Team Tinkoff-SaxoBank -What happens next?

[mrhender]

So Bjarne is gone...

How will this affect the team?

What will happen in terms of staff, riders, sponsors, performance etc?

 

[Electress]

Hopefully, a bit of fighting spirit amongst the riders, by which I mean they'll pull together for one another and around Alberto, since he seems a popular guy. But I can't see them having a lot of love for Oleg. I suspect a lot of them will be looking at their contracts and looking at next season. I would.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I think pretty much the entire team, riders and staff alike, will be p*ssed. Oleg putting his ego ahead of everything else once again.

One of Oleg's mates will probably take Bjarne's spot.
Saxo will leave at the end of the season.
I think a good deal of riders will try to get out of their contract. I'm sure Contador will leave & might retire.
The Danish riders will probably be kicked out.
Basso must be very angry.
The team will be brought down to the ground by this "VODKA CLOWN". 3/4 of the team will probably underperform.
Contador must work with his own little group of people to prepare for the Giro but the double is impossible now.
Who is next on Tinkov's list? Will he fire De Jongh if nothing improves? Feltrin? Julich? Contador? Sagan? The entire team?

 

[Electress]

Re:

I think pretty much the entire team, riders and staff alike, will be p*ssed. Oleg putting his ego ahead of everything else once again.

One of Oleg's mates will probably take Bjarne's spot.
Saxo will leave at the end of the season.
I think a good deal of riders will try to get out of their contract. I'm sure Contador will leave & might retire.
The Danish riders will probably be kicked out.
Basso must be very angry.
The team will be brought down to the ground by this "VODKA CLOWN". 3/4 of the team will probably underperform.
Contador must work with his own little group of people to prepare for the Giro but the double is impossible now.
Who is next on Tinkov's list? Will he fire De Jongh if nothing improves? Feltrin? Julich? Contador? Sagan? The entire team?

I think a lot of this is true, but I also believe that Contador is a real professional, and that he seems to have a lot of team loyalty, and he's got a track record of coming out fighting in adversity. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I think he'll marshall the team around him and still do well in spite of all this crap.

But I think it's pretty certain he'll go after this year. Can't see him hanging on with Oleg in 2016. Nor can I see him finding another team who will be willing / able to build around him for a year, which means he'll retire, which is a shame. Oleg is an utter fool. Basically, because of his narcissism, he's potentially caused his own team to implode. I think he thinks loyalty and teamwork just comes with money. he doesn't seem to understand the paternal role Bjaerne seemed to play; at least with AC.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

If Tinkov continues to pay the bill, the team will continue as before.

 

[Electress]

Re:

If Tinkov continues to pay the bill, the team will continue as before.

I don't doubt it will continue, but I disagree with 'as before'. There's more to just money to building and maintaining a team. Riders have options, after all. And working with someone so volatile can't bring much long term peace of mind.

Maybe you're right and the dust will settle, but I think next year the team will look rather different from now.

 

[rm7]

This will end up like Leopard-Trek. None of the good riders will go over there now, especially if they dont have a high profile team manager.

 

[Andrew_M]

I wouldn't be surprised if Tinkov - due to lack of results - stops playing with his toys (it looks that the team is just a playground for him) and the team stops at the end of the year.

And I think it's the best solution for former team's fans. Personally, I find it hard to support them since now. That team that I fall in love with doesn't exist anymore. I can support riders - and surely I will. But it's not the same when their success goes to Tinkov's account too.

If the team stops, the riders will be free. And then Bjarne can create a new team. At first a small one - and then he can grow it, just like he did with good old CSC many years ago. Or maybe Tinkov will want to sell the team after this season and then everything can happen.

For sure Riis can rest now - and he needs it after all that. I hope he'll be back to cycling in some months or years.

 

[Carols]

Very depressing. However I think that Alberto will laser focus on the Giro and get a group of his teammates in the fold for that effort. All the while having his brother check out a legal exit strategy for the end of the season. I think that is the kind of professional he is, use the anger to turn the legs.

Saxo will disappear after the end of the season along with an entire host of riders.......

My favorite team is no more. Now I can only support some of the riders and Saxo. The vodka clown is despicable.....

 

[glassmoon]

I was always saing that people like Riis should not be allowed nowhere near the cycling. But I wouldnt have imagined that it will be someone like OT who would sack him. I whished the UCI would have the balls to do that.

 

[TMP402]

I hope if the team folds, the WT don't bribe Europcar/Cofidis/etc to take the vacant spot as they did with IAM. More invitation spots and higher quality riders in the second division might not be a bad thing.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

I hope if the team folds, the WT don't bribe Europcar/Cofidis/etc to take the vacant spot as they did with IAM. More invitation spots and higher quality riders in the second division might not be a bad thing.

That would be a bad thing. The best riders need to be able to ride the biggest races.

 

[jilbiker]

I think Tinkov will dissolve the team at the end of year. He is already tired of the "Toy" and with the Russian economy tanking, he really can't be bothered. And, he doesn't care a bit of the impact of such a decision on riders and their family.

Contador should not have agreed for one more year, I hope he hasn't signed. Either way I expect he would look for a new team next year. And yes there are plenty teams who would love to have Contador for one year. Especially if he does the double which I do not see him doing it, not because of form but because Contador does not do well when there is no team support. I know everyone would immediate jump and bring up the Lance case but, I have my doubts, that may have been a one off, with Vino there was this power dynamics going on in the team and yes, he won the TDF that year but barely, he was a shadow of himself.

I would say this team dynamics we are seeing has been going on for while and probably got worse in the last 4-5 months when Tinkov started feeling the money pressure from the tanking of the Russian economy. To me from my observation of Contador over the years, that explains his current poor form.

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

I hope if the team folds, the WT don't bribe Europcar/Cofidis/etc to take the vacant spot as they did with IAM. More invitation spots and higher quality riders in the second division might not be a bad thing.

That would be a bad thing. The best riders need to be able to ride the biggest races.

I'm not suggesting Sagan or Contador go down to that level, but you could easily find riders on each WT team who don't add a huge amount but might be assets for lower level teams. Nearly all of IAM and Jumbo, for instance.

 

[sir fly]

The real question is - why Riis agreed to work with Olga in the first place?
Like he didn't know anything about him... like he wasn't around before.

 

[GuyIncognito]

I have no attachment to this team so I don't care if it flounders or prospers, but Oleg couldn't dig this team into a hole any better than he is doing now. After this I doubt Contador or Sagan will be at their best anytime soon. Heck, what person ever would be motivated when their boss is a clueless nouveau riche with the stereotypical 'I know physics better than the physicists because I have money' attitude who is causing everything to fall apart?

Oh how they must both be ruing the contracts they signed recently.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The real question is - why Riis agreed to work with Olga in the first place?
Like he didn't know anything about him... like he wasn't around before.

Riis needed to save his team.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Doubtful the team is there next year, especially if they fail at their biggest goals this year

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

The real question is - why Riis agreed to work with Olga in the first place?
Like he didn't know anything about him... like he wasn't around before.

Riis needed to save his team.

I think he could've saved it with Saxo and a minor addition.
He was greedy.

 

[Tyre Byter]

Oleg, winner of the 2015 George Steinbrenner Humanitarian Award.
Hopefully his reign of terror in the sport is short-lived.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Oleg is a cancer in cycling, and the sooner he leaves, the better. If his riders keep responding to him the way they appear to be now, that team is doomed.

 

[rm7]

Re:

The real question is - why Riis agreed to work with Olga in the first place?
Like he didn't know anything about him... like he wasn't around before.

There were a lot of factors.

1) His depression
2) Almost every year he had to find a new co-sponsor - his dream was to only work as a Team Manager
3) ADD report.. He had to cash out before it was to late. The offer was simply too good to reject.

 

[HelloDolly]

Velonews article suggesting there will be more changes ...Wouldn't be surprised if De Jongh goes also as he was the one who Tinkov wanted demoted after all... ANd bye bye all Danish riders at end of 2015 except Valgren

Must say team has had a terrible start to season but it is not surprising ...how can you perform at the top of form when surrounded by anxiety and chaos

 

[ray j willings]

It will all be OK

 

[ICEROCK]

The whole team will crash in flame just like Russian currency. LOL