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andyp wrote:Brailsford didn't say "No" to the story, rather he denied that anyone involved in Team Sky had leaked it.
He did say a couple of weeks ago they'd not even negotiated with Wiggins.
Hopefully Wiggins will tweet some sense soon.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
I doubt this one will be cleared up for some time. I'm sure there are lots of negotiations going on to resolve both Contador and Wiggin's futures, some of which may be interlinked.0
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andyp wrote:I doubt this one will be cleared up for some time. I'm sure there are lots of negotiations going on to resolve both Contador and Wiggin's futures, some of which may be interlinked.
The other rumour doing the rounds is the Caisse have secured an additional sponsor to pay for Contador as long as they can sign him. So it depends what happens with Astana but I'd think he'd be more likely to go to a Spanish team.
It does show how not-interesting the current Sky squad is for the general British media without a big name like Wiggins or Cavendish.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Yes. As it stands, Sky is a bit of a non-event.
Sort of a bit more British Barloworld.
Hardly the stuff dreams are made of.
If I were Pat, I'd want an Armstrong sized backhander,
to award the current squad a PT pass."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:Yes. As it stands, Sky is a bit of a non-event.
Sort of a bit more British Barloworld.
Hardly the stuff dreams are made of.
If I were Pat, I'd want an Armstrong sized backhander,
to award the current squad a PT pass.
Well, they've got the rider ranked number 3 on the UCI's own rankings. I think that will count for something. Plus riders ranked 23,49 and 53 (Wiggins is 36)Twitter: @RichN950 -
iainf72 wrote:
Might I also add, he was toilet on the road until he joined Father Vaughters merry mob....
Dunno how you can say this really. He was a great team player at Columbia on the chase down and leadout train for the sprints, hardly toilet. Then his breakaway on stage 6 on his own in the 07 Tour with confidis where even the french grew some respect for him. Not to mention the competitive side of the TTs. Hardly toilet, maybe not GT top level but certainly better than average.
Not only this everyone presumes a wiggins move is for GT contender. What if Wiggins knows that perhaps the course suited him (as everyone here seems to state) and that he might never hit that high on GC again. Perhaps there is a chance bringing a Wiggins on board as team leader to bring on the skills of the younger riders who BC are geniunely excited about, me too.
Personally I am bit astonished by the attitudes around here from day one of the announcement of the Sky team on how they won't manage a decent team (imo they have a great set of promising talent and good allround ability though maybe lacking a major known superstar at the minute) and won't manage any decent results. Why not wait for some results or look at actual performance and results of those riders before writing them off.
The team might not be at a level out of the box to compete with Saxo, Garmin, Columbia, Liquigas or Astana but I would say they are more than level pegged with the rest of the teams if not better.
Their roster is decent, certainly got some of my fav riders from the last two years in there and the young brit talent that at under 23 have all been getting good experience in PT teams, so I am looking forward to see how they do.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:Yes. As it stands, Sky is a bit of a non-event.
Sort of a bit more British Barloworld.
Hardly the stuff dreams are made of.
If I were Pat, I'd want an Armstrong sized backhander,
to award the current squad a PT pass.
Looks a stronger overall squad than Team Shack for the majority of cycling's world calendar as Bob Stapleton was saying yesterday. He said he already considers them one of Columbia's major rivals.
They've always been a shoe in for a PT licence given the long term financial stability being backed by a big company like Sky brings, the extra exposure to cycling brought by a media company, their very strong anti-doping policy and the success, professionalism and organisation Brailsford et al brought to Britain's track cycling team.
The UCI want to see fresh blood (if you excuse the phrase when talking about cycling) + money in the sport and Team Sky fit the bill perfectly. I'm sure the fact that Scott Sunderland is involved in both setting up Sky and developing the UCI's new course for Sports Directors must help.0 -
thamacdaddy wrote:
Dunno how you can say this really. He was a great team player at Columbia on the chase down and leadout train for the sprints, hardly toilet. Then his breakaway on stage 6 on his own in the 07 Tour with confidis where even the french grew some respect for him. Not to mention the competitive side of the TTs. Hardly toilet, maybe not GT top level but certainly better than average.
He's shown this year what he's capable of. He didn't do that before so you'd have to admit being part of a leadout train for Cavendish or long ill fated breakaways are a waste of his talent.
I think it's an enormous shame he didn't realise what he could do earlier and concentrate on that, instead of the track.
Regarding your other point about the negativity about Sky. If they were a Dutch team and announced that roster would you be impressed?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Sky roster? If they were Dutch, I would struggle to remember 3 names.
I keep on thinking 3 Grand Tours and I go blank. :oops:
Seriously, I wonder if the young talent is going to get stretched rather thin.
What makes it more wierd is what Stagehopper has pointed out: the finacial security.
I'm still banking and guessing on more serious signings."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
All this hush hush and back and forth is pretty ridiculous frankly.
As it stands, I think Wiggins has other things on his mind.Just putting some of the final touches to my TT bike for worlds, courtesy of some last bits from Dolan Bikes, Nice!Contador is the Greatest0 -
iainf72 wrote:andyp wrote:I doubt this one will be cleared up for some time. I'm sure there are lots of negotiations going on to resolve both Contador and Wiggin's futures, some of which may be interlinked.
The other rumour doing the rounds is the Caisse have secured an additional sponsor to pay for Contador as long as they can sign him. So it depends what happens with Astana but I'd think he'd be more likely to go to a Spanish team.
It does show how not-interesting the current Sky squad is for the general British media without a big name like Wiggins or Cavendish.
Sky have to have a name like Wiggins or Cavendish if they are going to punch in the british general press and not just the specialist publications.
Caisse are due to renew/expire next year. The bank group has taken quite a battering off Madoff but isn't exactly on the brink as far as I can see.
One possible scenario might that Santander would inject some capital this season as a guarantee of taking over the headline sponsorship next season, thus securing Fernando Alonso's team plan at the same time as his move to Ferrari.
What struck me about Vaughters/Brailsford's rebuttals was that there seemed to be no flat out denial that there had been discussions, just that nobody had talked money. And that the rumoured compensation had gone up from 500K to 2 million.
It all sounds very like "leaked" news to me in a "here's how much we are offering" public square display.0 -
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As of right now, Sky has few proven winners.
Boasson can probably be counted on to deliver 10+.
Gerrans won't match him on quantity, but might beat him on quality.
Henderson is likely to win some.
Lövkvist has potential for big, but infrequent, wins.
Downing might be able to pick up a few.
Flecha will certainly provide quality effort and will probably be instrumental in securing some victories, but is unlikely to actually win much if anything himself.
Beyond these guys, it gets a little thin. There might be a lot of potential in many of the riders, but there is no guarantee.
Currently not a single GT GC rider.
It's not a bad team overall really, and I think they'll easily deliver 20+ wins next season, which will put them way ahead of teams they've been compared to, like Milram and Barloworld. But at the same time, it's easy to see why they would be desperate to get Wiggins. I would think having a British guy with potential for a top five finish in the TdF will make a significant difference in the public perception of the team.0 -
iainf72 wrote:Regarding your other point about the negativity about Sky. If they were a Dutch team and announced that roster would you be impressed?
Actually I would think exactly the same but I know you won't believe me and there is no way of proving it. The riders sky have announced are exactly the sort that I thought should have all been riding this years tour so EBH, Gerrans etc being left out to me was a bit disappointing.
But I am happy to leave it as not being negative about it all up front. I think that team can achieve some decent respectable results or more even in their first year but I may have to eat a hat or something on that just not willing to write them all off as all being trash etc at the moment. And that comment is aimed at the wider audience not yourself Iain0 -
Roche for sky0
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a wink and a nudge from Scott Sunderland on his twitter0
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frenchfighter wrote:All this hush hush and back and forth is pretty ridiculous frankly.
As it stands, I think Wiggins has other things on his mind.Just putting some of the final touches to my TT bike for worlds, courtesy of some last bits from Dolan Bikes, Nice!
And just before that, "My new TT Felt bike is going to look the dog's nut sack next week!"
Or did you forget that due to passing out at the vile language he used...?Le Blaireau (1)0 -
From the daily peloton site:
"In the Pits
Team Sky recruitment guru Scott Sunderland was wandering around today, looking quite happy that one of his new recruits, Boasson Hagen, was in the leaders jersey and looked set for his second stage race win in a month following his stellar ride in the Eneco Tour a coupe of weeks back. In the minutes before the final sprint Daily Peloton caught up with the likeable Aussie for a brief chat:
DP- So do you think Edvald will collect a fifth stage win today or do you think he has impressed you enough this week already?
SS- Arh it really doesn't matter now, 4th, 5th whatever. He's shown he is a great rider and capable of huge things. As long as he finishes safely in the bunch that's all that matters today, the hard work has been done already.
DP- Have you been impressed by this week's racing?
SS- I've only been following it online and on the television to be honest, until today but yes, it seems to have been a pretty high standard.
DP- How is the Sky team coming together?
SS- Pretty well, there's still some spots left available but it's all going OK.
DP- You've named 16 riders so far, is that right?
SS- Yes that's right
DP- How many will there be total?
SS- We are hoping for 25 but that still needs to be confirmed
DP- Would you like to make any comment about Wiggo?
SS- (grinning) No
And with that he camouflaged into the growing crowd at the finish line and started talking to none other than Stephen Roche, who was here watching his son, current Irish champion Nicholas lead a late breakaway that failed to foil the sprinters' teams.0
