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Skil-Shimano will become Project 1t4i in 2012, a holding name until the new sponsor is named. They revealed their kit over the weekend.
This is worth watching as the squad is trying something new. Once a small Dutch squad, they’ve got ambitions for more. They aim to create a team based in one place with open access for fans and the media. The new sponsor will be a “European multinational” but its identity is not yet known. But the team’s press releases come in four languages: English, French, Dutch… and German.
Rumours say it’s likely to be Bosch, the German industrial group that owns the Skil brand amongst others. Speculation aside, Skoda and HP are on board as well as Shimano. Despite Kittel’s wins the team probably doesn’t have enough points for the top league for 2012 but hopefully this is a long term story.
Chrono des Nations
Sunday saw the Chrono des Nations TT with Tony Martin and Amber Neben winning the men’s and women’s competitions, giving HTC-Highroad the last win of the season in Europe. That’s it for the year as far as European racing is concerned and it’s fitting that the Highroad squad won. Much has been made of Mark Cavendish and his sprint train but locomotives like Martin made a big contribution to the wins; it’ll be interesting to see who, if anyone, starts chasing a breakaway 50km into a 200km stage of the Giro or Tour.
Second last on the day was Alexander Vinokourov, perhaps not my favourite rider but his comeback from injury is a story in its own right given the severity of his injuries. He had talked of retirement but will continue in 2012, largely because his haul of UCI points is crucial for the team.
Cobo stays
Juan-José Cobo has signed a contract to remain at Geox-TMC, thereby guaranteeing the squad a presence in the World Tour. Geox were very annoyed to discover they’d sponsored a team with a large budget but it would not get automatic entry in the Tour de France and Giro, now this seems assured. Cobo himself is quite a story. Without wanting to skip his time at Saunier Duval and the stories that made the sponsor flee the sport, he seems to have suffered from pressure and even depression. Good seasons were followed by bad ones where he cracked under the weight of expectations and almost left the sport for good, returning to work as an electrician at one point. Perhaps his name is more famous now but this time staying with the same squad could do him some good.
Kern’s weak legs
Europcar’s Christophe Kern had a storming Dauphiné, winning a mountain stage on his way to sixth place overall. He then won the French time trial championships. We forget it now but he went in to the Tour de France as Europcar’s team leader but an injury took him out on Stage 5. It makes you wonder how things might of been if he’d stuck around… but imagine how he feels. Well in an interview with Vélo Magazine he explained how tough it was to cope with the injury, especially as he’s had persistent knee problems in his career with one former coach calling him genou d’argile or “clay knee” because his knees kept giving away. But it’s not the result of crushing power, he tells Vélo that he struggles to hit 1,000 watts in a sprint. If the number means nothing to you, let’s just say you’d back almost any other rider to outsprint him in a two man sprint.
Schleck interview
Japanese TV is sometimes known abroad for its quirkiness. Here’s time there’s interview with the Schleck brothers from last Friday in the Youtube clip here above. Maybe of it what you will.
Yeah, quite a turnaround for Cobo…*cough*..what?
That’s actually Dutch TV, right there.
Tom: indeed but I didn’t want to go too far down that avenue, more to point out he almost left the sport. When we often talk of mental focus… he’s a different case.
Maarten: Ik weet, kijk de RTL op de top! Maar niet bederven de verrassing.
What is the point in the itv4i branding? It seems hard to trust teams who don’t announce sponsors: Pegasus, Leopard (say it however you want to these days). Surely a sponsor gets into the sport for exposure – why have this odd half way measure. I’m not being negative per say, I just don’t understand what the go is here? Why does this kit even exist? Why would Skil not want the riders it has paid all year to wear their clothing until the end of the calendar year (in line with the riders salaries)? Also riders from other teams can’t wear this kit until Jan 01- but by then a sponsor would have to be announced no? Am I missing something?
hah, the Schleck interview was beyond amazing–as soon as I saw it I wanted to send you the link, but you obviously beat me to it!
Even in Japan, Frank is “brother of Andy”!
that kit looks like the rider is wearing black briefs…ugly. Who designs this crap?
I find it shocking that Kern would have went in to the Tour as Europcar’s team leader given his previous lack of wins (French TT champ and Tour of Turkey aside) But then again back in June I would not have believed Voeckler would pose such a threat to the GC. To bad he (Ti-Blanc) is so rubbish at time trialing or else he would have a more realistic shot in 2012.
Me tinks Frank and Andy were “Ali G’ed”.
I thought they handled that pretty well. You can tell they are nice guys.
Hinault would have punched her.
A few spelling errors me thinks…..
Japanese TV is sometimes known abroad for its quirkiness. Here’s time there’s (not sure what was meant) interview with the Schleck brothers from last Friday in the Youtube clip here above. Maybe (Make) of it what you will.
Thanks for the Ushi clip! Watched the show for yrs when living in Amsterdam! Special to see ‘brother of Andy’ trying to keep his cool! Maybe they all did a few lines together afterwards and went flying together!!! 😉
Some of it made me cringe but the interview is the funniest thing I’ve seen for ages. They take it well though.