Ferretti standing by VDB for now...

Chris

Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
to illness and probably less than expected form.

Apparently VDB signed his initial contract with Ferretti that allows either
party to terminate with virtually zero notice (as opposed to running to the
end of a season) and pay *only* for performance. Could this be a case of
Ferretti being more compassionate than he is typically (although he was also
very patient with the flash-in-the-pan winner of the 2002 Vuelta)? Or could
it be that Ferretti is as pragmatic is he is hard? After all, he can field
VDB for no cost at all until there is a payoff for the team. Still, Fassa
Bortolo has plenty of depth in talent and the salaries that go with and must
be one of the best funded teams so it hardly seems worth it unless Ferretti
believes in VDB.

Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
relationship with Ferretti?

Tom Schulenburg

"Chris" <chrismcreynolds@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:409948bf$0$35064$812600b3@news.nntpaccess.com...
> Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
> since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
> bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
> to illness and probably less than expected form.
>
> Apparently VDB signed his initial contract with Ferretti that allows
either
> party to terminate with virtually zero notice (as opposed to running to
the
> end of a season) and pay *only* for performance. Could this be a case of
> Ferretti being more compassionate than he is typically (although he was
also
> very patient with the flash-in-the-pan winner of the 2002 Vuelta)? Or
could
> it be that Ferretti is as pragmatic is he is hard? After all, he can field
> VDB for no cost at all until there is a payoff for the team. Still, Fassa
> Bortolo has plenty of depth in talent and the salaries that go with and
must
> be one of the best funded teams so it hardly seems worth it unless
Ferretti
> believes in VDB.
>
> Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
> relationship with Ferretti?
>
>

My understanding was that VDB doesn't get paid until he collects 500 UCI
points, then his incentives really accelerate.

-T

John Forrest Tomlinson

On Wed, 5 May 2004 13:04:11 -0700, "Chris"
<chrismcreynolds@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
>since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
>bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
>to illness and probably less than expected form.
>

>
>Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
>relationship with Ferretti?

I have no clues, but would imagine that VDB maybe has been doing
things right and got sick anyway, so Ferretti is standing up for him..

JT

Richard Adams

John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:

> On Wed, 5 May 2004 13:04:11 -0700, "Chris"
> <chrismcreynolds@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
>>since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
>>bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
>>to illness and probably less than expected form.
>>
>
>
>>Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
>>relationship with Ferretti?
>
>
> I have no clues, but would imagine that VDB maybe has been doing
> things right and got sick anyway, so Ferretti is standing up for him..
>
> JT

I could spend more than a few minutes dredging up the links on CN to his
placings in the classics, but suffice to say he has been pretty good. I
don't think there's any question of form being good. It's just one of
those things, you get sick sometimes at the worst possible time. Maybe
when he recovers Giancarlo will let him take a few of the non Giro
riders to some of the minor races going on during the month.

Sonarrat

In article <409948bf$0$35064$812600b3@news.nntpaccess.com>,
"Chris" <chrismcreynolds@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
> since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
> bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
> to illness and probably less than expected form.
>
> Apparently VDB signed his initial contract with Ferretti that allows either
> party to terminate with virtually zero notice (as opposed to running to the
> end of a season) and pay *only* for performance. Could this be a case of
> Ferretti being more compassionate than he is typically (although he was also
> very patient with the flash-in-the-pan winner of the 2002 Vuelta)?

Aitor Gonzalez can still prove himself - and he has certainly done
better than the '02 Giro winner. It may just be wishful thinking on my
part, but Gonzalez is one of my favorites for this upcoming Tour...

> Or could
> it be that Ferretti is as pragmatic is he is hard? After all, he can field
> VDB for no cost at all until there is a payoff for the team. Still, Fassa
> Bortolo has plenty of depth in talent and the salaries that go with and must
> be one of the best funded teams so it hardly seems worth it unless Ferretti
> believes in VDB.
>
> Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
> relationship with Ferretti?

Ferretti says that VDB does not seem to be pulling his leg, and I guess
that's the end of it. Now, if he did what Botero reportedly did in the
past week - fly home in disgrace, though I have yet to find confirmation
of this outside of Road to the Tour - then his career would almost
certainly be over.

-Sonarrat.

Sonarrat

"Tom Schulenburg" <tschulenYOUR@HATpacbell.net> wrote in message news:<02dmc.60604$oi1.13599@newssvr25.news.prodigy.com>...

> My understanding was that VDB doesn't get paid until he collects 500 UCI
> points, then his incentives really accelerate.

If this is true, then he has a ways to go. Currently at 341.

-Sonarrat.

psycholist

"Chris" <chrismcreynolds@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:409948bf$0$35064$812600b3@news.nntpaccess.com...
> Given the management style of Ferretti (who lives up to his name even more
> since his return to DS after sitting out a few seasons) it surprises me a
> bit that he came out defending a lackluster VDB who will miss the Giro due
> to illness and probably less than expected form.
>
> Apparently VDB signed his initial contract with Ferretti that allows
either
> party to terminate with virtually zero notice (as opposed to running to
the
> end of a season) and pay *only* for performance. Could this be a case of
> Ferretti being more compassionate than he is typically (although he was
also
> very patient with the flash-in-the-pan winner of the 2002 Vuelta)? Or
could
> it be that Ferretti is as pragmatic is he is hard? After all, he can field
> VDB for no cost at all until there is a payoff for the team. Still, Fassa
> Bortolo has plenty of depth in talent and the salaries that go with and
must
> be one of the best funded teams so it hardly seems worth it unless
Ferretti
> believes in VDB.
>
> Does anyone have any clues or insight of VDB's form this year and or his
> relationship with Ferretti?
>

In my limited view, VDBs Spring campaign has been pretty strong. Obviously,
it hasn't been stellar, but he's been near the front of the action at most
of the key events. Phil Liggett made a comment about VDB during the Tour de
Georgia coverage. He quoted Frank as saying he was finiding that he lacked
the strength at the end of races to finish things off. I believe in
context, Frank was saying this was partly a function of his form needing to
come around a bit farther and partly a function of the fact he's a few years
on from when he was the wonder brat.

Bob C.

Tom Kunich

"psycholist" <technico@wctel.net> wrote in message
news:c7dqmk$11m8$1@news3.infoave.net...
>
> In my limited view, VDBs Spring campaign has been pretty strong.
Obviously,
> it hasn't been stellar, but he's been near the front of the action at most
> of the key events. Phil Liggett made a comment about VDB during the Tour
de
> Georgia coverage. He quoted Frank as saying he was finiding that he
lacked
> the strength at the end of races to finish things off. I believe in
> context, Frank was saying this was partly a function of his form needing
to
> come around a bit farther and partly a function of the fact he's a few
years
> on from when he was the wonder brat.

VDB was trying to cover his losses with dope instead of hard nosed training.
He is paying for that now. However, he still has more natural talent than
7/8ths of the peloton so if he can maintain his morale and his disapline
he'll jest be coming into his most productive years now.

Chris

"Sonarrat" <sonarrat@stormloader.com> wrote in message
news:21429691.0405060805.5664ce38@posting.google.com...
> "Tom Schulenburg" <tschulenYOUR@HATpacbell.net> wrote in message
news:<02dmc.60604$oi1.13599@newssvr25.news.prodigy.com>...
>
> > My understanding was that VDB doesn't get paid until he collects 500 UCI
> > points, then his incentives really accelerate.
>
> If this is true, then he has a ways to go. Currently at 341.
>
> -Sonarrat.

VDB has the potential to settle that deficit during any one week or less
that he races.