Well, this probably interests only a vanishingly small number of Dopers, but the Telekom team presentation was today. Not at the presentation, but supposedly under contract was Jan Ullrich. Also in the news today, confirmation that the Bianchi team is all but dead.
The juxtaposition of these two stories generates some ill feelings for Jan. For those of you not playing along at home, Jan left Telekom, the team that had developed and nurtured his talent for greener pa$ture$. Nothing wrong with that. He sought, and received, a much higher salary to jump to Team Coast. A salary that many thought Coast couldn’t afford, and which lead to the collapse of Coast. So Bianchi rides in on its white horse and saves Jan’s ride for the Tour de France. Now Jan has returned to Telekom (now T-Mobile) and Team Bianchi collapses.
Under normal circumstances, this sequence would not be disturbing. Even if Jan’s actions have been proximate cause of the demise of two teams at at time when the sport of cycling is hurting for sponsors. Despite all that, Jan has a perfect right to seek the best deal he can for his services.
What leaves a bad taste is what Jan’s actions did to Bianchi. Teams sponsored by Bianchi have an old and noble history in the sport. Bianchi also literally stepped in at the last minute to get Jan into this year’s Tour. Jan had his best Tour since 1997, in part because of Bianchi’s intervention. I’m not asking for him to pledge indentured servitude to Bianchi, but a little gratitude would be nice, ya know?
At least when A-Rod jumps ship, the Rangers don’t collapse as a going concern in his wake.
Naw, the Rangers don’t have any place to collapse from… Surprisingly, pbw for all the left-o-center members of this esteemed board, there are very few “serious” cyclists around here. Not just the sponsored types like you were, but even the mediocre 1500 miles a year types like me. So you’re talking a foreign language. Anyhoo, yeah, I think Jan’s move was me-first all the way, he’s so desperate for the maillot-jaune I’m surprised if he doesn’t make a deal with the devil. However, I think that he’s destined to be remembered as the also-ran to Sir Lance-lot as he pulls off numero seis.
Thanks for the response, BF, but I think you might have me confused with Boo Boo Foo. I never was good enough for even a local club-type sponsorship. BBF, OTOH, I remember talking about being in the Tour L’Avenir (I think).
I’m quite surprised by Jan’s return to Telkom, given the circumstances under which he left (caught using recreational drugs out of season). He certainly got shafted by Team Coast, but he seemed to land on his feet with Bianchi. The only reason I can see for the return is that he’s always been a stay at home kind of guy who has a big German fan base. I guess that’s what the sponsors are looking for.
I’m not Jan’s biggest fan. He’s a guy with a huge talent and a lot of unfilled potential. The fact that he hasn’t won a grand tour in six years says to me that the potential will remain unfulfilled for a long time to come.
Just FRT, it wasn’t out of season. Jan wasn’t competing because he was recuperating from knee problems, but it was during the regular season.
And yeah, he’s still huge in Germany, and Telekom is a German team, so where he went makes sense. But it’s the leavin’ again that doesn’t. I mean, can you imagine a Tour team with him, Salvodelli, and Zabel? Who are the domestiques supporting? I can easily see that there’d be days where you’d have guys in the paceline for Jan, another 1 or two helping Salvodelli pick up a stage win, and then does Eric get any leadout in the sprint? Gonna be some interesting juggling of resources.
Sorry 'bout that pbw, I think it is BBF who was sponsored. Sorry for the late response but I just came back from vacation over T-giving. I forgot that Telekom is a German team, which would explain a lot.