The Tour Wild Cards

[DAOTEC]

Flandis shadow ...

The UNCP, Association of French professional riders (the equivalent of the Italian ACCPI) critical "bitterly" Aso's decision not invited to the Tour Sojasun-Saur.
"This decision represents a radical change from Aso, so far had a responsible and ethical, but some now forgotten, without gratitude, the solidarity that the French runners had against them during the recent" war "with 'UCI' said a comunifcato of UNCP.
And again: "A team has been invited on the sole criterion of having in its ranks the world champion, forgetting the very negative image that this team has in the recent past both in the Tour de France as' s entire cycling.
Clear reference to the BMC built on the ashes of the Phonak in past years has beaten all records for number of positive and has "tarnished" the Tour 2006 with the Landis case.
A translate in Full => http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/index.php?page=news&cod=28026&tp=n

 

[Mellow Velo]

Yup. Prudhomme's post 2008 ASO, is a radically different beast.
Getting rid of Clerc, getting L'Equipe's journos muzzled etc.
Seems as if ethics got the boot, in favour of good, old fashioned capitalism.

 

[theyoungest]

A column on the biggest Dutch news website nu.nl, by cycling pro-turned-journalist Thijs Zonneveld:

Bleeping French

Non, said the monsieur of the Tour. No Kenny van Hummel. No Johnny Hoogerland. There is only a handful of Dutch soon to start in Rotterdam.

The managers of Skil and Vacansoleil said they understood. Too many good teams for too few spots.

Lance Armstrong picked up a wildcard, the others went to wealthy Russians (Katusha), wealthy Brits (Team Sky), and wealthy Americans (Garmin, BMC). Shame shame shame.

Even riders and media are full of understanding. The Tour starts with only one Dutch team, which is logical.

Bullshit.

Barely a week ago there was a sumptuous dinner held in Rotterdam for the Tour organizers. A lot of champagne, a lot of wine, a lot of foie gras with caviar and of course a lot of French smelly cheese (because French smelly cheese, that's what the French like).

After dinner the important gentlemen of the Tour could relax their bulging bellies facing the Erasmus Bridge - lit up in yellow for the occasion. Rotterdam plays its role of perfect hostess with verve. Like the rest of the Netherlands.

Thanks

But instead of a thank you (additional invitations for Dutch teams) the Tour organization took a shit on the Delft blue china. Then they wiped their asses with orange napkins and burped the smell of their stinking cheese in the face of the hostess. No Tour for Kenny and Johnny. We can forget about the Giro as well. And what did we do? We smiled.

Two grand tours start this year in the Netherlands: the Giro and the Tour - the beautiful result of years of licking French and Italian heels. We are pulling out all the stops.

We are throwing money, we send our highest dignitaries, we do everything the organization of the Tour and the Giro wants. Yellow bridge? Oui, monsieur. Euromast too? Consider it done. City in pink? Alright, signore.

No start

We have arranged everything except one thing: our own household. In the first article of the contract with the Tour and Giro there should have been an obligation to have three Dutch teams at the start. Rabobank, Skil and Vacansoleil. Otherwise, no start. Yellow bridges and stinky cheese orgies: no problem, if the orange share in the pack is large enough.

Chauvinistic? Sure. But that is simply inherent in sports. Blackmail? Yep. Belongs there too. And even more so in cycling: you get what you give. I'll ride in front if you do so as well.

Why should we be the sweetest kid in the class? The Tour each year invites a slew of French teams, the Giro wants half the peloton to be Italian, and the Vuelta sends invitations to everything Spanish. If they want to fill their pockets by starting outside their borders, then they'll have to pay for it with tickets.

No Kenny. No Johnny. Merde. We've let them eat the smelly cheese off our bread.

(the last line is based on a Dutch proverb)

 

[Cerberus]

A column on the biggest Dutch news website nu.nl, by cycling pro-turned-journalist Thijs Zonneveld:

(the last line is based on a Dutch proverb)

Seems to me they're overestimating their own leverage quite a bit. I doubt the tour organizers are that desperate to start in the Netherlands.

 

[Sensation]

My dad loves cycling, but not the kind of man that would go online and read about it or know dates of races etc. But I call him every time there is a race on Norwegian television. Also send him some live stream links, so he has seen 4 or 5 races this year. This morning I send him the tour list. He called me up and asked me who BMC was. I guess that illustrates how they have performed this year. Not saying they should not get a wildcard. From a marketing point of view, they need Cadel Evans to sell the tour down under, that simple. From my point of view, neither BMC or Radioshack has doen anythign to deserve an invite.

 

[issoisso]

The guy can make a ton of arguments for Vacansolei being there, and I'll respect them and probably agree with a few.

But arguing they should be more considered because the Tour starts in Holland?
Just cut the middle man and staple the sign "Chauvinist" to your forehead.

 

[theyoungest]

The guy can make a ton of arguments for Vacansolei being there, and I'll respect them and probably agree with a few.

But arguing they should be more considered because the Tour starts in Holland?
Just cut the middle man and staple the sign "Chauvinist" to your forehead.

He's basically saying the Dutch should have been more chauvinistic. Just like the French and Italian organizers are. That's the point of his article, if you missed it. And I can't say I disagree.

 

[Cerberus]

He's basically saying the Dutch should have been more chauvinistic. Just like the French and Italian organizers are. That's the point of his article, if you missed it. And I can't say I disagree.

Again what leverage have they got? He's acting like the Netherlands are doing the Tour a favour by allowing the Tour to start there, but I don't exactly see that, and I don't think that ASO would have seen it that way either.

 

[theyoungest]

Again what leverage have they got? He's acting like the Netherlands are doing the Tour a favour by allowing the Tour to start there, but I don't exactly see that, and I don't think that ASO would have seen it that way either.

Money, my friend. These grand departs outside France bring in the big bucks. The Dutch should have asked something back for it.

He isn't saying the Dutch are doing the French a favour, he's saying the French could have considered doing the Dutch a tiny little favour.

 

[poupou]

Money, my friend. These grand departs outside France bring in the big bucks. The Dutch should have asked something back for it.

He isn't saying the Dutch are doing the French a favour, he's saying the French could have considered doing the Dutch a tiny little favour.

They have already done a favour by according the depart in Netherland. A lot of cities and states want to have it. But of course it's better to have fromage, dessert, cafe and pousse-cafe after a wonderfull repas!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

bit harsh on Sky, they have been competitive in most races they've been in an have knocked up several stage wins. There train to date for their sprinters has been impressive and I'm for one am looking forward to them taking on HTC in the Tour.

was using sky as an example they have performed very well and I totally agree they earned a spot at the tour, but I bet even if they hadn't the power/money still would have got em there. the people in charge of cycling are greed ridden and have their perspectives all wrong.

sky have been excellent.

auscyclefan: I don't mind what you feel about me, This place is about different opinions, and cycling discussions.. I wasn't displaying fanboyism just stating my opinion. I totally stand by my comments, if you feel I was wrong then reply with an argument to my points, don't reply regarding feelings, it is pointless. Your love for evans blinds your reason.

The fact the start is in holland doesn't phase me , I just feel other reasons deemed vasc. worthy for a spot in the tour.
Having the start in holland is an excellent thing for the country irregardless of what teams are choosen. The team selection, and the reason I'm disappointed has NOTHING to do with nationality, but more to do with the fact vasc. have done everything right to get a spot. When a team like BMC hasn't to the same extent.

 

[auscyclefan94]

auscyclefan: I don't mind what you feel about me, This place is about different opinions, and cycling discussions.. I wasn't displaying fanboyism just stating my opinion. I totally stand by my comments, if you feel I was wrong then reply with an argument to my points, don't reply regarding feelings, it is pointless. Your love for evans blinds your reason.

The fact the start is in holland doesn't phase me , I just feel other reasons deemed vasc. worthy for a spot in the tour.
Having the start in holland is an excellent thing for the country irregardless of what teams are choosen. The team selection, and the reason I'm disappointed has NOTHING to do with nationality, but more to do with the fact vasc. have done everything right to get a spot. When a team like BMC hasn't to the same extent.

Your Not stating fanboyism? What a joke! So you are dutch/australian and being a dutch start for the tour and two dutch teams missed out but your opinion has nothing to do with your dutch heritage? You expect me to believe that!

i thought vacansoleil should of got a spot but bmc should have one also. I think their are a handful of teams which are in the "agreement".

So they haven't done everything right because they bought some riders?

maybe some instances my "love for evans" may occasionally blind me but I can see quite clearly. I would fight for any other team (not as hard tho) that was in BMC's position.

Saying you don't have fanboyism and I do is an absolute joke. I can admit it. You are obviously in denial.

 

[kurtinsc]

The team selection, and the reason I'm disappointed has NOTHING to do with nationality, but more to do with the fact vasc. have done everything right to get a spot. When a team like BMC hasn't to the same extent.

BMC went out and spent big bucks to hire a GC contender.

That counts for quite a bit.


If Cadel had stayed with Lotto... then I'm sure Vasco would have gotten a wildcard. If Lance hadn't dismantled Astana going to RS, then Both Vasco and Skil would have gotten wildcards.

But they went to new teams without spots previously. Having a big GC name MATTERS. It matters more then "deserving" a spot or "animating" the race. ASO is looking to maximize the exposure of their race... and having Lance and Cadel does that more then having Vasco and Skil. They'll make more advertising revenue having those two then the entire Vasco and Skil squads.

ASO doesn't care about fairness. They aren't supposed to care. The UCI is... but not ASO.

 

[karlboss]

BMC went out and spent big bucks to hire a GC contender.

That counts for quite a bit.


If Cadel had stayed with Lotto... then I'm sure Vasco would have gotten a wildcard. If Lance hadn't dismantled Astana going to RS, then Both Vasco and Skil would have gotten wildcards.

But they went to new teams without spots previously. Having a big GC name MATTERS. It matters more then "deserving" a spot or "animating" the race. ASO is looking to maximize the exposure of their race... and having Lance and Cadel does that more then having Vasco and Skil. They'll make more advertising revenue having those two then the entire Vasco and Skil squads.

ASO doesn't care about fairness. They aren't supposed to care. The UCI is... but not ASO.

Fair post...

 

[blaxland]

BMC went out and spent big bucks to hire a GC contender.

That counts for quite a bit.


If Cadel had stayed with Lotto... then I'm sure Vasco would have gotten a wildcard. If Lance hadn't dismantled Astana going to RS, then Both Vasco and Skil would have gotten wildcards.

But they went to new teams without spots previously. Having a big GC name MATTERS. It matters more then "deserving" a spot or "animating" the race. ASO is looking to maximize the exposure of their race... and having Lance and Cadel does that more then having Vasco and Skil. They'll make more advertising revenue having those two then the entire Vasco and Skil squads.

ASO doesn't care about fairness. They aren't supposed to care. The UCI is... but not ASO.

+10000000000 agree Kurtinsc....the tour organizers made there decision based on past results..not future predictions(Vasco/Skil squads means more breakaway/agressive riding)Bmc bought big name riders..the others teams mentioned did not..

 

[Mambo95]

For goodness sake people. You may like Vacansoleil because they go on crazy attacks, but the reason they do that is because they're not very good and that's what they have to do to get on TV. They have nobody special in their team.

BMC have Cadel Evans. He's one of the best riders around, therefore he gets a slot.

There's no conspiracy, no money changing hands. Vacansoleil just don't have any riders of any real quality.

 

[tjwracer]

The bottom line is That BMC has better quality riders and more to bring to the tour then other teams but if you look at all the teams everyone who is anyone is going to be at the tour. That should make for a great race wich is what the ASO wanted.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The bottom line is That BMC has better quality riders and more to bring to the tour then other teams but if you look at all the teams everyone who is anyone is going to be at the tour. That should make for a great race wich is what the ASO wanted.

You made some mistakes.

Firstly, you stated that "BMC has better quality riders". This is incorrect, because you used the plural. On present form and riding, there is only Cadel Evans who is better quality than the equivalent Vacansoleil riders (though obviously Ballan and Hincapie were in the past), and so you should have used the singular.

Everyone who is anyone is going to be at the Tour, you say - but it depends on your opinion of what makes 'a great race'. Have you ever watched Champions' League finals? Quite often the matches between the big teams are disappointing, boring, cagey affairs because too much is at stake, so teams go out not to lose rather than fighting to win. Without the race animators (hopefully the teams that don't have the roster, like Milram and Footon, will do the role we hoped Vacansoleil would) or even often with them, if every stage is either the break riding off, then HTC catching them and Cav winning the sprint, or the break riding off, then Astana and Shack catching them before the final climb, then the race probably won't be that entertaining. Everybody who's everybody was at the 2009 Tour, but that was a dreadful race, with an entire week of neutralised mountains and nothing stages in which nothing of note happened.

For the last oodles of years, the Giro has had a less top-notch startlist, but has provided better racing. I suppose it comes down to, is it the people that make the sport or is it the sport that makes the people? If you come down favouring the former, then the Tour will always be the race for you because it has the top names. It often has less action than the Giro or Vuelta, but the riders are household names so you have more reason to care about what they do. The Giro and Vuelta (especially the Giro) tend to have more action but often among fewer world-renowned names (ie those that people who don't follow cycling will know) and so many fans who follow particular riders or teams will not be drawn into the event as much.

 

[Hotbrakes]

but more to do with the fact vasc. have done everything right to get a spot. When a team like BMC hasn't to the same extent.

Great win by Wouter Mol in the mountainous Tour of Qatar. Infact I think the Dutch teams call it " the mini Le Tour". I don't know how Wouter made up some of those steep climbs with gradients of 0.00001 %. He is a real mountain goat. Why bother using pancake flat stage races such Tirreno-Adriatico as a lead up race, when the Tour of Qatar is a much better race to sort out the Tour contenders.

 

[mherm79]

I suppose it comes down to, is it the people that make the sport or is it the sport that makes the people? .

depends on your definition of making the sport.

if making the sport means fans, tv rights and money then it's the people. It's why Real Madrid pay big bucks for guys to sit on the bench.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

BMC went out and spent big bucks to hire a GC contender.

That counts for quite a bit.


If Cadel had stayed with Lotto... then I'm sure Vasco would have gotten a wildcard. If Lance hadn't dismantled Astana going to RS, then Both Vasco and Skil would have gotten wildcards.

But they went to new teams without spots previously. Having a big GC name MATTERS. It matters more then "deserving" a spot or "animating" the race. ASO is looking to maximize the exposure of their race... and having Lance and Cadel does that more then having Vasco and Skil. They'll make more advertising revenue having those two then the entire Vasco and Skil squads.

ASO doesn't care about fairness. They aren't supposed to care. The UCI is... but not ASO.

This is a good reason for BMC's admittance, I understand ASO's reason. I just don't agree with it. And the reason I'm most annoyed is the way they conducted themselves during the team selection process. It's clear their decision was made up a long time ago and nothing vasc. would have done would have been enough. Lies.

However I do think it was a good choice to name the teams this early so the teams and riders can rethink their strategies and goals for the rest of the season.

Great win by Wouter Mol in the mountainous Tour of Qatar. Infact I think the Dutch teams call it " the mini Le Tour". I don't know how Wouter made up some of those steep climbs with gradients of 0.00001 %. He is a real mountain goat. Why bother using pancake flat stage races such Tirreno-Adriatico as a lead up race, when the Tour of Qatar is a much better race to sort out the Tour contenders.

At least vasc. rode and sponsored the ASO event (paris-nice). and vasc. have been getting results all over the place this season, having no mountains doesn't take away from their good start.

 

[karlboss]

This is a good reason for BMC's admittance, I understand ASO's reason. I just don't agree with it. And the reason I'm most annoyed is the way they conducted themselves during the team selection process. It's clear their decision was made up a long time ago and nothing vasc. would have done would have been enough. Lies.

However I do think it was a good choice to name the teams this early so the teams and riders can rethink their strategies and goals for the rest of the season.



At least vasc. rode and sponsored the ASO event (paris-nice). and vasc. have been getting results all over the place this season, having no mountains doesn't take away from their good start.

I must agree, that the ASO saying it depends on how teams perform in the early part of the season is one of the more upsetting aspects of this. Why not say(as everyone knew anyway) the spots are going to A, B and C...and other teams would really have to pull something out of the bag to nudge them out.

 

[theyoungest]

For goodness sake people. You may like Vacansoleil because they go on crazy attacks, but the reason they do that is because they're not very good and that's what they have to do to get on TV. They have nobody special in their team.

BMC have Cadel Evans. He's one of the best riders around, therefore he gets a slot.

There's no conspiracy, no money changing hands. Vacansoleil just don't have any riders of any real quality.

Some deep insight here... how many races do you actually watch? Vacansoleil have been considerably stronger during most of 2010 so far. Not by going on crazy attacks, but by posting stronger results than BMC.
Vacansoleil simply have more depth in their roster. BMC is a continental team with four fading stars added to it.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

BMC, led by a dodgy teammanager who was manager of the dope-ridden Phonak before.
BMC, who has done nothing but spend big bucks to get big names, and nothing else.
BMC, who, except for Evans, barely have done anything this season.

Compare that to teams like Vacansoleil and Saur, a lot of young riders, attacking style, AND results (Vacansoleil is 12th on the CQ ranking for god sake!)
The choice is clear.
I don't have a problem with leaving Evans at home, a few years ago Preudhomme had no trouble leaving world champion Cipollini at home either. But ok

The signal is, you can better spend big bucks and have a dodgy teammanager than build a team for years and show yourself in every race, because that doesn't count.

The dumbest persons here are the one yelling Vacansoleil has no results.
A quick search on CQ ranking.com shows how wrong these people are, yet, instead of replying to that, they keep yelling.
These people don't have a wall in front of their eyes, but three office buildings. That blinded...

 

[Nearly]

The signal is, you can better spend big bucks and have a dodgy teammanager than build a team for years and show yourself in every race, because that doesn't count.

The dumbest persons here are the one yelling Vacansoleil has no results.
A quick search on CQ ranking.com shows how wrong these people are, yet, instead of replying to that, they keep yelling.
These people don't have a wall in front of their eyes, but three office buildings. That blinded...

What nonsense! Blame the "deal" which preserves the position of a number of teams which might arguably be behind both Vacansoleil (Skil have done next to nothing this year) and BMC but don't blame the ASO or BMC. Oh and curse the luck that gave rise to that deal at a time when a series of new Pro Tour teams appeared. Either that or band together the fans/sponsors to support the team to the extent that it can become a Pro Tour team or otherwise "buy" its way in. NB I still cannot see a serious threat to anything at the TdF amongst the plucky Vacansoleil crew.