Team Sky, the future of their squad.

[Ferminal]

In general, all the Sky Kit is amazing. Exactly what was expected I guess.

Wonder if the bikes look that good on the road.

 

[ingsve]

can anyone fill me in on the stage Lo*kvists rode with the grupetto at the Giro last year. had he sacrificed himself for rodgers in the previous days (or after this break for riding with the leaders? pressure? bonk? is there an established view.

It was pretty much a bonk. It was a very hot day and Löfkvist sometimes struggles when it gets too hot. I'm sure it didn't help though that he had to ride in the lead out train for Cavendish on some stages in the Giro while he was still in the top 10 of the GC.

As for the general discussion about Löfkvists role in the Tour he said after Wiggins had been signed that he had spoken to Brailsford and Wiggins and that Wiggins signing wouldn't change Löfkvists role in the Tour. I'm pretty sure that means he will have a protected position and then we'll simply have to see what happens in the mountains. My guess is that Löfkvist will end up working for Wiggins in the end but in the chance that Löfkvist takes another step in developement they might find themselves in a Liquigas situation.

 

[mc_mountain]

It was pretty much a bonk. It was a very hot day and Löfkvist sometimes struggles when it gets too hot. I'm sure it didn't help though that he had to ride in the lead out train for Cavendish on some stages in the Giro while he was still in the top 10 of the GC.

thanks for this info and the point about the lead out as this hadn't occurred to me.

As for the general discussion about Löfkvists role in the Tour he said after Wiggins had been signed that he had spoken to Brailsford and Wiggins and that Wiggins signing wouldn't change Löfkvists role in the Tour. I'm pretty sure that means he will have a protected position and then we'll simply have to see what happens in the mountains. My guess is that Löfkvist will end up working for Wiggins in the end but in the chance that Löfkvist takes another step in developement they might find themselves in a Liquigas situation.

It will be interesting to see if they ride any bumpy stage races together prior to the tour that might give an indication of their prospects in relation to the other when in comes to the selective stages in july or indicate the step in Lo*kvist's development that you mention as a possibility.

edit i note from teamskyfans rider stats they're both set to ride vuelta a andalucia, which is set to include hors category finish on the first stage.

 

[Anonymous]

they're both set to ride vuelta a andalucia, which is set to include hors category finish on the first stage.

squad from sky: Kjell Carlstrom, Steve Cummings, Simon Gerrans, Greg Henderson, Thomas Lofkvist, Serge Pauwels, Nicolas Portal and Bradley Wiggins.

interesting to see henderson and pauwels in there, the source of much debate as to if they will be in the tour squad. Be interesting to see how they cope with the hill..

 

[ingsve]

squad from sky: Kjell Carlstrom, Steve Cummings, Simon Gerrans, Greg Henderson, Thomas Lofkvist, Serge Pauwels, Nicolas Portal and Bradley Wiggins.

interesting to see henderson and pauwels in there, the source of much debate as to if they will be in the tour squad. Be interesting to see how they cope with the hill..

From the speculations of the Tour team so far and the team for Andalucia might there be a posibility that they deliberately have the people who will probably ride together in the tour also ride alot of the same program before the Tour as a sort of team inside the team?

 

[mc_mountain]

Sky has been seen as having a strong team for the classics, i am interested to know whether anyone sees Classics potential in the young Brits on the squad (or any other young brits). Not expecting anything more than strong showings this year as support riders for Flecha and EBH. Will the team want to develop classics riders other than the ones they've brought in?

 

[Anonymous]

Sky has been seen as having a strong team for the classics, i am interested to know whether anyone sees Classics potential in the young Brits on the squad (or any other young brits). Not expecting anything more than strong showings this year as support riders for Flecha and EBH. Will the team want to develop classics riders other than the ones they've brought in?

I can see geraint thomas having some prospects as a classics rider, but we are probably looking five years away. I dont know what route they are going to take young kennaugh in, but he seems destined to be developed into a grand tour rider.

 

[ingsve]

I can see geraint thomas having some prospects as a classics rider, but we are probably looking five years away. I dont know what route they are going to take young kennaugh in, but he seems destined to be developed into a grand tour rider.

Ya, I'm exexting Kennaugh to ride shorter though stage races and some hilly one day races. Then perhaps he rides the Vuelta or something.

 

[Anonymous]

Ya, I'm exexting Kennaugh to ride shorter though stage races and some hilly one day races. Then perhaps he rides the Vuelta or something.

Hes down for the vuelta this year.. going to be interesting to see how he copes, although at least it gives him 8 months riding at pro level before it i guess.. daunting task for the lad.. grand tour in his first pro season, but i guess thats how highly he is rated.. not sure how many first year pros get given a grand tour ride at his age..

 

[ingsve]

Hes down for the vuelta this year.. going to be interesting to see how he copes, although at least it gives him 8 months riding at pro level before it i guess.. daunting task for the lad.. grand tour in his first pro season, but i guess thats how highly he is rated.. not sure how many first year pros get given a grand tour ride at his age..

Ya, can't be too many. I remember Löfkvist rode his first Tour at age 21 but that was his 2nd pro season. I'm sure there are some other examples of early GT riders out there though.

I don't know if Geraint Thomas counts perhaps. He rode his first Tour at 21 in his first real pro season but he had made 2 seasons as stagiare before that.

 

[maltiv]

Hes down for the vuelta this year.. going to be interesting to see how he copes, although at least it gives him 8 months riding at pro level before it i guess.. daunting task for the lad.. grand tour in his first pro season, but i guess thats how highly he is rated.. not sure how many first year pros get given a grand tour ride at his age..

EBH should probably have ridden a Grand Tour in his first pro season thinking of his results/strength only, but obviously riding a Grand Tour at that age that early has proved time and time again to be a fairly unwise thing to do.

I am really surprised though that Arvesen has yet to be confirmed as a part of the TDF team. If he is anything close to his 2008 shape he will be invaluable as a domestique, as a road-captain and possibly as a stage winner. I just don't understand how it's possible to leave out such a man... Unless he for some reason wishes to focus on the spring classics+ vuelta/worlds only this year or something like that.

 

[Sum_of_Marc]

I am really surprised though that Arvesen has yet to be confirmed as a part of the TDF team. If he is anything close to his 2008 shape he will be invaluable as a domestique, as a road-captain and possibly as a stage winner. I just don't understand how it's possible to leave out such a man... Unless he for some reason wishes to focus on the spring classics+ vuelta/worlds only this year or something like that.

Its only January - far too early to really decided on the Tour team, despite any speculation on X rider being guaranteed a spot - so it shouldnt really be a surprise

 

[blackcat]

Its only January - far too early to really decided on the Tour team, despite any speculation on X rider being guaranteed a spot - so it shouldnt really be a surprise

nah, not too early. Arvesen is the most valuable member of the squad. Not as a winner or team leader, but as the team captain.

But boy, like Hincapie, he knows how to f* up a finish. Losing to il Falco at the Tour when Arvesen started out as a field sprinter, losing in finale's of PAris Tours... the guy knows how to make a loss out of a win.

 

[stefrees]

ben swift did a grand tour, and finish, and a 3rd place, inside his first 5 months of being a neo pro.

 

[Anonymous]

From the speculations of the Tour team so far and the team for Andalucia might there be a posibility that they deliberately have the people who will probably ride together in the tour also ride alot of the same program before the Tour as a sort of team inside the team?

starting to look like that.. Henderson, Pauwells, calzati and gerrans all down as riding paris-nice (latest source of that was pauwells interview on pez)

 

[taiwan]

ben swift did a grand tour, and finish, and a 3rd place, inside his first 5 months of being a neo pro.

3rd behind Petacchi and Cavendish. He's riding the Tour Down Under.

 

[ingsve]

nah, not too early. Arvesen is the most valuable member of the squad. Not as a winner or team leader, but as the team captain.

But boy, like Hincapie, he knows how to f* up a finish. Losing to il Falco at the Tour when Arvesen started out as a field sprinter, losing in finale's of PAris Tours... the guy knows how to make a loss out of a win.

Not really. He's been fairly good at taking care of opportunities when they have presented themselves. He's the type of rider that wins races from smaler group breakaways and this has given him two stage wins in the Giro and one in the Tour and in all those cases he was very good at taking the opportunity when it was presented to him.

Eventhough he didn't win in those perticular races you mentioned I would bet that he has been better at taking advantage of his few chances than alot of other riders out there that always get in breakaways but rarely turns it into a win.

 

[lucybears]

(latest source of that was pauwells interview on pez)

Make it easy for people - give them a link
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7888&status=True

 

[Anonymous]

Make it easy for people - give them a link
http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=7888&status=True

Good point.. i had something else on my clipboard.. i need one of them multiclipboard things..

 

[ingsve]

One thing that I keep seeing is that people want and expect Cavendish to move to Sky when his contract allows it. Is that really a good idea? I don't see how that can successfully work out if Sky also has the ambition to fight for GCs in the Tour.

Cavendish has been fairly high maintenance in Team Columbia with lots of spots going to a lead out train for him and as a result I believe GC performance in Columbia has suffered.

I understand that a british team would of course want the best british riders on the team but at the same time I do think the era has passed when a team can completely cover all bases especially in a single race.

One possible solution would be if Cavendish started sprinting on his own without a lead out team all the time but with the success he has had with the lead out I don't see that happening.

 

[Osomec]

Nothing is wrong with stating that their goal is to win, I just think it is wrong to state that their goal is to win with a british rider.

I just feel it is disrespectful to the other riders, there are so many riders from different nationalities and they might get the feeling that even if they should ride well, the team's priority will be the British riders.

But the only thing that can justify Sky's investment is a British win. The general sporting public in the UK won't get excited if a foreign Team Sky rider wins. It won't increase the profile of the sport in the UK any significant amount, and it won't sell Sky subscriptions. It should be borne in mind that BSkyB is a separate listed company, less than 40% owned by News Corporation. The German and Italian Sky companies are separate entities within News Corporation, but only minority owned by it in the case of Sky Deutschland. So far as I know only BSkyB is sponsoring the team, and it will receive no direct benefit from exposure in the Italian and German markets.

 

[Anonymous]

But the only thing that can justify Sky's investment is a British win. The general sporting public in the UK won't get excited if a foreign Team Sky rider wins.

Youd be surprised...

EbH is actually massively popular in britain from his performances in the two tour of britains he has competed in.. His attitute towards the british tour endeered him to a lot of british fans..

Obviously hes not going to win the tour, but whatever he wins, he does have a lot of fans here..

 

[Sum_of_Marc]

But the only thing that can justify Sky's investment is a British win. The general sporting public in the UK won't get excited if a foreign Team Sky rider wins. It won't increase the profile of the sport in the UK any significant amount, and it won't sell Sky subscriptions. It should be borne in mind that BSkyB is a separate listed company, less than 40% owned by News Corporation. The German and Italian Sky companies are separate entities within News Corporation, but only minority owned by it in the case of Sky Deutschland. So far as I know only BSkyB is sponsoring the team, and it will receive no direct benefit from exposure in the Italian and German markets.

I seem to recall that Italian Sky are involved as a smaller sponsor, but Im not entirely sure

 

[Anonymous]

I seem to recall that Italian Sky are involved as a smaller sponsor, but Im not entirely sure

sky italia and news corp are both sponsors.. yes..

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Dimspace - Sky are doing highlights, and some live coverage for TDU - is there any word yet on what other races they'll cover, or is this just for their debut; and is this going to reduce Eurosports coverage?