Tailwind Sports made the right move

[wolfix]

**Tailwind Sports decision to drop cycling was a move that had to be made with the climate presented by the ASO and the UCI. Cycling has to be seen as a huge risk concerning the behavior of the organizations going on in the present power struggle.
The following article in Velonews gets to the point exactly what is going on in the sport of professional cycling. The organizations are using doping as a excuse to damage each other.Riders careers are being destroyed along with publics perception of this 3 ring circus.

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13466.0.html

Several things jumped out at me after reading the article.

Take the sport to Russia and China?????

If the sport loses it's historical charm that the current European races offer, then all you have left is bike racing. And if all you have is bike racing, then the fans might as well go to the local crits in their hometowns. Bike racing is bike racing. I have been to 2 World Championships and to be honest, they were boring compared to the local crits around here.
We need the historical climbs that the TDF offers, the cobbles of the spring classics. and the food in Italy. We need to compare the old riders to the new heros.
The sport needs diversity of overseas riders. But make them come to the races, not the other way around.

***
Tailwind Sports Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco, California, was founded by Thom Weisel, the founder and chairman of Thomas Weisel Partners and the former founder and chairman of Montgomery Securities from 1971 until 1998. Tailwind has owned and managed a men’s professional road cycling team since its inception in 1989.

Most recently known as the United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team® (1996–2004), Tailwind’s team is the only American team ever to have won the sport’s premier event, the Tour de France, as well as the prestigious Tour of Spain.

 

[slovakguy]

what troubles me with tailwind's position is their insinuation that the doping busts are just a means of one organisation to bushwhack the other, oblivious to the fact that busted dopers are still busted dopers.

 

[wolfix]

what troubles me with tailwind's position is their insinuation that the doping busts are just a means of one organisation to bushwhack the other, oblivious to the fact that busted dopers are still busted dopers.

It was T-M that made that statement. But it is the general opinion of most everyone involved in cycling.
The troubling part of this is that the ASO and UCI allowed the doping culture to develope over many years. As long as the money was coming in, both organizations pretended it did not exsist.
But when the ProTour was announced, the riders were used to attack both organizations.
The riders did dope, but with unspoken permission of the cycling powers. Doping was always legal in cycling for the riders, but you and I as a fan was told it was not.

Festina pointed out that doping was systematic in cycling. And yet no big names were ever caught....... The program at T-M just revealed that more then just riders were involved the past 10 years.

I questioned Tailwinds decision to pull out when they had the most dominate GT team in the sport. But I have a feeling that the actions of the ASO/UCI have most of the teams confused as to what is being allowed.
To enter the sport now as a new sponsor would not be wise. No one has told the teams what the "real" rules are going to be.

 

[cyclingheroes]

It was T-M that made that statement. But it is the general opinion of most everyone involved in cycling.
The troubling part of this is that the ASO and UCI allowed the doping culture to develope over many years. As long as the money was coming in, both organizations pretended it did not exsist.
But when the ProTour was announced, the riders were used to attack both organizations.
The riders did dope, but with unspoken permission of the cycling powers. Doping was always legal in cycling for the riders, but you and I as a fan was told it was not.

Festina pointed out that doping was systematic in cycling. And yet no big names were ever caught....... The program at T-M just revealed that more then just riders were involved the past 10 years.

I questioned Tailwinds decision to pull out when they had the most dominate GT team in the sport. But I have a feeling that the actions of the ASO/UCI have most of the teams confused as to what is being allowed.
To enter the sport now as a new sponsor would not be wise. No one has told the teams what the "real" rules are going to be.

Bingo!

 

[wolfix]

So where is the sport headed........ The ProTour has not included the GT's next year...........Any rider who wins a major race will be targeted for doping, the sponsors are thinking soccer. tennis or something else, and we have individuals such as the German prosecutor making a name for herself.
The sport needs the TDF. That is the crown jewel of cycling. ........
But without the other races we have no hero's to define the TDF.
Can the sport survive with nationalistic federations thinking for themselves?
We have the questions , but who has the answers?

 

[cyclingheroes]

So where is the sport headed........ The ProTour has not included the GT's next year...........Any rider who wins a major race will be targeted for doping, the sponsors are thinking soccer. tennis or something else, and we have individuals such as the German prosecutor making a name for herself.
The sport needs the TDF. That is the crown jewel of cycling. ........
But without the other races we have no hero's to define the TDF.
Can the sport survive with nationalistic federations thinking for themselves?
We have the questions , but who has the answers?

As long as the Verbruggen clan is in power at the UCI there will be no solution...

 

[snood]

As long as the Verbruggen clan is in power at the UCI there will be no solution...

Exactly.

And tailwind didnt pull out. They couldn't find a sponsor. Dont believe the press releases.

 

[Crankyfeet]

Is the Di Luca story, when I hit the link above, the one I'm supposed to be reading - or has velonews inserted a new story. It doesn't mention anything about Tailwind I don't think.

 

[wolfix]

Is the Di Luca story, when I hit the link above, the one I'm supposed to be reading - or has velonews inserted a new story. It doesn't mention anything about Tailwind I don't think.

Sorry, I wasn't clear in my intial post...... When TS dissolved, I questioned it..... But this link shows why no one [sponsor] wants to be involved in cycling anymore. The Bob Stapleton opinions in the link really sum the sport up at this moment. And his opinions in the story tell me TS did the right thing.

 

[Tim Lamkin]

To enter the sport now as a new sponsor would not be wise. No one has told the teams what the "real" rules are going to be.

Words never spoken truer.

 

[earth_dweller]

Words never spoken truer.

which is why I don't understand Bruyneel going to Astana. He seemed like a reasonably smart man, why didn't he take a year off, pretend it was for the good of the sport, and come back when the hidden rules are known again.

I guess he thinks he can still hide everything next year, we'll just have to see.

 

[Crankyfeet]

There's nothing hidden for him. I'd speculate that he's got someone inside UCI tipping him off in any case perhaps. IMO he's pretty confident his program is fool-proof as evidenced by Disco's track record, even this year. Unfortunately Basso went down for things done outside the Disco program.

Also Astana possibly see him as an outstanding leader for their needs. They don't care about what it takes to achieve glory (ie cheating). They just don't want any stupid Vino stunts embarassing them in the future. I've a sneaky feeling that wouldn't have happened under JB.

which is why I don't understand Bruyneel going to Astana. He seemed like a reasonably smart man, why didn't he take a year off, pretend it was for the good of the sport, and come back when the hidden rules are known again.

I guess he thinks he can still hide everything next year, we'll just have to see.

 

[earth_dweller]

There's nothing hidden for him. I'd speculate that he's got someone inside UCI tipping him off in any case perhaps. IMO he's pretty confident his program is fool-proof as evidenced by Disco's track record, even this year. Unfortunately Basso went down for things done outside the Disco program.

Also Astana possibly see him as an outstanding leader for their needs. They don't care about what it takes to achieve glory (ie cheating). They just don't want any stupid Vino stunts embarassing them in the future. I've a sneaky feeling that wouldn't have happened under JB.

I do agree with your speculation of a mole in the UCI tipping USPS/Disco off. I do wonder if the mole was his or Tailwind's. By moving to Astana, JB has lost all the Tailwind backers including the folks inside usa cycling.
I think JB might be overestimating his pull at UCI right now but we'll have to see how the soap opera turns next year.

 

[homeycheese]

I do agree with your speculation of a mole in the UCI tipping USPS/Disco off. I do wonder if the mole was his or Tailwind's. By moving to Astana, JB has lost all the Tailwind backers including the folks inside usa cycling.
I think JB might be overestimating his pull at UCI right now but we'll have to see how the soap opera turns next year.

No offense, but you're deluded to think Bruyneel gives a rip about us cycling or Tailwind. The guy is part of the "international" cycling scene and has the complete backing of the folks for whom he has made lots of money. Furthermore, the real power behind USCF (folks like Thom Weisel) know exactly whose side Bruyneel is on and when it comes to the UCI, Bruyneel has shown a keen ability to align himself with the money players. He has the records, it's now about getting the money.

 

[homeycheese]

I do agree with your speculation of a mole in the UCI tipping USPS/Disco off. I do wonder if the mole was his or Tailwind's. By moving to Astana, JB has lost all the Tailwind backers including the folks inside usa cycling.
I think JB might be overestimating his pull at UCI right now but we'll have to see how the soap opera turns next year.

No offense, but you're deluded to think Bruyneel gives a rip about us cycling or Tailwind. The guy is part of the "international" cycling scene and has the complete backing of the folks for whom he has made lots of money. Furthermore, the real power behind USCF (folks like Thom Weisel) know exactly whose side Bruyneel is on and when it comes to the UCI, Bruyneel has shown a keen ability to align himself with the money players. He has the records, it's now about getting the money.

 

[wolfix]

No offense, but you're deluded to think Bruyneel gives a rip about us cycling or Tailwind. The guy is part of the "international" cycling scene and has the complete backing of the folks for whom he has made lots of money. Furthermore, the real power behind USCF (folks like Thom Weisel) know exactly whose side Bruyneel is on and when it comes to the UCI, Bruyneel has shown a keen ability to align himself with the money players. He has the records, it's now about getting the money.

Right on with that...... The power brokers of the sport is a very short list.... And has to be based in Belgium, France, Spain, and of course Italy.

 

[Crankyfeet]

I think Tailwind are going to be back fairly quickly. IMO their departure (short-lived though it might turn out to be) was intended to be a severe wrap on the knuckles to the bitching powerbrokers that had the intention of saying that if they keep squabbling, this will be the result.

There is nothing worse as a business or businessman than being exposed to small-minded beaurocrats, that don't deserve to have influence that they strut about with.

Having said that, to back-track on the hardline anti-doping stance now would take us back to 1996. It would be just good if everyone could get on the same page, and the structure was set-up equitably. UCI should not be running any pro-tour or money-making venture. They should have referee power however in applying dope tests and monitoring.

The golf US PGA Tour is probably a better model. The PGA Tour is an organization of all the golf pros. If the PGA Tour don't act democratically for the benefit of the Pro's, the professional golfers just sack the CEO, though it has never come to that.

The challenge of course is how to give UCI referee power and the funds to monitor and perform testing all year round.

 

[Bro Deal]

The following article in Velonews gets to the point exactly what is going on in the sport of professional cycling. The organizations are using doping as a excuse to damage each other.Riders careers are being destroyed along with publics perception of this 3 ring circus.

No it doesn't. It does not mention doping in any way. It instead concentrates on the unbelievable incompetence of the UCI/ProTour. How could they not feel out the teams about having a required race in Australia in January?

The ASO has been fighting against doping since the Festina affair, years before the ProTour was conceived.

There is nothing in the article that can be shown to apply to Tailwind disbanding. The only thing clear about that is that the explanation that they gave up because they could not ask a sponsor to deal with the current situation is a complete lie. It doesn't even pass the smirk test.

 

[Bro Deal]

No one has told the teams what the "real" rules are going to be.

Bogus. It's only a problem for those who want to run an organized doping program and are worried about how much effort will be spent trying to catch them--probably an issue for Bruyneel. Any sponsor that wants to enter the sport has a good model in Team Slipstream, and to a lesser degree CSC and T-Mobile, to follow. If you hire credible team staff and use independent oversight of the doping issue then you are not going to have a problem with the ASO.

Here's a thought. Instead of sponsoring a team with its riders based in Spain, sponsor a French team. With a couple of big French sponsors leaving there is an opening.

 

[wolfix]

Bogus. It's only a problem for those who want to run an organized doping program and are worried about how much effort will be spent trying to catch them--probably an issue for Bruyneel. Any sponsor that wants to enter the sport has a good model in Team Slipstream, and to a lesser degree CSC and T-Mobile, to follow. If you hire credible team staff and use independent oversight of the doping issue then you are not going to have a problem with the ASO.

Here's a thought. Instead of sponsoring a team with its riders based in Spain, sponsor a French team. With a couple of big French sponsors leaving there is an opening.

You are new to cycling........ You want to believe what is written in propaganda brochures, not what actually has occurred in the sport.
How credible is T-M???? It was discovered in the last year that systematic doping was happening.
The ASO has been fighting doping since Festina???? You make no sense........... I do not remember anything that the ASO has done to combat doping. You claim Discovery is the dirtiest team, but we have proof that T-M was....... So if the ASO has been combatting doping, then why has T-M and Discovery owned the TDF since Festina?
How many positives have there been in any ASO sanctioned event since Festina excluding this year?
Name them........ Name one big name or contender that has had a positive........ Pantani is the only one I can think of........ David Miller was busted, but not by the cycling powers. If the ASO are combatting doping, then they are doing a real bad job.
However, we know JU was dirty, you claim LA was , and yet those 2 riders was welcomed with open arms into the ASO sanctioned events.....

The smirk test..........
This was posted on cyclingnews today........

Belgian continental teams drop for 2008

Next year will see fewer European Continental outfits registered in Belgium. Eight teams including Sunweb ProJob, Fidea, Davitamon-Win for life and Bodysol have applied for a continental licence for the 2008 season, down from 14 applicants for 2007. The applications are yet to be approved by the UCI according to HLN.be.

This season saw no less than 14 continental teams registered in Belgium. Jartazi is strengthening its lineup for 2008, with riders like Jens Mouris (DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed) and Hans Dekker (Agritubel), while others have had to take a step back due to the more stringent licence policies put in place for the 2008 season.

Some outfits, like Palmans-Collstrop, are still unsure what the future holds.

Read what the last line reads........

Some outfits, like Palmans-Collstrop, are still unsure what the future holds.

It seems that the teams do not know what the rules are..........