Silence Lotto

[Chuck]

Well they couldn't deliver Cadel to the GC title but can they deliver Robbie to a famous stage win tonight ?

Will they even try ?

[Cyclaholic]

Well they couldn't deliver Cadel to the GC title but can they deliver Robbie to a famous stage win tonight ?

Will they even try ?

You speak of "they" (Silence Lotto) as if they ride like a team.... all I see are a bunch of individual pros that just happen to be wearing the same jersey.

[Dial]

nah, That was a definite team of loyal riders. The plan was to ride off the back of the peloton so every time the camera came up behind, the sponsors would get coverage. They executed that plan on every stage.

[ohmygewd]

Silence-Lotto have a great history of being a Green jersey or sprinting team, if l read Marc Sargeants comments in regard to Evans failing to win the yellow jersey, he admits the team was not performing well but at the same time blamed Evans for not perform better in the TT.

Message to Marc Sargeants :
IF EVANS HAD PROTECTION IN THE ALPS, HE POSSIBLY WOULD HAVE CONSERVED ENERGY???? IF YOU HAD OF KEPT HORNER AND GAVE CLEAR DIRECTION THAT THE FOCUS IS TO WIN, YOU MAY HAVE AFFORD TO LET GO OF MCEWEN AND LURE VANDE VELDE BEFORE THE START OF THE YEAR??

To Evans: Did you believe that you could convert a tradional Green Jersey team to one capable of winning the Yellow? LoL, he answered that by the amount of help he had in any of the climbing stages.

[sogood]

Given how flat Belgium is, neither Quickstep nor Silence-Lotto can climb well. That's just the nature of the beast.

[thomas_cho]

Silence-Lotto have a great history of being a Green jersey or sprinting team, if l read Marc Sargeants comments in regard to Evans failing to win the yellow jersey, he admits the team was not performing well but at the same time blamed Evans for not perform better in the TT.

Message to Marc Sargeants :
IF EVANS HAD PROTECTION IN THE ALPS, HE POSSIBLY WOULD HAVE CONSERVED ENERGY???? IF YOU HAD OF KEPT HORNER AND GAVE CLEAR DIRECTION THAT THE FOCUS IS TO WIN, YOU MAY HAVE AFFORD TO LET GO OF MCEWEN AND LURE VANDE VELDE BEFORE THE START OF THE YEAR??

To Evans: Did you believe that you could convert a tradional Green Jersey team to one capable of winning the Yellow? LoL, he answered that by the amount of help he had in any of the climbing stages.

You speak as though the sole race that all teams compete in is the TDF. The one day classics, the other two grand tours, are probably important as well in the race calendar. In the recent years only Sir Lancedope with the support of his postal team concentrated on wining just one race a year, and that was the TDF.

[toolonglegs]

there are other races on the calender but they are all insignificant next to the coverage of the tour.Belgium teams would only rate Le Ronde next to the tour.
Why should Robbie dedicate himself to Cadel?...i am sure he did plenty of work and wasn't he the last rider left on the alpe d'huez stage...say it isn't so!...but he is there as a sprinter to win stages..something Cadel didn't get close to doing.

[thomas_cho]

I guess this is probably a case of trying to do everything, and end up achieving nothing.

[Chuck]

something Cadel didn't get close to doing.

I respect you TLL, but that is a disappointing comment.

He's been damn close to winning the WHOLE thing twice.

If first and second switched teams the last two years I think both results would have been reversed.

A podium finish at the Tour is a greater achievement than a stage win.

5 days in yellow is not a bad effort either.

[toolonglegs]

It is just a comment ...he didn't come close to winning a stage.

[toolonglegs]

on further thought...

[Chuck]

They ALL suck wheels mate.

The only time we saw Carlos during the whole tour was the 14kms on l'Alp the rest of the time he was "sucking wheels" thus the fresher legs on stage 17 and in the final TT.

[toolonglegs]

Agree to disagree...I would have loved to see Cadel win even thou I am not Australian.

[sogood]

One thing about Evans is his climbing style. Amongst all the riders, his was the most painful to watch with all the zig-zagging. Yet again, it's obviously good enough to beat the majority of the riders out there.

[toolonglegs]

[Chuck]

Agree to disagree...

No worries.

6th on stage 1, 4th on stage 4, 3rd (sure to be promoted to 2nd) on stage 6 and a number of other top 10 finishes by Cadel (sorry mate had to get that in )

[toolonglegs]

Agree to disagree...

No worries.

6th on stage 1, 4th on stage 4, 3rd (sure to be promoted to 2nd) on stage 6 and a number of other top 10 finishes by Cadel (sorry mate had to get that in )

[sogood]

you mean lack of style then?

I did respect his lack of style by calling it a style.

[ohmygewd]

Why should Robbie dedicate himself to Cadel?...i am sure he did plenty of work and wasn't he the last rider left on the alpe d'huez stage...say it isn't so!...but he is there as a sprinter to win stages..something Cadel didn't get close to doing.

The point l was try to make TLL was in comparison to Stuey O'Grady whom is a great sprinter but he worked hard for the CSC team in sacrificing his TdF for the better of the team leader.
Now, outside of Cadel, McEwen had the most experience in Sil-Lotto so l would have thought he would have taken the mantle as team captain (like a Hincapie for Discovery/Columbia) and lead from the front and "helped" Evans, and thus the team, with the every possibility of winning the TdF?

Maybe l'm just envious of how CSC rode throughout the TdF and how each individual bascially sacrificed stage wins in order to help Sastre win the thing?

On Cadel being a wheel sucker and not attacking, do you think he had a choice? No help from his team so he chose to ride defensively until the last stage where he put his eggs in one basket - a flawed plan but IMO the only plan he could have had unless he felt his team could protect him...which they couldn't (IMO).

PS. I think you'll find that Mario Aerts, Yaroslav Popovych and Johan Van Summeren finished ahead of McEwen in the Alpe d'Huez stage.

[toolonglegs]

...obviously works.

[ohmygewd]

....From the start of the year when they go on survival camp together,riders,staff, mechanics and anyone else in the team builds up such a strong bond that they are willing to sacrifice everything for the team...obviously works.

Maybe Sil-Lotto did their survival camp Saint Tropez

[thomas_cho]

Cadel is not a pure climber so to speak. To expect an accelerating attack like the doped up Rico or Contadope or Rasmussen is in my opinion expecting a lot from Cadel.

Cadels strength is in the TT, thats where he puts time into others.

But one has to ask if Cadel has the ability to command respect and rally the team around him.

[Chuck]

But one has to ask if Cadel has the ability to command respect and rally the team around him.

What about professional pride and doing (read supporting Cadel in every possible way) what you're getting well paid to do.

[moosterbounce]

...doped up Rico or Contadope or Rasmussen is in my opinion expecting a lot from Cadel.

Rasmissing?

[sittingbison]

what hasn't been mentioned is team budgets. I recall reading CSR has a budget three (3) times that of Silence-Lotto, thus allowing them to have better domestiques, two or three GC riders to keep their options open and better training and support facilities.

Cadel rode as a sole trader against a multinational corporation.

I still hoped he would risk it all though, rather than a war of attrition. I think that would have been the way to rattle the bigger teams and test the psyche of the other contenders - taking a LEAD towards the TT rather than a deficit. Wasn't to be.

cheers
bison