Wegelius book

frenchfighter

Nearly finished this book and am really enjoying it - learnt a lot of information and saw a different side to some aspects of cycling.

After reading the chapter on the Madrid Worlds I can see that BC are complete f uckers and are so removed from the real World and history of cycling. Respect to any British rider making their way through to a good pro career without them. I wish Wegelius hadn't called that slimy man Brailsford. British press were also idiots. Reading the quote from Rod E about the 2010 WC RR is amusing - makes him and BC look even more the fools.

andyrr

iainf72 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

What does he say about Evan's in this book? just bought it but read recently that it doesnt put him in a good light.

Says he's difficult to get on with and not that rewarding to ride for.

But he sings Di Luca's praises, so make of that what you will.

I didn't take anything other than what Wegelius actually called it which was IIRC, the fact that although many people had negative comments about Di Luca, when he rode as domestique for him his team captain treated him well - better in fact than other team captains who probably got a more positive (pun not intended) rep in the media.
I thought it was essentially a case of Di Luca being the kind of team captain who was more likely to tell his team how they were appreciated and he less likely to slag them off or shout at them because they couldn't achieve what had been asked of them. If your boss treats you decently then you are more likely to go that little bit in helping him achieve their aims than if he is an arse. I don't think, that when a lower-ranked team-mate such as Wegelius says his team captain treated him well it means that he was necessarily in with whatever shenanigans his team captain was up to.
You might question whether Wegelius would be in on what Di Luca was doing but it's very easy for 1 rider to have his own doctors etc do their thing away from the team - I don't think that Wegelius was living in Di Luca's spare bedroom.

joelsim

Rick Chasey wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

Says he's difficult to get on with and not that rewarding to ride for.

But he sings Di Luca's praises.

I can imagine that.

Given the choice of Di Luca or Evans, I'd choose the former every time. A herd of wild elephants wouldn't get me working as domestique for that muppet Evans.

dsoutar

Joelsim wrote:

Given the choice of Di Luca or Evans, I'd choose the former every time.

Says it all about your approach to cycling and doping, really :shock:

frenchfighter

On finishing this book I would say it is an enjoyable read and gives a good perspective however there is a lot of waffle about his mental state, his wife/gf, etc etc. I'm not interested in that but there is a lot of it. I dont think he is a guy to particularly respect or look up to by any means from a person perspective but he sounds like a bloody good bike rider - much, much better than I had thought.

Cadel comes off badly for the same reasons Di Luca comes off very well. Mainly just because one knows how to lead and the other doesn't but also because the former runs his team ragged by wanting to be up front all the time (then subsequently has no support when it matters...surprise surprise) whereas the other would be very chilled and then just move up when it mattered.

Silence Lotto management comes off like A-Grade dickheads. Lotto is a shi t team now and I am not surprised.