Danger of Russian dominance!!

vinnymarsden

Well, the Giro is over, a Russian team rider won it, his team rode really well, and so did Astana and also Katusha..ALL 3 teams either Russian or Russian owned/sponsored.
I for one have never been xenophobic when it comes to sport…I think if people are good enough they will find the right team and excel…however this is the gist of my piece..Where is the challenge coming from to these teams?
Cannondale/Garmin hardly showed up in the Giro, Giant didn't get one stage win, Sky, we all know what happened to Sky, and the other teams just seemed to make the numbers up while Astana etc contested EVERY day at the front. I know they have been under suspicion, and the way they rode at the Giro won't settle the doubters..but for the moment they are in the world tour, and if the other teams just let these Russian powerhouses walk all over them it won't be long before the sponsors start to lose interest..I'm sure Alpecin's head people will be mortified at the lack of real exposure in this years race!
Only my opinion, but for me personally if the TDF sees the Russian teams on the front everyday I for one will be switching off! Sky etc have 2 months to formulate a game plan to combat the strength, especially of Astana, with Nibali AND Aru as his 2nd on the road! I fear an Eastern bloc sweep of all 3 grand tours!!
I never thought I would say it…but that would be soooooooo boring!!!

ugo.santalucia

Astana = Kazakhstan...

I suspect they hate Russians there...

Rodrego Hernandez

I'm not xenophobic but.....

Very little difference to Sky in 2011, 12, 13 except then haven't turned a carthorse into a thoroughbred.

gsk82

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

I'm not xenophobic but.....

Very little difference to Sky in 2011, 12, 13 except then haven't turned a carthorse into a thoroughbred.

they've turned a team of carthorses into thoroughbreds

joelsim

There currently is no hope for dope-free cycling, and sadly that will probably always be the case. The Russians are as bad as anyone though.

takethehighroad

We'll revisit this at the end of July and chuckle heartily, mark my words.

rick_chasey

Crozza

as noted above, Astana are from Kazakhstan and their best riders at the giro were from Italy and Spain. their best rider at the Tour is going to be Italian

as for the Russian cyling project, they were cleaning up in the classics with an Italian and a Norwegian, and their best GC rider is Spanish

Contador's train was (supposed to be) comprised of an Australian, Italian and a Czech

Crozza

as noted above, Astana are from Kazakhstan and their best riders at the giro were from Italy and Spain. their best rider at the Tour is going to be Italian

as for the Russian cyling project, they were cleaning up in the classics with an Italian and a Norwegian, and their best GC rider is Spanish

Contador's train was (supposed to be) comprised of an Australian, Italian and a Czech

TheBigBean

Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan

deejay

Crozza wrote:

as noted above, Astana are from Kazakhstan and their best riders at the giro were from Italy and Spain. their best rider at the Tour is going to be Italian
as for the Russian cyling project, they were cleaning up in the classics with an Italian and a Norwegian, and their best GC rider is Spanish
Contador's train was (supposed to be) comprised of an Australian, Italian and a Czech

`
Engage, I certainly will with deja vue.
I've seen this before, with a rider coming from nowhere to scoot up mountains to win GT stages. : odd
I'm told it couldn't happen again but my eyes don't believe it and I hope against hope that Vincenzo Nibali dosn't inherit the trend.

The contador dope ban that a lot of you revel in is a bit OTT for fair minded people.
They went to great expense to nail him and did so with new technology to get a miniscule sample to justify the ban.
He was (is) a target because of his dodgy team associations and some performances but to be fair I don't think he has another test negative.
It is noted time and again his lack of stage wins and I find this to favour him regarding doping and I think yesterday was his calculation to let them go,on the old fashioned gravel road.
He seemed to get in his bubble (with time checks) and ride to the finish without problem.

RichN95.

VinnyMarsden wrote:

Well, the Giro is over, a Russian team rider won it, his team rode really well, and so did Astana and also Katusha..ALL 3 teams either Russian or Russian owned/sponsored.
I for one have never been xenophobic when it comes to sport…I think if people are good enough they will find the right team and excel…however this is the gist of my piece..Where is the challenge coming from to these teams?
Cannondale/Garmin hardly showed up in the Giro, Giant didn't get one stage win, Sky, we all know what happened to Sky, and the other teams just seemed to make the numbers up while Astana etc contested EVERY day at the front. I know they have been under suspicion, and the way they rode at the Giro won't settle the doubters..but for the moment they are in the world tour, and if the other teams just let these Russian powerhouses walk all over them it won't be long before the sponsors start to lose interest..I'm sure Alpecin's head people will be mortified at the lack of real exposure in this years race!
Only my opinion, but for me personally if the TDF sees the Russian teams on the front everyday I for one will be switching off! Sky etc have 2 months to formulate a game plan to combat the strength, especially of Astana, with Nibali AND Aru as his 2nd on the road! I fear an Eastern bloc sweep of all 3 grand tours!!
I never thought I would say it…but that would be soooooooo boring!!!

I don't really see your point.

Astana - fair enough. But suspicion of them is hardly new.

Tinkoff had one decent rider who has won many GTs before ever meeting Tinkov and this wasn't a vintage performance

Katusha? What did they do that's special? A stage win. A top ten. Garmin and Sky who you dismiss had a better Giro. Lampre, Trek and Movistar also better.

And this wasn't a high quality Giro in terms of talent.

vinnymarsden

As the original OP I admit/accept I may have got some of my geography wrong!!
I also think I am somewhat irked by the fact that having seen Sky be so dominant in the last 3 years it is hard to fathom where its going a little off track.
Maybe my Russian thing was a throwback to the cold war!! I saw an old movie with Ronnie Regan in it the other day..and it reminded me just how much the Us hated the Russians at that time..and I got carried away…SORRY to everyone…my bad..sore loser comes to mind methinks!!!

argyllflyer

VinnyMarsden wrote:

As the original OP I admit/accept I may have got some of my geography wrong!!
I also think I am somewhat irked by the fact that having seen Sky be so dominant in the last 3 years it is hard to fathom where its going a little off track.
Maybe my Russian thing was a throwback to the cold war!! I saw an old movie with Ronnie Regan in it the other day..and it reminded me just how much the Us hated the Russians at that time..and I got carried away…SORRY to everyone…my bad..sore loser comes to mind methinks!!!

At this stage, Sky don't really have a strong GT GC threat if Froome is not riding. Porte is not on the same level as the others IMO, fine on week long races but typically struggles with anything longer. Sky's Tour team will be stronger. Though Froome doesn't need the sort of support Wiggins needed in 2012, except for perhaps shepherding him through the early days. Lemond was saying today the Tour will be between Contador and Quintana. Hmm, not sure on that. The Dauphine will be telling for where Froome's form is, while Nibali will be at Tour de Suisse. The others are doing Route du Sud.

For all Astana's astonishing strength this Giro, I quite like the conspiracy theory that says their motive was to wear out Contador for the Tour and make it as hard as possible for him.