Movistar

LeicesterLad

I Like them. (Minus Valverde)

They lit the Giro up.

Discuss.

Vino'sGhost

Agreed, totally rocked

Crozza

I like them too

I loathe Valverde for some reason, almost as much as people who tell others to "discuss"

Richmond Racer

As ever with cycling, very mixed feelings

I love Quintana, and Dowsett's win was one of my Giro highlights

I cant abide Valverde, not sure I trust Visconti

and Eusebio Unzue has quite the history

petemadoc

Richmond Racer wrote:

not sure I trust Visconti

This

prawny

I wouldn't trust Movistar as far as I could throw their whole team including riders, support staff, bikes, spares, clothing and vehicles.

inkyfingers

In a race low on excitement they did their best to light it up a bit.

ContrelaMontre

Spanish Team Sky, same bikes, same kit, even same riders now.

Difference being they have a Spanish attitude to doping.

Paul 8v

They made the race quite exciting in places, was really pleased for Dowsett (Being a Maldon lad n'all) Was a bit worried about him going to a Spanish team but I don't think he's stupid so he should be fine.

ocdupalais

Don't worry, Paul: no man from Essex has ever gone to Spain and taken drugs.

jamie1012

OCDuPalais wrote:

Don't worry, Paul: no man from Essex has ever gone to Spain and taken drugs.

hammerite

Surely given his medical condition he wouldn't be stupid enough to try dabbling in drugs?*


*I'm not an expert on haemophilia, just from my level of ignorance it would seem an even more stupid thing to do.

Paul 8v

Yeah I don't know much about it, not a good idea to fall off, I know that! I was wondering how good their training was compared to sky but it seems that they are quite similar, seems to be doing well and is given opportunities he wouldn't have got at sky (And managed to beat his old team mate in a TT!).

andyp

hammerite wrote:

Surely given his medical condition he wouldn't be stupid enough to try dabbling in drugs?*


*I'm not an expert on haemophilia, just from my level of ignorance it would seem an even more stupid thing to do.

I remember this being the stock argument as to why Armstrong would never contemplate doping.

Turfle

I like some of them (Dowsett, Quintana, Amador, Herrada, Intxausti). I'm not so keen on some others (Cobo, Visconti, Valverde).

Similar to most teams I guess.

hammerite

andyp wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Surely given his medical condition he wouldn't be stupid enough to try dabbling in drugs?*


*I'm not an expert on haemophilia, just from my level of ignorance it would seem an even more stupid thing to do.

I remember this being the stock argument as to why Armstrong would never contemplate doping.

Quite. In my logic having a condition that effects your blood in the way haemophilia does presents more risks for a PED user, than the side effects/recovery of cancer and the treatment. Again, I have no specific knowledge to back that up :oops:

Richmond Racer

The word is that Movistar have been copying some Sky methods - setting up a sports science section, that kind of thing. Dowsett often says in interviews that amongst all the Spanish discussion he's still trying to learn to interprete, he hears ' Team Sky' and 'marginal gains' all the time.

The word is also that Unzue was told in no uncertain terms by the sponsor last year 'no doping scandals, por favor'. But who knows what goes on.

Dowsett's been brought up in a no-needles environment in cycling right from his Academy days. I guess you just have to decide whether you want to give someone the benefit of doubt re their ethics and their ability to hold true to those ethics. For my part I think the guy will be fine.

RoadPainter

I also think Dowsett should be OK. Let's face it, the no-needles policy he's been used to is really, really important for him.

I used to really dislike Movistar due to Valverde etc, but during the Giro found myself waving to their cars. GB fanboi!

ms_tree

Well they can't be that bad can they as your precious Sky has taken about 4 of their riders over the last couple of years haven't they? Uran being one of them.
(Liked them for a while but liked the red and black kit better than the blue and green.)

trek_dan

I like Visconti's immaculate eyebrows. He must be the only rider in the peleton that spends more time preening his face than shaving his legs.

Richmond Racer

Ms Tree wrote:

Well they can't be that bad can they as your precious Sky has taken about 4 of their riders over the last couple of years haven't they? Uran being one of them.
(Liked them for a while but liked the red and black kit better than the blue and green.)

Personally I dont categorise them as 'bad' per se. I've already said that I'm a big Quintana fan. Nor do I have any idea whether they are as clean as a whistle or whether Unzue turns a blind eye to any individuals. But I certainly have reservations re Visconti, and I would trust Valverde as far as I can throw him.

dougzz

Richmond Racer wrote:

The word is that Movistar have been copying some Sky methods - setting up a sports science section, that kind of thing. Dowsett often says in interviews that amongst all the Spanish discussion he's still trying to learn to interprete, he hears ' Team Sky' and 'marginal gains' all the time.
The word is also that Unzue was told in no uncertain terms by the sponsor last year 'no doping scandals, por favor'. But who knows what goes on.
Dowsett's been brought up in a no-needles environment in cycling right from his Academy days. I guess you just have to decide whether you want to give someone the benefit of doubt re their ethics and their ability to hold true to those ethics. For my part I think the guy will be fine.

Being picky "no doping scandals, por favor" is exactly what I'd expect, as opposed to "no doping por favor"

Richmond Racer

dougzz wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

The word is that Movistar have been copying some Sky methods - setting up a sports science section, that kind of thing. Dowsett often says in interviews that amongst all the Spanish discussion he's still trying to learn to interprete, he hears ' Team Sky' and 'marginal gains' all the time.
The word is also that Unzue was told in no uncertain terms by the sponsor last year 'no doping scandals, por favor'. But who knows what goes on.
Dowsett's been brought up in a no-needles environment in cycling right from his Academy days. I guess you just have to decide whether you want to give someone the benefit of doubt re their ethics and their ability to hold true to those ethics. For my part I think the guy will be fine.

Being picky "no doping scandals, por favor" is exactly what I'd expect, as opposed to "no doping por favor"

To be fair, dougzz, I'd have to go back to the Procycling article (author Herbie Sykes, published around 5 months ago) to confirm that!

frenchfighter

Visconti rocks.






Movistar is more than Dowsett.

cogidubnus

I'm a big Movistar fan and dare I say it of Valverde, Visconti et al

philbar72

Big fan of Quintana, and Dowsett. The rest, I'm ambivalent at best....

knedlicky

Richmond Racer wrote:

The word is that Movistar have been copying some Sky methods

I heard they copied Sky by bringing in a psychologist, primarily for Visconti.
Seems to have helped.

frenchfighter

Is that the Cobo who turned himself inside out and yet Froome still managed to beat him to the line with a 1min anaerobic effort?

Good ding dong that was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5GxKr1XLtk

andyp

madasahattersley wrote:

I have to say Cobo has to be the most suspect rider in history. Coming from nowhere to win a grand tour and then sink back to nowhere? Everyone knows it, presumably including riders/staff at Movistar yet nothing will be done.

I don't know if he doped or not, but he certainly didn't come from nowhere.

ddraver

In his defence (and I'm struggling), he was a little of a 2013 Nibali in that he beat people that werent (yet) BIG GC contenders... #Contraversial

Plus he also won the race on time bonuses and on a stupid hill...

andyp

madasahattersley wrote:

I would say he pretty much came from nowhere. Most GT winners make it their career focus whereas Cobo had only finished 2 GTs before he won the Vuelta, and his best result was 10th (and that was the Vuelta too).

I'd go as far as to say I would bet large amounts of money on him having been doping for the 2011 Vuelta.

He was a previous winner of the Tour of the Basque County, Spain's second best stage race so I'd still say he was relatively well known.

No-one would have put much money on him winning the Vuelta, that's for sure, but what do you make of the rider whom he beat? He was a rank outsider too - would you put large amounts of money on him being a doper as well?