The Cav SKY drama

[Andy99]

This is an epic fail for Sky and Cavendish. Seriously, this is quite comedic.

eh? why..?

 

[El Imbatido]

I think ACF is alluding to this being a fail on behalf of it should have been solved and announced ages ago

 

[hatcher]

I think ACF is alluding to this being a fail on behalf of it should have been solved and announced ages ago

It's not that simple.

Should Cav have taken whatever Sky offered, or should Sky have paid Cav whatever he wanted?

With the WC on the horizon, it was always going to be complicated. As it stands they have an oral agreement, and are working out the finances to suit both parties.

I don't see why that is a fail for either party.

 

[Old School]

All I can say is that this is quite good for a fan like me. The drama of "where is Cav going...the newly crowned Champion...will he go to Sky, a British backed team....or will he not?!?!"

It keeps it interesting, especially since the major racing for the season is done.

I don't really care where he goes, as long as he represents the Rainbow jersey well. AND, I'm not a fan of his, I just love great sprints!

 

[thingswelike]

I wish I had someone to represent me who was as mercenary as these agents.

I'd have just gone... "all my coaches are at Sky, the fit with BC is great, loads of Sky members contributed to my WC win. I've seen a few decent Sky lead-outs. It's all good, where do I sign".

 

[AussieGoddess]

Honestly does anyone realistically beleive he is NOT going to Sky.

This is just more posturing and trying to squeeze the best deal out of them .... he is still going there.

 

[Ragerod]

I wish I had someone to represent me who was as mercenary as these agents.

I'd have just gone... "all my coaches are at Sky, the fit with BC is great, loads of Sky members contributed to my WC win. I've seen a few decent Sky lead-outs. It's all good, where do I sign".

But would you if your agent said "they're offering you 2.5, I think we can make at least that through your image so you'll basically be riding for free. Still want to sign?"

 

[The_Z_man]

Honestly does anyone realistically beleive he is NOT going to Sky.

This is just more posturing and trying to squeeze the best deal out of them .... he is still going there.

I'm now starting to think he won't go to Sky.

I would have sworn he said he had a contract signed at least a month ago. Now Sky says he doesn't have a contract with them. Add the Nike and Specialized things to the mix, and I just don't see it happening.

Before the Tour, when no new sponsor had been added to HTC-Highroad, I had assumed that Cav to Sky was a done deal. Even up to the other week when Wiggo made some comment about the possibility, I thought it was going to happen. Now, it seems I may have to admit I was wrong.

 

[DAvid Woodhouse]

Brailsford had a conflict of interests as a result of his dual roles with the national team and Sky. By facilitaing Cav's victory at the Worlds he has probably cost Sky a sht load more money!

 

[hatcher]

I'm now starting to think he won't go to Sky.

I would have sworn he said he had a contract signed at least a month ago. Now Sky says he doesn't have a contract with them. Add the Nike and Specialized things to the mix, and I just don't see it happening.

Before the Tour, when no new sponsor had been added to HTC-Highroad, I had assumed that Cav to Sky was a done deal. Even up to the other week when Wiggo made some comment about the possibility, I thought it was going to happen. Now, it seems I may have to admit I was wrong.

Think Cav said he'd made a decision, not that he'd signed a contract. Brailsford says they have a verbal agreement, so he clearly wants to go there.

Until now I've thought he was probably, but not definitely, headed to Sky, but now I'm almost convinced he's going there. IMO this invoking of OPQS is one final piece of posturing to get Sky to up their offer.

 

[taiwan]

...IMO this invoking of OPQS is one final piece of posturing to get Sky to up their offer.

I wonder how many times these very boards have been employed in contract negotiations.

 

[Swabian Lass]

I wonder how many times these very boards have been employed in contract negotiations.

Ha! Wouldn't be surprised at that.

 

[Anonymous]

All the way along Brailsford has been saying nothing whatsoever, just the "mark is a good rider, we would like to have him as would many teams"

The fact he has now said we have a verbal contract publicly is partly a hands of, but partly from confidence that there are no other teams in the running.

I would say the fact that DB has finally achknowledged there are negotiations going on mean that it is close to resolution.

But also theres a certain amount of posturing, if sky dont ultimately get cavendish, they need to appear, in the eyes of the british public at least, to have done everything they could to try and sign cavendish.

 

[Publicus]

All the way along Brailsford has been saying nothing whatsoever, just the "mark is a good rider, we would like to have him as would many teams"

The fact he has now said we have a verbal contract publicly is partly a hands of, but partly from confidence that there are no other teams in the running.

I would say the fact that DB has finally achknowledged there are negotiations going on mean that it is close to resolution.

But also theres a certain amount of posturing, if sky dont ultimately get cavendish, they need to appear, in the eyes of the british public at least, to have done everything they could to try and sign cavendish.

Unless the law is different in the UK, a verbal agreement is only binding to the extent that one party has started performance. So it sounds nice that Brailsford says the parties had a verbal agreement, but it's meaningless at this point.

 

[Anonymous]

Unless the law is different in the UK, a verbal agreement is only binding to the extent that one party has started performance. So it sounds nice that Brailsford says the parties had a verbal agreement, but it's meaningless at this point.

well yes, the verbal agreement means nothing, but the fact that DB is even prepared to talk about it, finally, after dodging the question for 4 months suggests either a deal is close, or he is playing the "we did our best" card.

 

[Nielsa]

TeamSkyFans, is it really a big deal for the British public? It's not been that long since Real Madrid had Woodgate, Owen, Beckham and that curly haired fella from Liverpool, which meant an English player might be responsible for knocking out Manchester Utd etc. from the CL.

Manchester Utd fans would rather see Barcelona win over Chelsea than cheer for the other English team, and have no problem cheering for Nani, Hernandez etc.

Granted, I realize club football fans won't necessarily have the same mindset as Sky fans.

 

[Anonymous]

TeamSkyFans, is it really a big deal for the British public? During the Vuelta our British fellow forumers told us there was practically 0 coverage on Froome & Wiggins holding the red jersey and later getting on the podium.
.

Not so much the general public, but the bulk of british cycling fans.

British cycling fans seem to come in about 3 or 4 catagories.

a) Those who watch the Tour and think thats all their is
b) those who watch the tour and know of a few other races and watch when its on terrestrial tv
c) Those who watch as much cycling on eurosport as they can
d) those who live and breathe the sport, watch every race streamed on the net etc.

The biggest groups by far are a and b. Group D, however much we like to think cycling is popular are a tiny spot in the statistics.

For the group a people. They thought sky should sign wiggins because he could win the tour de france after coming fourth. They will also think they should sign cav as hes the best sprinter and the world champion. Its not like Beckham going to Madrid. Virtually all football fans have heard of Real Madrid, most have seen them play at least once or twice. Most British cycling fans dont have much knowledge of who Omega Pharma Quickstep are, or who Movistar are etc.

Sky's facebook page has probably had a post a day for two years suggesting signing cav, just as it had hundreds of posts in the run up to the tour saying brad would win, just as they have countless posts after the tour saying "whats the next race". This year, for a vast majority of british fans it was probably the first time they had even seen the vuelta as it was broadcast on itv4

We are a small group that are very informed. for most cycling fans, everything is much simpler.

One thing worth noting, the four groups are rapidly changing. One impact of team sky that I have noticed is that people are becoming much more aware of other races. In year one, the bulk of sky's facebook activity was around the tour, and it was only a hardcore discussing the classics. This year Ive seen more and more activity around other races. Im noticing it in my own site visitors, and also emails I get talking about other races. A lot of people this year have gone to races for the first time ever. Sky are having a big impact on british supporters. Hopefully this is something that will happen in australia with the formation of an "aussie" team although probably to a lesser extent due to the time difference and how difficult it is for aussies to get to races.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I think ACF is alluding to this being a fail on behalf of it should have been solved and announced ages ago

Absolutely not. I think Cav has played this correctly thus far. He was facing a WC course that would give him his best chances of victory and therefore increase his value substantially.

He would lose nothing by waiting until after the WC to sign but could gain significantly if he won. He did win, so now he's in an ideal position. I see nothing remotely resembling a fail on his part.

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

I'm really not too fussed where he ends up going - as many have alluded too already, the saga is dragging on and getting boring. A couple of things struck me from the CN article however; the fact that 'the new management is seeking to financially exploit the rainbow jersey', and the bit about the Olympics.

It may just be the wording in the article, and of course any team and individual obviously would want to maximise their publicity and so on for being WC, but I don't think the rainbow jersey is something that should be 'financially exploited.' Given that Cav went to Copenhagen as one of the favourites, and the efforts that British Cycling went to ensure that he had as much chance of winning as possible, it seems ridiculous that him being WC hadn't entered any verbal negotiations with Sky... Question for someone with a better memory than me - when Thor moved to Garmin last year, was that before or after winning the worlds? If it was after, did his new status have any impact upon the negotiations?

Secondly, the bit where it says about Brailsford - 'He has indicated that the British team would do everything possible to help Cavendish win in the London Olympics next year, but that “it would be bitter” if Cavendish was “in the colours of a foreign team.”

When he says British team does he mean Sky or British Cycling? Conflict of interest surely given his dual role? As Sky's boss, he clearly wants Cav at Sky for obvious reasons. As BC boss, he wants Cav to win gold at the Olympics. Shouldn't he be able to do that as BC boss even if Cav is not at Sky? Ok, he won't be able to be as hands on as would be the case if Cav were at Sky, but it seemed to work out fine in Copenhagen with Cav being at HTC! And in any case, I'm pretty sure that Cav will be at the Olympics in GB colours, not those of a 'foreign team' so should it really matter what his trade team is?

I still think he will probably end up there, even though I don't think it would be the best move for either Cav or Sky.

 

[just some guy]

Thor was offered some money from JV for winning if he could find some money from a sponsor as I think it was after the WC that Cervelo stopped - But I don´t think he ever got anything extra for winning.

 

[Boardslide]

Thor was offered some money from JV for winning if he could find some money from a sponsor as I think it was after the WC that Cervelo stopped - But I don´t think he ever got anything extra for winning.

Wasn't this all part of the unease between Thor & Vaughters, the fact that he was promised more money after he won the WC but never got it because Vaughters always said they had no money available.

 

[Dancing On The Pedals]

Daniel Benson has just tweeted that Tratnik and Robert are gone from Quickstep. The plot thickens...

 

[luckyboy]

That is weird seeing as they have a contract until the end of next year.

Weilerflits also saying 'The departure of Robert and Tratnik contrast is striking, as this duo is an ongoing contract with Quick Step has.'

http://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/15831/malacarne,-robert-en-tratnik-vertrekken-bij-quick-step.html


Looks like me and Michelveedeebee could be right

 

[theyoungest]

Come on Cav, what business do you have in Belgium? Ride for Sky, it's meant to be.

(if not for yourself, do it for Tony Martin, who thought he'd finally got rid of you)

 

[Anonymous]

Daniel Benson has just tweeted that Tratnik and Robert are gone from Quickstep. The plot thickens...

but bear in mind that Quickstep have signed about 12 riders and so far their releases only number 5... so they stillhave seven more to depart at least.