Aitor Gonzalez vainqueur du Tour de Suisse

[alex]

Madariaga is the team manager and the one that acts as if he were the owner.
He is the goverment clerk that had the original idea to form the team during
some long afternoons while he was doing paper ships, and now handles a
multimillion Euro company with subtantial responsibility (becuse after all
his team is strongly identifies with one location).

Julian knows what is a team. What he may not know is how to manage it and
its components. In any case, he did not have any major experience before the
EE and was put there by Madariaga. But it was O.K while everything was for
amateurs. It was just fun and it worked till they went to the TdF.

I think the whole concept is now starting to make some people have second
thoughts. Not least because even without Euskaltel, there are plenty of
cyclist from the basque country in the ranks other professional teams in
Spain (and there are other basque profesional teams). And now that it is
becoming clear that the Euskaltel guys are not much of a team, people may be
finding unfair they get so much 'institutional' support.

"sonarrat" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> alex wrote:
>
>> I think you give their organization too much credit. I have the
>> impression the management team did not even suspect that Aitor was in
>> such shinning shape. The team has been getting plenty of heat during the
>> early season in the Basque country (and they get the usual level of
>> discredit from the Spanish press ), not least because the doping
>> allegations last year just before the TdF and the suspicious descend in
>> relative performance since last year (that I guess is the source of the
>> remark that Bob made). But the last two weeks have helped them to lower
>> the pressure levels. In the doping department it seems it may have helped
>> that the attention now has diverted to Liberty...
>
> I am, of course, willing to entertain the possibility that Julian Gorospe
> doesn't know a cycling team from a hole in the wall.

 

[Bob Schwartz]

alex <[email protected]> wrote:
> The team has been getting plenty of heat during the early season in
> the Basque country (and they get the usual level of discredit from the
> Spanish press ), not least because the doping allegations last year just
> before the TdF and the suspicious descend in relative performance since last
> year (that I guess is the source of the remark that Bob made).

I meant it much more generically. We see riders of many different teams
and nationalities successfully use mid-season training camps to prepare
for big races. Not just EE.

Bob Schwartz
[email protected]

 

[Bob Schwartz]

gwhite <[email protected]> wrote:


> Bob Schwartz wrote:
>>

>> Lafferty gives me an upset stomach.
>>

> Just because the dish is passed doesn't mean you're obligated to take a
> scoop. This is rbr: you can risk being rude.

Rude? To Lafferty? God forbid!

It's much better to be kind to retards.

Bob Schwartz
[email protected]

 

[sonarrat]

alex wrote:

> Madariaga is the team manager and the one that acts as if he were the owner.
> He is the goverment clerk that had the original idea to form the team during
> some long afternoons while he was doing paper ships, and now handles a
> multimillion Euro company with subtantial responsibility (becuse after all
> his team is strongly identifies with one location).
>
> Julian knows what is a team. What he may not know is how to manage it and
> its components. In any case, he did not have any major experience before the
> EE and was put there by Madariaga. But it was O.K while everything was for
> amateurs. It was just fun and it worked till they went to the TdF.
>
> I think the whole concept is now starting to make some people have second
> thoughts. Not least because even without Euskaltel, there are plenty of
> cyclist from the basque country in the ranks other professional teams in
> Spain (and there are other basque profesional teams). And now that it is
> becoming clear that the Euskaltel guys are not much of a team, people may be
> finding unfair they get so much 'institutional' support.

Well, Kaiku (the Pro Continental Basque team) certainly isn't superior
to Euskaltel-Euskadi. I don't think there's anything wrong with the
team that a better recruiter and a more intelligent DS wouldn't cure -
the concept of using exclusively Basque cyclists isn't much of a
handicap with riders as different as Aitor Gonzalez, Iban Mayo, David
Etxebarria, Igor Astarloa, and Constantino Zaballa fitting that description.

-Sonarrat.

 

[alex]

"sonarrat" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> alex wrote:
>
>> Madariaga is the team manager and the one that acts as if he were the
>> owner. He is the goverment clerk that had the original idea to form the
>> team during some long afternoons while he was doing paper ships, and now
>> handles a multimillion Euro company with subtantial responsibility
>> (becuse after all his team is strongly identifies with one location).
>>
>> Julian knows what is a team. What he may not know is how to manage it and
>> its components. In any case, he did not have any major experience before
>> the EE and was put there by Madariaga. But it was O.K while everything
>> was for amateurs. It was just fun and it worked till they went to the
>> TdF.
>>
>> I think the whole concept is now starting to make some people have second
>> thoughts. Not least because even without Euskaltel, there are plenty of
>> cyclist from the basque country in the ranks other professional teams in
>> Spain (and there are other basque profesional teams). And now that it is
>> becoming clear that the Euskaltel guys are not much of a team, people may
>> be finding unfair they get so much 'institutional' support.
>
> Well, Kaiku (the Pro Continental Basque team) certainly isn't superior to
> Euskaltel-Euskadi. I don't think there's anything wrong with the team
> that a better recruiter and a more intelligent DS wouldn't cure - the
> concept of using exclusively Basque cyclists isn't much of a handicap with
> riders as different as Aitor Gonzalez, Iban Mayo, David Etxebarria, Igor
> Astarloa, and Constantino Zaballa fitting that description.
>
> -Sonarrat.

This is a point often missed. Euskaltel does not require a cyclist to be
basque. Only that they have been in the ranks of some basque amateur team.
So for example Aitor Gonzalez claims from Alicante (the province where Kelme
originated). It just happened that his father was working in the basque
region and he liked the basque name Aitor. Other example is Samuel
Sanchez...Constantino Zaballa has definitely a basque last name but he is
not basque. He comes from the neighboring province of Cantabria...On the
other handl, you missed in the mix other basque cyclist such as Joseba
Beloki and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano that were already members of EE in the
past, when EE was thought of as a platform for new local talent (obviosuly
with great success).

But going back to management. There is no lack of potential talent to hire
from. In fact out of the other 3 spanish PT teams the whole ex-banesto (now
Isles Baleares) would qualify (as Navarre is considered basque for these
matters). Four out of six in Liberty management team are basque (including
my idol Marino), and J. Matxin and Angoitia of Saunier D too. Sumarizing,
85% of the managers of spanish Protour teams are basque but EE has by far
the most amateurish ones.

(BTW: last year there was another Basque proteam (G2) Cafes Baque'. But it
died for lack of enough sponsorship).