was ben swift at the katusha training camp today?

Pross

Will he get much racing though? Will it be the equivalent of keeping a player who wants to leave a football club on the bench?

timoid.

Yeah, but why didn't he speak to Sky, agree to join a year later, then knuckle down with Katusha and stop being such a twat. I admit its difficult now, but Sky and Swift should have thought this one out and played it better.

calvjones

Timoid. wrote:

Yeah, but why didn't he speak to Sky, agree to join a year later, then knuckle down with Katusha and stop being such a fool. I admit its difficult now, but Sky and Swift should have thought this one out and played it better.

I wonder if by its very nature, pro sport is so full of egotistical w@nkers whose heads & ears have been filled with tales of their immaculate greatness for so long by those around them, and are additionally now so driven by ca$h-at-all-costs, that this kind of childish p1ssing contest and flagrant disregard for gentlemanly behaviour is becoming the norm?

Or is it just me?

Merry Christmas/Bah Humbug*

*delete as appropriate

pedro118118

If Swift remains with Katusha his life will be a nightmare.

He has tried to use the argument that Katusha hoodwinked him into a contract variation and he didn't know what he was signing. Well........he only realised that Katusha had acted unlawfully once Sky alerted him to it (some months later). Hey presto - a convenient potential 'wriggle' provision, as used by Steegmans! Thing was, Steegmans didn't sign the anti-doping charter and engineered a move as a direct result - a very different case.

There would be an interesting irony that one of GB's best young prospects was to break his ProTour contract, using his team's unreasonable stance on doping as a reason!

In short - it stinks. Swift should have seen out the remainder of his contract.

richard wants a baum

Dont know if the TdU oraganisers know something the rest of us dont or they've got this one wrong but he appears on Sky's Start List

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/teams/start-list

Cheesyman99

richard wants a baum wrote:

Dont know if the TdU oraganisers know something the rest of us dont or they've got this one wrong but he appears on Sky's Start List

http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/teams/start-list

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_s ... 398439.stm

Anonymous

I saw him between Chelford and Alderley Edge yesterday with a couple of other riders, he was in his Katusha kit (obviously!) didn't see what the other riders were wearing...

cyclingtaz

irishpeloton wrote:

I think it's ridiculous that riders have started the whole kicking and screaming tactic employed by footballers to get themselves out of a contract. Ben Swift signed for Katusha for 2 years and he should be prepared to see out those 2 years instead of acting in an immature, and what seems to me to be an illegal manner.

Same goes for Wiggins, he should have had the decency to see out the last year of his contract with the team that afforded him the opportunity to make a name for himself as a Tour contender.

someone once said you'll never win anything with kids

RichN95.

calvjones wrote:

I wonder if by its very nature, pro sport is so full of egotistical w@nkers whose heads & ears have been filled with tales of their immaculate greatness for so long by those around them, and are additionally now so driven by ca$h-at-all-costs, that this kind of childish p1ssing contest and flagrant disregard for gentlemanly behaviour is becoming the norm?

Or is it just me?

Merry Christmas/Bah Humbug*

*delete as appropriate

They're certainly egotistical, but I'd offer a flipside to your argument.

A pro cyclist is fortunate if he gets ten years on a decent team making decent money. At the end of this they're going to be unemployed with no qualifications (or few at best) and no experience outside cycling. They've got to make the best of it while they have the chance. Why waste a year on a team that you don't want to be at?

cyclingtaz

RichN95 wrote:

calvjones wrote:

I wonder if by its very nature, pro sport is so full of egotistical w@nkers whose heads & ears have been filled with tales of their immaculate greatness for so long by those around them, and are additionally now so driven by ca$h-at-all-costs, that this kind of childish p1ssing contest and flagrant disregard for gentlemanly behaviour is becoming the norm?

Or is it just me?

Merry Christmas/Bah Humbug*

*delete as appropriate

They're certainly egotistical, but I'd offer a flipside to your argument.

A pro cyclist is fortunate if he gets ten years on a decent team making decent money. At the end of this they're going to be unemployed with no qualifications (or few at best) and no experience outside cycling. They've got to make the best of it while they have the chance. Why waste a year on a team that you don't want to be at?

i agree

iainf72

RichN95 wrote:

[Why waste a year on a team that you don't want to be at?

Because you've signed a contract?

LangerDan

Oh - look who's missing from the Katusha line-up today

http://www.katushateam.com/index.php?p=team

Cheesyman99

LangerDan wrote:

Oh - look who's missing from the Katusha line-up today

http://www.katushateam.com/index.php?p=team

Percy Vera

That's because he was in Russell Downing's garage training with him on the Turbo

Rodrego Hernandez

I really want Sky to succeed but things like this want me to see Dave B fall right on his arrogant arse. I'm fairly sure that the law of Karma will sort things out in the long run though.

Gazzaputt

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

I really want Sky to succeed but things like this want me to see Dave B fall right on his arrogant ars*. I'm fairly sure that the law of Karma will sort things out in the long run though.

What did Dave Brailsford do wrong? Ben Swift's agent touted him as a free agent and Sky have abided by UCI rules. If anything, and this is the same as football, the agent has advised his client he can be freed from his contract so this is down to the agent.

freire

lucybears

Gazzaputt wrote:

What did Dave Brailsford do wrong? Ben Swift's agent touted him as a free agent and Sky have abided by UCI rules. If anything, and this is the same as football, the agent has advised his client he can be freed from his contract so this is down to the agent.

Dave Brailsford would surely know something about a rider he was thinking of signing.
Like he had only turned pro the previous year and like all neos, his contact with Katusha would have been for two years, no matter what the agent claimed.

Langman

Whats the big deal here??

If he wants to leave an Katusha are compensated for his doing so where's the problem, thats the way it works in all other walks of life.

I know there's something to be said for him to honour his contract but he only has one career and he has to do the right thing for himself at this moment. If he where earning millions of £ then maybe I'd say 'stay put and deal with it', but he's not so he's got to do the best for himself.

jp1985

Langman wrote:

Whats the big deal here??

If he wants to leave an Katusha are compensated for his doing so where's the problem, thats the way it works in all other walks of life.

I know there's something to be said for him to honour his contract but he only has one career and he has to do the right thing for himself at this moment. If he where earning millions of £ then maybe I'd say 'stay put and deal with it', but he's not so he's got to do the best for himself.

I could be wrong but I don't think Katusha are being compensated. He's saying that he was forced into signing their anti doping charter and using that as an excuse to break his contract and sign for Sky which seems a little contrived to me.

Garz

Getting out of a contract by a loophole is what happens in many careers, if your unhappy or been offered something better then you have to expect it. Obviously people these days don't honor contracts or are loyal but who's counting?

iainf72

I think the issue is more that Bob Stapleton complained about Brailsfords behaviour and got his lawyers to send a letter. Then the Wiggins saga and Swift.

lucybears

Langman wrote:

Whats the big deal here??

If he wants to leave an Katusha are compensated for his doing so where's the problem, thats the way it works in all other walks of life.

I know there's something to be said for him to honour his contract but he only has one career and he has to do the right thing for himself at this moment. If he where earning millions of £ then maybe I'd say 'stay put and deal with it', but he's not so he's got to do the best for himself.

UCI likely to move on breaking of contracts

UCI President Pat McQuaid told Cyclingnews on that he is 'concerned' at recent developments in this area. McQuaid said the governing body is likely to introduce new rules in 2010 to safeguard the rights of riders and teams alike, in relation to existing contracts.

McQuaid referred to the Swift situation as an example. The Briton has one year remaining on his contract with Katusha, but was recently reported as being close to signing with Team Sky. It also named him in its lineup for the Tour Down Under, although the team later claimed that it had believed he was a free agent.

Katusha has complained about the team’s tactics, saying that it is trying to scoop riders who are under contract.

“Under UCI rules, the regulations don’t allow for aggressive chasing of riders, that’s for sure,” said McQuaid. “That is against the spirit of the sport. I mean, I understand if a new team or a new sponsor comes in, and they have got to find riders. But there is a proper way of doing things, and going about things.”


http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-lik ... -contracts

Cheesyman99

Swifty to be unveiled tommorrow at the kit launch?

lucybears

Cheesyman99 wrote:

Swifty to be unveiled tommorrow at the kit launch?

He was unveled today when a video interview was available here
http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 9689193001
but Sky pulled it after about half an hour.

PinkBianchi

freire wrote:

niiiiiiice....I'm really glad he's with Sky, that kit looks well hot on him! :P

Cheesyman99

Will he be their sprinter at the tour?

chris halford

thought id add something to this,to me what sky has done has left a bad taste. contracts are sup to be kept and seen out.a new team having enemies in the peloton is not a good start,.there are a lot of unwritten rules in cycling, and a lot the public dont know what goes on, your team is important but so is the respect of your peers,,,,,and a team can also make you lose a race,no team is stronger than the peloton :idea:

pedro118118

People can dress this up/justify it however they like, but the bottom line is if Sky didn't exist, there's no way Swift would've walked away from his contract with Katusha. He used the whole 'contract amemdment' loophole as an excuse to engineer a move (no doubt with the help/assistance of the 'resources' available to him, via Sky).

It does leave a bitter taste.
As in every other walk of life, money talks.

That all said, I'm still looking forward to the 2010 season, following a British team and hope Swift is a big success, as he's a great talent. I just think he's been poorly advised.

wicked

pedro118118 wrote:

People can dress this up/justify it however they like, but the bottom line is if Sky didn't exist, there's no way Swift would've walked away from his contract with Katusha. He used the whole 'contract amemdment' loophole as an excuse to engineer a move (no doubt with the help/assistance of the 'resources' available to him, via Sky).

It does leave a bitter taste.
As in every other walk of life, money talks.

That all said, I'm still looking forward to the 2010 season, following a British team and hope Swift is a big success, as he's a great talent. I just think he's been poorly advised.

+1
Nothing more to be said really as this was nicely summed up. I for one will still be supporting Sky and hope they do well.