A rider to support

Powerful Pete said:

Stop those insinuations! Discovery riders do not dope! They train hard while everyone else in the peloton sits at home all winter drinking beer and eating ice cream! They have work ethic! All other riders are lazy bums!

And now even italian team are becoming lazy... thanks to CONI and co.

saluki said:

This forum has to consist of the stupidist batch of posters that I have ever seen. I guess that is the result of having Lim weed them out until they were acceptable to WBT. How do you think that Contador won Paris Nice and Castilla y Leon this year? Leipheimer and Danielson were up front every day, busting their butts, dropping most of the field, keeping Contador out of the wind and setting it up for him to finish off the climbs. They were Contador's domestiques and there was no argument about who the team was supporting for the win. Contador himself stated that he was able to win because Levi took care of him and made sure that nothing went wrong.

You know saluki... for a brief moment, I thought that maybe you knew a little bit about cycling... but apparently not. Before you call people "stupid" I suggest you learn more about cycling and perhaps try riding with a club. You will quickly find out who the stupid one is.

First: You must be able to understand what the term "Grand Tour" means. There are only 3 grand tours. Giro, Tour, Vuelta. Paris-Nice is not a grand tour. 1 week of racing does not equal 3 weeks of racing.

Second: A designated team leader like Levi Leipheimer will help domestiques win shorter tours or races in exchange for their help in the grand tours. Lance Armstrong supposedly always rode in assistance of George Hincapie in the classics in exchange for his help in the Tour... that remains debateable. The same with Heras. Although he did manage to win the Vuelta with out Armstrong's help, it later became apparent that he got help of a different kind.

Third: Despite what everyone is thinking right now, no one in the "US and A" will give a damn about Alberto Contador the day after the peloton rides into Paris. This is not what an American sponsor company wants.

"Everyone takes shots at No. 1. That's just a normal reaction from every body," Rasmussen said after Monday's stage. "Lance Armstrong was under pressure for seven years in a row, but he still managed to win."

What Rasmussen said is true. No. 1 is always suspect. Being No. 1 in the sport of cycling is not only about being the fastest on a bike; it's also about being the best at beating the system. Call it being the best cheater if you want.

However, it seems to me Rasmussen might have an even bigger battle after the Tour if he so manages to keep his Yellow Jersey all the way to Paris. He doesn't seem to be a very good cheater to me.

I'm hoping (for the sake of the sport) that Contador will be able to overtake Rasmussen after the final Time Trial. So far he seems to be the better cheater if not the better cyclist. By the way, does anyone know the story of him cheating death? I keep hearing Phil talk about some accident he had in the past and about a metal plate in the young man's head. It seems like another Lance Armstrong type on the rise. Don't you think?

Tubbs said:

Third: Despite what everyone is thinking right now, no one in the "US and A" will give a damn about Alberto Contador the day after the peloton rides into Paris. This is not what an American sponsor company wants.

Last I heard it was the US OF A. But besides that, discovery might be an american team but its not as clear an american sponsor as USP was. Discovery has as much an interest in the European and Global market as the homebase US market.

David_Zen said:

I keep hearing Phil talk about some accident he had in the past and about a metal plate in the young man's head. It seems like another Lance Armstrong type on the rise. Don't you think?

....overcoming a massive blood clot in his brain, a risky surgery and a long, painful road to recovery and to get back on his bike.

wolfix said:

And in 2009 T-Mobile might be too. They are dumping cycling money into the domestic US cycling world. Word from a German equipment supplier is that T-Mobile wants out in Europe. [Or change sports] The base of their marketing [non-cycling] is probably headed to New York.

Disco does represent the US to most cycling fans.

http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/news/articles/12907.0.html

There is another Pro-Tour Team thinking of pulling it's sponsorship and putting money into America's domestic market into several sports, cycling being one of them.
Right now , depending on the product, cycling in America is a good way to reach a specific market for very few dollars.

Trajectum said:

Last I heard it was the US OF A. But besides that, discovery might be an american team but its not as clear an american sponsor as USP was. Discovery has as much an interest in the European and Global market as the homebase US market.

LOL! Fish on

Yes... it is the US of A... I was paraphrasing the infamous Borat Sagdiev.

In case you haven't heard... Discovery is pulling it's sponsorship at the end of the season.

The speculation is that any US based sponsor to take over will likely want an American as their GC contender in the Tour.

Tubbs said:

LOL! Fish on

Yes... it is the US of A... I was paraphrasing the infamous Borat Sagdiev.

In case you haven't heard... Discovery is pulling it's sponsorship at the end of the season.

The speculation is that any US based sponsor to take over will likely want an American as their GC contender in the Tour.

You're correct.

According to ES yesterday, Bruyneel & Co have not been successful in getting
a sponsor on board for the past few months.
Yesterdays Guardian newspaper reports that Armstrong is busy doing the round of sponsors to no avail.

poulidor said:

And now even italian team are becoming lazy... thanks to CONI and co.

ROTFL! 😄

Tubbs said:

LOL! Fish on

Yes... it is the US of A... I was paraphrasing the infamous Borat Sagdiev.

In case you haven't heard... Discovery is pulling it's sponsorship at the end of the season.

The speculation is that any US based sponsor to take over will likely want an American as their GC contender in the Tour.

Am not a fan of Borat. But nope, i hadnt heard that disco is pulling its sponsorship at the end of the season. I guess it will be hard to find a US based sponsor to take over now that you're not winning. From what i can see the average joe in the US still couldnt give a rats ass about cycling and it was the victories that kept at least a small interest going but even then it was more an interest in the Lance story than anything else.

I am right to assume that, inspite of having like 200 tv channels, you guys are forced to watch stage coverage online aint I?

Trajectum said:

I am right to assume that, inspite of having like 200 tv channels, you guys are forced to watch stage coverage online aint I?

Not for the TdF, which is broadcast live every morning on the Vs. channel, with repeats throughout the day, including something they call "enhanced" coverage in the evening, which mainly consists of replacing Phil and Paul's commentary with that of Bob Roll and Al Trautwig. It's very painful unless you turn the sound down. Even at this moment they are re-broadcasting yesterday's stage.

July is great for US cycling fans, because we get a big dose of grand tour coverage on television almost 'round the clock. It's the rest of the year that we do without -- most weeks there is a 1 or 2 hour recap of cycling news on Sunday afternoons -- that's about it.

IH8LANCE said:

Not for the TdF, which is broadcast live every morning on the Vs. channel, with repeats throughout the day, including something they call "enhanced" coverage in the evening, which mainly consists of replacing Phil and Paul's commentary with that of Bob Roll and Al Trautwig. It's very painful unless you turn the sound down. Even at this moment they are re-broadcasting yesterday's stage.

July is great for US cycling fans, because we get a big dose of grand tour coverage on television almost 'round the clock. It's the rest of the year that we do without -- most weeks there is a 1 or 2 hour recap of cycling news on Sunday afternoons -- that's about it.

Alright.. I seem to be very wrong then. Was just thinking that since i saw people asking for live streams and all. Hope you will find a new sponsor though, withdrawal of disco seems like a real blow to US cycling.

Am always suprised at how difficult it seems to be to find sponsors and how relatively low the team budgets are anyway. the tour the france alone is already a 3 week continuous advertisement for your name reaching tens of millions of people for hours on end. And that for the mere cost of 10-20 million USD.

That being said there are hardly "really big names' sponsoring.. If I were the marketing strategist of Nike/adidas/pepsi cola/BMW/etc. etc. I'd immediately chip 80 million out of the advertisement pot to buy together the best team cycling had ever seen. Instead most teams are sponsorred by companies that are hardly known/dont have an interest outside its own nations borders.

limerickman said:

You're correct.

According to ES yesterday, Bruyneel & Co have not been successful in getting
a sponsor on board for the past few months.
Yesterdays Guardian newspaper reports that Armstrong is busy doing the round of sponsors to no avail.

Lance is heading away from Euro cycling and possibly cycling in general. Look for a Lance based business in the medical field over the next year. Investments in cancer treatment centers. If he is seeking sponsors, it is not for a cycling team.
I know for the last week or so Lance is doing nothing but riding daily and drinking beer at night. That is after he does his cancer speeches...

wolfix said:

Lance is heading away from Euro cycling and possibly cycling in general. Look for a Lance based business in the medical field over the next year. Investments in cancer treatment centers. If he is seeking sponsors, it is not for a cycling team.
I know for the last week or so Lance is doing nothing but riding daily and drinking beer at night. That is after he does his cancer speeches...

OK.

ES reported that Armstrong was going to be in Paris next weekend for the finale of the TDF to meet with potential sponsors for the team.
That's what they reported.

Because there was a good discussion (on ES) about how this time of year (TDF) is the window for riders to move teams, for teams to discuss contracts, for sponsors to renew/leave the sport.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see if Bruyneel can persuade a sponsor to back the current team.

limerickman said:

OK.

ES reported that Armstrong was going to be in Paris next weekend for the finale of the TDF to meet with potential sponsors for the team.
That's what they reported.

Because there was a good discussion (on ES) about how this time of year (TDF) is the window for riders to move teams, for teams to discuss contracts, for sponsors to renew/leave the sport.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see if Bruyneel can persuade a sponsor to back the current team.

I know tomorrow he will be here discussing cancer center treatment centers between riding. And Thursday he will also be riding doing the cancer thing with some cancer treatment development people.
Does the guy ever stay home?

IH8LANCE said:

Not for the TdF, which is broadcast live every morning on the Vs. channel, with repeats throughout the day, including something they call "enhanced" coverage in the evening, which mainly consists of replacing Phil and Paul's commentary with that of Bob Roll and Al Trautwig. It's very painful unless you turn the sound down. Even at this moment they are re-broadcasting yesterday's stage.

July is great for US cycling fans, because we get a big dose of grand tour coverage on television almost 'round the clock. It's the rest of the year that we do without -- most weeks there is a 1 or 2 hour recap of cycling news on Sunday afternoons -- that's about it.

That's true. There is like 13 hours of TdF coverage on today.

The enhanced coverage included additional interviews. Roll's commentary usually adds something that Phil and Paul's lacked. IT's pretty sweet.

Too bad we lost the similar coverage of the Giro and Vuelta. 😠

saluki said:

At the point where he was hired no involvement had been proven. And the investigation on him had been halted. Mr. 60% would have kept him if he could have found a way. So beyond Disco and Astana, what about T-Mobile hiring Gonchar and Mazzolini - guys with known dubious records. What about Saunier hiring Ricco after he had tested at over 50% three times. What about Caisse going to bat for Valv-Piti? Do you hate all the teams except the French? And how do you know that Moreau wasn't doping for the Dauphine. Especially if all the guys he beat were suppose to be dopers.

It might not have been proven, just like they couldn't prove OJ killed his wife. He refused to give a DNA sample which would have cleared him immediately, had he been innocent. No one believed Basso was clean. When Discovery then goes and hires him afterwards, it really is the same as saying "on our team you can dope all you want".

And I agree that all teams who hire known dopers are making a mistake and sending a bad signal, but this one was exceptional. They obviously hired a dirty rider to win the tour for them, and didn't even care. I don't see how any discovery-rider can now have any credibility. I thought hiring Basso would have been suicide for Discovery. The other teams are at least giving the impression that they are trying to fight doping. Discovery are giving the impression that they don't care.

Now, I'm one of those people who doesn't really care who dopes (I think they all do it), but I would find it ridiculous if they pulled Rasmussen and gave the win to Contador.

Oh and drop the french talk. I'm not french.