Wallace and Gromit said:
Fearless,
I think you might be getting too carried away with your history. Whatever RMO had been in the past, they were not an elite outfit in 1986, the year Kimmage made his debut. Here are their 7 finishers in that Tour:
17th Clav
47th Giles Mas
62nd Bernard Vallet
93rd Regis Simon
118th Andre Chappuis
129th Francis Castaing
130th Paul Kimmage
This is not an elite team. This is a team of strugglers. The final three spent most of their time with no higher aim than beating the time limit.
So my three claims - my only three claims - about Kimmage stand: He never won the Tour, he never "troubled the scorers" (ie never won a pro race) and he never rode for an elite team are all true.
I'm not knocking Kimmage's talent as a rider. He was obviously a very good amateur, but didn't make the grade as a pro, for whatever reason.
Well I think there was a saying that if you made it past your first contract, then you had achieved something as a pro. Most rider's didn't make it past their first contract.
I agree that RMO were not a top team when they first formed but also interested to hear what you consider as elite. I would think a team that rode the Tour every year it existed would be considered an elite team.
RMO might have been towards the bottom end of the elite list but they were in that category as regular Tour participants. Don't forget that Kimmage moved to Fagor and was also picked for their Tour team. I think Fagor would fall into the elite category as well.
I think it is clear in Rough Ride that Kimmage didn't have the mental toughness to survive in pro-cycling. Everything seemed to get him down and he seemed to lack in self-confidence and was always looking for a way-out.
Not that it really matter's but if we are comparing the cycling career's of Bralisford and Kimmage, then clearly Kimmage is several rungs above Bralisford and even Shane Sutton for that matter.