Vancansoleil in the Pro Tour or dead meat ?

[jens_attacks]

Would've been nice to see Soler in this Giro rather than the Tour.

nah we have enough in giro.let's keep some ice cream for le tour too.a vino,a soler,an evans

 

[El Pistolero]

nah we have enough in giro.let's keep some ice cream for le tour too.a vino,a soler,an evans

Yeah and even though the Giro will be more spectacular the Tour always has that special feeling that the Giro will never have.

That and I have exams in may-june.

 

[The Hitch]

Yeah and even though the Giro will be more spectacular the Tour always has that special feeling that the Giro will never have.

That feeling of "christ, what am i doing watching everyone soft pedal a medium mountain stage when i could be enjoying sunny july outdoors.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Or...

"Christ, what am I doing watching two gay buddies hug eachother after a hard mountain stage, not even caring one betrayed the other when his chain dropped. I want to murder an innocent animal now."

 

[The Hitch]

Or...

"Christ, what am I doing watching two gay buddies hug eachother after a hard mountain stage, not even caring one betrayed the other when his chain dropped. I want to murder an innocent animal now."

What a horrible thought.

I would sooner watch every minute of every cav tour stage than hurt an innocent animal

 

[royalpig180]

What a horrible thought.

I would sooner watch every minute of every cav tour stage than hurt an innocent animal

But the real question is would you watch every Armstrong attack on a mountain stage from the past decade?

 

[DAOTEC]

any idea

"¿¿Who to replace the Cobra for GC or is VAC dead meat¿¿"

(cyclingnews.com/vac-suspends-ricco)

"¡¡Menchov maybe¡¡" = half Dutch and familiar with ...

 

[Mrs John Murphy]

I can see Vac failing to make it out of the spring. Especially if Ricco sings.

I can't imagine that the sponsors are happy about the coverage of the team - EM and now Ricco.

 

[Barrus]

I can see Vac failing to make it out of the spring. Especially if Ricco sings.

I can't imagine that the sponsors are happy about the coverage of the team - EM and now Ricco.

The sponsor said that it did not concern them and they saw no reason what so ever to change their sponsorship and still see the relationship with the team as beneficial and that these cases have not harmed them in any way

 

[Jamsque]

EM is still riding for them, isn't he?

 

[Mellow Velo]

Tour du Méditerranéen
Stage 3
1. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) 3h:00m:06s

GC
1. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil-DCM) 8h:31m:09s

 

[Kwibus]

EM is still riding for them, isn't he?

Yes. Aslong as there is no verdict he stays on the team.

I think Vacans can survice without Ricco and EM. They reached the higher ranks without them, allthough those 2 names were ofcourse important in the big tours. They lack good GC riders without them.

 

[Ryaguas]

mmmmm I think that they will stay as they are now... in the GTs they could be going for sprints and with their attacking styles going for stages with a breakaway but I think that they are done with the GC...

DAMN IT RICCÓ!!!! now what am I going to do? No Contador, No Riccó? this is facked up...

 

[Kwibus]

mmmmm I think that they will stay as they are now... in the GTs they could be going for sprints and with their attacking styles going for stages with a breakaway but I think that they are done with the GC...

DAMN IT RICCÓ!!!! now what am I going to do? No Contador, No Riccó? this is facked up...

It sure is, but they did it to themselves. Allthough I still got mixed feelings about ACs clenbuterol positive, but that's clinic talk.

 

[ak-zaaf]

It sure is, but they did it to themselves. Allthough I still got mixed feelings about ACs clenbuterol positive, but that's clinic talk.

It's impossible to have a thread like this en not discuss doping as part of it. That still doesn't mean it should be in the clinic.

Mods should consider the fact that some threads belong on both forums. And in that case I think this is the most important one.

/I wasn't talking about Contador offcourse, but I thought the first Ricco thread was moved waaaaaay to quickly. As long as the thread also discusses the future of Vacansoleil as a team it's supposed be on this forum IMO.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

As long as everyone remembers this is the Vacansoleil thread.

Contador has nothing to do here.

Susan

 

[FignonLeGrand]

As long as everyone remembers this is the Vacansoleil thread.

Contador has nothing to do here.

Susan

Can you not draw a comparison though? Seems many on here feel Vacansoleil will go nowhere and fold without Ricco, however I havent seen anyone say the same of Saxo Bank, sans contador.

At the end of the day maybe it just exemplifies the double standards seen in the forum, many dont seem to rate Vacansoleil for whatever reason where as I dont recall too many other teams being written off due to the fortunes of one or two riders.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

AS long as one is drawing a comparison, yes. But comments like "I'm still not sure about Contador's postive for Clen" are off-topic.

Susan

 

[ak-zaaf]

Can you not draw a comparison though? Seems many on here feel Vacansoleil will go nowhere and fold without Ricco, however I havent seen anyone say the same of Saxo Bank, sans contador.

At the end of the day maybe it just exemplifies the double standards seen in the forum, many dont seem to rate Vacansoleil for whatever reason where as I dont recall too many other teams being written off due to the fortunes of one or two riders.

Well, Vacansoleil did try to dive head first into the World Tour by signing Eze and Ricco. The question seems more legit than with Riis, who's been around a lot longer.

 

[theyoungest]

Well, Vacansoleil did try to dive head first into the World Tour by signing Eze and Ricco. The question seems more legit than with Riis, who's been around a lot longer.

Mosquera didn't help at all in getting a WorldTour license, Ricco is only their 4th or 5th rider in terms of UCI points. Contador had by far the most points of any Saxobank riders. I'm not sure, but I think that Vacans would have gotten a WT license even without Ricco, whereas Saxo without Contador wouldn't.

 

[luckyboy]

Mosquera didn't help at all in getting a WorldTour license, Ricco is only their 4th or 5th rider in terms of UCI points. Contador had by far the most points of any Saxobank riders. I'm not sure, but I think that Vacans would have gotten a WT license even without Ricco, whereas Saxo without Contador wouldn't.

Yeah I think Vacansoleil had enough points anyway.

I'd say Vacansoleil look better without Ricco + Mosquera than Saxo Bank do without Contador.

 

[roundabout]

That much is obvious.

However it's also

2 big name dopers vs 1 very big name doper

and

potentially zero realistic GT contenders left for both teams

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Didn't you get the note that Wout Poels will be top 5 in a Grand Tour this year

 

[Ronde van Flausenthurm]

From "Gazzetta dello Sport" website:

Pat McQuaid declared today that UCI Licence Commission will meet to examine Vacansoleil's position after Riccò's case. ProTeam status could be at risk.

 

[ingsve]

From "Gazzetta dello Sport" website:

Pat McQuaid declared today that UCI Licence Commission will meet to examine Vacansoleil's position after Riccò's case. ProTeam status could be at risk.

Well, Vacansoleil was well within the top 15 and I can't imagine losing Ricco would put them outside the top 20 or anything. They might even still be top 15 without him. It would solely be based on ethics in that case.