Sky Cycling Team

I'm going to ride a bike now, but when I come back I'll impart some of the conversation I had with Jamie Staff on the same night.

DId he get into telling you his story about wrestling a bandicoot in Paraguay. Fuck me that story goes on forever.

it's getting dark, man, don't be a fool.

...on a turbo trainer, inside.

the whole sky BC link bothers me, because whilst they are supporting the whole drive for massive membership in BC, Murdoch and the boys sure as shit arent in it to build up grassroots action in clubs now are they?
btw I would say that as a raving pinko commie charity worker

I wonder if he disconnects his box and resets it then plugs it back in he gets Sky Movies for free?

Have you seen the team roster Malibu? With Arvesen, Barry and Flecha I'd say they had plenty of wise old heads to guide the young 'uns.

Not to mention a certain Sean Yates driving the team car.

I wished Dave Millar good luck before the start to the first stage of the 2007 Tour and he said 'Thank you'.

True story, I skid you not.

Not to mention a certain Sean Yates driving the team car.

I did add the wise caveat, that rules Yates out. :p

problem is, I bet sky will take the TDF from Eurosport now and put it on one of the premium subscription sports channels.

So what? It will still be on in my local...

I wished wiggins good luck at the Dave Rayner Dinner a couple of weeks back. He was pissed up and having a right laugh.

Does anyone really believe Wiggins can actually win the tour, as much as i like him i cant see it ever happening. I'm sure he knows it himself, so he might as well be on a team where he feels comfortable and gets a decent paycheck for all his efforts. he might even get some acknowledgement by the general public if he rides for British team.

i thought him dissing Garmin when he did so well this year, and still under contract a bit of a lame move though. you just don't do that.

So what? It will still be on in my local...

Woolpack in Wisbech shows the Tour?

Hippy is right; it's all about money. Not Wiggins' motivation in moving to Sky but Sky's ability to buy out his contract. Vaughters is a canny business man and no doubt, knowing how deep Sky's pockets are, he extracted an enormous sum. Which Sky can afford because they are bankrolled by an amoral (to put it kindly) billionaire. In that respect Wiggins' football analogy was apt; just as in football, now in cycling; contracts, promises, declarations of loyalty mean nothing. Wiggins may have gone to Sky for laudable reasons but the ability of Sky to get him there is a dismal day in the sport. Had I ever been a Chelsea fan I would have wept the day the murderous gangster Abramovitch took charge. For the same reason I just can't support any team or rider backed by a figure as malign and disgusting as Murdoch. Most of the money in cycling is no doubt tainted in some way - it's business, I know - but to have this malevolent, bullying, psychopathic creep in any way near a team makes me depressed. I really like Wiggins but I hope, desperately hope, that all the shit stained money that has been thrown at him propels him no further than the top 50 next year and that Sky cut their losses and leave.

I tend to agree. He was made 'an offer he couldn't refuse'.

Woolpack in Wisbech shows the Tour?

Does when my Mum takes me out there. She can be persuasive...

I like it - i am all for a Brit team that i can cheer on, Murdochian machinations or not.

I see that Pinarello are supplying their steeds - i would have thought they would have been riding the Boardman Pro bikes that were designed by the same team as the team GB track bike - would have been nice to see them on some British machinery

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/400515/pinarello-announced-as-team-sky-bike-supplier.html

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_pro_carbon_rp.html

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_AiR_TT.html

would have been nice to see them on some British machinery

Albeit British-designed and Taiwan-built...

Who owns Raleigh these days? Raleigh USA make half decent bikes - if ever there was a brand that could be revitalised on the back of the cycling boom Raleigh is it

Does when my Mum takes me out there. She can be persuasive...

I bet she knows Dave Brailsford too...

I just hope he does well.

Naive- that's me.

Well, is it a 'British' team? The majority of the riders are not British. The bikes are not British. The senior management is. Sky is....erm? Isn't it naive to regard Sky as a British company when really it is a sub division of a multi national media organisation that has no allegiance to any country. An organisation owned by a man who's own history reflects the values of his organisation; born in Australia, now an American citizen. Not for any love or loathing of either country but because it suits his business interests and those interests come above everything else. The cycling team exists to promote the tv station and the tv station is just another manifestation of Murdoch's power mania and his acute understanding of the importance of controlling the media in order to exercise political power without the messy business of becoming an elected politician. He has no cultural interest in either tv or newspapers or anything else; he is interested in power, in control and in propaganda. He has no moral values; if it sells he will endorse it. If it brings him power he will pursue it. In this case it suits him to have a team that can be marketed as 'British'. It's a sham but there you go.

It's not British and not being marketed as British, SFAIK.

Sky sponsor British Cycling, but they now also have a tour team, yes, there is some personnel crossover, but people are being naive to assume the tour team is "British" It may be British based, as many tour teams may be French based, or Italian based, but none of them are national teams.

Sky are not the first, and won't be the last corporate sponsor of British Cycling.

Looks like Sky threatened Garmin with a world of employment law related legal pain to lever Brad out of his contract.

Obviously its not a British team in many senses, but quite frankly i couldnt care - sure i would love to see a Condor/Rapha team in teh TDF with Cav, Wiggo et al, but as that is likely to never happen, i think that its good for British Cycling to see a team with heavy british involvement at this level.

Pro sport its a mire of commercialism and politiking, and any depp think about it inevitably leads to more questions than answers, but i know come summer i will be enjoying the TDF a little bit more over a shitty internet stream.

The BNP are supporting Britain's British bicycle racing boys who races on the best of British bikes made by Brits in Britain for Brits.

It's not British and not being marketed as British, SFAIK.

Up to a point; but these quotes from the Guardian are typical, I think, of how the team will be reported on in Britain:
"has signed a four-year deal to race with the new British professional squad Team Sky from 2010"
"the deal that took him to Britain's flagship squad".
And I don't think Sky's marketing department will be writing asking for a correction. They don't have to get their hands dirty creating misleading impressions: 'quality' journalism will do it for them.