seen doping. I only read that he's not the brightest

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Yes, you could say that. But IF you are a young successful rider who has never doped AND you are in a team that has just won the TdF clean, you might actually believe that its nothing to do with you. You'd be wrong, but I can see how how he'd think that.

I heard Dowsett's interview on the radio this morning. Spectacularly unwise, to be sure, given how any quote can be taken out of context.

This is what he said:

"I don't think it matters. He is still a legend of the sport. A guy who had cancer came back and won the Tour de France.

"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters."

"All I know is that we all are racing clean. So, it [cycling] was a different sport back then."

The problem is, the interview cut off the question that was posed to Dowsett, so we don't know to what the bolded "it"s above actually refer. It has been widely interpreted as meaning doping in general, so that Dowsett is interpreted as saying that doping doesn't matter. It would appear more logical to interpret Dowsett's comments as being about how the news about Lance affects him and the team currently, where his optimistic view is that the news will have no impact.

Even assuming Sky are legit, if sponsors are frightened off the sport as a result, then teams will fold and Dowsett may be out of a job sooner rather than later. On a pure cycling level, he's correct, as if he and the team are clean it makes sod all difference to what they're going to do. (And if they are doping he's hardly going to highlight in an interview that if a more rigorous testing regime is the result that it would make life difficult for them!)

 

[MartinGT]

I heard Dowsett's interview on the radio this morning. Spectacularly unwise, to be sure, given how any quote can be taken out of context.

This is what he said:

"I don't think it matters. He is still a legend of the sport. A guy who had cancer came back and won the Tour de France.

"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters."

"All I know is that we all are racing clean. So, it [cycling] was a different sport back then."

The problem is, the interview cut off the question that was posed to Dowsett, so we don't know to what the bolded "it"s above actually refer. It has been widely interpreted as meaning doping in general, so that Dowsett is interpreted as saying that doping doesn't matter. It would appear more logical to interpret Dowsett's comments as being about how the news about Lance affects him and the team currently, where his optimistic view is that the news will have no impact.

Even assuming Sky are legit, if sponsors are frightened off the sport as a result, then teams will fold and Dowsett may be out of a job sooner rather than later. On a pure cycling level, he's correct, as if he and the team are clean it makes sod all difference to what they're going to do. (And if they are doping he's hardly going to highlight in an interview that if a more rigorous testing regime is the result that it would make life difficult for them!)

Alex lad, he won the Tour by cheating..........

 

[MartinGT]

Oh and Sky frightened?

These are guys who thought phone tapping was ok......

 

[roundabout]

Gah, here comes the spin.

Pathetic.

"The news about Armstrong don't matter. He is still a legend of the sport."

Whiskey, tango, foxtrot.

Maybe you should try a different interpretation of the comments, because Dowsett still comes across as a *******.

 

[RichWalk]

I heard Dowsett's interview on the radio this morning. Spectacularly unwise, to be sure, given how any quote can be taken out of context.

This is what he said:

"I don't think it matters. He is still a legend of the sport. A guy who had cancer came back and won the Tour de France.

"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters."

"All I know is that we all are racing clean. So, it [cycling] was a different sport back then."

The problem is, the interview cut off the question that was posed to Dowsett, so we don't know to what the bolded "it"s above actually refer. It has been widely interpreted as meaning doping in general, so that Dowsett is interpreted as saying that doping doesn't matter. It would appear more logical to interpret Dowsett's comments as being about how the news about Lance affects him and the team currently, where his optimistic view is that the news will have no impact.

Even assuming Sky are legit, if sponsors are frightened off the sport as a result, then teams will fold and Dowsett may be out of a job sooner rather than later. On a pure cycling level, he's correct, as if he and the team are clean it makes sod all difference to what they're going to do. (And if they are doping he's hardly going to highlight in an interview that if a more rigorous testing regime is the result that it would make life difficult for them!)

Nice reasoned response, I'd of added if I was Dowsett that 'regardless of my team being clean, cycling needs any persons implicated within this report, removed from pro cycling' I'd also question the integrity of any dope testing/ authority to report on cases being left in the hands of the UCI.

Its easy to say these new *clean guys* arent that interested but they are part of a high media profile sporting squad perporting to ride clean; why are they not championing their own philosophy?

 

[MartinGT]

Gah, here comes the spin.

Pathetic.

"The news about Armstrong don't matter. He is still a legend of the sport."

Whiskey, tango, foxtrot.

Maybe you should try a different interpretation of the comments, because Dowsett still comes across as a *******.

Hahahaha

Love it, Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Oh and Sky frightened?

These are guys who thought phone tapping was ok......

good one.

....

 

[Franklin]

Even cut short, what he said was incredibly stupid.

And as everyone knew this was coming he really had all the time to think of a wise answer.

"I currently prefer not to comment on it as I rode for the same sponsor and still have friends and colleagues in that organisation." Add the obligatory: "What I do want to say is that I never used doping nor witnessed doping"

This is a perfectly acceptable answer. It gives you time to await the report and still doesn't force you to pile on.