The Rohan Dennis thread

[Scarponi]

What is he doing?

https://twitter.com/RohanDennis/status/1153421338553520129

That just makes him look even worse. This mail contains a perfectly fine request by the team, even giving him a good option to only target the ITT and doing a TdF recon afterwards. And his SO gets involved too...

I think he is replying to an article that said he left Pais Vasco after two stages because it was equal to the two days he was meant to do in the Ardennes. The email shows the team gave him that option.

 

[yaco]

It's a worry when Nathan Haas is involved and of course of Rohan's partner - AFAIK the article by Daniel Benson was fairly much accurate.

 

[del1962]

Latest is that he has until August 1st to buy himself out of his contract and would then be find another team

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Latest is that he has until August 1st to buy himself out of his contract and would then be find another team

And if he doesn't?

 

[del1962]

No idea just what Orla Chennaoul put on Twitter

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe he needs to follow Kittel's example; take a break. Get a bit away from everything…

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

So has he left Bahrain Merida? He is still listed on their website as a member of that team, and under contract, apparently, for next year.

But it is reported that

Dennis isn't just riding. He is bringing what looks to be a BMC TT bike. He'll be hard to beat now.

But this would surely be a breach of contract.

 

[Leinster]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ro...ce-pull-out-has-been-blown-our-of-proportion/

It was reported that Dennis and management at Bahrain-Merida had been having disagreements over his equipment and skinsuit, however, neither Dennis nor the team have confirmed that such disagreements were the direct cause of his abandon.

...but then...

Dennis confirmed that he will race on an unmarked time trial bike during the World Championships, along with components from the Australian national team.
"It is what they [national team] deem the best thing for my body shape and my position for me to try to win," Dennis said.

So he hasn't confirmed that equipment was behind him quitting the Tour.

But first chance he gets, he's riding unbadged equipment.


As said before, if it's really this big a deal, he ought to have thought twice before taking a big-money move to the team with "MERIDA" plastered across the lower half of the shirt.

 

[Davesta]

Reading between the lines, and given the amount he mentions his sports psychologist in the article, it sounds to me that he was struggling with his mental health during the Tour, which is ultimately what led to him leaving the race.
Equipment was perhaps one of the (probably many) pressures that caused a deterioration in his mental health - ie the stress of trying to perform with sub-par equipment. And so he's taken the decision to remove that stressor by using unbadged equipment at the Worlds...

I could be totally off the mark, of course...

 

[yaco]

You are representing your nation, so it's common to use other equipment if it is better.

 

[jmdirt]

So if RD wins the TT WC using whatever he plans on using, then what moving forward? If its just a skin suit and wheels or maybe bars too, that should be able to be worked out easily enough, but if its a different frame (as it sounds like), I can't see how that can be worked out.

When not every bike company had a TT bike everyone rode stickered up Litespeed, Cervelo, custom, but now everyone has TT rigs (at the top level). Is he just covering the stickers on his old BMC?

RD should have fresh legs, but will they be good legs? Maybe Davesta is correct that he just needed to get his head reset.

 

[TomLPC]

No opinion on Rohan either way but him crushing the field at the WC on a BMC bike would be some decent comedy. A real 2 minute+ destruction, an absolutely bruising day for the rest of the field.

 

[hammerthaim]

No opinion on Rohan either way but him crushing the field at the WC on a BMC bike would be some decent comedy. A real 2 minute+ destruction, an absolutely bruising day for the rest of the field.

It's on the cards. He says his power is as good as ever.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I think he’s the strong favourite. He’s one of two TTists who have been superior to the rest for a while and Dumoulin isn’t going to be there.

 

[movingtarget]

Depending on what Dennis has been doing training wise, not to mention motivation, since the Tour, I think Campenaerts might go close this time, Roglic is the other one of course.

 

[42x16ss]

So has he left Bahrain Merida? He is still listed on their website as a member of that team, and under contract, apparently, for next year.

But it is reported that


But this would surely be a breach of contract.

It's been done before. I remember Michael Rogers riding the 2008 Olympics on an unmarked Cervelo P3, then there was the UK team using their unmarked BC bikes in 2012. That's just off the top of my head.

As long as they aren't displaying other sponsor logos openly it's all ok.

 

[PeterB]

He is most likely obliged under the contract with the team to use Merida equipment also when riding in national team colours. But this does not mean that team will not turn a blind eye in this particular case. Merida (bike brand) has been entirely silent so far since his Tour abandon.

 

[scapewalker]

He is most likely obliged under the contract with the team to use Merida equipment also when riding in national team colours. But this does not mean that team will not turn a blind eye in this particular case. Merida (bike brand) has been entirely silent so far since his Tour abandon.

There is hardly anything Merida can say to make this situation any better other than pretending this never happened.

Edit: Well they could blame it on the helm/wheels but no legitimate company would ever do that.

 

[yaco]

Dennis will not ride a Merida bike in the ITT.

 

[glassmoon]

Dennis will not ride a Merida bike in the ITT.

imagine he'd have a frame defect during the TT - now that would be a proper DRAMA

 

[KZD]

imagine he'd have a frame defect during the TT - now that would be a proper DRAMA

Well it wouldn't be the first time

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Campenaerts doesn't believe Dennis is topfavorite for the WC, since he has never found his groove on a TT bike this year.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

But that was on the Merida bike. He is riding the worlds on a BMC bike...same he had when he became WC. Different situation. Was Campy not informed of this?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

But that was on the Merida bike. He is riding the worlds on a BMC bike...same he had when he became WC. Different situation. Was Campy not informed of this?

Don't know, and surely the bike will make a difference, but you have to wonder, if the fact that he was only able to take a handful of seconds on Bernal in TDS, was all because of the bike. Personally, i don't buy it. At this point, i'm thinking the bike will make a bigger difference in his head, than on the road.

I mean, he lost one second per km on Lampaert. Not on van Aert or Roglic. Unless he loses 2sec per km due to the bike, i'm not buying it.

 

[PeterB]

There is hardly anything Merida can say to make this situation any better other than pretending this never happened.

Edit: Well they could blame it on the helm/wheels but no legitimate company would ever do that.

They could have at least published some generic PR garbage like "our bikes meet the highest demands of professional cycling and include the most advanced technology available" or so. But also maybe they just do not care so much, being that big and not that dependant on some Rohan Dennis, or as you said, concluded that the best strategy was to pretend this never happened.