Thor confirms BMC! Better for Cadel?

[Astana1]

More exposure for BMC.
They pays the bills.

Not really. Rihs might as well have them racing in blank jerseys. This team exists because of his big bank account. The exposure is immaterial.

 

[Astana1]

I said somewhere else Thor has said he did not like JV style of DS were we have 3 guys who could win we work it out on the road.

Thor wanted a plan a,b,c,d,e, etc yes things change but there was no plan, BMC seem to plan and be organised and I think thor wants that, plus the cash of course.

ps I think Ballan will not ride for BMC next year so Thor replaces Ballan

I don't think Thor liked JV's style. And I don't think Garmin can afford him anymore.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Hopefully the BMC fail train continues tho (-Evans of course).

Geez, that's a silly comment. The fail train has actually won quite a few big races btw. Why don't you look at all the races they have won? Had qute a successful tour compared to Rabobank.


I am not quite sure about this transfer. Thor likes it to be all about Thor. Not sure if it will work out well at the tour.

 

[goggalor]

I don't get it, he says he left garmin because he didn't want to be a domestique but he never was? Except in flat sprints which he cannot win anyway...At p-r he was their one and only leader. In the other classics he was co leader, which is exactly the same situation he will be in at BMC! No, I think this is about the money, sadly.

Money is probably a big factor, but the classics at Garmin were amateur hour as far as DSing goes. He (and Haussler, and probably others) didn't seem impressed.

 

[goggalor]

I don't get it, he says he left garmin because he didn't want to be a domestique but he never was? Except in flat sprints which he cannot win anyway...At p-r he was their one and only leader. In the other classics he was co leader, which is exactly the same situation he will be in at BMC! No, I think this is about the money, sadly.

Money is probably a big factor, but it was amateur hour at the Garmin car during the classics. Hushovd (and Haussler, and probably others) didn't seem too impressed. Vaughters is a "top ten" kinda guy.

 

[Astana1]

At Garmin the team takes priority over the individual. Hushovd probably never bought into that, and he is good enough to take his wares to a place where he doesn't have to.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Geez, that's a silly comment. The fail train has actually won quite a few big races btw. Why don't you look at all the races they have won? Had qute a successful tour compared to Rabobank.


I am not quite sure about this transfer. Thor likes it to be all about Thor. Not sure if it will work out well at the tour.

I forgot I posted that,was for troll purposes obviously.

Anyway I will bite with the BMC are awesome etc. take away Cadel and you cannot say this has been a team with good results. Without cadel it is a very very poor showing for a team with a big budget. Eneco Prologue the next best result lol? WOWZA. Oh yeah and Wallone. I guess they are pretty awesome :|

so yeah, it has been a fail train if you disregard cadel. But that is not fair, he has done well for bmc.
But you know, be delusional if you wish it

Anyway I like Thor, and he will probably be my favorite rider on BMC.
also LOL @ thor being about thor. That is a ridiculous nonsense comment.

 

[Astana1]

Only big fail from BMC that I can recall was at the Ronde when they had like the whole team up front at the end and still couldn't podium.

Other than that they have had a pretty kick *** season.

 

[maltiv]

Money is probably a big factor, but it was amateur hour at the Garmin car during the classics. Hushovd (and Haussler, and probably others) didn't seem too impressed. Vaughters is a "top ten" kinda guy.

Yea but he's talking about his season as if he had to help someone at MSR and RVV. He didn't, he was dropped (quite early too). Might've just been that his morale was lowered by this "yea we do the sprint for either farrar, haussler or hushovd" -talk, which frankly was quite dumb. Yet I'm really dissapointed that one of my favourite riders goes to Phonak 2.0, I'd even prefer him to join saxo bank...

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Only big fail from BMC that I can recall was at the Ronde when they had like the whole team up front at the end and still couldn't podium.

Other than that they have had a pretty kick *** season.

This is mainly thanks to cadel tho, which of course is fine.
But outside cadel they haven't had a lot of success.

Was the same last year. But of course this is a moot point, because Cadel's performances have justified BMC.

anyway i'm talking from a sporting perspective. Sponsor wise I'm sure they are thrilled.

 

[auscyclefan94]

This is mainly thanks to cadel tho, which of course is fine.
But outside cadel they haven't had a lot of success.

Was the same last year. But of course this is a moot point, because Cadel's performances have justified BMC.

anyway i'm talking from a sporting perspective. Sponsor wise I'm sure they are thrilled.

PHINNEY Taylor 2.WTs Eneco Tour of Benelux, Prologue : Amersfoort I.T.T.
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HC Tour de Wallonie
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Tour de Wallonie, Stage 5 : Charleroi - Thuin
EVANS Cadel GT1 Tour de France
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Österreich-Rundfahrt / Tour of Austria, Stage 6 : Hainburg - Bruck-an-der-Leitha
EVANS Cadel GT1s Tour de France, Stage 4 : Lorient - Mûr-de-Bretagne
KRISTOFF Alexander NC3 National Championships Norway (Skien) R.R.
KOHLER Martin NCT2 National Championships Switzerland (Roggliswil) I.T.T.
EVANS Cadel 2.WT Tour de Romandie
EVANS Cadel 2.WT Tirreno - Adriatico
EVANS Cadel 2.WTs Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 6 : Ussita - Macerata

Hasn't been too bad. I can see them picking up a handful more victories by the end of the year.

 

[movingtarget]

This is mainly thanks to cadel tho, which of course is fine.
But outside cadel they haven't had a lot of success.

Was the same last year. But of course this is a moot point, because Cadel's performances have justified BMC.

anyway i'm talking from a sporting perspective. Sponsor wise I'm sure they are thrilled.

They won the biggest bike race in the world. That on it's own satisfies for a season. GVA's win plus Evans two stage race wins and a second in the Dauphine makes it look even better. Sure Evans is the dominant member of the team but that's why he's paid the big money. No different to Gilbert, Contador, Cancellara and Cavendish on their respective teams. The only disappointment for them was probably not making the podium in the Spring even though they rode quite well. Katusha have had a miserable season, Leopard, Rabobank, and Saxo did not do too well either apart from the Giro and Flanders win . All things considered, I think BMC have done well.

 

[just some guy]

I think people are Missing Timmy´s point.

Cadel has had an amazing season and therefore so has BMC.

Without Evans results then BMC would have had a very poor season so far. Not the worst but close.

In the end BMC will have recorded it´s best season so far, 80-90% the work of Cadel Evans individual results. Yes which could not have happened without the team.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think people are Missing Timmy´s point.

Cadel has had an amazing season and therefore so has BMC.

Without Evans results then BMC would have had a very poor season so far. Not the worst but close.

In the end BMC will have recorded it´s best season so far, 80-90% the work of Cadel Evans individual results. Yes which could not have happened without the team.

And that isn't that dissimilar to many other teams. Many other teams are pretty much centred around one rider yet BMC is the whipping boy of the peloton in this respect.

 

[greenedge]

Thor did this year win 2 stages and they were both from breaks. That therefore shows he does not need a full team dedicated to him. It's good however that BMC can develop young riders like Blythe, Roe and TJVG in their pro ranks if they don't have a fully fledged junior team ( like Rabo continental )

So true ACF^^^^^^^. Katusha had a miserable TDF where they selected an All-Russian flop team that also had Kolobnev's positive.

 

[just some guy]

And that isn't that dissimilar to many other teams. Many other teams are pretty much centred around one rider yet BMC is the whipping boy of the peloton in this respect.

It is the same as many teams but this is a BMC thread.

It funny thing is the 3 riders I follow the most I guess will probably be on the same team next year and what they will do is bring constant wins and placings. I also strongly believe GVA will get better results because of it - if they ride as a team and Phil is the ? ( I think it is a very very small?) here not Thor.

BMC have developed into a really well structured team. So I think next year will bring many wins from many riders.

And you know the reason for the whipping boy problem around here

 

[Archibald]

I can't see that, Thor is a team player and knows what he is and is not capable of (which is a nice way of saying he's not fast enough for green he's a rider with a good chance of winning classics and breakaway stages in gt's). Just my 2p but he seems to get more resilient with less raw speed every season.

agreed.


shrewd move by BMC. Another 'old dog' that's nearing the end of his career and can help bring through the younger riders. Also still capable enough to bolster their chances at the classics and pick up wins.

 

[Angliru]

PHINNEY Taylor 2.WTs Eneco Tour of Benelux, Prologue : Amersfoort I.T.T.
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HC Tour de Wallonie
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Tour de Wallonie, Stage 5 : Charleroi - Thuin
EVANS Cadel GT1 Tour de France
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Österreich-Rundfahrt / Tour of Austria, Stage 6 : Hainburg - Bruck-an-der-Leitha
EVANS Cadel GT1s Tour de France, Stage 4 : Lorient - Mûr-de-Bretagne
KRISTOFF Alexander NC3 National Championships Norway (Skien) R.R.
KOHLER Martin NCT2 National Championships Switzerland (Roggliswil) I.T.T.
EVANS Cadel 2.WT Tour de Romandie
EVANS Cadel 2.WT Tirreno - Adriatico
EVANS Cadel 2.WTs Tirreno - Adriatico, Stage 6 : Ussita - Macerata

Hasn't been too bad. I can see them picking up a handful more victories by the end of the year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you said that BMC had some big wins this year. The ongoing debate was that Evans had the big wins while the mass majority of the rest of their successes weren't in big events, which your post displays quite clearly. The rest of their crew has been mediocre. Adding Thor will at least increase the liklihood of someone else bringing home the bacon other than just Evans. Hushovd can still win the odd sprint and has shown his resourceful nature in getting stage wins.

 

[kurtinsc]

But was it a good move by Thor?

Honestly I was very surprised by this signing from any angle you want to consider. If I'm Cadel and BMC, I'd want a Tour team that can best support Cadel. That means Thor could possibly be left off the Tour team, and so it becomes a bad move for Thor if he really want to participate in the Tour. But on the other hand, will BMC really exclude Thor? If they put Thor on the Tour team then Cadel will not get all the support he needs, and so then the signing of Thor is bad for Cadel.

If BMC, Thor, and Cadel can work together maybe selecting Thor for the Tour will work out like you suggest. But I just see too many irons on the fire and not enough focus on one objective.

I agree with Deker_Tifosi that BMC don't do enough developing and try to buy the best available talent and hope it works.

Well, one thing's for certain. BMC no longer has a cookie-cutter plan or blueprint for the Tour. They may have just put a hand grenade under the team and are about to blow it to pieces. It may not come to that, but it is going to be interesting watching BMC's race programme for Thor and Cadel to see how they try to work this all out.

Would Thor be a detriment to a Tour team for Cadel?

I think back to Friere's time with Rabobank a few years ago. Friere contested the sprints and other stages that suited him... but he helped out the GC riders on the other stages, and did a very good job of it. If Thor does that for Cadel, he's probably a better teammate then half of BMC was for Evans this past year.

Evans doesn't need 8 teammates on the flat stages... 3-4 would be fine there. He needs all 8 working for him on mountain and the tougher hilly stages. And I don't think Thor would have a problem with that.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I think people are Missing Timmy´s point.

Cadel has had an amazing season and therefore so has BMC.

Without Evans results then BMC would have had a very poor season so far. Not the worst but close.

In the end BMC will have recorded it´s best season so far, 80-90% the work of Cadel Evans individual results. Yes which could not have happened without the team.

this. thank you.

PHINNEY Taylor 2.WTs Eneco Tour of Benelux, Prologue : Amersfoort I.T.T.
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HC Tour de Wallonie
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Tour de Wallonie, Stage 5 : Charleroi - Thuin
VAN AVERMAET Greg 2.HCs Österreich-Rundfahrt / Tour of Austria, Stage 6 : Hainburg - Bruck-an-der-Leitha
KRISTOFF Alexander NC3 National Championships Norway (Skien) R.R.
KOHLER Martin NCT2 National Championships Switzerland (Roggliswil) I.T.T.

this is not very impressive for a WT team. Poor.

2 wins were nationals, hardly reflects the team those results.
a couple smaller race wins by GVA. wow amazing.
and a prologue in eneco by phinney.

is this meant to be good? lol.

Many teams have done better then this, they are the strong teams. Like I said BMC are having a good season because of evans only, otherwise they would be without a doubt one of the weakest teams in the WT, especially performance wise. Disagreement with this represents ignorance.

The best teams have more depth and don't rely on one rider to make a season.

 

[dlwssonic]

Arent there lots of teams who are doing well or getting most of their results from the main rider

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

way to read genius.

like I said the best teams are not so reliant on one rider

HTC, Sky, Rabo, Leopard, Omega-Pharma, Radioshack, Liquigas, Lampre, Garmin etc all have good results from multiple riders.

--

lol I give up on trying to explain logic. whatever.

 

[kurtinsc]

this. thank you.

2 wins were nationals, hardly reflects the team those results.
a couple smaller race wins by GVA. wow amazing.
and a prologue in eneco by phinney.

is this meant to be good? lol.

Many teams have done better then this, they are the strong teams. Like I said BMC are having a good season because of evans only, otherwise they would be without a doubt one of the weakest teams in the WT, especially performance wise. Disagreement with this represents ignorance.

The best teams have more depth and don't rely on one rider to make a season.

The question (that can never really be answered) is that if Cadel WASN'T there, would BMC have been able to focus on another rider and get some results?

It's hard to just subtract what Cadel did because it's hard to know how BMC would have approached races if they weren't focusing 100% of their team effort on him.

Could BMC have won a stage or two at the tour without Cadel? They have guys like Hincappie and Burghardt who have gotten Tour wins from breaks in the past, but this year they were in pure "support cadel" mode. Same goes for some of the other races Cadel was in.

Cadel is their best rider... by far. And when he's in the race, the entire team is focused on his success, sacrificing all personal ambitions to work for him. That doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't have any success if he wasn't there and they could ride for themselves.

Not that I think the rest of the team is great... but I simply don't think they're as bad as many want to make them out to be.

 

[jobiwan]

way to read genius.

like I said the best teams are not so reliant on one rider

HTC, Sky, Rabo, Leopard, Omega-Pharma, Radioshack, Liquigas, Lampre, Garmin etc all have good results from multiple riders.

--

lol I give up on trying to explain logic. whatever.

It's pointless to try really.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

The question (that can never really be answered) is that if Cadel WASN'T there, would BMC have been able to focus on another rider and get some results?

It's hard to just subtract what Cadel did because it's hard to know how BMC would have approached races if they weren't focusing 100% of their team effort on him.

Could BMC have won a stage or two at the tour without Cadel? They have guys like Hincappie and Burghardt who have gotten Tour wins from breaks in the past, but this year they were in pure "support cadel" mode. Same goes for some of the other races Cadel was in.

Cadel is their best rider... by far. And when he's in the race, the entire team is focused on his success, sacrificing all personal ambitions to work for him. That doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't have any success if he wasn't there and they could ride for themselves.

Not that I think the rest of the team is great... but I simply don't think they're as bad as many want to make them out to be.

it isn't like cadel rode every race for BMC. Sure they worked for him in the races he rode, but that isn't even close to half their races.
The other riders got their chances, and didn't deliver.

Let us see... if cadel didn't race TA... GVA might have come top 10.
Romandie.. hmmm.. nope dont think so.
Dauphine... see above.
Tour. You know what I think Hincapie would have won the tour.

BMC without evans At best they probably could have gotten a stage or two at those races, but nothing special. Evans 5-6 races he has ridden is a very small amount of races, yet is the majority of the notable performances from the team. That says it all really.

And again that really wasn't my point.
Cav is at HTC.. but Martin still wins. Goss still wins etc.
Wiggo is at Sky but EBH still wins. etc
Hushovd is at Garmin. Farrar still wins, Martin still wins etc.
Many of the WT teams follow this trend.

Other teams have to work for their leaders in certain races also, but they still deliver in other races.