Moreau to join Caisse d'Epargne

iainf72

Next season.

So rumours of dodgy values last year, rubbish season this year and now he's got a new gig. And he's got a podium girl.

Alright for some, eh?

http://www.universalsports.com/ViewArti ... =204762764

andyp

I thought he was going to retire at the end of this season?

Bakunin

Why would they sign him? Making the bank happy?

Kléber

They are a French sponsor with a Spanish roster, they need French riders. Agritubel are going down the pan at the end of the year. Still, you'd expect them to sign a prospect like Brice Feillu rather than a veteran like Moreau. Moreau has an extensive wine collection, no doubt he can add to this with a tasty contract.

drenkrom

Wow. Someone has money and no idea what to do with it. Moreau? The guy with the tongue? Someone was eager to sign him?

I guess if the deal is almost done at this time of the year it means there was no bidding war at all. Which would be understandable.

Echo et les Boniments

Caisse d'Epargne people need French riders indeed and they need a 'big name'. Trouble is this is 2009 so 'French big name in pro cycling' is something of an overlong oxymoron -either that or another pi*stake article by some gazzetta dello sport hack..
Fact is most people in France will have forgotten Brice Feuillu by the end of next week (they can't even tell you who won the Tour last year anyway -that's why they embrace Lance's comeback, at least they know who he is...)

Now, Christophe Moreau, that name sounds familiar. Isn't that the guy who used to ride with Virenque a few years ago? Great. And he made the Tour Top 10 a couple of times? Smashing. He's our man. Will be perfect for the team presentation in Paris next January.

Le Commentateur

Bakunin wrote:

Why would they sign him? Making the bank happy?

Perhaps they have an existing rider in the team who is about to unexpectedly retire with immediate efect.

afx237vi

Le Commentateur wrote:

Bakunin wrote:

Why would they sign him? Making the bank happy?

Perhaps they have an existing rider in the team who is about to unexpectedly retire with immediate efect.

So they replace him with Moreau? A 38 year old underachiever with a stinky reputation? Moreau?!

I don't understand this at all.

zippypablo

Le Commentateur wrote:

Bakunin wrote:

Why would they sign him? Making the bank happy?

Perhaps they have an existing rider in the team who is about to unexpectedly retire with immediate efect.

and replace him with Contador!

blazing_saddles

afx237vi wrote:

So they replace him with Moreau? A 38 year old underachiever with a stinky reputation? Moreau?!

I don't understand this at all.

Oh, I don't know. It's all the vogue.
There must be a new anti-aging cream in this peloton. :roll:

allaction

This surely must be the strangest signing for many a year.

aurelio_-_banned

Echo et les Boniments wrote:

Fact is most people in France will have forgotten Brice Feuillu by the end of next week (they can't even tell you who won the Tour last year anyway -that's why they embrace Lance's comeback, at least they know who he is...)

Now, Christophe Moreau, that name sounds familiar. Isn't that the guy who used to ride with Virenque a few years ago? Great. And he made the Tour Top 10 a couple of times? Smashing. He's our man. Will be perfect for the team presentation in Paris next January.

There is quite a lot of truth in this. I have seen several newspaper articles where the writer talked with French people about their views on the Tour, and one common reason people gave for not following the Tour is the lack of 'characters', with the riders seen as being anonymous and uninteresting. (I can't help thinking that the universal use of helmets and sunglasses doesn't help. How can spectators empathise with the efforts and suffering of the riders when they all look the same and you can't see the pain in their eyes?).

A great deal has been written in France over the last couple of years about how the Tour no longer really means much to the French, and has just become a diverting soap opera involving doping. Another French writer called Béatrice Houchard has argued that for many French people what appeal the Tour still has, has more to do with 'nostalgia' than the racing itself or any sense of empathy with the competitors. She has argued that the organisers themselves deliberately route the race in a way that reflects traditional picture-postcard view of France which reflects a bygone age rather than modern France. Such a nostalgic view of the Tour is certainly to be found in French culture, as in the film Amelie when she contrives to get the box of childhood memories back to it's owner and its discovery causes a flashback to the 59 Tour. A 'flashback' to a race from the modern era just wouldn't carry the same impact or meaning.

takethehighroad

I know people in the north of France this year in particular are aggrieved about the route because they've said "How can they call it a Tour de France when it doesn't go around the whole of France?"

But in general, cycling in France is becoming more and more of a minority sport, behind swimming and tennis.

bikerZA

Wow can't believe he is doing another year. He must be nearly 100 by now.

afx237vi

Maybe the other CdE riders think Moreau's missus will be around too and convinced the DSes to find a few extra euros:

http://i28.tinypic.com/33e0kn6.jpg

8)

Former podium girl, innit. 'Nuff said.

Le Commentateur

Perhaps they are looking for an older French rider to act as mentor to a crop of new younger ones they have coming through, maybe with a view to him moving to a DS role later on.

Or is that too sensible?