Team Visma LAB

[Savant12]

Yes he deleted his Alarcon video from Grandissima! It was the only one I watched, wondered why it had disappeared

Omerta. He's part of the establishment now, getting all those rights to show highlights of races.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

Patrick’s deleted tweet said it all. Thanking Merijn, Grischa and of course himself.

That whole team worked for jumbo and clearly so even if you see the last days alone.

only an omerta on jumbo now…

 

[noob]

Apart from the thing that it's morally disgusting and frustrating as a viewer, the drama queen and storyteller in me likes this development.

This! Same! I feed on doping stories. I love the drama from afar. As long as I forget about the suffering. Then all empathy kicks in and I feel sad instead. <3

 

[Ricco']

Apart from the thing that it's morally disgusting and frustrating as a viewer, the drama queen and storyteller in me likes this development. Hopefully something will come from it and it's not all going to be silenced too soon.

Or they and the team want to brag about it now that the big goal was achieved and wanted to put it in the face of all the riders, teams and fans who never suspected nothing.

Or anticipation. Someone found out and would bring it to public and forced them to release the info as something that come from their free will.

 

[PhiLiz]

Yes he deleted his Alarcon video from Grandissima! It was the only one I watched, wondered why it had disappeared

Apparently he deleted them all now. At least delisted all of which talked about such things. Can't find the Riis one either.

Nothing but someone trying to cash in. He did, congratulations to him.

 

[noob]

Ah for *** sake I just searched it to see what he'd been up to recently

His analysis of Andrew Marr about 30 years ago is still good though

I have a very emotional relation to Chomsky for very different reasons, so I'm utterly biased. As a media critic he's amazing.

 

[Savant12]

Aerodynamics and altitude camps. That’s why Jumbo are so great. We can all rest satisfied now.

 

[Bonimenier]

It's ironic how they were saying it would improve the podcast on the long term. It's starting to look more like they shot themselves in the foot. Not only the a (big) part of the public/listeners are against them now, but probably more important a large part of the riders. Done with the inside informations getting gathered from riders directly which is definitely the worst part of this revelation. Them being biased or not isn't really a bad thing. Every podcast is biased in one way or another even if they claim they're objective.

 

[Breh]

The level TJV has shown in the past three Tours is insane.

-13 or 14 stages without bringing "a real sprinter".
-2nd, 2nd, 1st and 7th in GC. Main man crashed out last year and it took a surprise mutant performance from Pog in 2020 to deny them.
-Green (with a record amount of points?)
-KoM

It's a shame Vingo is just a bit too old for the white jersey aswell.

Can't wait untill other teams discover the novelty of altitude camps and wind tunnels.

 

[zlev11]

It's ironic how they were saying it would improve the podcast on the long term. It's starting to look more like they shot themselves in the foot. Not only the a (big) part of the public/listeners are against them now, but probably more important a large part of the riders. Done with the inside informations getting gathered from riders directly which is definitely the worst part of this revelation. Them being biased or not isn't really a bad thing. Every podcast is biased in one way or another even if they claim they're objective.

i dunno, these guys just don't seem all that important to me. i wouldn't even classify them as journalists. it feels more like they are trying to make themselves seem important. their content never actually offered anything worthwhile to begin with, it was very low brow clickbait content with extremely lukewarm takes. they also don't seem particularly smart, so i'm not at all surprised that they went about this in the dumbest possible way. i actually think they're just overblowing their contribution to Jumbo-Visma to congratulate themselves and it backfired in a way they never even thought of.

i also don't find them getting weights of riders all that big of a deal, it's not like Pogacar was sending them all of his training files or something. Pogacar already puts all (or most) of his rides on Strava anyway.

 

[Rackham]

Why does it not surprise me that Van Aert got angry at that question.

Given the chequered history of the sport its a perfectly valid question to ask. The issue is that the cycling media themselves are a massive part of the problem. If he didn’t expect questions around his performances over the last 3 weeks then he either truly has been living in a bubble or he thinks he is untouchable.

If these guys weren't clowns doped out of their minds they'd absolutely welcome a conversation about dopage.

If I was in their shoes (& riding 'clean') I would go to great lengths to explain 'why' ride times are so fast & such efficient recuperation between stages is possible. But the fact they get 'angry' with such questions & are so vague about the reasons behind their insane success where fatigue has become obsolete & a 60kg rider can smash rouleurs in a flat 40km ITT means they're absolutely juicing it.

They probably feel the same way Lance used to feel, i.e. "whatever we're doing, the others are doing more!". It's why they rub the peloton's nose in it as well with the way they race, i.e. "ha ha ha look how great at doping we are, you guys with your puny programs suck!".

 

[yaco]

Much ado about nothing in regards to the Lantern Rouge involvement with Jumbo Visma - Frankly the discussion does not belong in The Clinic UNLESS you can prove Benji and Patrick are running a doping program for the team - It can be discussed elsewhere.

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Much ado about nothing in regards to the Lantern Rouge involvement with Jumbo Visma - Frankly the discussion does not belong in The Clinic UNLESS you can prove Benji and Patrick are running a doping program for the team - It can be discussed elsewhere.

Benji has probably had help from Jumbo nutritionists to help with his significant weight loss.

 

[ontheroad]

Much ado about nothing in regards to the Lantern Rouge involvement with Jumbo Visma - Frankly the discussion does not belong in The Clinic UNLESS you can prove Benji and Patrick are running a doping program for the team - It can be discussed elsewhere.

Its just a sideshow which distracts from the real issue which is the unspeakable D word.

 

[Ricco']

Benji has probably had help from Jumbo nutritionists to help with his significant weight loss.

Benji Naesen to win TDF 2027

 

[Carrick-On-Seine]

Benji Naesen to win TDF 2027

Not sure about that but I just put a small bet on Vos to win today's race. It's a Jumbo summer.

 

[BR2]

Its just a sideshow which distracts from the real issue which is the unspeakable D word.

I'm not sure it's a sideshow. I really simply don't know. But that a team that looks super charged buys podcasters and vloggers who have been a bit critical in the past who are now silent on doping (if it's true they took down videos, I don't follow them and don't know), is not irrelevant to the doping topic.

 

[Rackham]

It's very difficult to discuss anything Jumbo related whilst avoiding the D word. I can barely speak about Roglic for example in the main forums whilst tiptoeing around the program that team is evidently on.

So whether it's their riders, transfers, tactics, their social media etc. it's all interconnected with their medical program (with which they bombarded the peloton over 3 weeks).

 

[Rollthedice]

Benji Naesen to win TDF 2027

The first Tour winner discussed in the clinic even before he picked up pro cycling.

 

[Pantani Attacks]

Why on earth would Jumbo hire them? They said it is as some new, hidden advantage? What on earth could those two bring that Jumbo couldn't do themselves already? Lanterne breaks down races well but nothing any ex pro couldn't do or any sort of guy focusing on the sport could do. The same with Benji. I'd understand if it was to help with social media and all that, but in terms of actual strategy? Its as eye brow raising as Wout, Jonas, Laporte, NvH et al.

 

[ontheroad]

I'm not sure it's a sideshow. I really simply don't know. But that a team that looks super charged buys podcasters and vloggers who have been a bit critical in the past who are now silent on doping (if it's true they took down videos, I don't follow them and don't know), is not irrelevant to the doping topic.

While it’s not the most pertinent issue right now I guess you’re right and it’s all inter linked.

Sky had a dedicated PR department and you could argue that they did similar by bringing David Walsh inside the tent to try and give them added credibility. Other Murdoch journalists used to talk favourably about them also. Manipulate the media to your own advantage knowing that most people will have a price.

 

[Rackham]

Why on earth would Jumbo hire them? They said it is as some new, hidden advantage? What on earth could those two bring that Jumbo couldn't do themselves already? Lanterne breaks down races well but nothing any ex pro couldn't do or any sort of guy focusing on the sport could do. The same with Benji. I'd understand if it was to help with social media and all that, but in terms of actual strategy? Its as eye brow raising as Wout, Jonas, Laporte, NvH et al.

Manipulating public opinion? Lanterne Rouge were strongly pushing the whole "Vingegaard is a god on longer climbs" narrative before the TdF & during its early parts. So when Vingegaard duly delivered the exact performance they predicted on Granon, people who followed their podcast were receptive. It's like there's always a story about champions which goes "xyz friend's cousin or family pet said xyz rider would be a champion some day because he saw him effortlessly climb a steep street on his tricycle when he was a toddler", i.e. give people the idea someone can do something & then they'll be more receptive when they do.

I just don't know what 28K subscribers on their YouTube channel are worth to Jumbo or whether these two guys even matter enough for anyone to care about their opinions.

 

[Ricco']

Why on earth would Jumbo hire them? They said it is as some new, hidden advantage? What on earth could those two bring that Jumbo couldn't do themselves already? Lanterne breaks down races well but nothing any ex pro couldn't do or any sort of guy focusing on the sport could do. The same with Benji. I'd understand if it was to help with social media and all that, but in terms of actual strategy? Its as eye brow raising as Wout, Jonas, Laporte, NvH et al.

I can imagine the sound tactical advice they provided before the stages.

"So, Wout, this stage suits you perfectly: you can climb this short hills to finish it off in the sprint. So, this is what you gonna do... Attack relentlessly from the gun and do a 150km breakaway with another rider"

or

"Jonas, this stage could get tricky, so be careful. If you have any mechanical problem, don't bother trying to fix it, switch bikes with the guy who is 20cm taller than you... Than go back quickly to the peloton and hit that gel button to diminish the consume of the red bar while you try to go back to the bunch"

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

According to the belgian press Jonas has said he wants to share leadership if Wout would like to go for the GC next year…

Not sure where that leaves poor Roglic. Do they even remember he exists?

I think the whole Lanterne Rouge situation is not related to doping but still def belongs in the clinic topic.

It is at least a sign how Jumbo is handling things and their morals (or clear lack thereoff, insert tweet with Emojis saying they are human in the most arrogant way ever)

I think the two lanterne rouge dudes thought they were tacactical geniuses but were much more used to alter the public opinion and def to get inside info of riders, especially Pogi.

Benji has been bragging all over the place with his DM’s to Pogi and during the past few months has made some memes of Pogi to get himself in the mix. Will the DMing likely have been smalltalk and def no big secrets. Probably. Did Pogi know he was working for Jumbo as Benji claims? His and Urskas likes suggest the contrary.

The same is probably the case for other riders.

Benji is also particularly vague saying he mentioned to riders “he works for a professional team”, I wonder if he also told them he works for Jumbo which quite a difference.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

This LR stuff is hilarious. Their whole thing depends on publicly available rider data and access to riders, I'm not sure that access outside JV is going to be all that easy now. Also JV riders (as far as I'm aware at least) don't tend to be very open with their data so that's not a great source.

Anyway that Patrick guy is just another boring private school educated University of Queensland law student doing what those people tend to do.