Are team tactics fair?

[Smokin Joe]

I don't know if his directeur sportif got a general load of stick from the media etc, but he sure got it from Millar

There were also allegations that one of the press motorcycles was more than a little helpful to Delgado when he was away in the break.

 

[Isla Valassi]

Don't these ad-hoc alliances/grudges/feuds etc happen all the time?

Perhaps, but the Nationals should (in theory) be about everyone trying to win the title for themselves. It is not strictly a team event and if riders adopt 'team tactics' to ensure that some pre-arranged agreement fulfils its aim then I feel the title of 'National Champion' then becomes pretty meaningless and devalued.

The same could be said for the World's as well, where it is well known that the commercial politics involved override any nationalistic spirit.

 

[philipbh]

Please forgive an obvious question - if Nicole Cooke is so good, why isn't she in a team already?

 

[Will1985]

Her team basically folded (Equipe Nuernberger/Skyter) at the beginning of the year. It's only got a few riders now. Vision1 racing last year also collapsed due to lack of funds.

I just wonder whether her personality has prevented her from being offered something by other big teams over the past 2 seasons.

 

[Chuffy]

Her team basically folded (Equipe Nuernberger/Skyter) at the beginning of the year. It's only got a few riders now. Vision1 racing last year also collapsed due to lack of funds.

I just wonder whether her personality has prevented her from being offered something by other big teams over the past 2 seasons.

I'm still surprised by that. I'd heard that she was hard work, but she's so good that surely a team would be willing to acommodate her?

 

[Legs]

Her team basically folded (Equipe Nuernberger/Skyter) at the beginning of the year. It's only got a few riders now. Vision1 racing last year also collapsed due to lack of funds.

I just wonder whether her personality has prevented her from being offered something by other big teams over the past 2 seasons.

Dangerous thing to wonder - Tony Cooke will shoot you down from the opposite side of the InterWeb.

I think you're quite possibly right. Nicole is obviously fiercely personally competitive, probably in such a way that she wouldn't integrate well with the ethos of the superteams like Cervelo and Columbia.

 

[Chuffy]

I think you're quite possibly right. Nicole is obviously fiercely personally competitive, probably in such a way that she wouldn't integrate well with the ethos of the superteams like Cervelo and Columbia.

In what way? I can't see being fiercely competitive, in and of itself, being a problem. After all, she's a top sportswoman, being competitive defines her. Or does she throw things in a Naomi Campbell style when things aren't exactly as she wants them?

 

[trustysteed]

it sounds like she's just being a sore loser and is annoyed that pooley is giving her some competition at last, possibly usurping her as the best british female road cyclist.

 

[Legs]

You obviously didn't read the word 'personally', did you? As in, she's not cut out as a team player the way that the riders in CTT and CWT are.

 

[Chuffy]

You obviously didn't read the word 'personally', did you? As in, she's not cut out as a team player the way that the riders in CTT and CWT are.

Teams need leaders. I don't quite see what your point is.

 

[Legs]

Teams need leaders. I don't quite see what your point is.

I don't see what you are trying to achieve, apart from naysaying me. I never disputed that teams need leaders; the success of Cervelo and Columbia, however, lies in the way that the leadership of the DS draws together so many talented riders (as well as the determination and attributes of those riders, of course). Can't imagine NC being happy in the superdomestique role, meself .

 

[Chuffy]

I don't see what you are trying to achieve, apart from naysaying me. I never disputed that teams need leaders; the success of Cervelo and Columbia, however, lies in the way that the leadership of the DS draws together so many talented riders (as well as the determination and attributes of those riders, of course). Can't imagine NC being happy in the superdomestique role, meself .

No, which is why you'd employ her as a team leader. Which in turn explains why I'm confused by your assertion that she is too competitive. She's the best female rider around, you'd employ her as your top GS rider. I mean, would anyone employ, say, Contador and expect him to ride as a superdomestique?*








* - apart from the obvious...

 

[fossyant]

Anyway, best girl won on the day.

 

[Legs]

Fine. Just I would rather a Cervelo or Columbia than a Vision 1, any day. I can only glean as much about the dynamics of women's cycle racing as can find on the 'net, but I get the impression that NC likes to be an undisputed leader. However, when isolated from teammates and surrounded by the strength in depth of other teams, even as strong a rider as NC is bound to get worked over.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Cooke is the kind of rider you build a team around, not one you 'fit into' a team. This means that it would have to be a new team, a minor team with new investment looking to move up, or a team looking to rebuild. The problem is that all of these things need money and there is very little of that in the world of women's cycling right now.