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Team Sky. A force for evil ??

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  • September 20, 2012 at 2:15 pm #16878
    May Sports Images

    Is it just me, or is anyone else getting a little uneasy about Team Sky?

    This is the first season that Team Sky have really dominated and already there’s a building resentment from within the Peleton. Sour grapes? Well maybe, but I can see where the similarity with US Postal came from. Money is the new drug! Everyone wants to see the best rider win but when one team has so much more than the rest you have to question whether that’s happening. I don’t wish to take anything away from Wiggo’s achievements this season. Absolutely awesome. But would he have achieved those results with any other team? I don’t know.

    The one thing I do know is how much I resent Sky turning our National Squad into their own trade team. I was lucky enough to photograph the World Track Cup at the Olympic Velodrome back in February (pics on my website). Now it’s not uncommon to have advertising sponsorship on National vests these days but to see SKY emblazoned on Team GB’s skin suits EIGHT times was beyond a joke! Money talks it appears. They say hindsights a wonderful thing so look at what Skys money has done to the landscape of Football in the last 20 years!

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Viewing 8 replies - 16 through 23 (of 23 total)
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  • September 20, 2012 at 3:45 pm #701503
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    May Sports Images

    I could see Wiggo winning
    I could see Wiggo winning something like Paris Roubaix if he could fit it into the Grand Tour schedule. He came out the other day and said he wants the Giro because he’s happy with one TdF title, so that might work. They’ve also got Flecha who’s finished in the top 10 of Roubaix 6 times in the past.

    Clearly they’ve realised they can’t achieve the impossible dream of going for Sprint and GC in the Grand Tours so the obvious choice would be to spend Cav’s wages on a one day classic rider. Boonens probably got a couple of good years left in him!

    September 20, 2012 at 3:30 pm #701501
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    notfastenough

    I see the OP’s point, but I
    I see the OP’s point, but I think the fact that a global (non-cycling) company is getting so much media exposure is good for the sport – it demonstrates to other big companies that sponsorship is viable and provides returns.

    The TdF could have been more exciting admittedly (although I may have imploded had I been any happier about Wiggo) but that’s largely down to Wiggo’s personal riding style – he’s a tempo rider and that’s what the strategy was built around. He’s not going to be their number 1 forever.

    As for US Postal, I think there is still a difference at the top end. Lance’s team used to kill everyone, only to be followed by Lance launching an attack that made his team’s pace look like a walk in the park for him. Brad’s boys use a similar team time-trial approach, but there’s no big solo superhuman effort, and no disguising that they’re all cooked at the end of it, Brad included.

    September 20, 2012 at 3:27 pm #701499
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    May Sports Images

    But no other team has ever
    But no other team has ever bought their National Squad lock stock and barrel. I don’t recall any other team paying £2 million to buy a rider out of his contract either? I was glad to see no mention of them on the Olympic vests but I’d wager it wasn’t for the lack of trying!

    September 20, 2012 at 3:27 pm #701497
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    drheaton

    Team Sky won’t dominate, not
    Team Sky won’t dominate, not in the way that Man Utd have done in the Premier League or Australia did for many years in the Cricket.

    That’s because at the minute they have a core of excellent GC riders but no really good classics riders, to win classics they’ll need to move some funds away from GC towards one day riders which will harm their tilts at grand tours. Limited to 25ish riders they can’t have the depth of talent they need to attack all of the different competitions and even if they did, only one rider at a time can win for Sky, the other 24 aren’t winning and if they think they’re good enough to win they’ll go elsewhere.

    The likes of Porte, Uran, Henao, Froome, Cavendish, Nordhaug (who’s already gone), EBH etc may all decide that they’ll have a better chance winning races in a lesser team built to help them win than by being 2nd or 3rd fiddle in the best team.

    Those factors (plus the fact that no team has limitless funds) will mean that there will always be competition and no team can really be dominant. Even US Postal only dominated one race, I don’t remember them controlling the other grand tours or classics like they did the TdF.

    September 20, 2012 at 3:10 pm #701495
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    May Sports Images

    The budget thing is a bit of
    The budget thing is a bit of a red herring if you look into it. According to Team Skys official accounts they only employ 3 people!! All their riders and support staff etc are listed as “contractors” which means their wages aren’t counted in the figures and Sky’s wage bill alone is more than the total budget of many Pro teams. Costs such as the £2mill+ they paid to buy out Wiggo’s and Swiftys contracts aren’t counted either.

    September 20, 2012 at 2:58 pm #701493
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    NeilG83

    Sky domination is a bit of a
    Sky domination is a bit of a myth. They dominated this year’s Tour de France and the Dauphine, but in 3 years they have won 1 Grand Tour and have almost no results of any note in the classics.
    I’m sure there are other teams with as much money or more such as BMC, Katusha and RSNT, but Sky use their resources better.
    I don’t think it is healthy for any sport for one team to become too dominant, but I don’t think Sky are yet. My main worry is that they were set up to help bring through the best British talent, but after 3 years only 1/3 of the team is British with 2 of them probably leaving at the end of this season.
    Would Wiggo have won the Tour on another team? Probably not which is why Froome will probably not leave either. He knows his best chance of a Grand Tour victory is with Sky.

    September 20, 2012 at 2:29 pm #701491
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    g1deonian

    I think it’s too early to
    I think it’s too early to tell in terms of the pro tour. Actually they’ve only ‘dominated’ the TdF so far. Nothing in the Giro and a 4th place at the Vuelta where Sky didn’t dominate any stages.

    I know what you mean though. As great as it was to see Brad win the Tour and by gawd it was great. It was hardly an exciting episode and the similarity with the US Postal team is uncanny. I don’t really want to see another tour like the 2012 TdF even if Brad wins again.

    Interestingly, at the Vuelta where Sky weren’t really in contention from around Stage 8, the racing was superb and the constant attacks were what we watch cycling for.

    Let’s hope that we don’t see Sky become the ‘Evil Empire’ because cycling will be the poorer for it.

    September 20, 2012 at 2:27 pm #701489
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    bashthebox

    They’re not the richest team
    They’re not the richest team though, BMC have more resources apparently, and there’s a few others with more too.
    Sky are extremely good at focussing on goals and achieving them. Marginal accumulation of gains and all that.

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