Ding dong the wicked ProTour is dead
- Thread starter Bro Deal
- Start date
shame... i liked the pro tour....
without it we would have never seen teams like disco in the Giro...or Evans in the vuelta last year trying to rack up more points..
And i thought the season long battle for the white jersey was also cool....the best way to know who truly is the worlds greatest rider
without it we would have never seen teams like disco in the Giro...or Evans in the vuelta last year trying to rack up more points..
And i thought the season long battle for the white jersey was also cool....the best way to know who truly is the worlds greatest rider
Got any link Bro?Bro Deal said:
I hope this is also the start of the ebb of Heiny's grip on power.
You missed mentioning this part Bro:Bro Deal said:
The teams met Tuesday in Pau during the Tour's first rest day and indicated that they would form a new alliance with the three Grand Tour organisers Amaury Sport Organisation, RCS Sport and Unipublic. "The teams are working to develop a new system of organisation of professional cycling," the statement added.
I think he is up in arms because the teams are slighting him and going over to the organizers' side who are at odds with UCI. He is still a dumbass though.Bro Deal said:
Probably not, but they gave a massive bribe to the guys on the door and got in anyway.whiteboytrash said:Were Astana invited to this meeting ?
I think the pro-tour dying is a good thing, it'd become a joke anyway with the GT's ditching it. It could have been a good thing but I think perhaps the UCI tried to control things too much, and now they've lost it all.
The ProTour was a good idea. It should be possible to bring more money into the sport by combining events into one package to sell to the media.
McQuaid (and Verbruggen before him) handled the situation incompetently. Verbruggen thought he was Bernie Ecclestone. He did not realize he was actually Max Mosley.
It's only a matter of time before Verbruggen or McQuaid gets caught with five hookers in a nazi style orgy.
McQuaid (and Verbruggen before him) handled the situation incompetently. Verbruggen thought he was Bernie Ecclestone. He did not realize he was actually Max Mosley.
It's only a matter of time before Verbruggen or McQuaid gets caught with five hookers in a nazi style orgy.
Bro Deal said:
Well, seems like the teams are just making up their own pro-tour with input from the organizers. It's going to be ProTour 2.0 without Hein and Pat but more sensible and more successful.
From CN: The only ProTour team not present at the Tour de France, Astana, is also expected to leave the ProTour. "If everybody decides so, I can't imagine Astana will not follow," Astana chief press officer Philippe Maertens told Reuters.whiteboytrash said:Were Astana invited to this meeting ?
I wonder what it will cost though as far as JB vs UCI is concerned. Maybe JB will have to grease hands a bit.
Just about every important race is already in the hands of the big three organizers. I think the other races will quickly fall into line if they want any high level teams showing up on their starting lines.
It will be interesting to see what kind of Pro Tour II they come up with...
It will be interesting to see what kind of Pro Tour II they come up with...
When McQuaid decided to try to branch out to other areas like Russia, etc. I figured he was burying the Pro Tour at that point.
Australia is one thing with a race early in the season but when you start having the teams have to jockey around the world for your races, it gets to be too much.
Australia is one thing with a race early in the season but when you start having the teams have to jockey around the world for your races, it gets to be too much.
McQuaid is a fool - How could someone with such a background in pro cycling not realise that the important teams and the important cyclists don't care about Russia, China etc etc - they care about Europe, especially France, Italy & Spain.hawkeye87 said:
Why on earth would a cyclist want to jet miles around the world when they can get exactly the same exposure and salary in places they love to be in.
It was completely moronic, if these new areas are what UCI wanted then they should have encouraged more local teams to form and race their rather than the international teams.
I'm glad that this has happened as UCI and McQuaid especially leaves me very cold.
Not to appear cynical, but with the demise of the ProTour at year's end, will the teams be free to sign dopers after they've served their two-year suspension? Not that getting around the ProTour's additional two-year ban would figure into their decision to not renew their licenses.
Maybe some of the riders who decided to retire when faced with a four-year suspension will now rethink their decision. Perhaps we'll see the return of Heras, Ullrich, Basso, Hondo, and others to the big teams. And don't forget Flandis, whose ban ends Jan. 29, 2009.
Maybe some of the riders who decided to retire when faced with a four-year suspension will now rethink their decision. Perhaps we'll see the return of Heras, Ullrich, Basso, Hondo, and others to the big teams. And don't forget Flandis, whose ban ends Jan. 29, 2009.
so, i was merely going to post about your handle and how funny it is, but then you go and make an excellent point. LOLchupacabra said:Not to appear cynical, but with the demise of the ProTour at year's end, will the teams be free to sign dopers after they've served their two-year suspension? Not that getting around the ProTour's additional two-year ban would figure into their decision to not renew their licenses.
Maybe some of the riders who decided to retire when faced with a four-year suspension will now rethink their decision. Perhaps we'll see the return of Heras, Ullrich, Basso, Hondo, and others to the big teams. And don't forget Flandis, whose ban ends Jan. 29, 2009.
There is one problem in your scenario though: some of the organizers, who have effectively seized power from the UCI with the death of ProTour, will probably not let many of these individuals (at least the likes of Landis) race in their grand tours. That said, yes, the extra 2 year ban will probably go away. After all, a number of teams have shown that they are more than willing to ignore such rules.chupacabra said:Not to appear cynical, but with the demise of the ProTour at year's end, will the teams be free to sign dopers after they've served their two-year suspension? Not that getting around the ProTour's additional two-year ban would figure into their decision to not renew their licenses.
Maybe some of the riders who decided to retire when faced with a four-year suspension will now rethink their decision. Perhaps we'll see the return of Heras, Ullrich, Basso, Hondo, and others to the big teams. And don't forget Flandis, whose ban ends Jan. 29, 2009.
