9000ft said:Goop topic with a lot of good input. When I look at it I see two different things. The high profile guys who are at the top and the other 90%. For the 90% I'll guess they don't have near the financial options that the top 10% do. While things like a love of the sport, feeding on the competition, etc might be the same throughout the peloton, a lot of guys might just need to keep the steady paycheck. For those guys, since they labor in realitive obscurity anyway a slip in results isn't as big a deal as if an LA, or Sastre' or Zabel, et al start slipping down the standings.
Great follow-up everyone...very interesting thoughts.
One thing I wonder about the former star losing his prowess for winning but still able to add value to a team as a road captain...is it the rider's responsibility to lobby their potential employer to help them see the potential value of an experienced hand, or is it something obvious to all but the most daft team manager?
And didn't Michele Bartoli go a bridge(season) too far?