You are reading a single comment by @Gustav and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
Gustav
I'll have a tilt at this. Sky went into the Tour with a plan and executed perfectly, even managing to finish with nine men for the first time. No sprinter and no puncheur looking for stage wins, no climbers getting into breaks trying to win the polka-dot, and one defined leader. On every stage each rider knew what he had to do and when. Numbers were looked at and riders given a day off if they were fatigued. It was a single-minded tactic that none of the other teams had considered. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.
That said other teams will learn, as they have done in the past. Movistar, Katusha, BMC and a few others should get organised, look at what Sky did and how and look to replicate it.
That said I do think it was a little serendipitous, all the stars aligning for them perfectly, and Quintana having a really off Tour, his numbers below the levels he is capable of for whatever reason. I don't think they'll have it as easy again.
I wonder if OBE can put something together? In Chaves and the Yates brothers they have riders capable of challenging, and they nare building a strong GC team around them slowly. In twelve months who knows.