Team Ineos (Formerly the Sky thread)

[JimmyFingers]

Froome is tactically blind. He was behind on the final climb and should have had himself or at least one team member marking Nibali. Schoolboy error.

I'll actually agree with this, in fact I've said it before, Froome has a very good engine but isn't a good racer, i.e. lacks nous, unlike Contador who has it in spades. Not sure what relevance this has here though.

 

[JimmyFingers]

Intelligence beats doping (probably, sometimes).

Ah so Nibali is clean. You heard it first here

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Are you then saying this "team spirit" that differentiates the Sky classics team from every other classics team is so much better that they perform better is simply what you have outlined above? Because it doesn't sound all that special to me. In fact it sounds very run of the mill team spirit-wise.

Knaven is saying it sets them apart. You've described what I could find in an U13 girl's soccer team.

I ignore anything that is said by anyone from Team Sky (*). There's too much PR spin added, and I despise spin and PR in equal measures!

I tend to try and interpret what happens (rather than what is said) based on my own life experiences and logic deduction. All I'm saying in this case is that you don't need back-slapping best matey "team spirit". You just need the selected team to be sufficiently motivated to pedal hard or ease off as and when directed by the DS or "road captain". There are plenty of ways to provide this motivation and bonuses tied to the team's results are a very good method. (I doubt Tony Martin particularly enjoyed being Cav-fodder in the HTC "train", but he would have been well paid from Cav's win bonuses so he did the job that was required of him.)

(*) Other than Geraint Thomas's column on the BBC website. That is largely limited to his experiences during racing and training, and is factual and entertaining in an undemanding manner.

 

[thehog]

Ah so Nibali is clean. You heard it first here

You're well aware of my views.

Sky are clean and dominating. They are 5-10% better than the rest of the peloton.

Thus if Sky are clean so is everyone else.

It would be a stretch to suggest a guy like Nibali is doping when he can't keep up with Froome in the mountains. (Concidering Froome is clean).

Nibali has had an excellent pedigree from his junior years to present day.

Nibali certainly isn't doping to keep up with a clean Froome.

 

[thehog]

I'll actually agree with this, in fact I've said it before, Froome has a very good engine but isn't a good racer, i.e. lacks nous, unlike Contador who has it in spades. Not sure what relevance this has here though.

Big engine is just another term like "hard work".

It means little.

In fact 'good engine' means nothing.

How does a human have an engine?

 

[SundayRider]

You're well aware of my views.

Sky are clean and dominating. They are 5-10% better than the rest of the peloton.

Thus if Sky are clean so is everyone else.

It would be a stretch to suggest a guy like Nibali is doping when he can't keep up with Froome in the mountains. (Concidering Froome is clean).

Nibali has had an excellent pedigree from his junior years to present day.

Nibali certainly isn't doping to keep up with a clean Froome.

Yeah they are all clean, all we need to do now is wait for the TV companies to dedicate more time for coverage as all these races are taking longer to complete.

 

[thehog]

I'll actually agree with this, in fact I've said it before, Froome has a very good engine but isn't a good racer, i.e. lacks nous, unlike Contador who has it in spades. Not sure what relevance this has here though.

We agree.

At the Vuelta Contador decimated Froome with brain cells not blood cells.

 

[BYOP88]

Sky are clean, Wiggins only attacked once, case closed.

 

[the sceptic]

Movistar warmed up well. Nothing sky could do today

 

[BYOP88]

Yeah, Sky need to warm up for longer tomorrow. I hope the DS makes them warm down for an extra 30 minutes today.

 

[bianchigirl]

Hahahahahaha Wiggins the mountain goat - the transformation is almost complete - meet the new boss, same as the old boss

 

[DirtyWorks]

Weisel, Stapleton and Armstrong, all owners of Tailwind, ie USPS had a relationship with UCI.

Why not Sky?

Sky have been silent of the total mismanagement of the sport by the UCI.

No what I am suggesting is that UCI can name anyone they want as doping by using the BP and can 'control' teams to an extent. Similar to what has been alleged that Armstrong had people target tested by Verbruggen and Verbruggen has boasted of being able to make a rider test positive.

Again this is my opinion.

There's a number of facts that support your opinion. Probably in the Hein Verbruggen thread is the link to an article confirming Hein has(?) an account with Wiesel's trading firm. I can't think of a more legal way to pay off Hein as needed.

The relentless support for Armstrong until that simply wasn't possible.

We know the UCI can stall positive samples at the APMU. WADA's APMU documentation support this idea and the UCI manages the APMU now, prior to that it was Saugy managing the APMU.

Sky is silent because Sky is BC.

Regarding Brian Cookson: He is currently president of the UCI's Road Commission and sits on the operating board of Tour Racing Ltd, the owners of Team Sky. http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/536529/brian-cookson-touted-as-new-uci-leader.html

The guy leading UCI's road commission, just re-elected to another UCI commission, and on the UCI's managment committee, has delivered a bunch of money to the UCI in the form of Sky's sponsorship, and most importantly has "grown cycling" the way Hein and Pat want with more viewers.

I'm not directly implicating Cookson here. Instead, why would Hein and Pat want to ruin a good thing with some positives? We know they wanted to suppress the Contador positive. Now that the UCI controls the APMU, a mistake like Contador's positive can't happen.

How can BC possibly be a legitimate regulator in this BC/Sky setup?

 

[JimmyFingers]

Hahahahahaha Wiggins the mountain goat - the transformation is almost complete - meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Empty words really, aren't they? He was fourth

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Empty words really, aren't they? He was fourth

He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

Doing well this year is proof of doping this year and by inference, proof of doping last year.

Not doing well this year is proof of doping last year.

At least with the Ducking Stool, witches had a chance of being proved innocent (not that it did them any good, obviously.)

 

[Benotti69]

Hahahahahaha Wiggins the mountain goat - the transformation is almost complete - meet the new boss, same as the old boss

No no no his individual pursuiting on the track is what made him a great climber.

 

[Benotti69]

Empty words really, aren't they? He was fourth

4th on a 40km MTF..........look at the climbers he beat.

If only Brad knew he could be winning TdF number 7 this year!

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

No no no his individual pursuiting on the track is what made him a great climber.

I think you'll find it was the TPs where he cut his climbing teeth. Those swings up the banking don't half test the climbing legs.

 

[BYOP88]

Just wait until Ed Clancy and Steven Burke take road racing seriously.

 

[JimmyFingers]

4th on a 40km MTF..........look at the climbers he beat.

If only Brad knew he could be winning TdF number 7 this year!

Beaten by Quintana, Valverde and Rodriguez, you're clutching at straws.

Good ride by him today, glad to see him attack and do some damage. Been looking for a marker for the season from him, good to see we're getting it.

 

[JimmyFingers]

Just wait until Ed Clancy and Steven Burke take road racing seriously.

Clancy never will, he prefers the track

 

[Wallace and Gromit]

Just wait until Ed Clancy and Steven Burke take road racing seriously.

They're both more sprinters than "stayers" and marginal gaining them up to Tour standards might be a challenge too far.

Thomas and Kennaugh are much more worth waiting for.

Sorry if you were being ironic. It's hard to tell sometimes.

 

[the sceptic]

Clancy never will, he prefers the track

Why would he do that when he can become the best GT rider in the world?

 

[thehog]

Hahahahahaha Wiggins the mountain goat - the transformation is almost complete - meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Apparently he only won last years Tour because it was flat and no Contador.

Now he can attack Dawg style up mountains!

Must have a big engine

 

[JimmyFingers]

Why would he do that when he can become the best GT rider in the world?

Have you seen the size of Ed Clancy? He's hilarious when he does ride on the road, he's about a foot taller and wider than everyone else. He's not aero enough to win a GT

 

[Miburo]

Have you seen the size of Ed Clancy? He's hilarious when he does ride on the road, he's about a foot taller and wider than everyone else. He's not aero enough to win a GT

That's a problem for Sky?

Froome could only climb sideways in '10