Aqua Blue Sport

[brommers]

This is a shame
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-sport-will-not-race-in-2019/

 

[Milkfloat]

I liked their approach and they certainly made a name for themselves in the Vuelta, they must have really pissed some people off though.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

I don't think it was ever going to work out, a very non-sustainable model. Not sure how they convinced the UCI to grant them a pro continental licence. A shoogly peg from day one imo

 

[rich p]

A shoogly peg

I agree...
...whatever the fark that means!

 

[mjr]

Race programme stopped immediately. All riders to DNS the Tour of Britain http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-riders-left-in-limbo-as-team-pulls-out-of-tour-of-britain/

 

[DCLane]

Race invites is one aspect, but they were being funded via sales on a pretty shoddy website.

Little was available and, what was available, was very pricey.

imo it was a failed business model from the start, which is sad for Ireland's only (now ex-)pro conti team.

 

[andrew_s]

Their ToB invite has been given to Team Wiggins, so at least we get to see how Tom Pidcock gets on in a big race.

 

[Bollo]

I don't think it was ever going to work out, a very non-sustainable model. Not sure how they convinced the UCI to grant them a pro continental licence. A shoogly peg from day one imo

Exactly this. Margins are tight enough for any online retail business even before you try and run a pro sports team from the profits. It must have been a good lunch for the UCI, banks and the other sponsors to sell it as a concept.

 

[mjr]

Race invites is one aspect, but they were being funded via sales on a pretty shoddy website.

Little was available and, what was available, was very pricey.

imo it was a failed business model from the start, which is sad for Ireland's only (now ex-)pro conti team.

I liked the idea but I never found anything I wanted to buy in their shop. I suspect there is some way to make a team self-sustaining but I don't think Aqua Blue Sport was it.

 

[mjr]

https://thecyclingpodcast.com/podcast/vuelta-a-espana-2018-stage-7-puerto-lumbreras-pozo-alcon has an interview with the team owner. He sort of blames the bikes a bit, accusing 3t of never attending a race and talking to riders, but mainly the "rotten" situation of race organisers and wildcards being so business-critical and, from the sounds of it, dishonest/misleading.

It does sound like either the continental tours need some reform to make Pro Continental teams viable without wildcard appearances on the World Tour, or some sort of restriction on PC team numbers (bidding? ballots of Conti teams wanting to move up?) and a minimum participation guarantee at grand tours and monuments (maybe an auction of wildcards, grand tours first? RCS won't like not being first!)

 

[mjr]

I suspect the race organisers are going to dig in and refuse to change anything quickly under Lappartient, especially since the owner of the collapsed Aqua Blue Sport team has called the current wildcard-patronage system corrupt or rotten or similar. I think they'll want to show it can work or at least survive for a couple more years as if that would disprove it.

 

[dragon72]

Surprised nobody has been talking in here about Conor Dunne and Larry Warbasse's so-called #NoGoTour in which they set off with light touring loads and did the big cols of the southern French and Italian Alps for a week and did a lot of buddy-bonding and blogged all over social media about it.
It was quite entertaining. A good way to get over losing one's job.

 

[mjr]

It wasn't all over social media. They didn't post travelogues on here!

Where was it?

 

[dragon72]

Twitter and Instagram. Search #NoGoTour or Conor Dunne and Larry Warbasse

 

[Shadow]

Read all about their 'tour' here.
A novel way for a potential DS to remember who they are? Warbasse is not a bad writer.