Cycling 2017

RedFish said:
What a fecking win. Take a bow Alberto Contador. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Froome - At last he wins another GT outside the Tour.

Poels you fecking beast - what a ride these last 3 weeks.
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When your domestique is finishing ahead of other team's contenders, it's a bit of a shame. Froome has removed the "Skybot" image by attacking when he can, but I find it tough to enjoy his wins. I wish he moved to a team with less support, just to make the Grand Tours more fun.
 
NM said:
When your domestique is finishing ahead of other team's contenders, it's a bit of a shame. Froome has removed the "Skybot" image by attacking when he can, but I find it tough to enjoy his wins. I wish he moved to a team with less support, just to make the Grand Tours more fun.
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Other teams need to invest more on their roster. I think that's the basic requirement. The Sky team now with Kwiatkowski, Poels, GT, Kiri, Henao etc are just way too good and that's with Nieve and Landa leaving.
 
Goodbye Contador. :( What an absolute legend, he will be greatly missed. This was the sort of victory he and his career deserved. One of the all time greats.
 
Mrs Smoker said:
What's their net spend thou?
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Whats their net spend, la?

http://inrng.com/2015/07/team-sky-budget-finances/

Historical data of course , but gives you an idea.

Estimates of team budgets 2016. (L'equipe)

1. Team Sky: €35M
2. Katusha: €32M
3. BMC: €28M
4. Tinkoff: €25M
5. Astana: €20M
6. Etixx-Quickstep: €18M
7: Movistar: €15M
=8. Lotto-Soudal: €14M
=8. Lotto-Jumbo: €14M
10. Dimension Data: €13.5M
11. Orica-BikeExchange: €13M
12: Giant-Alpacin: €12.5M
=13: Trek-Segafredo: €12M
=13: AG2R La Mondial: €12M
15. Cofidis: €11M
16. IAM: €10.5M
=17: FDJ: €10M
=17: Cannondale: €10M
19: Lampre-Merida: €7M
20: Direct Energy: €6M
21. Bora-Argon 18: €4.5M
22. Fortuneo-Vital Concept: €3.5M
 
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RedFish said:
Other teams need to invest more on their roster. I think that's the basic requirement. The Sky team now with Kwiatkowski, Poels, GT, Kiri, Henao etc are just way too good and that's with Nieve and Landa leaving.
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Sky have the largest budget, and are focussed primarily on Grand Tours. Other teams have a lower one + tend to focus on classics too.

Just spend more is a funny argument - not everybody in Cycling has a lot of money, and lot of teams are close to going under
 
NM said:
Sky have the largest budget, and are focussed primarily on Grand Tours. Other teams have a lower one + tend to focus on classics too.

Just spend more is a funny argument - not everybody in Cycling has a lot of money, and lot of teams are close to going under
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I wouldn't call it a funny argument personally, because the reason why SKY are so dominant is because they invest so heavily on their roster not because they have a nice team bus and clean towels.

Unless you cap the spending or other teams improve their roster, fans will have to accept or at least tolerate the status quo.

Sky don't focus on the GTs they're just weren't very good at managing the classics. That clearly is changing though.
 
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RedFish said:
I wouldn't call it a funny argument personally, because the reason why SKY are so dominant is because they invest so heavily on their roster not because they have a nice team bus and clean towels.

Unless you cap the spending or other teams improve their roster, fans will have to accept or at least tolerate the status quo.

Sky don't focus on the GTs they're just weren't very good at managing the classics. That clearly is changing though.
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Sky is one of the few top tier sponsors in cycling. Other teams can't match that. If Movistar had more money, they'd spend it. It simply isn't there in cycling. I didn't say what Sky are doing is wrong or unfair, it simply isn't entertaining for most casuals. I'm definitely a casual, not a hardcore. I'd also argue that if a middle eastern company / country did it, most of the same UK folks who are pro-sky would be up in arms
 
NM said:
Sky is one of the few top tier sponsors in cycling. Other teams can't match that. If Movistar had more money, they'd spend it. It simply isn't there in cycling. I didn't say what Sky are doing is wrong or unfair, it simply isn't entertaining for most casuals. I'm definitely a casual, not a hardcore. I'd also argue that if a middle eastern company / country did it, most of the same UK folks who are pro-sky would be up in arms
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It's a shame that not more teams can challenge at the pointy end of GT's but tbf, they have different objectives. Taking a stage win etc etc.

I think cycling fans are less tribal generally and can enjoy rides from all teams. Although I'm a fan of Sky, I don't depend on their existence to follow cycling. It's funny there's still an 'anyone but sky' attitude to Team Sky and their fans. I guess this is not surprising given the success since their entry into pro cycling.
 
Also, how many points are there in one stage? 30? Three sprints (last one the end of the race), and 10 for first, 6 for second, and 4 for third placed racer?
 
Mrs Smoker said:
Any chance we could see Contador fighting for those 20 seconds and place on the podium? The stage is as flat as Earth!
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Contador has always been one of the crappiest sprinters. Even on a mountain stage, if he arrives with somebody he never wins the race. His career ended yesterday. Today is just a parade.
 
Mrs Smoker said:
Cheers.

Thought because it was his last ever GT appearance, he'd might go *crazy* and see what it happens.
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It is an unwritten law in cycling that GC contenders don't race for time differences in the final stage of a Grand Tour, provided it isn't a time trial. It would've been deemed unrespectful if Contador had tried anything today. Regardless, another podium finish would've changed very little in terms of prestige for his career. He took a magnificent solo stage victory in his very last, truly competitive race, in one of the toughest climbing stages of any Grand Tour. Short of actually winning the GC, there is no better way to finish a career.
 
Sprinter's jersey thrown in for good measure as well. He's like a dog with a bone. Just finished his book, too, and it's a great read. He's quite outspoken about drugs cheats, Bertie in particular.
 
RedFish said:
What a fecking win. Take a bow Alberto Contador. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Froome - At last he wins another GT outside the Tour.

Poels you fecking beast - what a ride these last 3 weeks.
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I'd be interested to see what your stance on Armstrong is, since both are confirmed drug cheats.
 
No cyclist before him ever managed a third consecutive rainbow jersey. Sagan is a phenomenon and will go down in cycling legend. The other countries only have themselves to blame for taking him to the finishing line once again though. I love Sagan and he's a great world champion, but I'm very happy that next year's route will not allow a similar scenario. It will be a much tougher race with a much greater chance for climbers and punchers.
 
Just seen Quickstep rider Lauren's de Plus fall over the barrier on a descent and drop 10 ft in the Giro di Lombardia. Feck.
 
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RedFish said:
Nibali is a better racer than Froome. There, I've said it.
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Better? No, I can't agree with that. Froome is the better climber by a decent margin and a far superior time trialist. His relentless focus on the Tour resuts in a less diverse palmares compared to Nibali but he did manage two consecutive Grand Tours in a single season, which is an incredible achievement.

I'm a huge Nibali fan though, his sense of adventure, his determination, his beautiful style, his excellent bike handling skills (probably among the best in the peloton) and the variety of his victories have made him one of my all-time favourite riders. Two Lombardio wins combined with all three Grand Tours, god knows how many Grand Tour podium finishes, runner up in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and even a podium finish in San Remo, which is a truly remarkable achievement. People often argue his Tour win was less glorious because Froome and Contador had to withdraw but they fail to remember how he was already leading by that time and rode a brilliant stage on the cobbles where none of the GC contenders could even touch him. It would've been incredibly hard even for a fully fit Froome and Contador to take the yellow from him that year. He is arguably one of the two most complete riders of his generation, the other one being Valverde. I would love to see either of those two take the rainbow jersey next year on a parcours that should fit them.
 
Ainu said:
Better? No, I can't agree with that. Froome is the better climber by a decent margin and a far superior time trialist. His relentless focus on the Tour resuts in a less diverse palmares compared to Nibali but he did manage two consecutive Grand Tours in a single season, which is an incredible achievement.

I'm a huge Nibali fan though, his sense of adventure, his determination, his beautiful style, his excellent bike handling skills (probably among the best in the peloton) and the variety of his victories have made him one of my all-time favourite riders. Two Lombardio wins combined with all three Grand Tours, god knows how many Grand Tour podium finishes, runner up in Liege-Bastogne-Liege and even a podium finish in San Remo, which is a truly remarkable achievement. People often argue his Tour win was less glorious because Froome and Contador had to withdraw but they fail to remember how he was already leading by that time and rode a brilliant stage on the cobbles where none of the GC contenders could even touch him. It would've been incredibly hard even for a fully fit Froome and Contador to take the yellow from him that year. He is arguably one of the two most complete riders of his generation, the other one being Valverde. I would love to see either of those two take the rainbow jersey next year on a parcours that should fit them.
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Oops. Forgot to reply to this. I do agree with pretty much all of what you said actually. Yes Froome is a better climber and a better time triallist, but I think Nibali has the better race craft and better all round rider. I think Froome relies is more dependent on his super doms and that Nibali is just the more instinctive natural racer. As you say he's one of the most well rounded riders of his generation.
 
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