Marc Madiot - mad man or genius ?

specialgueststar
specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
edited January 2017 in Pro race
Marc_Madiot_2011.jpg

So you've managed to nurture an emerging talent (Pinot) and even pulled him back from a very public 'breakdown' - then seen him come back stronger and a real Tour contender

So what do you do? Instead of build a team round him you get in 'lead out men' Kevin Reza, Lorenzo Manzin and Marc Sarreau for what is a talent in Demare - (after ditching Bohanni - Beckham/Ferguson - style for having a voice) and make the (good) 'purchase of Morabito . But then put in a strongish climbing team for the Giro - in which Geniez did well but can't see him recovering from . Now that Jeannesson is down and out ( and needs some Pinot therapy) FdJ's long list for the Tour looks decidedly shaky with more breakaway/ stage potential riders than solid team feel .

If he was a football manager and had kept buying full backs with a star striker I wonder if he would be there next season?



PINOT Thibaut
ROY Jérémy
VICHOT Arthur
DéMARE Arnaud
BONNET William
CHAVANEL Sébastien
DELAGE Mickaël
GENIEZ Alexandre
LADAGNOUS Matthieu
MORABITO Steve
ROUX Anthony
VAUGRENARD Benoit

Comments

  • The_Boy
    The_Boy Posts: 3,099
    edited June 2015
    TBH, Morabito on his own is more of a mountain team than he had last year. Roy, Geniez and Vichot can probably do a decent enough job of looking after him until the big, big mountains.

    Perhaps building a team around him isn't the best tactic given what happened in 2013? Let Demare have a train and share some of the hype and media attention.
    Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy
  • The_Boy
    The_Boy Posts: 3,099
    It's interesting that you mention Reza as leadout man for Demare, though. That seemed to be very much the purpose he was signed for - and could very well have been the most canny signing of the season given he apparently took a pay cut - but hasn't actually done any leading out.

    Shame, as I thought he single-handedly kept Coquard in something approaching contention at the Tour last year.
    Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    He brought Reza in as a lead-out man who would also get his chance in the lumpier races.

    Sarreau and Manzin have been signed as the next Bouhanni.
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Is Demare really going to better Cavendish et al?
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • Is Demare really going to better Cavendish et al?

    Madiot talks him up as a classic/sprinter type rider and he did do pretty well in the classics
  • disgruntledgoat
    disgruntledgoat Posts: 8,957
    Is Demare really going to better Cavendish et al?

    Madiot talks him up as a classic/sprinter type rider and he did do pretty well in the classics

    Agree, but I just can't see it in a bunch sprint in the Tour. The last 2 teams to balance a decent GC finish and sprint stage wins successfully were, to my mind, 2012 Sky and Telekom from the late 90s and early 00s. I just don't think that FdJ's GC or sprint hopes are that strong that they can afford to back both horses.
    "In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"

    @gietvangent
  • mr_poll
    mr_poll Posts: 1,547
    Maybe he is just a realist - with the tour being targeted by the big 4 in all honesty I dont think many people have Pinot to repeat last years podium. He is going to need a lot to go his way to make the top 5. So perhaps it is just a case that if Pinot can win an iconic mountain stage or even win/wear the polka dot jersey so the French have something to cheer and Pinot gets another years experience at the Tour then overall for a team with FdJ's budget that ain't a bad return. Unlikely but if Demare/Reza can spring a surprise ona flattish stage then all the better.
  • Maybe he is just a realist - with the tour being targeted by the big 4 in all honesty I dont think many people have Pinot to repeat last years podium. He is going to need a lot to go his way to make the top 5. So perhaps it is just a case that if Pinot can win an iconic mountain stage or even win/wear the polka dot jersey so the French have something to cheer and Pinot gets another years experience at the Tour then overall for a team with FdJ's budget that ain't a bad return. Unlikely but if Demare/Reza can spring a surprise ona flattish stage then all the better.

    Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,602
    He's not going to build a mountain train so all he needs are people to stay with Pinot until the big stuff starts, as has been said elsewhere.

    He did pretty well for himself last year, to be fair
  • specialgueststar
    specialgueststar Posts: 3,418
    edited September 2016
    hmmm - FdJ now looking distinctly 'skeletal' for a WT team.

    Geniez and Ellisonde both gone . Pinot out with viral fatigue since Tour de France withdrawal and not racing any more in 2016

    In Jacopo Guarnieri - lead out , Tobias Ludvigsson tester - lead out? Madiot putting a lot of faith in Demarre Manzin Sarreau

    Rudy Mollard is a good signing - but its him and Reichenbach at the moment!!

    FdJs tactics in the Tour were strange. Leading into climbs and then gunning it when Pinot was obviously not at his best....??

    No pressure on new boy David Gaudu then!

    Roux
    tumblr_m75qvmAXYo1qacyk6o1_500.jpg
  • joelsim
    joelsim Posts: 7,552
    Gaudu will probably get quite a few chances next year. No idea what they're planning for the Tour with Pinot down for Giro & Vuelta.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    I read Madiot's book

    https://www.amazon.fr/Marc-Madiot-parlo ... rds=madiot

    where I learned that everything is an anglo-saxon conspiracy run by Brian Cookson, Dave Brailsford and the Illuminati. Madiot is also pro Brexit (for France) and has a dart board with Junckers face on it above his grandpaws bed which he still sleeps in at his farm in Renazé.

    So yeah, genius.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
    Instagramme
  • what is the master plan? (you see me banging on car - that's good )

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  • He's certainly a character.

    Good for quote and controversy, he knows how to keep his team in the spotlight despite them being lighter on quality.
  • can't believe who they have signed for Demare's main lead out
    9196_502789716421639_299150385_n.jpg?oh=9a422564869561768aca0cf6e1ea0f41&oe=5916580D