Sky's meticulous 'marginal gains' guff is PR for the sponsors and the once a year cycling fans waving little Union Jacks at th side of the road, tuning in to watch Froomey spank the forrins as he rides around France. What is has become is an unfortunate rod for their own back.
Every team, every rider, every DS, every team manager claims they ride clean. Maybe we don't notice it as much because they are not British and their press releases aren't always in English but it is there and a quick google search will reveal it. There are many teams out there run by convicted dopers, OBE for example, yet they don't warrant nearly the scrutiny Sky do, and you have to ask yourself why. Because they win the TdF? Because they hold themselves to higher standards, and people expect them to be whiter than white? Because they are from a non-traditional cycling country and ride in a dominant, boring way? Because of Wiggins calling everyone wankers in 2012? Because well, Froome?
All of the above, and beyond that the malign shadow of Armstrong looming above the sport and poisoning everything in the sport it falls upon. I am certain Sky are not USPS revisited, as much as some are so desperate for them to be. And that is something I find pervades the scrutiny on Sky: people want them to be dopers, they want them to be Armstrong mk. 2, they are desperate to pull Sky off the pedestal and draw them into the mire the sport has repeatedly found itself in. And until the TUEs and now the Jiffy bag they have had nothing to pin on Sky beyond performance. No whistle-blowers, no sick bed confessions, no positives, nada. Just innuendo and bad maths. And so the teeth continue to gnash away on Twitter and by the side of the road.
If you want a whiter than white team look away, Sky I am certain push the limits, but I am also sure there isn't the sort of institutionalised cheating we have seen before.
Tl:dr on a train, went into a rant, probably wrong. Don't break my heart Geraint.
Sky's meticulous 'marginal gains' guff is PR for the sponsors and the once a year cycling fans waving little Union Jacks at th side of the road, tuning in to watch Froomey spank the forrins as he rides around France. What is has become is an unfortunate rod for their own back.
Every team, every rider, every DS, every team manager claims they ride clean. Maybe we don't notice it as much because they are not British and their press releases aren't always in English but it is there and a quick google search will reveal it. There are many teams out there run by convicted dopers, OBE for example, yet they don't warrant nearly the scrutiny Sky do, and you have to ask yourself why. Because they win the TdF? Because they hold themselves to higher standards, and people expect them to be whiter than white? Because they are from a non-traditional cycling country and ride in a dominant, boring way? Because of Wiggins calling everyone wankers in 2012? Because well, Froome?
All of the above, and beyond that the malign shadow of Armstrong looming above the sport and poisoning everything in the sport it falls upon. I am certain Sky are not USPS revisited, as much as some are so desperate for them to be. And that is something I find pervades the scrutiny on Sky: people want them to be dopers, they want them to be Armstrong mk. 2, they are desperate to pull Sky off the pedestal and draw them into the mire the sport has repeatedly found itself in. And until the TUEs and now the Jiffy bag they have had nothing to pin on Sky beyond performance. No whistle-blowers, no sick bed confessions, no positives, nada. Just innuendo and bad maths. And so the teeth continue to gnash away on Twitter and by the side of the road.
If you want a whiter than white team look away, Sky I am certain push the limits, but I am also sure there isn't the sort of institutionalised cheating we have seen before.
Tl:dr on a train, went into a rant, probably wrong. Don't break my heart Geraint.