Teams taking care of their riders... Or not?

[El Pistolero]

Following your riders cost some money, but mostly time I guess. It should however give you better results. Why spend tens of thousands of euros/dollars on 1/10th of a second marginal gain on time trial bikes, when you can get far more better trained, healthier, slimmer riders because you follow them?

Who are you going to pay to follow them? You think every team has time trial bikes for every member? Funny.

 

[Roude Leiw]

Not every team has the money. Europcar simply doesn't have the budget to follow every rider closely.

I don't think that this is the real issue. If we stay with the Europcar example, they have a nice and fancy bus, have a truck with a kitchen in it, have actually TT bikes for everyone. I suppose their setup is comparable to all other pro conti teams with some ambitions. So the money for some coaches could probably squeezed out of the budget. I mean the smaller teams with the smaller budgets HAVE to improve their riders, they simply do not have any budget to buy the big stars with a lot of points. So they have to rely on improving the existing ones. That's why I don't get why they still often work the same way than in the 50's

 

[TomasC]

I often wondered why there are always several doctors on teams' rosters but seldom a coach/trainer.

 

[Alpehue]

Im kinda suprised how many of the riders going STb that i stating things such as, i need a team that beleives in me, or i need a team with structure as one of the main reasons for joining the team. I might be wrong, but i dont think STb pays as well as some other teams? Yet they have no problem attracting talented riders.

 

[Opalius]

In Denmark Riis is reknowned for his focus on teamwork, rather than on specific and individual effort.

He's usually got some of the best Danish chefs travelling around with the team in a truck that is essentially a high-tech kitchen. Thus diet and nutrition is emphasized.

I don't know about his training methods, but he seems to be skilled in getting his riders to become better in tt.

 

[El Pistolero]

Don't know about Riis' high-tech kitchen, but this video could be interesting for this discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uCXeDFUSxk

 

[virandociclista]

Here in Brazil I know a lot of pro-riders... most part of them train by theirselfs. The team owner think that they already learned how to train when they were young riders.

They only need doctors!! [lol]

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Not every team has the money. Europcar simply doesn't have the budget to follow every rider closely.

John Lelangue moved to Monaco, so he would be closer to Phil, Thor and Evans. Didn't really work out well for them now did it. That's why I said that the small fish like AK don't get the same level of attention as the leaders of the team. So that's why it's not smart to think AK's story is true for the entire team. The big stars might get a different treatment. A lot of riders have improved at BMC. Greg van Avermaet started winning races again and Evans won the freaking Tour. This year though they failed with Hushovd, Gilbert and Evans. Evans and Thor aren't that young anymore. And all 3 of them were plagued by illness and bad luck. Especially Thor Hushovd.

again. your hordes of bs posts keeps on going

europcar has to be on of the richest teams (relatively) out there. big salaries. itt bikes for all riders. their busses are as modern as can be. basically this counts for all french teams.

besides following riders doesn't cost much moeny but it costs time and effort and motivation. something teams like bmc and rabo etc don't have.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Here in Brazil I know a lot of pro-riders... most part of them train by theirselfs. The team owner think that they already learned how to train when they were young riders.

They only need doctors!! [lol]

a lot has changed in brazilian cycling though. it was once worse than even portugal in terms of clinic relatated stuff. still brazil is in sotuh america the most professional country I can think of. way more advanced and modern than colombia for instance. especially their itt efforts and equipment are quite amazing.

 

[El Pistolero]

again. your hordes of bs posts keeps on going

europcar has to be on of the richest teams (relatively) out there. big salaries. itt bikes for all riders. their busses are as modern as can be. basically this counts for all french teams.

besides following riders doesn't cost much moeny but it costs time and effort and motivation. something teams like bmc and rabo etc don't have.

Europcar only became a sponsor if Voeckler would stay. They don't have a big budget at all. Their budget is quite low, especially if they're to become a WT team.

Since riders usually live across Europe it would take an awful lot of money to follow every rider individually. And some cyclists just aren't worth the investments.


What's your view on the merging of so many teams in the peloton? Is cycling in a bad state?

"It's a bit surprising. The Nissan - Leopard Trek merger in particular because both teams were already pretty strong. For Leopard Trek to fold after just one year is surprising – and it's not exactly reassuring for the sport. It's reaching a point where teams need much larger budgets to survive. It's up to us (Team Europcar) to do our best with our meagre funds. We're a good counter-example: we don't have a huge budget but we still excel on the biggest race in the world. It's a good message that we're giving."

Christopher Kern

Not a clue why anyone would think Europcar is a rich team. They clearly are not... They have a yearly budget of around 6-7 million Euros. That's peanuts compared to Omega Pharma-Quick Step and Sky.

 

[Winterfold]

When you look at how unprofessional some of those teams are, it's not really surprising that Sky dominate like they do.

Yet, according to the Clinic - everyone is doing the stuff Sky do

Some of the teams didn't even know where their riders are - how can you run an elite sporting team like that? It's not about distrusting riders but just about making sure they are properly looked after...

 

[El Pistolero]

Yet, according to the Clinic - everyone is doing the stuff Sky do

Some of the teams didn't even know where their riders are - how can you run an elite sporting team like that? It's not about distrusting riders but just about making sure they are properly looked after...

Look, if you're going to bad mouth other teams you need to give concrete examples. I know a few teams that fit your description, but just saying "Sky rules, other teams suck" isn't going to cut it.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Look, if you're going to bad mouth other teams you need to give concrete examples. I know a few teams that fit your description, but just saying "Sky rules, other teams suck" isn't going to cut it.

rabobank

 

[movingtarget]

BMC have had some decent results in the latter part of the season but they were crippled in the first half with illness to their best riders. Even Evan's seventh place in the Tour was not bad in hindsight as he was viral and never recovered at all from his Tour exertions and ended the season early. I think BMC will be big improvers next year. It will possibly be Evan's last season which will also be more motivation for the team to do well. Gilbert will be much better, Phinney and Van Garderen are improving also. Hushovd seems to be the real concern as his illness has been very lengthy.

As for other teams I think Rabo should be admired for developing their riders and they have good riders but the results are always less than I expect. Apart from Gesink's problems you would have to think they need some changes at the top. Maybe some new managers may help. Although I thought Sanchez had a good season after a slow start. He picked up some good wins for the team.