Andreu leaves Rock Racing

andyp
andyp Posts: 10,549
edited January 2008 in Pro race
I've just picked up on this over on Velonews. He cites differences "with business strategies and the direction the team is headed".

Cyclingfansanonymous takes that to mean that Andreu is taking a moral stance. The Velonews piece doesn't make that clear but it would tally with Andreu's stance over recent years.
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Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    That'll be the second time he's lost his job because of 'differences' - he was sacked by Toyota a couple of years ago after the story came out about him being sub-poena'd in the Tailwind Sports case and his testimony against a certain Mr Armstrong. Could it be the Austin Cycling Mafia still trying to exert their influence.?
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Rock Racing is better than Eastenders.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    I just want to buy their kit and start jumping red lights and cycling on the pavement.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    Good man Frankie.

    Rock Racing is a bad joke.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    Good move! His position was becoming indefendable with the new signings. Plus, it may loosen up a bit of wiggle room in the budget to sign Basso. :roll:
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I reckon he was sacked.

    It was rumoured a couple of weeks ago.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    Just because Frankie was good rider doesn't automatically mean he's a good DS. As well as losing gigs with Rock Racing and Toyota-United he's also gone from his job as Director of Clients (IIRC) with the Agency for Cycling Ethics. It might be the influence of the Texan, it may even be the dark influences if the UCI. However, it might also be because he's not good enough at his job.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • dulldave
    dulldave Posts: 949
    You don't think it might be related to the fact that they've signed Tyler Hamilton?
    Scottish and British...and a bit French
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    dulldave wrote:
    You don't think it might be related to the fact that they've signed Tyler Hamilton?

    I think LangerDan is probably closest to the mark. People can be nice or good people and try and do the right thing but it doesn't mean they're going to automatically be good at their jobs

    More comedy from Mr Ball's camp

    http://cyclingfansanonymous.blogspot.co ... acing.html
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    Mr. Ball - I salute you(sort off) Anyone familiar with Michael O'Leary of Ryanair knows the value of big-headline, controversial and cheap advertising. My guess is that Ball hasn't even spoken to Landis but just dropped this gem into conversation and the journo bit - what we call over here a "ball-hop". I wouldn't be surprised if its alleged that Howard Marks will be Medical Director and Brittney Spears is signed up as Road Captain.

    All this advertising has probably cost Ball about two pounds, three shillings and sixpence.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • DaveyL
    DaveyL Posts: 5,167
    I think Charles Manson and Osama Bin Laden have been signed up as domestiques....
    Le Blaireau (1)
  • dave_1
    dave_1 Posts: 9,512
    Wouldn't surprise me if Andreu is the victim of Texan mafia...look at the way Lemond got threatened by Trek, the phonecalls he claims to have received. I can't really see how Anreu could screw up. You sit in car and hand up bottles...the riders know exactly what to do-it's not a real job...you're a car driver end of story. e.g. look at Robert Millar's opinion of following the GB team at the worlds...he wasn't interested as he said it was a glorified car driving job.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKBacb2V ... ata_player
  • Moomaloid
    Moomaloid Posts: 2,040
    I think the directeur sportive not being consulted on signings is a joke. Is he the Roman Abramovich of cycling this guy or what.

    Good on Frankie, the guy is signing guys who have been wrapped in the Operacion Puerto saga, plus Hamilton who is desperate for a ride. This is what you get when these guys decide that their new hobby is owning a team.

    Anyhow they are only a crit team with ambition above their station... best off out of it Frankie. I mean Cippolini, come on?!

    Nice kit mind!
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Does anyone REALLY think Armstrong cares anymore? Seriously - When he was riding maybe, but is a 2-bit DS going to be worth his while now?

    Crit team above their station (but they've got enough talent in the squad to win Cali and Georgia) perhaps, but they're being talked about. And I bet you all know what they're selling too.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    iainf72 wrote:
    And I bet you all know what they're selling too.
    Actually I don't! :oops:
  • DaveyL
    DaveyL Posts: 5,167
    I think it might be clothes, maybe jeans? No doubt, ripped ones, cos they're so badass.
    Le Blaireau (1)
  • Moomaloid
    Moomaloid Posts: 2,040
    THis is nothing to do with Armstrong. And i had no idea what they sold until i read about them about 4 months back. Never heard of Rock & Republic, but then i never was into fashion. lol
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    From todays cyclingnews

    Andreu also commented to Cyclingnews that Hamilton was not a concern for him. "For me, Tyler is not so much a problem - he has done his time."
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    iainf72 wrote:
    From todays cyclingnews

    Andreu also commented to Cyclingnews that Hamilton was not a concern for him. "For me, Tyler is not so much a problem - he has done his time."
    Hmm. He's not exactly faced up to his guilt though has he. Deny deny deny...
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Have a look at the comments about Mr Ball from the CFA comments page.

    http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID ... Popup=true

    He's not all talk.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Moomaloid
    Moomaloid Posts: 2,040
    But is supremely dodgy by the look of it no? lol
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13879.0.html

    Wow, HED pulled out of sponsoring RR when he signed Tyler. Not that Mr Ball gives a monkeys, but whoa.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    iainf72 wrote:
    http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13879.0.html

    Wow, HED pulled out of sponsoring RR when he signed Tyler. Not that Mr Ball gives a monkeys, but whoa.

    I believe Steve Hed is a good buddy of LA
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    LangerDan wrote:

    I believe Steve Hed is a good buddy of LA

    Don't be silly. LA, like myself, has no friends. It's the only way to be cool.

    8)
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • drenkrom
    drenkrom Posts: 1,062
    Steve Hed is also a businessman. If reaction on this forum and many cycling blogs is anything to go by, brand association with Rock Racing is not too hot this season. The reactions have been massively negative, even in the US. Tyler and Floyd can be forgiven very easily in the States, but Botero and Sevilla are another story. And any semi-serious cycling fan can see Cipo is the cycling equivalent of a washed-up rocker going on a comeback tour. I don't think you have to be pals with LA to see that sponsorship money could be of better use elsewhere.

    Besides, what does LA have to do with any of this? What possible benefit could Armstrong get from Hed not sponsoring Rock Racing?
  • LangerDan
    LangerDan Posts: 6,132
    drenkrom wrote:
    Steve Hed is also a businessman. If reaction on this forum and many cycling blogs is anything to go by, brand association with Rock Racing is not too hot this season. The reactions have been massively negative, even in the US. Tyler and Floyd can be forgiven very easily in the States, but Botero and Sevilla are another story. And any semi-serious cycling fan can see Cipo is the cycling equivalent of a washed-up rocker going on a comeback tour. I don't think you have to be pals with LA to see that sponsorship money could be of better use elsewhere.

    Besides, what does LA have to do with any of this? What possible benefit could Armstrong get from Hed not sponsoring Rock Racing?

    Botero and Sevilla were both signed and the discussions with Cipo were made public long before Hed got his crisis of conscience. In fact, the signing of Hamilton is one of the less innocuous things Rock Racing have done.

    Conspiracy theory #27 in a series:- LA is the premier cycling "brand" in the US - a brand based on a clean,cancer-beating golden boy taking on the world. If anything were to tarnish the brand image, the whole thing collapses. Rock Racing represents a side of cycling that might invite people to ask the wrong sort of questions about Lance.
    'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    LangerDan wrote:
    Conspiracy theory #27 in a series:- LA is the premier cycling "brand" in the US - a brand based on a clean,cancer-beating golden boy taking on the world. If anything were to tarnish the brand image, the whole thing collapses. Rock Racing represents a side of cycling that might invite people to ask the wrong sort of questions about Lance.

    Countering your theory : Hamilton would have detailed skinny on LA. I don't think LA would purposefully annoy him incase he decided to suddenly sing like a birdy.

    The HED -> LA link isn't something the general public would see.

    And LA doesn't give a rats ass about cycling. He's not "engaged", innit.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Oh dear.

    Mr Ball has fooled us again

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... ng_bikes08

    He's just difficult to work with and good at getting himself into the media. A team managing to get an entire article in Cyclingnews about how sponsors find them hard to work with? Ball is a genius!
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Kléber
    Kléber Posts: 6,842
    Yes, but it's all going wrong. Anything that relies on shock factor for publicity has to shout louder and louder to get attention. Expect more outrage but it's likely the team will either implode, or just get exposed as a small time pro team.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Kléber wrote:
    Yes, but it's all going wrong. Anything that relies on shock factor for publicity has to shout louder and louder to get attention. Expect more outrage but it's likely the team will either implode, or just get exposed as a small time pro team.

    He sells these

    http://shop.rockandrepublic.com/Clayton ... /1201.html

    Nothing can stop him, surely.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.

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