Sky Friday

brenner

Would love to see Cancellara in Team Sky colours ... he is by far the best cyclist to watch racing and i would love to see him use some of team gb's track success to help him have a go at the 1 hour record.

Would make the classics team a serious threat, provide automatic coverage, stage wins and leaders jersey potential for every grand tour and have a good crack at any week long stage race.

Sastre would be a good call and would have some good knowledge to pass on to the younger riders, however I can't see him lasting more than another two seasons if that.

Person I would love to see sign would be Stijn Devolder ... think that he is an awesome rider, would be great for the classics and his ability to win smaller stage races and support in the grand tours would be great. Without that rubbish about him being a potential grand tour contender and letting him focus on being a teammate with a specific role I think that he would be great,

Obviously Wiggo would be fav choice http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/images/s ... iggrin.gif

Bhima

The only "huge" people I see them signing, who are British, would be Wiggins, Cav, Millar or, if you believe the UK news channels, Chris Hoy. (:roll: / :idea:) The idea was to get a British winner of the Tour de France and Wiggins is the only one I see doing it soon. Signing someone non-british as a GC contender, surely, defeats the original aim...?

zippypablo

signing someone non British as a gc contender for short term exposure but also to show the ropes to an up and coming young Brit would be a good move surely?

edhornby

zippypablo wrote:

signing someone non British as a gc contender for short term exposure but also to show the ropes to an <b>up and coming young Brit</b> would be a good move surely?

Geraint Thomas

SpaceJunk

zippypablo wrote:

signing someone non British as a gc contender for short term exposure but also to show the ropes to an up and coming young Brit would be a good move surely?

+ 1

You would be crazy to not allow a genuine GC contender fjoin your team, just because he isn't British.

Sky have a lot to learn (and team management would be aware of that), a TdF win isn't going to come overnight. They need to be successful and gain exposure through be visible in the peloton (and not just because they are new to it). They also need to be competitive at the other two GTs as well. They have a ProTour licence.

Enough of this 'we can't pick him, he's not British nonsense'

yourpaceormine

Sastre + 1

Perfect signing, and one that has not been on the radar at all. GC contender in the short term, and a massive teaching resource for the young guns. Peter Kenneaugh and Geraint Thomas coupled with BC development skills, and someone who won the yellow = a very good shot at Team Sky's long term goal of a Brit TdF winner in 5 years.

Fabian too would bring massive amounts of knowledge to the squad, but I can't help but think that he could deprive British TT stage winners - Team Sky have already said they won't sign any potential track riders from abroad as they don't want to compromise Team GB. Would he pose too much a conflict of interest?

(Wiggins, isn't Whinging Wiggins success more down to British Cycling support and advice than JV? JV deserves credit for giving Bradley free rein to do his own thing, but I thought it was BC's backroom boys who told Brad he could do well on the road if he did this this and this?)

El Imbatido

Did Haimar Zubeldia's contract with retirement shack ever get sorted out? He was going, then Astana said no, then he was going, yadda yadda yadda.

Just a thought.....

takethehighroad

Have Sky actually said that they're signing a GC contender for next year? I know the aim is for a British winner of the Tour, but that's in, what, five years time? So why do they need a "GC contender" in 2010?

SpaceJunk

TakeTheHighRoad wrote:

Have Sky actually said that they're signing a GC contender for next year? I know the aim is for a British winner of the Tour, but that's in, what, five years time? So why do they need a "GC contender" in 2010?

You would be crazy to not allow a genuine GC contender join your team, just because he isn't British.

Sky have a lot to learn (and team management would be aware of that), a TdF win isn't going to come overnight. They need to be successful and gain exposure through beIng visible in the peloton (and not just because they are the new kids on the block. They also need to be competitive at the other two GTs as well. They have a ProTour licence.

Enough of this 'we can't pick him, he's not British nonsense'

iainf72

The reason you'd not hire a non-Brit GC contendor is you would have difficulty attracting a Brit GC contendor if you had someone there already.

SpaceJunk

iainf72 wrote:

The reason you'd not hire a non-Brit GC contendor is you would have difficulty attracting a Brit GC contendor if you had someone there already.

True. But someone like Sastre for example, may only have 2 good years left in them. That shouldn't impede on developing a British GC rider.

If however, Sky would prefer to 'attract a Brit GC contendor', I can only think of Wiggins.

Sky could shoot themselves in the foot, assembling their squad around a spot for Wiggins. What happens then if they can't get him to join them?

Bhima

I don't see Sastre moving away from Cervelo TT to be honest. He seems happy there and was the first rider to sign up because he believed in Cervelo's experimental idea/concept a lot. The experiments the team have done this year to try and build up a strong force to be reckoned with seems to be more than just a 1-season progression, looking at [the videos] they've produced. You get the feeling that Sastre and the others joined to be part of a long-term project.

I must admit though, he would be a good rider to have.

afx237vi

Bhima wrote:

I don't see Sastre moving away from Cervelo TT to be honest. He seems happy there and was the first rider to sign up because he believed in Cervelo's experimental idea/concept a lot. The experiments the team have done this year to try and build up a strong force to be reckoned with seems to be more than just a 1-season progression, looking at [the videos] they've produced. You get the feeling that Sastre and the others joined to be part of a long-term project.

I must admit though, he would be a good rider to have.

Is that true? He doesn't strike me as that type of rider. There was a scene in Overcoming where he's arguing with Bjarne Riis because he doesn't even want to use a powermeter.

bikerZA

Blazing Saddles wrote:

A huge signing? Sounds like Jan is back! :P

That would be brilliant!

Is it likely to be A Schleck, would he be willing to race on a team without Frank?

Rodrego Hernandez

Wiggins

ozzzyosborn206

sastre seems like a good shout, what about vande valde? cancellara would garantee them stage wins and publicity so not a bad called either, not sure they would risk boonen after having been caught for coke twice

fastercyclist

If it's A.Schleck I'm off to buy the whole team kit...right down to the mitts

Le Commentateur

Cancellara is with Saxo Bank until 2012.

Unless they have had to cut back on sponsorship money in the last year.

Tusher

OPTION 1- Alberto to Garmin, freeing Wiggins to Sky. But have I been reading that Bertie is staying with Astana, or was that just a bad dream?

Possibility- 6/10


OPTION 2- Sammy Sanchez. Gorgeous AND talented. What more could we want? But I understand he's virtually married to the Euskies, being their token non-Basque.

Possibility- 3/10


OPTION 3- Contador. No, no and thrice no. 'Cos Mr B spake and it was 'no'.

Possibility- 0/10



OPTION 4- Sastre. Ticks all the boxes. Very nice man. Clean. Good-looking, devoted family man, quietly goes about good causes. And all that Spanish sunshine must be demoralizing- bet he can't wait for the Manchester training week.

Possibility- 9/10



OPTION 5- Robert Millar comes out of retirement. Oh please, please, please let it happen.


Possibility-10/10

Tusher

Of Course! How could I have missed it?



It's Kenny everyone................Team Sky now proudly present ..................



KENNY VAN HUMMEL

yourpaceormine

Thinking on the lines of Grand Tour GC contenders...

Lance, Levi - we know they are off to the shack
Big George - BMC
Cadel - just announced his new team
Vino - if hell freezes over perhaps...
Sastre - ?
The Little Prince - ? Sky ARE big in Italy, could be the 'right' signing for the sponsor and could also fit with a Yoda type figure spouting nonsense to the young guns
Wiggins - apparently staying at Garmin, or is he?
CVV- has the modfather taken his role as GC rider on the team?
Bertie - Dave B has said 'Nay, nay and thrice nay'
Frank & Andy - staying at Saxo? Always come as a pair though.... lots of ex-CSC at Sky might be a new home from home perhaps
Cancellara - staying at Saxo?
Sanchez - unlikely as I'm sure he's staying at Euskadi Euskatel

Anyone else, who has not got previous, not mentioned?

Big Jens Voigt?

DaveyL

Big George? Grand Tour GC contender? Gran Tourismo, maybe.

blazing_saddles

Anyone not mentioned?
Yes, it's obvious, as the guy as yet, is sans team......
Andrei Kashechkin.

greeny12

The more I think about it, the more I think it *might* be Vande Velde. If Wiggins is staying at Garmin you can be sure he's sealed top dog status for the Tour as payback.

Although there's some possible murk in CVV's past he comes direct from cycling's self-styled "clean team" so that's not really an issue for Brailsford's pledge. He's an Anglophone and at the point in his career when he could be happy to swap a couple of "last hurrah" years as top man for a few after that playing support to a rising star.

Seems to make sense, so of course it'll end up being Menchov!!!

bigmat

I reckon Wiggins or Cunego. The new signings at Lampre don't exactly fit well with Cunego's position on "sporting enhancements", also heard rumours of Simoni going there and I thought those two didn't get on too well? Wiggins must be Sky's first choice though. Intriguing!

afx237vi

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Anyone not mentioned?
Yes, it's obvious, as the guy as yet, is sans team......
Andrei Kashechkin.

No, no, no, I think I have it... I can't believe no-one else has mentioned it. Spurred on to make a comeback after his recent success in the Brompton World Championships, it has to be none other than Roberto Heras!

mididoctors

Dave_1 wrote:

anybody can buy in winners , use the cheque book if they have a huge sponsor...the real measure of success is in who they develop over the next two seasons. JV has done really well with Wiggins

+1

done well with a lot of them

turned a load of testers and unknowns into actual winners

farrrarararara

rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-rye-derrrr


for the first two years everyone was slagging him off because despite good performances his mob never actually won anything

different story these days

timoid.

How about Gibo Simoni?

He fits the bill both as a massive signing (2 Giros, oodles of podiums) and also leaving a feeling of disappointment that the team still won't be so hot. He's also Italian, which folks on here have decided is one of the things Sky is looking for.

Just a thought.

mididoctors

as for sky..... who cares.... expecting massive anti-climax

brownleather

Timoid. wrote:

How about Gibo Simoni?

He fits the bill both as a massive signing (2 Giros, oodles of podiums) and also leaving a feeling of disappointment that the team still won't be so hot. He's also Italian, which folks on here have decided is one of the things Sky is looking for.

Just a thought.

Bit past it though?