Team Ineos (Formerly the Sky thread)

[BYOP88]

Just stacking up their results from this season so far is ridiculous..

Algarve: Porte 1st, Wiggins 3rd
Criterium Int: Rogers 1st
Paris-Nice: Wiggins 1st
Romandie: Wiggins 1st, Porte 4th, Rogers 5th
Bayern: Rogers 1st, Porte 4th
Dauphine: Wiggins 1st, Rogers 2nd, Froome 4th, Porte 9th


Wiggins is having a better year results-wise than Contador ever had leading up to the Tour.

Froome also coming back from another bout with his life-threatening blood illness just in time to help dominate the Dauphine and Tour.

The length of their peaks...

Evans won the Criterium Int, this year Rogers was 3rd

 

[Benotti69]

One of the saddest things about Wiggins and Sky is the reporting about Wiggins response to anonymous critics, where the flip are the journalists asking the questions that we are asking?

A person masquerading as a journalist asking Wiggins about internet criticism, FFS ask him about the race and how TeamSky are doing something that was done before but by teams on huge amounts of PEDS?

Ask Wiggins about working with people from teams that doped and dodgy Doctors?

Ask Wiggins about team mates performances that are better than GC contenders?

Why is it up to an internet forum and Twitter to question this?

Of course call us names, easy that is. Answer the questions, now that would be difficult wouldn't it Bradley?

 

[thehog]

While, in the main, I agree with this, it doesn't necessarily exclude the angry reaction of someone who is innocent being accused of something he didn't do i.e. someone murders your wife and the police investigators come and tell you that your one of the suspects.

Problem being the question wasn't accusatory. They just asked about the reference to USPS and Wiggins lost it. Which is strange because all year the man himself has been likening Sky to Banesto and USPS.... methinks he was way too defensive. He was ready to jump on any question that might have been about doping,

 

[nighttrain]

Of Wiggins' reaction to doubters....to quote a great wordsmith, "the lady doth protest too much, methinks".

 

[Caruut]

The question was as soft as a doping question could be. It wasn't even direct, and I don't think he even said he wasn't doping, did he? Does anyone have a link? Have just been reading the transcripts here.

 

[pelodee]

A good article on bicycling.com about Wiggins and his rant today;

http://bicycling.com/blogs/boulderr...e-france-doubt-hope-and-trust-take-spotlight/

Thanks for posting this and Shane Stokes' tweets earlier.

 

[thehog]

Problem being the question wasn't accusatory. They just asked about the reference to USPS and Wiggins lost it. Which is strange because all year the man himself has been likening Sky to Banesto and USPS.... methinks he was way too defensive. He was ready to jump on any question that might have been about doping,

The question was as soft as a doping question could be. It wasn't even direct, and I don't think he even said he wasn't doping, did he? Does anyone have a link? Have just been reading the transcripts here.

The question was about Twitter references to Sky's effort yesterday and being like USPS.... the D wasn't even mentioned...

More here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ot...-slurs-as-Thibaut-Pinot-wins-stage-eight.html

 

[Elagabalus]

CyclingNews gets into the act:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8/photos/230632

Better appreciate it now before they take it down!

 

[thehog]

It's a thread about Sky. Topic matter is Sky. Conversation revolves around Sky.

@thehog. Nice call on Wiggins reaction. Really is telling. Mr Cranky Pants Austin Powers wannabe is really feeling the heat. Tomorrow is the real test. He smokes everyone, like you believe, the heat will pile up in another way. If he doesn't the psychological pressure of not performing will get to him as well.

Vaughters infamous IM with Frankie says it all.... it's not the dope that wins the races. Any rider/team can dope. I can dope if I wanted.

The key is logistics. Having the money and the people to set up a full scale program. That's what wins races. Sky have the money and the resources to pull it off.

Sky have performed all year. These days you have to to not trip the Passport. In the Lance generation you could hide away all year but now you keep the performance consistent all year - they've said as much.

I still have a bad feeling about this..... I don't know what but something is going to not add up by week 2....

Watch this space.

 

[Galic Ho]

Some lovely Aussie comments here which is nice given the number of Aussie cycling "heroes" known to have raced in an era when doping was rife and proven....personally, I was there at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 at Rivington when O Grady won from Evans and Cooke and had to accept that the reason for their dominance was that they'd completed the "Tour" so had the miles in the legs, rather than, as seems to be the concept here, won because they were doped to the eyeballs......

ps We like the fact that Michael Clarke has the nickname "pup" - we assume that it is because he is able to lick his own b*lls because he is completely incapable at playing or captaining - one can only assume that Australia who were ranked number 1 in one day cricket have been beaten 3 nil so far because the England team are on a major doping programme and/or when Australian athletes don't do very well it's always the fault of someone else doping....

Another trolling fanboy from the UK jumps aboard. Welcome governor!

Cricket and tennis are not pure endurance sports. Nice try there with the doping angle. They have a technical component that cannot be fudged, procured from a pill, syringe or blood bag. You're either born with it or you aren't.

Also, who hasn't said the Aussies are doping? Honestly does nobody actually read the thread? It says team Sky. There are Aussies on team Sky. They were the first ones called out you muppet by the Aussies. Have the Brits called out Wiggins or Froome? My bad, we'd need a Kenyan switched nationality or a Belgian born Brit to do that wouldn't we?

uMad bro? Keep trolling.

 

[Galic Ho]

Vaughters infamous IM with Frankie says it all.... it's not the dope that wins the races. Any rider/team can dope. I can dope if I wanted.

The key is logistics. Having the money and the people to set up a full scale program. That's what wins races. Sky have the money and the resources to pull it off.

Sky have performed all year. These days you have to to not trip the Passport. In the Lance generation you could hide away all year but now you keep the performance consistent all year - they've said as much.

I still have a bad feeling about this..... I don't know what but something is going to not add up by week 2....

Watch this space.

I have that feeling as well. Something doesn't add up. Definitely be back here later tonight after the stage. Got a whole day to burn now as it's almost 9am in Australia on the east coast.

This whole thing seems surreal. Like it shouldn't be happening today, in this age, given what's transpired in recent history. How someone could think mentioning LA is a bright idea in this climate, whilst in yellow. Hoping Brad opens his gob some more. Keeps digging the hole so the dirt piles around him.

BTW, does anyone know anything about Sky being asked to show the ASO something before the Tour started? Was that just a rumour or did it really happen? Did they have to show the team Bio Passports?

 

[Galic Ho]

I thought they would be okay, set the pace a bit on the first climb, maybe try to shed off some of the other doms having a bad day on the final. Was not expecting genuine climbers to be strung out down the road like it's freakin' Alpe D'Huez and Contador has started dancing.

I wouldn't be as surprised as I am if all the big names bar Nibali and Evans had been sent off the back on Saturday. If Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador were in say Andy 2010 Tour form and Contador Giro 2011 form, what would be happening? That's the level of ridiculousness on display IMO. They've got me asking that line of questioning.

 

[Frosty]

BTW, does anyone know anything about Sky being asked to show the ASO something before the Tour started? Was that just a rumour or did it really happen? Did they have to show the team Bio Passports?

Google is your friend

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sky-meeting-with-aso-is-routine-team-says

 

[BroDeal]

Google is your friend

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sky-meeting-with-aso-is-routine-team-says

Why would Team Sky need to justify their performances this season and why should they choose to present Bradley Wiggins’ power details and training data ahead of race he’d yet to start?

Something does not smell right. It's almost as if the ASO wants assurance that everything is on track for a Wiggins win, which would bring future revenue to the ASO in the form of increased value of the British media rights.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Here's that Rogers quote prior to stage 8 http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2012/us/stage-8/news.html - newsflashes

“I posted some of the best numbers of my career on the final climb yesterday,” Michael Rogers told LeTour.fr this morning. “The whole time I was on the front,” he explained about his turn that began at the base of the ascent of La Planche des Belles Filles and lasted until the 3km to go mark, “until I stopped, I was putting out over 500 watts.“Once I was done, I basically stopped my effort but only for about a minute,” said Rogers of what he did after handing over the lead to team-mate Richie Porte. “But I was still feeling okay and I thought, ‘I might as well keep on going’. So I started riding again and, before I knew it, I caught and passed [Samuel] Sanchez. That last uphill pinch though... man, that was steep!”

Maybe Sky's PR person needs to step in at some point ...

 

[taiwan]

Yeah does Sky have the broadcast rights to the Tour in the UK, or is it just ES, or is ES Sky? There's a transaction there somewhere, surely.

 

[pelodee]

Yeah does Sky have the broadcast rights to the Tour in the UK, or is it just ES, or is ES Sky? There's a transaction there somewhere, surely.

British Eurosport and ITV4 only

 

[Galic Ho]

Google is your friend

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sky-meeting-with-aso-is-routine-team-says

Just came back here to recheck if anyone had replied. I found it myself linked on a site someone here had left a URL for.

Gotta go with BroDeal on this one. Really weird that they'd talk about being upfront and open in the article, yet sadly there are no figures. Just idle chit chat and talk of what Sky think people want to hear. Kind of like LA and all that anti-doping promises he made with Don Catlin testing him. Nothing came of that. Nothing has come from Wiggins 2011 talk about posting more blood profiles.

The worst case scenario of BroDeal's point is this makes it look like the Tour was without a doubt purchased. That more people are complacent and involved in the dirty under currents of this sport. If so, that's disgusting. If this goes on, it will do a lot to turn many long term fans who are not fools and naive newbies, away from the sport. All this was supposed to be getting better. Cleaner. Best thing that could happen right now is someone gets popped. Big time.

 

[thehog]

Yeah does Sky have the broadcast rights to the Tour in the UK, or is it just ES, or is ES Sky? There's a transaction there somewhere, surely.

Sky is not a TV channel. They are a provider which provides EuroSport and ITV4.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Just came back here to recheck if anyone had replied. I found it myself linked on a site someone here had left a URL for.

Gotta go with BroDeal on this one. Really weird that they'd talk about being upfront and open in the article, yet sadly there are no figures. Just idle chit chat and talk of what Sky think people want to hear. Kind of like LA and all that anti-doping promises he made with Don Catlin testing him. Nothing came of that. Nothing has come from Wiggins 2011 talk about posting more blood profiles.

The worst case scenario of BroDeal's point is this makes it look like the Tour was without a doubt purchased. That more people are complacent and involved in the dirty under currents of this sport. If so, that's disgusting. If this goes on, it will do a lot to turn many long term fans who are not fools and naive newbies, away from the sport. All this was supposed to be getting better. Cleaner. Best thing that could happen right now is someone gets popped. Big time.

Agreed. This Tour reeks of fraud. I have no confidence in Lambchop McWigans or his Sky team.

 

[taiwan]

British Eurosport and ITV4 only

Ah well, not so obvious then. But I wonder when the contract is up?

 

[BroDeal]

Here's that Rogers quote prior to stage 8 http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2012/us/stage-8/news.html - newsflashes

“I posted some of the best numbers of my career on the final climb yesterday,” Michael Rogers told LeTour.fr this morning. “The whole time I was on the front,” he explained about his turn that began at the base of the ascent of La Planche des Belles Filles and lasted until the 3km to go mark, “until I stopped, I was putting out over 500 watts.“Once I was done, I basically stopped my effort but only for about a minute,” said Rogers of what he did after handing over the lead to team-mate Richie Porte. “But I was still feeling okay and I thought, ‘I might as well keep on going’. So I started riding again and, before I knew it, I caught and passed [Samuel] Sanchez. That last uphill pinch though... man, that was steep!”

Maybe Sky's PR person needs to step in at some point ...

Boy howdy! The alumnus of Freiburg University finds out that he did not need all that EPO, blood transfusions, and Jeebus only knows what else. A few marginal gains and he would be better than ever. Yeah, that's believable.

 

[hfer07]

Why would Team Sky need to justify their performances this season and why should they choose to present Bradley Wiggins’ power details and training data ahead of race he’d yet to start?

Something does not smell right. It's almost as if the ASO wants assurance that everything is on track for a Wiggins win, which would bring future revenue to the ASO in the form of increased value of the British media rights.

And don't forget the visit to the UCI by the Sky management to god knows why...
I believe the tour has been already "purchased" as part of the Olympic investment -and I ain't kidding- If Wiggo fails - there is Froome to take it if it needs to so -there is virtually no way Sky won't be able to win the Tour with either one of them.
On the Wiggo's response to the "D" question: He better get his act together - he's leading the Tour with 3 teammates doing some ridiculous performances -so get use to it if after this year they want to continue "the UK template"

 

[pelodee]

Ah well, not so obvious then. But I wonder when the contract is up?

http://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/2011/news/itv-extends-tour-de-france-deal-until-2015/

 

[taiwan]

Sky is not a TV channel. They are a provider which provides EuroSport and ITV4.

Right. Although not exclusively, and they do have their Sky Sports channels.