The Schlecks vs Bruyneel - rumble with a cause?

What is next?

Photo credit Barry Ryan, downloaded here.

Many have had their attention on the "situation" in the Radioshack-Nissan-Trek team the last weeks. Fränk Schleck exited the giro after the team had laid down some heavy work for him, and Bruyneel couldn't understand why he (Fränk) left because "He might have had an injury to his shoulder, but yesterday he finished with the best,” Bruyneel told Luxembourg newspaper Tageblatt. “So his physical condition could not have been bad, when he rides with the top 10 places.” as the article over at Velonation says.

The athlete's perspective
Rumours about an uneasy situation within the RSNT-team have been circulating for some time, but this statement, if true, really made the headlines. First of all, it is not easy for any of the parties. Fränk and Andy, where Fränk apparently was the driving force of leaving Saxo in the first place, had a nice first year at Leopard. They surrouned themselves with people they knew, like team manager Brian Nygaard and sports director Kim Andersen to mention a few. Suddenly they found themselves without the power and control any longer. Nygaard got squeezed out, in came John Bruyneel who are used to get things his way. One can only speculate what has been going on behind the curtains of the team bus but Kim Andersen got sidelined too, something the brothers took very hard.

Nothing ruins a day more for a top athlete than breaking the daily routine. Top athletes have their days all lined up, what to eat, what to train when, how many hours to sleep and so forth. Predictability and stability is key. Suddenly they (apparently) was denied this by an intruder ordered in by Becca himself.
This is one side of the story, and there are at least one more, if not several.

Everybody in the cycling media and others, me included, love to point out if something's out of the ordinary with the Schlecks. But is it really? The brilliant INRNG has a good comparativ analysis of Andy Schleck last year and now, and I have to agree, I don't think we've seen the last of the Schlecks. They will be strong in July both of them.

Fränk making a choice?

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Public vs internally
What can the reason be that the rumble between Bruyneel and the Schlecks got public in the first place? T tell you the truth, I was surprised to see this happen in the media the way it did. Was it good journalism that brought it out, was it pressure that had to be steamed? Was it a part of someone's strategy of getting that dirty laundry out in the open to make a point? Whatever the reason(s) this doesn't look good for anyone.

A team manager could be a manager or he could choose to be a leader. At the same time, riders could act professional in the public, after all, this what is expected of most others in their work-life if they struggle with a leader. Who lose? Everyone. The team as questions converning leadership, direction and power keep popping up making it difficult to perform, the Schlecks as they might come across as difficult to work with, Bruyneel as his public rant harms people's impression of him and Becca as his dream might not come true this year. Sponsors don't like what they see either. In addition to this fans all over the world witness team members and leaders rant in public and accusations fly everywhere. Who to believe?

Normally, the truth lies somewhere in between.

But please, take control over this situation and keep it internally. Let the legs do the talking.

A change in strategy and tactics

It is impossible to predict the future with certainty, that is a fact. We can say what we think will happen, based on previous sightings or by falsification an hypothesis. In modern science, predictions are much used and quite reliable too, they say. Whether they are or should be considered as truth or just beliefs, is hard to say. But as everything these days, testing might be handy in situations where one does not know the future. According to Platon, Socrates, the old philosopher, said that "knowledge can be true belief - if it has been given an account of.", explained in a way, or defined if you will.

My coming prediction will have to wait to be falsified but I sure do think so and I do hope it will be true because people, we may have witnessed a change in cycling sneaking up on us.

Contador attacked and won on Mount Etna

photo downloaded here.

Leadership, orchestrating and sheer will
I wrote a post in 2011 about strategy and tactics just before the tour, you'll find it here. This post proved to be one the most popular ones, and I believe I'm not the only one finding this subject interesting.

My prediction for 2012 is that we will see more aggressive riding, more surprises, more spectacular attacks and more battling mano-o-mano in the GTs. Is this new, is it even worth mentioning, I hear you say. I think so. Even if the emperor hasn't got new clothes on, this is something I think we will see more to in the year to come. Why?

Of many reasons. Firstly I will like to point you to the excellent post by @Irishpeloton earlier this week, about Froome losing the Vuelta with 13 seconds.  That is amazing, or devastating, depending on your state of mind, but 13 seconds! That bring back memories of the battle between Le Professeur and Lemond. Now, the post by Irish peloton brings another factor to the table, time bonuses, but I will focus on the little things for a second. Just think about it. Three weeks of racing and 13 seconds in total between losing second place and winning first. When people, and probably Froome himself too, finally understood that he was a genuine contender for the victory, every second counted. People on twitter kept blaming Froome for not climbing 2 seconds faster than Cobo the last four stages, something that would put him in first place. Others blamed team management for not putting all forces behind Froome when he was clearly in better shape than Wiggo those weeks.

The same mistake we make in football, or soccer to you Americans out there. Every time a team is about to drop a league, people remember the poor wing missing the penalty shot in the last game, not the ten opportunities the attacker had to score during the first ten games of the season, which also resulted in losses. You might call this example borderline nonsensical but I think we will see an increased focus on the seconds from day one.

Fireworks in the making...

Photo by Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images, downloaded here.

Secondly, the parcourse invites to daring, spectacular attacks. Both Acquarone and Prudhomme have promised easier race this year than the last, something that could bring fireworks to the Alps and the Dolomites. Easier, shorter stages combined short transfers and a cleaner peloton will really make a change in team strategy and tactics. Remember Andy Schleck's and Contador's attack during the tour? One could argue that that was their only chance to gain time on the opponents, but I think this was only the beginning. The GTs of 2012 are set up so that one cannot sit and wait for the last TT (unless your name is Cadel or Wiggo) to determine the winner, every GT contender has to take advantage of his/her strength as well as surprise the opponents. 

Summary
I truly believe riders, team managers and DSs have learned that every second counts, bonus seconds or not. Some may say that this is nothing new, that is a "normal" change in tactics. I do not think so, I see this as a summary of several factors; parcourse, "wake-up calls" throughout the season, less doping in the peloton, the utilisation of ones speciality/strength on another level and the element of surprise. Leadership will be key this year, both on and off the bike, from the team car and at HQ. To orchestrate the team to perform at its best, to actually dominate the attacks the opponents miss or didn't foresee. I believe we're in for a treat this year, just wait.

Brothers in le Tour

This post can also be found on Cyclismas.

The two of us against him....

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This post is about brothers in the Tour of France. Throughout the years, several brothers have been riding bikes professionally, and surprisingly many have been on the same team.

These days Andy Schleck is riding the Tour de France side by side with his elder brother, Fränk. The two are close, having shared almost their entire professional lives on the bike; they probably know each other inside out. They are a team, and it seems impossible to hire just the one of them.

Bjarne Riis took Andy Schleck under his wing in 2004 by recommendation of Fränk. In 2010, when Fränk broke his collarbone at stage three, Andy feared his Tour was lost. They seem to rely on each other, not only physically but psychologically as well. Nothing wrong with the brothers' genes either, the Schleck's father, Johnny Schleck, rode the Tour several times, nailing top 20 GC in 1967 and 1970. 

It's hard to see where one is without looking over his shoulder for his brother. Rumours say that when Fränk got married and being a father, it didn't take long for Andy to get a girl either. He has even presented her to the public. The two are so close that even teammates says they are more concerned with the other one's success than their own. I have heard people saying that the Schlecks are not entirely this way when it comes to fishing, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Didn't we agree on wearing the same outfit?

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The Schleck brothers are not the only brothers who have participated in the Tour. If they all were so merry as the Schlecks, can be discussed. Johan Kaggestad, a Norwegian cycling commentator with a taste for details, has inspired me to find out more about Tour-brothers.

• Roger and Erik de Vlaeminck. The Belgian brothers who rode the tour between 1968 and 1971. Erik chose cyclo-cross and was very successful, being WC astonishing seven times. He was known to live a "hard" life, with spectacular partys after races, however, he never failed a drug test. When Erik returned to racing after a break, the Belgian cycling federation actually permitted him with one-day licences only, to see if his life improved. Roger chose road racing and was a dominant Classics rider of his era and is one of only three rider to win the "five monuments". Roger might be the best known of the two outside of Belgium, both are highly admired by Belgians.
• Marc and Yvon Madiot. They rode the tour together between 1984and 1992, on the same team. Yvon did win the French national title in 1986, while his brother Marc, won the Paris-Roubaix twice, and a few stages in the tour, winning cycling fans' hearts and minds all over the world. Marc Madiot is now team manager of the French team FDJ while brother Yvon is DS. Marc has been one of the team managers in the World Tour who has been most friendly towards the ruling made by the UCI on banning radios, probably causing some irritation by others, as the team managers need to look as unanimous as possible.
• Stephen and Laurance Roche. The Irish brothers rode together in the Tour de France of 1993 on the same team. Laurance never managed to perform at the same level his brother did, so his palmarès is somewhat different. Stephen did win the WC , the Tour and the Giro in 1987, but a knee injury stopped him from repeating that feat. The Irish journalist and former pro rider Kimmage and others have accused Stephen Roche of using PEDs, something Roche has denied. Stephen is currently living a quiet life in Antibes, where he owns a small hotel. Nicolas Roche, Stephen's son, is currently riding for AG2R while Stephen's nephew, Dan Martin, won the Irish RR in 2008. It's all in the genes I guess.
• Miguel and Prudencio Indurain. The two brothers shared the spotlight in. Evil tongues said that the only thing the two brothers had in common was their manners off the bike. Prudencio was literally bullied by the press since he seemed to lack the genes his brother had. He was constantly asked by the press if he only was on the team because of his brother. Imagine that! Prudencio has always managed to control his temper, saying that he does not need to defend "unfounded" allegations like that. The two rode together for three tours, Prudencio always a step behind his brother, or in cyclingterms, in front of his brother. I guess Miguel doesn't need a further presentation. Prudencio is now trying to make a living as a local politician in Navarro, Spain.
• Laurent and Nicolas Jalabert. Rode the tour together nine times. Nicolas, the younger one, struggled to keep up with his more talented elder brother. Laurent won both the point jersey as well as the KOM jersey twice in the tour. This combined with his stage wins, including a stage win on the Batille Day, ensured him a special place in hearts of the French cycling fans. Imagine being the younger brother, less talentet, your big brother a superstar, you bring water bottles, shields him from wind and may be prepared to give your bike to him! Not an ideal position to be in, is it? Probably not the best environment for family dinners on Sunday. Nowadays, you might recognize Laurent Jalabert's voice if you happens to tune into French Eurosport where he is paired with Thierry Adams.
• Sylvain and Sebastien Chavanel. Both riders are still active in today's edition of the Tour, Sylvain is Quickstep's hope, while Sebastien is riding for Europcar. The latter is the youngest brother, but not more than two years separate them. Sebastien is more of a sprinter and has proved himself in the classics, while Sylvain is constantly being seen break away from the peloton. He did this last year in the tour, this ability has made him wear the yellow jersey two stages. You will not have any trouble spotting Sylvain "Mimo" Chavanel in his French national championship jersey.
• Romain and Brice Feillu. One is rather bulky and named by Cav to "always causing havoc in sprints", one is famous for not zipping his jersey while winning stage seven of the 2009 edition of the Tour. Leaving many in awe I might add. The team sponsor of Agritubel wasn't probably thrilled either. The win was a surprise to most, but followers o French cycling will know he has long been a promising rider, but then again, the peloton is not exactly full of those. Not a small achievement by Brice, he had just turned pro with this team, nail a stage win and even wore the KOM-jersey for a while. Romain even had the yellow jersey, and the happy siblings made France feel proud. Brice has been known to joke about himself not being related to Romain at all, due to his height, 1,88cm versus Romain's 1,74cm. I don't know if this ever has occurred in his father's head, but I guess he sleeps tight.
• JJ Rojas and Mariano Rojas. The current bearer of the maillot vert, JJ Rojas, had a brother who also participated in the Tour. The brother Mariano was very talented, he wore the white jersey as he participated in the tour only 21 years old in 1995. Mariano was a rode for ONCE, and was trained by Manolo Saiz. Sadly, Mariano died in a car accident in 1996, only a year after his great performance in the Tour. JJ enjoy training in Spain and has been in teams like Liberty-Würth (amateur), Caisse d'Epargne and now Movistar. This years parcourse suits the talentet Spaniard and he could very well be a contender for the green jersey.

This is a short-list of the most famous Tour-brothers in the long history of the tour, but there are certainly others.

This year we will see if the Schlecks can benefit from being brothers, if they both stay out of trouble that is.

Team Luxembourg showdown 1.2

I'm going to summarize my impressions and thoughts over last evening's show in Luxembourg. To be honest, it didn't quite live up to it's hype. Then again, what does? Ken Sommer and Brian Nygaard had promised a "spectacular show", "American style" - that didn't happen. It was something new, that's for sure and well orchestrated indeed, but the roof was never on fire. The team managed to present themselves professionally and the roster is indeed impressive. That is the most important matter. An exciting mix of older, experienced riders like O'Grady, Bennati, Voigt and Cancellara, of course there is the Tour's runner up Andy Schleck and his brother Fränk, as well as younger riders with promising futures ahead. The fact that Brian Nygaard apparently had hired half the cirque de soleil to perform during the show, didn't quite do it for me but proves that the team is not afraid to do things their way. I like that in a team, to do their best to be different, establish a rhythm of their own. The flip side of that coin is that the higher the expectations, the higher the fall. Just ask Team Sky which many believe failed to live up to the expectations given prior to the season.

This was just a show, remember? The team's roster is very robust and will be a force to follow in the season.


A rare guest
What surprised me the most is the visit from Pat McQuaid, I can't recall seeing McQuaid at any other team presentation before. That said, it might have happened, I've been mistaken before. It doesn't matter if he got invited by Nygaard, Luxembourg Cyclist Federation or the Prime Minister himself; the signal effect is significant. There are great riders on the team, and I find it super that McQuaid has taken his time to be with riders, staff and others in the industry, but then he must do so to every team. Time will show.

He also said that something like: "...this team has everything cycling is proud of". At the same time Kim Andersen, the leading DS, was present among the team's staff. There has been some controversy regarding Kim Andersen amongst people connected to the industry lately, due to him being one of very few in cycling tested positive five! times in his career as a cyclist.


Back-up and marketing
Earlier yesterday, the Schlecks, Cancellara and Flavio Becca took the opportunity to meet and greet with the Prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker, even offering him a jersey. Mr. Juncker also showed some sportsmanship trying the jersey on.
There were rumours that the team was partial backed financially by the Luxembourg state, but I have not been able to confirm that.

The Schlecks, Luxembourg Prime minister Juncker, Fabian, Lucien Lux and Investor Flavio Becca.
Pic by Gerry Huberty

Sponsor Trek is rumoured to put in 3 million € in total which should give the team a good start along with Becca's cash. Mercedes, energy company Enovos, Luxair, Shimano, Speedplay and Schwalbe are the other sponsors. This should indicate that the money will come from Becca, Enovos and Trek, while the rest supports with gear only. That helps enormously though. For more about how the team started check this Velonation article here.

Still it is a bit strange that Becca being a businessman, apparently does not want to promote his own company in the team name. However, he's been given a fair amount of marketing time already with the team and it will probably just be more. 

Jersey side

The clothing is quite simple in a good way that is, at least to me. Nothing spectacular there. Reminds me a bit of Sky and Garmin, but it's definitely not as Sky-ish as Garmin's. Don't know if the names and flags on the collar is going to work for the fans watching on TV or by the road but a lot can happen during the season with regards to R&D. 

Picture of Schlecks & co: wort.lu

Team Luxembourg showdown

Tomorrow the world get to see the mythical and mysterious PRO team everybody has been talking about. What to expect? According to Brian Nygaard's twitterfeed, the riders will be equipped with brand new suits. Those who look forward to see the Schlecks hanging from the roof wearing leopard-underwear will probably be disappointed. The team kit will be presented along with bikes and cars. The sponsors will guaranteed be there with a show, carefully orchestrated.

Ken Sommer, the marketing manager of the Luxembourg pro cycling project, is an experienced man when it comes to marketing matters. Remember how much praise PRO team Cervelo got the last seasons for it's openness, and fan-access? Guess who was the guy staging that? Yep, Ken Sommer. Nygaard says on cyclingnews, that the team will "break with tradition" and do something spectacular, "American style". The presentation will take place in front of 4000 fans. That is something else all right. Don't know if there will be hallelujahs and standing ovation inside, but pretty close I reckon.

So what's in a name? Even though Jacob Fuglesang somehow "leaked" the name of the team to be "Team Leopard" along with the jersey some time ago, this can be altered tomorrow. After all, I guess Nygaard and Sommer want the show to be remembered.

For live stream, go to www.rtl.lu tomorrow at 20:00 (European time that is).

Loyalty and openness

The last couple of months or so have been on fire when it comes to transfer window and who's doing what where. Things settled just a week a ago when Cancellara confirmed his move from Saxo to Leopard, something that hardly came to a surprise to anyone. In a way, cycling is starting to look like football transfer. All chaos, riders don't to be there but there, and teams yells high and throws money around like they are monopoly money. This leads to a lot of rumours. Media, bloggers and the "know-hows" competes in deriving the newest information leading to further speculations. It's all great fun and a part of off-season although I perfectly understand Brian Nygaard's view which he expressed in a comment on The Inner Ring blog where he is a bit fed-up over speculations media and others have made on the team's behalf.

A new kind of loyalty

Riders' and teams' loyalty have been debated earlier, I will not continue down that road. Instead Nygaard seems to have something others may lack; loyalty towards the system. Words like "the riders on our tema are NOT under contract with us until 1/1-2011" and "1/1-2011 is when we roll out. All the work we've done so far, is to get everything ready for that" indicate he's doing something different than the other teams. Is it possible that the dane and his team is true to the contracts and legal obligations and this is the only reason why Leopard has been off the radar? Well, it can be said that most of the other teams are established and Leopard is brand new, that's why they have to take it easy. It is possible, but I remember another transfer a year ago where a brand new team got their profiled rider and that did not happened without some commotion. After all, Leopard has an extremely strong line, with the Schlecks, Cancellara and ever hard working Voigt on the team, one could suspect the sponsors wanted some fuss around their brand.

The code 


Nygaard has a PR background, there is little doubt that he knows what he's doing when it comes to information strategy. The secrecy surrounding Team Leopard could be for these two reasons; both loyalty to the system and as a part of a PR strategy. As Nygaard knows, the expectations and pressure will arise along with secrecy, the higher the expectations the higher fall if they are not met.

The fact that Leopard is doing something else than the rest of the peloton could work both ways. After thinking this over I like it. Teams should be doing things differently and they should act accordingly to established regulations. This enhances predictability as well as transparency, both for riders, teams, sponsors and fans.  One thing for sure, predictability is something this sport hasn't seen for some time. Who knows, maybe Leopard will be even more open than Garmin-Cervelo on the 1st of January?

Picture taken by Christopher Keiser