No TDF for Geox-TMC?
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/7118/Geox-TMC-looking-increasingly-likely-to-miss-Tour-de-France.aspx
It would be a shame to not have Menchov in the Tour, he was on good form last year and would definitely be a favourite.
It would be a shame to not have Menchov in the Tour, he was on good form last year and would definitely be a favourite.
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Seems a shame - Menchov is a podium contender and Sastre is always good value and even a possible outsider (OK possibly quite a lot outside now) for the podium. I suppose they've made their own bed but wouldn't they have been expecting pro tour status or am I remembering wrongly ?
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
Interesting. Menchov is very strong but nobody notices him, Sastre's best days are behind him but maybe he'll live up the Alps. But the race needs French teams and Geox can't count on a wildcard, nobody owes them a ride.0
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I thought this had been a fact for weeks now, with Geox and Pegasus having failed to acquire a licence.0
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meh, I'm not surprised.
The French with only a single PT guarantee and wotnot.
Nice one Pat.
Still, the Tour's loss is the Giro's gain.
There, they will make up for the cobbled together rubbish EE, BMC, Sky, LEOTARD TREK and the Shack will undoubtably send."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:meh, I'm not surprised.
The French with only a single PT guarantee and wotnot.
Nice one Pat.
I can't think of a single criteria (other they they've been around a long time), by which FdJ, Cofidis and Europcar deserved PT status above the teams that actually got it.Twitter: @RichN950 -
FDJ would have made the pro tour if it wasn't for a paperwork bungle where they missed out on enough points to qualify. Still, it's not about who gets the PT licence, it's who gets a ride in July.0
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Kléber wrote:FDJ would have made the pro tour if it wasn't for a paperwork bungle where they missed out on enough points to qualify. Still, it's not about who gets the PT licence, it's who gets a ride in July.
You reckon? They were 22nd on the UCI season rankings and 21st on Pat McQ's special rankings. They were hardly a strong candidate.Twitter: @RichN950 -
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RichN95 wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:meh, I'm not surprised.
The French with only a single PT guarantee and wotnot.
Nice one Pat.
I can't think of a single criteria (other they they've been around a long time), by which FdJ, Cofidis and Europcar deserved PT status above the teams that actually got it.
You can't?
How about winning races?
2010 Season
FDJ: 17 wins (including GT stage)
BBox: 19 wins (including GT stages)
Cofidis: 23 wins (including GT stage)
BMC: 4 wins
As Kleber has pointed out, were it not for poor paperwork presentation, FDJ would have got the points, even under Pat's cockeyed reasoning."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Blazing Saddles wrote:RichN95 wrote:Blazing Saddles wrote:meh, I'm not surprised.
The French with only a single PT guarantee and wotnot.
Nice one Pat.
I can't think of a single criteria (other they they've been around a long time), by which FdJ, Cofidis and Europcar deserved PT status above the teams that actually got it.
You can't?
How about winning races?
2010 Season
FDJ: 17 wins (including GT stage)
BBox: 19 wins (including GT stages)
Cofidis: 23 wins (including GT stage)
BMC: 4 wins
As Kleber has pointed out, were it not for poor paperwork presentation, FDJ would have got the points, even under Pat's cockeyed reasoning.
OK, that's a criteria, but it's not a particularly good one. The ability to win stages in 2.1 French stage races does not a ProTeam make.
If FdJ had done their paperwork in time (it's their own fault they didn't), then they would have been considered for PT status, but not guaranteed it. And it would have been at Ag2r's expense, so we're still left with one French team. It's not McQuaid's fault that the French teams don't do well enough at the big races and so only deserve one PT licence.
(PS BMC also won a GT stage and have recruited pretty well).Twitter: @RichN950 -
Yes, Cadel won a GT stage. That's why I mentioned that the French lot had too.
Given the Marcus B won 2 stages in Switzerland and given that BMC were not in the PT, last season, their record at their PC level was appalling.
Anyhow, the reason that the French teams don't come up to PT standard is obvious.
They are made up of almost entirely French riders.
The fact is that they are not International teams, therefore do not fit the global model that is the Pro Tour.
At the end of the day, if the ASO want to give them all Tour wildcards, they will.
Menchov and Sastre will have to be content with riding the other 2 GTs, (actually the racing programme that makes sense) providing Geox don't pull the sponsorship plug and they then go off in search of another berth.
In which case, Geox revert to being Footon, once again."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
All the handbag swinging aside, I can't believe Nardello is riding again, he was shown all suited up at the team training camp. Didn't he retire or is he in management there?When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0
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He's one of the assistant directeur sportives I think.0
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Never mind their on c**p bikes anyway. :oops:0
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Blazing Saddles wrote:Anyhow, the reason that the French teams don't come up to PT standard is obvious.
They are made up of almost entirely French riders.
The fact is that they are not International teams, therefore do not fit the global model that is the Pro Tour.
I agree. And in a nutshell, that's what's wrong with French cycling. No matter how good or bad they are, they're guaranteed a spot at the Big Show, even if it's at the expense of GT winners.
They can point to doping all they like, but it's complacency and their sense of entitlement that has been killing French cycling for years now.
If ASO wanted to help French, they should do away with their quotas (or at least reduce them)Twitter: @RichN950 -
RichN95 wrote:I agree. And in a nutshell, that's what's wrong with French cycling. No matter how good or bad they are, they're guaranteed a spot at the Big Show, even if it's at the expense of GT winners.
They can point to doping all they like, but it's complacency and their sense of entitlement that has been killing French cycling for years now.
If ASO wanted to help French, they should do away with their quotas (or at least reduce them)
Remind me again how many French riders won stages and/or classifications at last year's Tour?0 -
andyp wrote:RichN95 wrote:I agree. And in a nutshell, that's what's wrong with French cycling. No matter how good or bad they are, they're guaranteed a spot at the Big Show, even if it's at the expense of GT winners.
They can point to doping all they like, but it's complacency and their sense of entitlement that has been killing French cycling for years now.
If ASO wanted to help French, they should do away with their quotas (or at least reduce them)
Remind me again how many French riders won stages and/or classifications at last year's Tour?
Six. But that's an upward blip hiding the general malaise of French cycling.
They were 14th in the 2010 UCI rankings
Their top rider was 41st
It's 12 years since they got on the podium at a monument and 13 years since a Tour podium
Voeckler's win in Quebec was their first PT win (excluding stage wins) on foreign soil for 8 years.
For one of the heartlands of the sport, they're in a terrible slump which no amount of breakaway stage wins can hide.Twitter: @RichN950 -
The race needs the French teams. Whilst it has become the big global race, it would not be the same without the crowds. And you wouldn't get all those helicopters and moto-cameras if French TV couldn't be arsed to film the race.
The French riders suffer but there are many more nations riding these days. If the level of the Tour was seen in the Vuelta or Giro then the Spaniards and Italians would get a spanking too, no?0 -
Kléber wrote:The race needs the French teams. Whilst it has become the big global race, it would not be the same without the crowds. And you wouldn't get all those helicopters and moto-cameras if French TV couldn't be arsed to film the race.
The French riders suffer but there are many more nations riding these days. If the level of the Tour was seen in the Vuelta or Giro then the Spaniards and Italians would get a spanking too, no?
The Spanish wouldn't struggle, they've won five Tours on the trot. And the Italians still contend for, and sometimes win, the big races.
Of course the Tour needs French riders, but they're being overindulged by ASO and it's hurting them in the long run.
Never in the field of human cycling have so many earned so much for so little.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Why do you think the Spanish do so well? I've a bloody good idea.
French cycling needs a major shake up, but, as Kléber says, the Tour must have a core of French riders to ensure it remains in touch with the French people.
I'd put money on French riders doing better for the next few years too, as their confidence grows as they realise that they can be competitive nowadays.0 -
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The Tour without French riders would be like Wimbledon without British winners.0
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andyp wrote:RichN95 wrote:I agree. And in a nutshell, that's what's wrong with French cycling. No matter how good or bad they are, they're guaranteed a spot at the Big Show, even if it's at the expense of GT winners.
They can point to doping all they like, but it's complacency and their sense of entitlement that has been killing French cycling for years now.
If ASO wanted to help French, they should do away with their quotas (or at least reduce them)
Remind me again how many French riders won stages and/or classifications at last year's Tour?
I was thinking the exact same thing Andyp so sorry RichN95 I guess I've beaten you to the punch here.
Stats are 2010 TDF.......
6 French Stage wins 1 more than Britain (Cav) and they were.......
Sylvian Chavanel - ( 2 stages they were stage 2 and 7 and in yellow for 2 days)
Sandy Casar- Stage 9.
Christophe Riblon - Stage 14.
Thomas Voeckler - Stage 15.
Pierrick Fedrigo - 16.
There was only two wearers of the polkadot jersey and guess what they were both French Jerome Pineau (the early pace setter) and the Paris podium wearer Anthony Charteau.
So that's 7 Frenchmen doing the business at the Tour, we had no Englishmen doing the business at the Tour. GB face savers were Cav (Isle of Man) and Geraint Thomas (Wales) white jersey for 4 days.
The french are also pretty good in the short stuff round a Velodrome :shock:
Maybe ask why apart from Cav we haven't lit up the 'Sky'....... yes pun intended.
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