After the amazing day yesterday, Jan Bakelandts turned out in yellow today, and must have been just about bursting with pride. They even gave him a yellow helmet as well!
Something I forgot to mention yesterday was his hilarious post-race, pre-podium interview: he was bubbling and fizzing, as you would expect, and said something like "this is more than the team hoped for, now we don't have to do anything more, our Tour is made".
Good thing Mr Becca is already on the way out (and don't let the door swing back and catch you on the backside on the way out, Mr B) otherwise Jan Bakelandts might have been sacked for suggesting that Shack's expectations were so low.
I've just got in and read the reports of today's race, and Jan B is still in yellow, and still one second ahead. Lovely! Of course, tomorrow is the TTT, and Shack don't stand a chance of keeping the jersey any longer, but two stages in yellow isn't bad going, for a team with no sprinter, no GC contender, and a climber - Andy - who is still recovering from a very bad crash.
I wish I'd been able to watch this stage, as with a guy in yellow, Shack were on the front for most of the day, so there would have been lots of opportunities to wave my Lux Ensign flag. Ah well, there will be more chances.
In the news today, Trek have confirmed that they have arranged a 3-year contract with Fabian, and although there are rumours that the Schlecks have had to have a significant pay cut in their new contracts (and frankly, who is surprised at that? You only get huge salaries when you are winning, and neither of them have done any winning for a while) the sub-text is that the Schlecks both have a new contract with Trek! So they are staying with Fabian, which is great, and I still hope that one day we'll get Jakob back in the fold.
Andy came in with the bunch today, same time as the winners: he came in 56th, and in the GC he now sits in 45th position.
So tomorrow is TTT, not going to be terribly exciting for us Leopard fans, as we know they are not going to excel: but I will be happy if they get five over the line with no problems, at a reasonable time, and I will be particularly happy if Andy gets round safely. Best result would be if Andy came in with the team, of course, but I'm not too worried about that.
Wonder if Frankie's watching? Or did he drop Leea off with Mum, and sweep Martine away for a holiday?
I really am enjoying the Tour thus far! And I think the team is doing great. Jan taking yellow must have been a great boost for their morales.
ReplyDeleteEven better, it seems to me that Andy is back to where he wanted to be: he's constantly at the front, yesterday even pulling for Jan. And today he was stil taking turns until the very end in the TTT. I was pleasantly surprised by that as two years ago he and Frankie were hanging on for dear life.
And how happy must that Orica driver be? Now they' re in the news for winning 2 days in a row and having yellow!
Inge
Wow, that's great news, thanks, Inge! I haven't seen any coverage yet - LLB will have taped it, so hopefully tonight we can catch it.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh yes, the Orica driver must be so relieved!
Coug
Sad to hear the news about Frank. I'm assuming that it has been confirmed although I haven't seen an announcement on the team site. Assuming it's accuracy, I wonder what the impact will be on our Andy.
ReplyDelete:(
Kat
NOO!!! Oh, the outrage and disappointment!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/frank-schleck-surprised-by-radioshack-dumping
I call for a fangirl boycott of Radioshack and Trek products. Poor Frank! What is he going to do now? I wonder what Andy will do?
I feel so sad and angry right now. I don't know whether to sob in a corner, or launch an angry tirade at Trek - maybe both? I only hope Frank can find another team so that, even if he can't keep racing on the same team as Andy, he could at least still ride professionally.
Bris. Gal
What a load of crap, honestly! Radioshambles have consistently been the worst team to work for, ever. Why wait until 10 days before the ban expires to tell him he's sacked? Why sack him - he's not been drawing a salary, so it hasn't cost them anything, and they could win some UCI points from la Vuelta/other races before the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteIt's as good as saying "we don't believe you, we think you doped" but why wait 11 months to say it?
Or are they suggesting that they don't want to start paying him at his "old" rate, for the rest of the year?
I imagine that Frankie's been training like mad to get ready to swing straight back into action, so how cruel is the timing of this announcement?
*angry*
The only ray of hope I can see is the suggestion that it's the current team set-up (ie, no matter what you say, still operated by Becca/Bruyneel) that is sacking him, not the new 2014 Trek team.
Or, as Andy has apparently suggested, RadioShambles might be trying to get him to leave as well. We all know that they - most unusually in cycling - have one contract between them, so he might be right: if one goes, the other will have to go, or negotiate a new contract.
Maybe they'll both go to another team.. wonder what budget Europcar have?
Coug
This is a massive load of crap indeed. How cruel to make Frank and the whole world think that once his ban is over, he can come back, and then drop him like a stone a week before!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've understand it's been Becca's decision and that he took the whole team, management included, by surprise. So I really, really, really hope Trek will step up and take him back in next year.
And judging from Andy's comments, I think the relationship bergen them and Mr Becca is far from good, so this might be the final kick-below-the-belt from Becca.
I hope Andy will be fueled with anger for the rest of the Tour
and uses it to achieve beautiful things!
Inge
So angry, I could explode!!!!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
I speculate there are 2 possible scenarios re Frankie.
ReplyDeleteOne, Mr Becca is taking the opportunity to save some money by not having to pay Frankie. As we know, he has been apparently having financial problems. Perhaps Trek management have already said, "Don't worry Frankie, we'll hire you back as soon as we are in charge."
Or, two, Trek want a zero-tolerance team but don't want to start on a negative note with the riders, so made Mr Becca fire Frankie as a condition of the agreement.
Emjay
Interesting comments, guys: Inge, I am delighted to hear that you've heard that it's Mr Becca who is behind this decision, as that was very much my opinion: so there is a chance that Trek might take him back next year. Money is clearly always on Mr Becca's mind, even though Frankie has voluntarily not collected any salary from the moment he was (also voluntarily) suspended. We've all read that suggestion that both Andy and Frankie are going to "have to accept" massive pay cuts next year - maybe Mr Becca thought it would be clever to avoid having to have the confrontation with Frankie about reducing his salary?
ReplyDeleteBarbara, hold on there! Don't explode just yet! Jensie has suggested that Andy "uses his anger to push on the pedals" and judging by yesterday (Sunday), he's doing just that!
Emjay, that's another interesting suggestion, that Trek want a "clean" team and want Mr Becca to be the bad guy: of course, if they try that route, they'll probably have to sack every single ex-Shack rider, as they are all very much tarred with the Lance brush. Especially Kloden and Horner, I am still waiting for those two to be hauled off to answer questions.
Whatever's going on, it means we won't be seeing Frankie back on the bike next week, which is a real shame.
Grrr.
Coug