The Cav SKY drama

[thehog]

Porte is a nutter for leaving Saxo..... hes gone from Contador's no 2 to not even getting a Tour ride.... Rogers will be back to his old role of leading Cav into the final 5km..... Gerrans was smart enough to get out.... This team reminds me of the 1988 Fagor team.

Split personalities.

....and what was Froome thinking?

Eisel will be in there to stay with him in the mountains at least.

How many riders will Wiggins even need in the mountains?
Maybe two who will still be there on the final climb of the day. Froome isn't going to be riding apparently, so that leaves Sivtsov, Rogers, Löfkvist, Zandio, Henao, Porte.
Zandio and Henao aren't going to be there, Porte isn't going to be much use in the mountains as we have seen, Löfkvist seemingly hasn't got it anymore climbing-wise. Leaving Sivtsov and Rogers (if he gets back to his old form).

Someone else has probably put together a provisional Tour team, but I think this'd be pretty good for them.

Wiggins
Sivtsov
Rogers
Löfkvist
Cavendish
EBH
Eisel
Pate
Swift/Thomas/Sutton/Stannard (??)

 

[Ragerod]

Having a hard time seeing how a 200m sprint is so dramatic. The only risks he takes are that he may crash in the final 200m.

Not many of his sprints are dramatic but MSR was as dramatic as they come. Haussler gets a huge lead with just 200 to go but he is slowly reeled back in as they swing left and right across the road before both lunge for the line. The winner is unclear until we see the photo finish and there's just an inch of rubber in it. The thought process at the time was:
"Wow. Haussler's got the jump on everyone"
"Cavendish is going for it!"
"Will he make it?"
"Will he make it?"
"Did he make it?"
"Wow. He made it!"

Why doesn't he put himself out there? Just him, his fitness and his mental toughness.

To me, he's a one trick pony.

Cavendish is a one-trick pony but why should he put himself out there? He knows that if it comes down to a sprint he can beat anyone, it's up to everyone else to drop Cavendish, not the other way round.

 

[daveinzambia]

Eisel will be in there to stay with him in the mountains at least.

How many riders will Wiggins even need in the mountains?
Maybe two who will still be there on the final climb of the day. Froome isn't going to be riding apparently, so that leaves Sivtsov, Rogers, Löfkvist, Zandio, Henao, Porte.
Zandio and Henao aren't going to be there, Porte isn't going to be much use in the mountains as we have seen, Löfkvist seemingly hasn't got it anymore climbing-wise. Leaving Sivtsov and Rogers (if he gets back to his old form).

Someone else has probably put together a provisional Tour team, but I think this'd be pretty good for them.

Wiggins
Sivtsov
Rogers
Löfkvist
Cavendish
EBH
Eisel
Pate
Swift/Thomas/Sutton/Stannard (??)

not sure why Froome would not rider and I think Uran would in their maybe ahead of Loftkvist
think Thomas or Sutton would get the last slot (depending on which one becomes Cav's favored last wheel

 

[luckyboy]

I've read a few times on this forum about Froome not going to the Tour. And I missed out Uran because he is more of a hilly rider than a climber.

 

[180mmCrank]

Sorry to be a bit Jonny come lately to this discussion but...

Has Mark Renshaw signed with anyone yet?

 

[Spider1964]

Rabobank.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-renshaw-to-be-number-one-sprinter-at-rabobank

 

[JRanton]

I've read a few times on this forum about Froome not going to the Tour. And I missed out Uran because he is more of a hilly rider than a climber.

It might be the hilly classics where he'll ultimately get his best results but I'd say Uran still very much counts as a good climber. He was right up there with the front group in the Pyrenees before falling sick in the last week and he also climbed well in the Dauphine in support of Wiggins.

Froome has said he wants to return to the Vuelta and has ruled out riding the Giro. He hasn't said anything about the Tour but if he shows some good early season form then I have a hard time believing that Sky won't take him. The first week will be an absolute crash fest again and if I'm in charge of a British team with the stated goal of increasing cycling's popularity in the UK then I want as many Brits as possible who can make a significant impact in by far the most watched and biggest bike race in the world.

 

[180mmCrank]

Rabobank.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-renshaw-to-be-number-one-sprinter-at-rabobank

Thanks And has this been confirmed?

Terry

 

[Boeing]

yet another event that wasn't in the user guide for Brainsford. But I am sure he will add it for next year

 

[woodie]

Thanks And has this been confirmed?

Terry

Yeah about two months ago, Rabobank announced it before Mark because of that thing in his HTC contract

 

[bobbins]

Froome won't go to the Tour.

Made his team leader look daft at the Vuelta. Moved himself from the get rid of list to the 1.5mil contract list over the course of 3 weeks. Brailsford only re-upped his contract so that he gets control over the racing program of riders likely to be in contention for the Olympics. Sending him to the Tour will have a devastating mental affect on Cavs leadout man / Wiggins.

 

[avanti]

So is Cav going to ride a Specialized bike or switch to the team brand?

 

[Gloin22]

So is Cav going to ride a Specialized bike or switch to the team brand?

He's going to ride Pinarello.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Bad analogy, see Boonen.

And no one will be talking about Cav's sprint wins because there's no drama involved. His MSR win was the same as any of his tour wins. Suck wheels, be the fastest man over 200m.

Disagree.

His Tour win may well be forgotten in time because some other guy will arrive on the block and become the fastest in the world and dominate, like Cavendish, McEwen, Petacchi and Cipollini before them. Cavendish has the benefit of longevity over those guys, admittedly (he broke through at a younger age), but in all honesty I thought his stage 19 win two days before was much more dominant in terms of sheer pace humiliating the opposition; and his stage 19 win in 2009 was much more impressive by him as a rider. His Milan-San Remo win was much more memorable than any of these, owing to the charge out of the péloton, the sheer ferocity of the speed, the desperation of Haussler to shake him and the closeness of the win.

Cavendish's win at Milan-San Remo was phenomenal and memorable, and don't kid yourself otherwise. It was anything but the usual Cavendish routine victory.

 

[b.broadhurst]

Any thoughts on Sky's Tour Squad?

Mine would be:

Wiggins
Froome
Uran
Porte
Boasson Hagen
Eisel
Thomas (If decides to do Tour if not Rogers)
Cavendish
Pate

 

[b.broadhurst]

Also who else will be leaving Sky? They had a maximum 30 riders last year and have brought in 8 this year with only 5 leaving (Gerrans, Arvesen, Henderson, Cummings & Pauwels)

 

[The Cobra]

Any thoughts on Sky's Tour Squad?

Mine would be:

Wiggins
Froome
Uran
Porte
Boasson Hagen
Eisel
Thomas (If decides to do Tour if not Rogers)
Cavendish
Pate

Certainly going to be a tough call. I think Froome will go as Sky want a Tour win more than anything and based on his Vuelta efforts hes got just as good a chance as Wiggins. I'd go for something like:

Wiggins - GC
Froome - GC
Uran - Climber
Rogers - Climber/Leadout
Porte - Climber/Leadout
EBH - Leadout/Stage hunt
Eisel - Leadout
Cavendish - Sprint
Stannard/Pate - Leadout

 

[JRanton]

Few details have emerged about Cavendish’s new contract, which is believed to be potentially the most expensive in the history of the sport. The duration of the arrangement was not communicated in the team announcement yesterday, but Sky Procycling has told VeloNation that it will run from 2012 until the end of 2014.

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...ering-offers-to-chose-from.aspx#ixzz1acQVticM

 

[PCutter]

Wiggins - GC
Froome - GC
Uran - Climber
Rogers - Climber/Leadout
Porte - Climber/Leadout
EBH - Leadout/Stage hunt
Eisel - Leadout
Cavendish - Sprint
Stannard/Pate - Leadout

thats a pretty impressive team they could put together, but I'd be surprised it they put Wiggins, Froome, Uran and Porte all in the same team. At least one could be dropped off to concentrate on Giro. Maybe Uran and Porte go to the Giro with Porte then going on to domestique at the tour with Uran resting for Vuelta, or some such combination. Then replace whoever you drop with a diesel for the flats and early classic style stages - Hayman or similar. Rogers combo of HTC/Cav history, and also being old and having a fair bit of experience in supporting both sprinters and mountain men/GC makes him a good road captain taking stress off Wiggo, as the rest of that GC team is pretty inexperienced.

 

[thehog]

Certainly going to be a tough call. I think Froome will go as Sky want a Tour win more than anything and based on his Vuelta efforts hes got just as good a chance as Wiggins. I'd go for something like:

Wiggins - GC
Froome - GC
Uran - Climber
Rogers - Climber/Leadout
Porte - Climber/Leadout
EBH - Leadout/Stage hunt
Eisel - Leadout
Cavendish - Sprint
Stannard/Pate - Leadout

Climber/Leadout? - What's that?

Leadout/Stage hunt? - Huh?

GC? On their own?

I think the entire think is dumb... For both Cav & Wiggens. Who works for who & the energy spent on Cav in weeks 1 & 2 will cost.

Finally Cav doesn't take *** from anyone.... wont work...

 

[42x16ss]

Climber/Leadout? - What's that?

Leadout/Stage hunt? - Huh?

GC? On their own?

I think the entire think is dumb... For both Cav & Wiggens. Who works for who & the energy spent on Cav in weeks 1 & 2 will cost.

Finally Cav doesn't take *** from anyone.... wont work...

Agreed. This is why signing Cav was such a stupid move by Sky. They don't need him or the demands he puts on the teams resources. The squad is strong enough and talented enough as it is, with some strong kids coming through.

Sky have too many promising riders that will have their development cut short and will be turned into carbon copies of riders like Eisel and Pate if they are used as diesels race after race.

Look for EBH, Thomas, Uran, Henao, Hayman, Wiggins, Flecha etc to scout the market at next years TdF/classics.

 

[wirral]

I gotta agree with The Hog. I can't see how they are going to swing this one. If you split your team into 2 sub-teams with maybe 3 or 4 riders kind of working for both camps, you may well end up with neither Cav nor Wiggins satisfied, neither achieving what they hoped to and a public spat.

We'll see.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Agreed. This is why signing Cav was such a stupid move by Sky. They don't need him or the demands he puts on the teams resources. The squad is strong enough and talented enough as it is, with some strong kids coming through.

It was a good move when they decided to sign him. They don't have someone who is a legitimate threat for Yellow at the Tour on the kind of parcours we've seen recently. The plan was presumably to focus mainly on winning sprints at the Tour while also having a couple of guys who could get a good GC result. Like Garmin but with a faster sprinter and stronger fringe GC guys. That's not stupid at all. In fact it's clever because Cavendish has the potential to become an actual sports celebrity in Britain.

Its only a problem because the Tour organisers have apparently decided to give us a route tailor made for Wiggins (and potentially Froome should he be able to build on his Vuelta form). Up until that point, the primary focus was clearly going to be Cavendish. But now there's a real conflict of interest because Sky are getting what might be a once off chance to compete seriously for Yellow. It becomes an even bigger conflict should Contador get banned.

I genuinely don't know how they are going to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if they know either.

 

[AussieGoddess]

I genuinely don't know how they are going to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if they know either.

I agree with everything you said except this bit.

I think the resolution is fairly easy for them

Wiggins doesnt give a rats about the Olympics. He has 2 olympic gold and a couple of other medals so really doesnt care much. This is his best ever chance at winning the Tour though - and that he cares about VERY much.

Cavendish on the other hand has 20 Tour stage wins, has a green jersey and while getting some more would be nice, what he wants is
a) to win A stage in his rainbow stripes: and
b) to win Olympic gold

Him and Wiggins will do a deal. Wiggo has already shown at the WC how incredibly important he is to Cav's chances of winning the Gold .... so the deal will be the Tour for Wiggins and the Olympics for Cav.

Cav will get Eisel to guide him at the Tour, but they wont be chasing too many breaks or controlling things for him. He will drop out at the first real mountain stage anyway, and in return Wiggins will work his a$$ off for Cav in London

 

[42x16ss]

It was a good move when they decided to sign him. They don't have someone who is a legitimate threat for Yellow at the Tour on the kind of parcours we've seen recently. The plan was presumably to focus mainly on winning sprints at the Tour while also having a couple of guys who could get a good GC result. Like Garmin but with a faster sprinter and stronger fringe GC guys. That's not stupid at all. In fact it's clever because Cavendish has the potential to become an actual sports celebrity in Britain.

Its only a problem because the Tour organisers have apparently decided to give us a route tailor made for Wiggins (and potentially Froome should he be able to build on his Vuelta form). Up until that point, the primary focus was clearly going to be Cavendish. But now there's a real conflict of interest because Sky are getting what might be a once off chance to compete seriously for Yellow. It becomes an even bigger conflict should Contador get banned.

I genuinely don't know how they are going to resolve the problem. I'm not sure if they know either.

From a nationalistic point of view, sure, great move. Increasing visibility by winning Tour stages, again, great move.

But as far as developing some of the brightest young talent in the sport and utilising a very promising and resourceful team - terrible move. Sky will have problems with team dynamic by the end of the year. Expect a constant rotation of riders a la HTC/Columbia.