Barloworld get Tour wildcard

Unknown · May 2007

Wim van Rossum's www.cycling4all.com site is reporting that Barloworld have been given a wild card for this year's Tour.

Unknown · May 2007

Yep, and Astana and Agritubel.

Those filthy dopers at T-Mobile and CSC are still in there I see.

Unknown · May 2007

poor old Unibet...

afx237vi · May 2007

Barloworld are a good choice. Hunter has been going really well this year and it'll be interesting to see how their climbers like Cardenas and Cox get on. Cardenas has always been good in the Vuelta.

Will Geraint Thomas get a ride?

Bonus Q: Who was the last Welshman to ride the Tour?

Gragi · May 2007

Wasn't it some drunk guy in the 1920s?

Unknown · May 2007

Let's see if Astana gets to the start, the media, as we saw last year, still have to give a thumbs up for Astana's participation-the media is that powerul in this sport now

________Our behaviour is a function of our experience.

Will1985 · May 2007

I'm sure this has come up before, but surely there are double standards when it comes to advertising betting? Unibet are refused participation while Predictor Lotto and Francaise des Jeux both advertise a gambling/betting company in their team name but get away with it. Or is there apparently such a big distinction between gambling and betting?

sing_for_absolution · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Will1985

I'm sure this has come up before, but surely there are double standards when it comes to advertising betting? Unibet are refused participation while Predictor Lotto and Francaise des Jeux both advertise a gambling/betting company in their team name but get away with it. Or is there apparently such a big distinction between gambling and betting?
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FDJ and Lotto have a monopoly over the market of their respective country and nowhere else. Because Unibert is targeted at an inter-national market, it's against French laws which forbids gambling except with FDJ and horse racing etc with PMU. I'm to presume Lotto have this same stance.

But all in all, it is a case of hypocrisy yes. I mean, Hammond was on the 2004 Paris-Roubaix podium for MRBOOKMAKER etc etc.

tea is good

Will1985 · May 2007

I've never really understood it despite studying French. I'm waiting for the time when a football team like AC Milan (bwin) or Aston Villa (32Red) to name just 2, have to play in France - one wonders if they will get the same treatment as the cyclists! I very much doubt it.

Unknown · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Will1985

I've never really understood it despite studying French. I'm waiting for the time when a football team like AC Milan (bwin) or Aston Villa (32Red) to name just 2, have to play in France - one wonders if they will get the same treatment as the cyclists! I very much doubt it.
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At the start of this season there was a lot of fuss over Toulouse who are sponsored by 888.com. I think they had to play with the sponsors logo obscured until some sort of settlement was reached, not sure what that was however.

Werder Bremen have also encounter problems with their BWin sponsorship when playing Lyon in the Champions League in previous seasons.

Also foobtall teams with alcohol sponsorship have already had to wear different jerseys in France. Pretty sure this was the case with Liverpool/Carlsberg.

sing_for_absolution · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Will1985

I've never really understood it despite studying French. I'm waiting for the time when a football team like AC Milan (bwin) or Aston Villa (32Red) to name just 2, have to play in France - one wonders if they will get the same treatment as the cyclists! I very much doubt it.
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Think a German team also sponsored by bwin played in france with their shirts saying 'we win' lol.

Anyway, we already see teams like Liverpool minus the Carlsberg logos the Welsh rugby team minus the Brains logos on their shirts when playing in France.

tea is good

top_bhoy · May 2007

Celtic have had to remove the sponsors name when playing Euro games in France - something to do with alcohol advertising on the front of their shirts.

This is my new bike:
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p66/ ... ure001.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p66/ ... ure002.jpg
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p66/ ... ure003.jpg

Unknown · May 2007

Hmmm so do we think some newspapers will be raving about a 'British' team being in the TdF this year tomorrow?

Does anyone actually know why they're registered in Britain? I seem to recalll another continental team was registered as British a few years ago, I presume there's some sort of flag of convieniance deal going on (like when the ProTour started and there were supposed to be quotas for teams from each country or something).

Thomas must stand a good chance of being picked too, as Barloword haven't got the strongest squad out. I'm predicting a nine of:

Thomas (gets the home vote/support)
Guidi (for the sprints/token dodgy ex-Phonak rider)
Hunter (sprints)
Degano (sprints plus ToB experience...he'll know all the best restaurants in Croydon)
Siutsou (highly thought of, isn't he a junior World Champion)
Efimkin (won a few races this year, his brothers good too, perhaps a pair of brothers in Le Tour 2007?)
Soler
Cox
Cardenas (he's won a stage before, possible KoM bid if Barloworld have any sense)

Not a bad 9 there. Possibilities in sprints, breaks, the mountains and maybe even a TT if Siutsou is any good.

pumpkincp · May 2007

To add to the above, the Scottish rugby team (Famous Grouse) and Rangers (McEwen's Lager) have also had to play in blank shirts in France.

The question is more what would have happened if these teams had actually been named 'Famous Grouse' and 'The Worst Lager Ever, Bar None'.

afx237vi · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by pumpkin

To add to the above, the Scottish rugby team (Famous Grouse) and Rangers (McEwen's Lager) have also had to play in blank shirts in France.

The question is more what would have happened if these teams had actually been named 'Famous Grouse' and 'The Worst Lager Ever, Bar None'.
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Hmm, I believe when Unibet have raced in France this year, race radio and TV reports have just called them "The Swedish Team."

Which sort of relates to GroupOfOne's post, because I always thought MrBookmaker/Unibet were Belgian. And why are Tenax registered in Ireland? And why does British Telecom sponsor Acqua e Sapone?

Keith Oates · May 2007

This has been done to show the world that ASO can give two fingers to the UCI and all others in cycling and get away with it. It's to boost their over inflated ego!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ride Daily, Keep Healthy

kavcp · May 2007

It is annonying though that they flex their muscles with UCI in this way but let Astana in despite the far more serious damage that could be done to the Tour's reputation around the world if anything untoward leaks out in the press on the eve of the start.....but it's Hobsons choice in some ways for ASO, if you leave out Astana you then give a wildcard to another team with skeletons in cupboards.

As someone posted somewhere else it seems that there is something of double standards at play with regard to riders implicated in doping. If the offence was smaller or the rider less well known or the incident was a while ago organsisers seem happy to overlook it all.

Unknown · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Keith Oates

This has been done to show the world that ASO can give two fingers to the UCI and all others in cycling and get away with it. It's to boost their over inflated ego!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Boycotting the Tour then this year in protest Keith?

pumpkincp · May 2007

Yeah, but it was always going to be Unibet rather than Astana because the ASO can point to the French government's stance on the advertising of gambling, give a Gallic shrug, and say 'Not our fault - it's the law' - despite the fact that they're fooling no-one.

Of course it's all a rather unseemly power struggle, but I suppose you can't blame the GT organisers for looking after their own interests. There have after all been persistent rumblings about turning the protour into a far more global circuit a la F1. And if you grant a protour race to America, Australia, the Middle East, wherever, then some (more historic) European race is going to lose status and prestige. Which race(s) would get thrown to the wolves?

Also I guess you could argue that the GT organisers may be correct to fight for the right to invite more wildcard teams - Italian teams at the Giro for example, for whom the race means everything, rather than some of the protour teams who, as Garzelli said the other day, don't seem that interested. That might change if - and that's one hell of an 'if' - the protour itself was to achieve a comparable level of prestige to the individual races, but at the moment that's a long way off.

It's all a bit of a mess, isn't it?

Unknown · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by pumpkin
And if you grant a protour race to America, Australia, the Middle East, wherever, then some (more historic) European race is going to lose status and prestige. Which race(s) would get thrown to the wolves?

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What impressed you more - Someone winning Het Volk or someone winning the Eneco tour? I take the former.

History counts for a lot in cycling and those races with prestige have them for a reason. The ProTour desperately wants the historical races in their line up because that's what matters to the fans.

johndf · May 2007

So there's another potential Brit for the tour. Now we've got
David Millar, Bradley Wiggins for sure.
Probably Roger Hammond.
Maybe Geraint Thomas and possibly even Cav. These two are a bit on the young side, so if they are in the line up, I hope they get pulled before they take too much out of themselves in the mountain stages.

So that's possibly five and maybe there's one or two more - what about big Magnus? Anyone know of any others?

Unknown · May 2007

In an interview at the Leaky Gas launch Weglius said he'd be riding the Giro and Tour. Whether he still will or not I don't know. Notice he pulled out the Giro today, anyone know why or perhaps it was job done and he can rest ahead of the Tour.

So we could have:
- Millar
- Wiggins
- Cavendish (or will T-Mobile go for Ciolek as their sprinter?)
- Hammond (I'd say unlikely, but someone today saw him doing publicity in London for T-Mobile)
- Thomas
- Weglius

When was the last time there were so many (or at least potentially) Brits in the race?

afx237vi · May 2007

Ciolek is even younger than Cavendish. Still only 20.

johndf · May 2007

Hadn't realised Charlie might be in the frame, that's good news. What about Steve Cummings? I guess that the Giro will be enough for him, or is he a possibility too?

Unknown · May 2007

Yeah just thought that Ciolek's already done the Deutschland Tour (and won stages in it) and could possibly be favoured because of his nationality.

Then again Cav seems to be on better form currently, and potentially doesn't require such a lead out train and instead can operate like McEwen as a one man show.

You've got to do a GT at some point though, and as Schleck's showing at the moment you're ready when you're ready.

Gragi · May 2007

afx237vi - was it a rhetorical question? I'm sure I read somewhere about a drunken Welsh guy cycling in the early 20th century (maybe not the tour)..

RichN95. · May 2007

Surely the last Welshman was Magnus Backstedt - I count him as Welsh anyway

windchill · June 2007

afx237vi - was it a rhetorical question? I'm sure I read somewhere about a drunken Welsh guy cycling in the early 20th century (maybe not the tour)..
According to the BBC website:
"Geraint started in the grassroots at the bottom and now he is there at the top. For us, this is one of the best achievements by a Welsh rider since Colin Lewis rode in the Tour for Raleigh back in the 1960s"

sing_for_absolution · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
- Cavendish (or will T-Mobile go for Ciolek as their sprinter?)

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Haven't any of you heard of Bernhard Eisel? [:0]

tea is good

lucybearscp · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by sing_for_absolution

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
- Cavendish (or will T-Mobile go for Ciolek as their sprinter?)

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Haven't any of you heard of Bernhard Eisel? [:0]

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According to the Telegraph
T-Mobile sporting director Allan Peiper "We have to get a score on the board and probably, at this moment in time, Mark (Cavendish) is our best chance of taking a stage win. If he went in the Tour de France he wouldn't be expected to ride the whole Tour because he's so young. We've talked about it with the management of the team and there's a very good chance that he might get a spot."

cyclingfever.com/

walkercp · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by RichN95

Surely the last Welshman was Magnus Backstedt - I count him as Welsh anyway
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

that counts most of the protour as french and Spanish then, regardless of passport [:D]

Rhino's are the new Elephant

Barloworld get Tour wildcard

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