Team Ineos (Formerly the Sky thread)

[S2Sturges]

Re:

Froome is going to win this tour by 10min, it's crazy. That high cadence just seems suspicious to me...

I think it was Jacques Anquetil, that told a reporter after winning a race by 11 seconds, that it was "ten more than necessary"... All Froome has to do is keep suspicions to a minimum... he'll win by 2-3 minutes at the most ..

 

[S2Sturges]

Re:

good news everyone. The campervan is still providing marginal gains!

The much-discussed motorhome of Team Sky remains a factor in the endless quest for marginal gains with the British team. Director sportif Servais Knaven explained to Cyclingnews that the team is now using it for meetings and when possible to provide riders with the comfort of a single room.

Team Sky is still making the best of its motorhome at this Tour de France, however, although it’s unclear whether there are one or two vehicles in use. The team appears to be using them for meetings, as breakfast and dining room and as dorms for their staff, freeing up space that allows some riders to have their own rooms.

It seems that Sky is also using this motor home as a psychological tool too, obviously Brailsford continues to push and push the envelope of the rules. I would think that other team riders will see this parked very close to the hotel every night, shining and purring away in air conditioned glory, Sky team riders and staff laughing and smiling as they enter this cool and comfortable sanctuary, which is basically as it is being described as... None of this having to mix with other team's riders, no dealing with cramped and sweaty hotel rooms, meals are delivered to you... The infinitely deep pockets of Sky bring a element of exclusivity and privilege with this bus which is totally unfair.... It should have never been allowed in the Tour, period....

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

good news everyone. The campervan is still providing marginal gains!

The much-discussed motorhome of Team Sky remains a factor in the endless quest for marginal gains with the British team. Director sportif Servais Knaven explained to Cyclingnews that the team is now using it for meetings and when possible to provide riders with the comfort of a single room.

Team Sky is still making the best of its motorhome at this Tour de France, however, although it’s unclear whether there are one or two vehicles in use. The team appears to be using them for meetings, as breakfast and dining room and as dorms for their staff, freeing up space that allows some riders to have their own rooms.

Breakfast and dinner by the motorhomes, reminds me of a family vacation in Canada, great stuff!

Seriously though, in what way is a private room beneficial to a rider? I mean, more privacy, sure, but surely it won't influence their shape and performance unless their roomie snores like a bear curious to see how Walsh and Brailsfraud will spin this one.

 

[ebandit]

..........think positive.............act positive....................win!

it's easy.... we could all do it once we banish our inner chimp

Mark L

 

[JackRabbitSlims]

in what way is a private room beneficial to a rider?

if a man pops a needle in his arm

and there is no one else around to see it

cleans

 

[Roninho]

Re: Re:

good news everyone. The campervan is still providing marginal gains!

The much-discussed motorhome of Team Sky remains a factor in the endless quest for marginal gains with the British team. Director sportif Servais Knaven explained to Cyclingnews that the team is now using it for meetings and when possible to provide riders with the comfort of a single room.

Team Sky is still making the best of its motorhome at this Tour de France, however, although it’s unclear whether there are one or two vehicles in use. The team appears to be using them for meetings, as breakfast and dining room and as dorms for their staff, freeing up space that allows some riders to have their own rooms.

Breakfast and dinner by the motorhomes, reminds me of a family vacation in Canada, great stuff!

Seriously though, in what way is a private room beneficial to a rider? I mean, more privacy, sure, but surely it won't influence their shape and performance unless their roomie snores like a bear curious to see how Walsh and Brailsfraud will spin this one.

Well to be honest i actually think this is a pretty smart move and actually can be a ''marginal gain''.
For years i have heard the riders and DS complain every year about the conditions of the hotel, awfull beds, breakfast etc. etc. This actually is benificial on multiple items:
People like familiar situations, so every night having the same ''location'' helps (just look at the tweets of Cavendish and Gesink claiming they get lost at night when to go to the toilet since they have no clue where they are).
People also like to have a good bed and a good temperature in the room. By doing this you can control that.
And finally, by having the same conditions every night i think you can reduce the odds of illness (compared to one night in a awfully cold airconditioned room and the next day in a hot room).

Look this is not a gamechanger and a domestique is not going to win the TDF because he would have a camper, but in the grand scheme of things where every team wants to prepare to the max on all kinds of motivational aspects as well as other conditions (not talking doping) to me this actually makes a lot of sense. I see this in the same category as Bjarne Riis trying to create a team atmosphere by going on a survival trip with the full team for a few days. And although i fully believe that Sky has a doping programme i actually think this is a ''real'' marginal gain.

 

[meat puppet]

and if such needle popping occurs, it is best to completely control the environment where it occurs. in this sense, owning the said facility is a marginal gain.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Well to be honest i actually think this is a pretty smart move and actually can be a ''marginal gain''.
For years i have heard the riders and DS complain every year about the conditions of the hotel, awfull beds, breakfast etc. etc. This actually is benificial on multiple items:
People like familiar situations, so every night having the same ''location'' helps (just look at the tweets of Cavendish and Gesink claiming they get lost at night when to go to the toilet since they have no clue where they are).
People also like to have a good bed and a good temperature in the room. By doing this you can control that.
And finally, by having the same conditions every night i think you can reduce the odds of illness (compared to one night in a awfully cold airconditioned room and the next day in a hot room).

Look this is not a gamechanger and a domestique is not going to win the TDF because he would have a camper, but in the grand scheme of things where every team wants to prepare to the max on all kinds of motivational aspects as well as other conditions (not talking doping) to me this actually makes a lot of sense. I see this in the same category as Bjarne Riis trying to create a team atmosphere by going on a survival trip with the full team for a few days. And although i fully believe that Sky has a doping programme i actually think this is a ''real'' marginal gain.

I wasn't talking about the RV. That obviously has an influence, although I doubt it is meaningful and will affect the outcome of a race. What I meant was Sky's claim that they let the staff sleep in the RVs so the riders all have a private room. I don't see in what way that would affect a rider's performance (unless, as I said, the rider's usual roomie snores very loudly)

 

[the sceptic]

but, remember Walsh said he was sure Froome wasn't doping because he shared a room with Porte and there is no way anyone would dope when they share a room. How are we supposed to know they are clean if they have their own rooms?

 

[the sceptic]

speaking of Walsh, what the hell is this nonsense?

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

good news everyone. The campervan is still providing marginal gains!

The much-discussed motorhome of Team Sky remains a factor in the endless quest for marginal gains with the British team. Director sportif Servais Knaven explained to Cyclingnews that the team is now using it for meetings and when possible to provide riders with the comfort of a single room.

Team Sky is still making the best of its motorhome at this Tour de France, however, although it’s unclear whether there are one or two vehicles in use. The team appears to be using them for meetings, as breakfast and dining room and as dorms for their staff, freeing up space that allows some riders to have their own rooms.

Breakfast and dinner by the motorhomes, reminds me of a family vacation in Canada, great stuff!

Seriously though, in what way is a private room beneficial to a rider? I mean, more privacy, sure, but surely it won't influence their shape and performance unless their roomie snores like a bear curious to see how Walsh and Brailsfraud will spin this one.

It reduces the chance of falling ill by 0.01%. Which is super important because if you remember the 2012 and 2013 tours which sky won, all the other gc riders were constantly falling ill and this gave sky a massive advantage.

Oh wait.

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

speaking of Walsh, what the hell is this nonsense?

If froome knew what it felt like to have a pet rabbit killed, his proud boasting later in the book about having stolen rabbits from younger children to feed to his snake, comes across as particularly cruel and sociopathic. Its supposedly still some sort of trauma for him to have lost his own rabbit this way. But despite knowing the pain of the feeling he thinks nothing about inflicting it on others for his own fun.

 

[Saint Unix]

Re:

speaking of Walsh, what the hell is this nonsense?

Adding to his fine record as a journalist, can't you see?

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

speaking of Walsh, what the hell is this nonsense?

Adding to his fine record as a journalist, can't you see?

Well he has a lot of Twitter followers. That must mean it's great journalism. At least from what I read in the froome thread.

 

[Saint Unix]

It actually makes a lot of sense, now that I've thought about it. Froome suffered the emotional trauma of having Whiskers the Bunny murdered in front of his own eyes back when he was just a kid, and this trauma has given him the ability to magically sense danger in the peloton as a cycling pro. In a twisted turn of events, however, Froome himself became the leader of the Deadly Kenyan Bunny Assassination Squad in his teens, just like he's now the guy all the other riders fear will cause a crash, due to his lack of bike handling skills.

All the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together. Walsh is a genius. Froome is cleans.

 

[No_Balls]

Re: Re:

I can tell what this drivel are: worst overlap ever when Walsh trying to make a novel out of glimpses between parts of Froomes life. In this particular quote he's doing a pathetic attempt to compare Froomes competitors with the snake that swallows Froome/his bunny. And that he"ll get his revenge later when he is the one feeding the snake with his competitors/bunnies.

Any questions that we are dealing with really twisted minds here?

 

[the sceptic]

the question for me is; does Walsh actually believe the nonsense he is writing?

 

[Fearless Greg Lemond]

Re:

the question for me is; does Walsh actually believe the nonsense he is writing?

Well:

So, he believes Antoine when he says Vuillermoz is clean, shouldnt he believe Antoine when Antoine says Froome is a doper?

 

[70kmph]

Marginal gains 3D printed handlebars !

 

[zlev11]

Walsh has always been a hack. It's a shame that he was so right about Armstrong because without that he'd be compiling clickbait lists for buzzfeed right now.

 

[pastronef]

Re:

Walsh has always been a hack. It's a shame that he was so right about Armstrong because without that he'd be compiling clickbait lists for buzzfeed right now.

now that´s weird

 

[the sceptic]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/tour-de-france/11734982/Tour-de-France-2015-Geraint-Thomas-tipped-to-lead-Team-Sky.html

Is this the classic "sir dave talks up a rider before he puts in an unbelievable performance"?

 

[SeriousSam]

The next Porte.

 

[JimmyFingers]

Cue the Luddites massing in the clinic, no way a world class bike rider with his palmares can apply himself to different disciplines. Bike riders must remember they are only allowed to be good at one thing, maybe two if they showed that ability as a junior. Or if they're not from Northern Europe

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Bike riders must remember they are only allowed to be good at one thing, maybe two if they showed that ability as a junior. Or if they're not from Northern Europe

I'd agree, but Thomas has a track background, obviously the most important prerequisite for a stage racer.