ProTour Cycling Thread

[iffies]

Interesting times ahead for Team Sky, as Sky has announced it will no longer be backing the team after 2019. End of an era perhaps.

[RichardCunliffe]

Originally Posted by iffies

Interesting times ahead for Team Sky, as Sky has announced it will no longer be backing the team after 2019. End of an era perhaps.

Certainly. Will someone fill the high priced vacuum, or will some of the current Sky talent be scattered to the wind amongst other teams?

I hope its the latter Tbh.

[European Bob]

Originally Posted by RichardCunliffe

Certainly. Will someone fill the high priced vacuum, or will some of the current Sky talent be scattered to the wind amongst other teams?

I hope its the latter Tbh.

I won't miss Sky. They are the Patriots of cycling, sucking the fun out of it for the most part, especially in the Tour de France.

[GBPacker]

Originally Posted by European Bob

I won't miss Sky. They are the Patriots of cycling, sucking the fun out of it for the most part, especially in the Tour de France.

That mantle will probably be taken up by the newly McLaren powered Bahrain-Merida team.
I'll miss the glories of Froomey, G, Sir Wiggo, Wout Poels, and Michal Kwiatowski, but I won't miss the organisation's obsession with so-called "marginal gains", or their token concern about environmental issues (climate change really worrying you, Murdoch?? Chinny reckon!!) or even their dodgy filing.

[RichardCunliffe]

Froome and Thomas both giving the Giro a miss to concentrate on the Tour. Be interesting to see how that plays out with Froome saying he's chasing a 5th Tour win and Thomas defending his title.

[European Bob]

Originally Posted by RichardCunliffe

Froome and Thomas both giving the Giro a miss to concentrate on the Tour. Be interesting to see how that plays out with Froome saying he's chasing a 5th Tour win and Thomas defending his title.

I have a suspicion that Froome was offered a lot of money on the side to take the start in the Giro last year. The Tour is the bigger race for Sky and its fanbase. The Giro is my favourite and the favourite of most keen cycling fans I think, but not the wider public. Compare to the Super Bowl and the divisional round of the playoffs, if you like. There is also more money to be made from the Tour (around twice as much for winning it, for example, then the sponsors) and as defending champion and wannabe 5-time champion it makes sense that they both want to do it.

Sounds like Bernal will do the Giro. Tom Dumoulin has said he's doing the Giro too, as are Nibali and Simon Yates.

I've zoned out of cycling for the last 3 months or so but the races in warmer places will be starting soon. I'm not a fan of the Tour Down Under or the Middle Eastern races and never bother watching them, but a couple of the early Spanish tours are quite nice (Andalusia and Valencia, I think), and the Algarve in Portugal too. But for me the official start of the season is always the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one day race up in Belgium at the very end of February - weekend 1 of the 9-week Spring classics season which, by the end, heralds the end of the cold weather and the welcome return to lighter evenings and warmer temperatures.

[GBPacker]

Originally Posted by European Bob

But for me the official start of the season is always the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad one day race up in Belgium at the very end of February - weekend 1 of the 9-week Spring classics season which, by the end, heralds the end of the cold weather and the welcome return to lighter evenings and warmer temperatures.

Well, theoretically, at least...

As for me, I'm keeping my toe in with the cyclo-cross...

[Phil50006]

Hello everyone.
I haven't been around in the cycling forum for a couple of years due to other commitments. Previously there has been a Road cc fantasy cycling league containing a few of the members in this forum. I used to post score updates in this group. Is this still running?

[Tamar Raider]

Originally Posted by Phil50006

Hello everyone.
I haven't been around in the cycling forum for a couple of years due to other commitments. Previously there has been a Road cc fantasy cycling league containing a few of the members in this forum. I used to post score updates in this group. Is this still running?

Hi Phil, don't think it did last year, but having just got the reminder email for the fantasy game i'd be willing to give it another go, i'd only be able to do the 8 free games though.

[iffies]

So it's "As you were" for Team Sky who have signed a new sponsorship deal with Ineos, owned by Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe.