Emma Pooley
Bart Roberts
Posts: 14
I read an article in British Cycling and was blown away.
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... donne.html
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there might be some problems since Claudio won the tour last year, but I never would of thought that Celvelo would allow Emma Pooley to throw away the greatest climbing tour in the history of the Giro because of a payback to Claudia. I mean for crying out loud, couldn't Emma pay Claudia back in some other tour, but not this one!! I know Emma is nice, Mara is nice as she held back for Arndt last year on Mount Serra, but please don't ruin the greatest climbing tour in the history of the Giro!!
I would Emma and Celvelo would reconsider this, however I guess the upside is that if Emma plays domo for Claudio, that might play into Mara's hands! If Emma is not fully committed to win this tour as the team captain or race leader, then the ball could swing more into Mara's court. True, I am blown away at the idea that Emma will hold back on the Stelvio and other climbs in order to play domo and drag Claudia up those climbs, but what a shame if the two greatest climbers the world has ever seen in decades since Luperini and Brandli first set foot on the scene, that coming into their prime, they can't go full out in this great climbing tour with the complete blessing and support of both their teams and their riders.
I guess if anything, the best we can do as fans is try to hope for and read between the lines like some novelty serendipitous adventure, that perhaps all of this will get sorted out on the climbs where the real climbers of this tour will have no choice but to take center stage. I guess what we really want to see as fans, is some great action on the Stelvio between Emma and Mara, and if we get that, perhaps we can overlook the rest. I like Claudia a lot, she is a great talent, but this Tour belongs to the climbers and you would of thought very early on since this tour was announced at the first of the year that clearly they could of sorted this one out. This is very indicative of why as a team sport it might work for the team and the riders but doesn't work for the fans. For most fans cycling will always be an individual sport where their heroes take center stage.
Well, let the cards fall where they fall and hope for the best!
Bart
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... donne.html
Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew there might be some problems since Claudio won the tour last year, but I never would of thought that Celvelo would allow Emma Pooley to throw away the greatest climbing tour in the history of the Giro because of a payback to Claudia. I mean for crying out loud, couldn't Emma pay Claudia back in some other tour, but not this one!! I know Emma is nice, Mara is nice as she held back for Arndt last year on Mount Serra, but please don't ruin the greatest climbing tour in the history of the Giro!!
I would Emma and Celvelo would reconsider this, however I guess the upside is that if Emma plays domo for Claudio, that might play into Mara's hands! If Emma is not fully committed to win this tour as the team captain or race leader, then the ball could swing more into Mara's court. True, I am blown away at the idea that Emma will hold back on the Stelvio and other climbs in order to play domo and drag Claudia up those climbs, but what a shame if the two greatest climbers the world has ever seen in decades since Luperini and Brandli first set foot on the scene, that coming into their prime, they can't go full out in this great climbing tour with the complete blessing and support of both their teams and their riders.
I guess if anything, the best we can do as fans is try to hope for and read between the lines like some novelty serendipitous adventure, that perhaps all of this will get sorted out on the climbs where the real climbers of this tour will have no choice but to take center stage. I guess what we really want to see as fans, is some great action on the Stelvio between Emma and Mara, and if we get that, perhaps we can overlook the rest. I like Claudia a lot, she is a great talent, but this Tour belongs to the climbers and you would of thought very early on since this tour was announced at the first of the year that clearly they could of sorted this one out. This is very indicative of why as a team sport it might work for the team and the riders but doesn't work for the fans. For most fans cycling will always be an individual sport where their heroes take center stage.
Well, let the cards fall where they fall and hope for the best!
Bart
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