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There must be something really sad about those bikes built up with all the expectation and then never used.
The yellow TJV bike that was built up for Paris last year must have been cold and lonely.
It's like when you see football teams roll out the "Champions" banners and realise there must have been a lot of them sheepishly put back onto buses after a disappointing loss.
tbc-
Yeah, there is usually an air or shame/embarrassment around them, and is exactly why they often never see the light of day, and are subsequently hidden away in a cardboard box somewhere for eternity.
There is also a normally a bit of quarrelling between manufacturers and pro team as to who actually owns frames/bikes of this nature that never get used. Most teams would prefer to pretend that they never existed, where as manufacturers would likely prefer to have on display at offices etc.
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Didn’t Gallopin’s team (Lotto?) get caught on the hop the year he went into yellow?
I vaguely remember them getting Ridley to do a quick overnight paint job.
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In the 2006/2007 season Hartlepool were in second place on the last day of the season but were on the same points as first and we were favourites to win the league. We lost the last game at home and Walsall managed to equalise with pretty much the last kick of their game meaning they won the league by a point. Me and my dad were able to see them deconstructing the podium they were going to use to give the team the league trophy.
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ric_a5
That will have been done before hand, most likely weeks ago, and probably in anticipation of him winning stage one, so will have been sat in the wagon fully built and ready to go.
I know marketing teams often make out these things are done overnight, but that is almost always very far from the truth. (Just like any other marketing spiel)
I’ve always thought that some sort of exhibition of custom pro bikes that were done in anticipation of a big win/jersey, but never used, and as such have never seen the light of day would be super interesting. I’ve done five (or technically four, as one was a duplicate) so far, and all have an interesting story behind them as to why they were produced, and subsequently not used.