Froome and Wiggins TUEs

[mjr]

II think you're right about that piece as well. I don't think his history of the sport is solid enough to back up his view, I mean we still have FDJ only just learning to do a TTT together last year, or getting Pinot to actually do TT training.

I was thinking that too, but hadn't taken the time to look back at some rider stories to see if my memory was correct and see how many of the people named in those stories of bonkers-sounding "traditional" training ideas are still involved in running current top-level teams.

Even some of Dave Brailsford's actions described in Nicole Cooke's book suggest he wasn't a believer in marginal gains initially (refusing to supply a skinsuit for NC in 2008, for example), so I wonder if many people underestimate just what a tight grip bad traditions have had on cycling?

 

[ColinJ]

I remember reading that huge steaks for breakfast were thought to be the right food for pro cyclists, and that drinking less water was a must!

 

[smutchin]

I suspect Sky has 'professionalized' the peleton, at least a [marginal] amount.

Yes, I reckon there's definitely some truth in this.

'Marginal gains' is meaningless management jargon that Brailsford brought into cycling, probably picked up on his MBA course. A lot of the really important stuff Sky are doing has been around in cycling for a long time - their methods have a lineage that goes back to Boardman and LeMond - but they can claim some credit for being more organised about it than other teams. And for having the budget to hire the likes of Landa, Rosa and Poels as domestiques who would be riding as main GC contender on other teams.

And a lot of the stuff Sky are doing is pseudoscience nonsense (or bollocks, as LeMond said in that L'Equipe interview) - beetroot juice, hypoallergenic mattresses etc.

All that kind of stuff is just a veneer on the real hard work behind the success - Wiggins didn't win the Tour because of beetroot juice, he won it because he lived like a monk for a year and totally dedicated his life to training and racing.

And because the Tour course suited him. And because Contador was suspended.

And also because he had large doses of PEDs shot into his arse.

Which is fine, because he had a doctor's note.

 

[smutchin]

Even some of Dave Brailsford's actions described in Nicole Cooke's book suggest he wasn't a believer in marginal gains initially (refusing to supply a skinsuit for NC in 2008, for example), so I wonder if many people underestimate just what a tight grip bad traditions have had on cycling?

Brailsford takes a lot of credit for the real groundwork done by Peter Keen and Chris Boardman.

I also suspect that the explanation for not supplying a skinsuit to Nicole Cooke might not be for purely cycling reasons.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Clive Woodward was doing almost identical stuff with the England rugby team in the early 2000s, blathering on about hiring eyebrow specialists and stuff.

 

[smutchin]

Clive Woodward was doing almost identical stuff with the England rugby team in the early 2000s, blathering on about hiring eyebrow specialists and stuff.

Yes, I've often thought that there are a lot of similarities between Woodward and Brailsford. The main difference is that Woodward actually had some pedigree in his sport as a player.

Glen Hoddle likewise when he was England foopball manager. You could even have forgiven him for Eileen Drewery given the way the team were playing under his guidance. But then he went and spoiled it with his truly bonkers ideas about the disabled.

 

[mjr]

Dr Freeman resigns due to ill health http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/richard-freeman-resigns-from-british-cycling/

Crank up the rumour mill...

 

[brommers]

Clive Woodward was doing almost identical stuff with the England rugby team in the early 2000s, blathering on about hiring eyebrow specialists and stuff.

So that's why the England front row looked so pretty.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Dr Freeman resigns due to ill health http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/richard-freeman-resigns-from-british-cycling/

Crank up the rumour mill...

He was always going to be the one "sacrificed", it was just a matter of time

 

[chriscross1966]

A big chunk of the marginal gains thing is psychology... It makes your riders feel like you are dedicated to helping them win and a lot of the time it seemed to be putting the wind up the other teams... some of it is probably a good idea, that mobile kitchen Sky lug around these days means they have absolute control not only of what the riders are eating at meal times, but also the conditions in which they were prepared. Some of it is patently bonkers to put alongside PMP right-angle cranks, some of it is probably just to inject some discipline into the team and bond them, lugging around your own bedding, always sanitising after you shake hands with someone, putting your socks on first to reduce the chance of your kecks transferring fungal spores and giving you jock-itch.... that whole "we're different, we're better" thing

 

[mjr]

He was always going to be the one "sacrificed", it was just a matter of time

British Cycling reverse the bus back over him: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ling-doctor-jiffy-bag-scandal-richard-freeman

 

[chriscross1966]

They've pretty much tipped a load of tarmac over him and are now using him as a bus park...

 

[Crackle]

By any standard, that's pretty spectacular scapegoating and highly convenient.

 

[mjr]

I for one am delighted that Sky have got rid of the single bad apple in their barrel, and look forward to a future consisting only of sweet smelling fresh and lovely apples. What with Granny Leinders and the Freeman Pippin, Sky have had some dashed bad luck with apples in the past.

Of course. That's why BC hired Julie Harrington from being the FA's group operations director because everyone knows drugs in football are only used by single bad apples and the rarity of positive tests is completely unrelated to the currently relatively small fines for whereabouts failures.

 

[Winnershsaint]

A big chunk of the marginal gains thing is psychology... It makes your riders feel like you are dedicated to helping them win and a lot of the time it seemed to be putting the wind up the other teams... some of it is probably a good idea, that mobile kitchen Sky lug around these days means they have absolute control not only of what the riders are eating at meal times, but also the conditions in which they were prepared. Some of it is patently bonkers to put alongside PMP right-angle cranks, some of it is probably just to inject some discipline into the team and bond them, lugging around your own bedding, always sanitising after you shake hands with someone, putting your socks on first to reduce the chance of your kecks transferring fungal spores and giving you jock-itch.... that whole "we're different, we're better" thing

Widely used in school improvement also.