# Something rotten in Denmark



## peter.hardie (May 31, 2006)

Team Saxobank continues to hemorrhage all-stars. Cancellera pulled out of the Vuelta yesterday without his team's knowledge, turned off his phone and took a runner for the airport. Somehow I don't think he'll be back with them next year. So much for the vaunted 1, 2 GC and Classics tandem of Contador and Cancellera. The amount of dissatisfaction on that team is amazing. The sponsors must love the drama  

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/saxo-bank-angry-over-cancellaras-vuelta-exit


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## danahs (May 24, 2008)

good. screw saxo bank


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## RRRoubaix (Aug 27, 2008)

WOW!! :yikes: 
Hmmm, yes, something does appear to be up at Saxo...
Wonder what's really going on?
Good luck Spartacus! I hope somebody good can afford you.


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## RRRoubaix (Aug 27, 2008)

By the way, GREAT thread title! :thumbsup:


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## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

I think it's Cancellera who comes off looking bad.


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## peter.hardie (May 31, 2006)

*update*

Riis released Spartacus:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bjarne-riis-says-fabian-cancellara-can-leave-saxo-bank


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

I like how people look at this as all Riis's fault. Up to this point the team was viewed as one of the best run teams out there because Riis and these riders flourished in the structure. Now that they are leaving, some in quite unprofessional ways, Riis is some sort of ******* that they are right to flee from sorry I don't buy it. Andy and Frank were wrong to try and and announce their new team prior to the Tour and they were wrong to have promotion material for their new bike sponsor prior to their current contract being finished. Andy lost himself the tour cause he can't freaking shift and got himself removed from the Vaulta cause he couldn't act like a pro and abide by team rules for a few more weeks. Cancellara puling out without team approval and then taking off is pretty poor form. For all I know Riis might be a tought task master but clearly he knows how to set up and run a team and he put alot of hard work into building that program so I can see why hes pissed that they guys a leaving in such a flip and unprofessional way.


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## lastchild (Jul 4, 2009)

32and3cross said:


> I like how people look at this as all Riis's fault. Up to this point the team was viewed as one of the best run teams out there because Riis and these riders flourished in the structure. Now that they are leaving, some in quite unprofessional ways, Riis is some sort of ******* that they are right to flee from sorry I don't buy it. Andy and Frank were wrong to try and and announce their new team prior to the Tour and they were wrong to have promotion material for their new bike sponsor prior to their current contract being finished. Andy lost himself the tour cause he can't freaking shift and got himself removed from the Vaulta cause he couldn't act like a pro and abide by team rules for a few more weeks. Cancellara puling out without team approval and then taking off is pretty poor form. For all I know Riis might be a tought task master but clearly he knows how to set up and run a team and he put alot of hard work into building that program so I can see why hes pissed that they guys a leaving in such a flip and unprofessional way.



clearly you don't know the whole story...and neither do i.
but when 3 of the top cyclists in the world (and most of the team management) literally walk away from a team, something is rotten.


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## Zampano (Aug 7, 2005)

^ Clearly (lol) you said you don't know, then you said you do.


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## lastchild (Jul 4, 2009)

Zampano said:


> ^ Clearly (lol) you said you don't know, then you said you do.


clearly, reading comprehension is not your forte.


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## jorgy (Oct 21, 2005)

lastchild said:


> clearly you don't know the whole story...and neither do i.
> but when 3 of the top cyclists in the world (and most of the team management) literally walk away from a team, something is rotten.


Don't forget that Riis didn't have a sponsor for 2011 going into the TdF.

Doesn't seem surprising that folks would start looking for another gig. Some of them were successful.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

32and3cross said:


> I like how people look at this as all Riis's fault. Up to this point the team was viewed as one of the best run teams out there because Riis and these riders flourished in the structure. Now that they are leaving, some in quite unprofessional ways, Riis is some sort of ******* that they are right to flee from sorry I don't buy it. Andy and Frank were wrong to try and and announce their new team prior to the Tour and they were wrong to have promotion material for their new bike sponsor prior to their current contract being finished. Andy lost himself the tour cause he can't freaking shift and got himself removed from the Vaulta cause he couldn't act like a pro and abide by team rules for a few more weeks. Cancellara puling out without team approval and then taking off is pretty poor form. For all I know Riis might be a tought task master but clearly he knows how to set up and run a team and he put alot of hard work into building that program so I can see why hes pissed that they guys a leaving in such a flip and unprofessional way.


+1 Totally agree.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

Neither side did anything wrong- its just business.

Riis didn't have a primary sponsor until deep in the season. Andy and Frank planned accordingly, and set up a new team. They also quite smartly started recruiting known riders and management for their team.

Riis got a chance to sign Conty, and quite smartly did so. Obviously the "new" team would be structured around him. In bringing in his Astana support crew, the old CSC/Saxo guys would be marginalized a bit. 

Sparticus' contract was up, his current team was changing drastically, and many of his friends are on the new Luxo team. As for dropping out of the Vuelta- meh. Elite riders not gunning for the GC have been using this as a training race for years now. 

So we are going to have two good teams, rather than one. Teams that are now rivals. I think we as fans win.


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## asgelle (Apr 21, 2003)

Coolhand said:


> Sparticus' contract was up, his current team was changing drastically, and many of his friends are on the new Luxo team.


No, Cancellera had one more year on his contract. Riis agreed to release him from it; terms undisclosed.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

asgelle said:


> No, Cancellera had one more year on his contract. Riis agreed to release him from it; terms undisclosed.


Got it- thanks!

:thumbsup:


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## 95zpro (Mar 28, 2010)

Maybe Contador wants the team structured to his liking and is thinking to himself that he doesn't need Cancellera, he did win his Tours without him.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*Saxo*

will be set up to my guessing like USPS / Discovery with total focus on TdF victories

we all know how well that served Classics contenders like Hincapie

I don't think there is bad blood, I think they realized they were heading in directions that did not coincide

Fabian dropping out, well Worlds is right around the corner


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## T-shirt (Aug 15, 2004)

Contador probably doesn't want the extra pressure and work of defending the yellow jersey for the first week of le Tour after Cancellar wins the prologue. _:idea:_


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## zoikz (Sep 5, 2003)

It seems everything started falling apart when Riis sent O'Grady and Andy home. Pretty extreme for having a couple beers. I think that was the coup de grace to Saxo Bank. 
I'm guessing there was a lot of badness going on behind closed doors and Cancellera was just burnt. Dropping out is no big foul, nobody said anything when he dropped out of ToC.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Coolhand said:


> Neither side did anything wrong- its just business.
> 
> Riis didn't have a primary sponsor until deep in the season. Andy and Frank planned accordingly, and set up a new team. They also quite smartly started recruiting known riders and management for their team.
> 
> ...


Good points. :thumbsup:


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

Coolhand said:


> Neither side did anything wrong- its just business.QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Actually Frank and Andys stunt withe promo pictures with Trek was wrong and a contract violation which is whay they got jerked down. The rest of you statmenst while factually correct don't nessarily cover the lack of professional behavior displayed by various members of this little mess, Riis definatly reacted to the Shlecks, but their actions were not what I would call professional.


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## gh1 (Jun 7, 2008)

Falling apart? Jeez, Cancellara left one stage earlier than agreed on. Thats not falling apart. Riis had some guys that already made other plans and were just riding for training or to live up to their current contract. It would be very difficult for them all to hold it together. All of this was going to happen anyway later this year, it just played out on a larger stage this way. We will see if any of these guys do as well next year as they did under Riis and then you can get a better idea on what was what.


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## zoikz (Sep 5, 2003)

Guess his loyalty was with the Schlecks, not Riis. 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/news/report-cancellara-to-join-schleck-brothers_141834

Another thing I don't get is that Saxo bank said he didn't speak to anyone on the team before he left. 
So he drops out, gets in the car. It seems pretty friggin clear whats going on, not sure who he needed to talk to.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

So the Schlecks are creating SAXO 2.0 by gutting SAXO 1.0...weakening both?
Seems like a lot of hubris to think that they can build a better SAXO. What can they possibly hope to achieve that SAXO 1.0 has not already done?
SAXO 2.0 has some of my favorite riders(JENS, Andy and now it seems, Fabian), so I wish them well, but if I were Columbia HTC or Liquigas, I'd be licking my chops, it's not everyday you get to watch one of your main rivals implode.


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

Meh, I don't think AC cares.

This definitely isn't that team of "stars" people were getting hopeful for, but some saw this coming. AC+FC+Jens...was never going to happen, and tbh, I don't think he lost any potential help.


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## cruso414 (Feb 20, 2004)

lastchild said:


> clearly you don't know the whole story...and neither do i.
> but when 3 of the top cyclists in the world (and most of the team management) literally walk away from a team, something is rotten.


rotten= Kunt-a-dor
Riis= screwed


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Riis has got Contador, currently the biggest name in cycling by far. 
Cancellara is the best (by far) at what he does and, on the evidence of this year's Tour, sees himself as Le Patron of the Peleton.
AC + FC = massive clash of egos. Therefore...............bye, bye Fabian.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

but Fabian without the electric motor would be the same for the classics ?


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## FlandersFields (Jul 16, 2010)

albert owen said:


> Riis has got Contador, currently the biggest name in cycling by far.
> Cancellara is the best (by far) at what he does and, on the evidence of this year's Tour, sees himself as Le Patron of the Peleton.
> AC + FC = massive clash of egos. Therefore...............bye, bye Fabian.


The biggest name in cycling by far? I think Cancellara and even Boonen are as big (or even bigger names) than Fuent....Contador. Maybe not in the US, but on the continent he is still the guy that wins tours without stage wins, because of others' failures and so on. He is not loved, there are barely any interviews with him...


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

FlandersFields said:


> The biggest name in cycling by far? I think Cancellara and even Boonen are as big (or even bigger names) than Fuent....Contador. Maybe not in the US, but on the continent he is still the guy that wins tours without stage wins, because of others' failures and so on. He is not loved, there are barely any interviews with him...


He sad CURRENTLY. Also, Nibali just won the Vuelta without a stage win. It's not a rule. 

He's a racer and a good one. I don't care if he's loved or not. I don't want to date him. I don't know why everyone cares about that aspect.


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## wiz525 (Dec 31, 2007)

spade2you said:


> He sad CURRENTLY. Also, Nibali just won the Vuelta without a stage win. It's not a rule.
> 
> He's a racer and a good one. I don't care if he's loved or not. I don't want to date him. I don't know why everyone cares about that aspect.


I wonder how the sponsors feel about this. The Tour is most likely the big one to them, so winning that is huge, but how important is accessibility to the main rider? how important is having a rider that everyone loves and talks about and races the whole calendar and dominates there? or does it not matter as long as you win the big one in July? and this would be way different in Europe vs America since most Americans think the only bike race of the year is the Tour de France. 

i don't know the answer to this, just curiously wondering.


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## Kristatos (Jan 10, 2008)

Ventruck said:


> Meh, I don't think AC cares.


Probably true. I don't get the impression AC cares about anyone but himself. He's coming in with his entourage and clearly nobody with the team now wants to stick around and be a part of it. Not a ringing endorsement of AC's 'like-ability'.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

spade2you said:


> He sad CURRENTLY. Also, Nibali just won the Vuelta without a stage win. It's not a rule.
> 
> He's a racer and a good one. I don't care if he's loved or not. I don't want to date him. I don't know why everyone cares about that aspect.


Offended LA fanboys....


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## theychosenone (Mar 3, 2006)

And so it seems even Richie Porte isn't sure about staying around for long.


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## iebobo (Jun 23, 2006)

After last year's dropped chain fiasco, would you really want to be on a team with AC? He is the Devil, you know.


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## tinkerbeast (Jul 24, 2009)

is {enter controversial subject} correct? maybe in the US were everyone rapes babies and knows nothing about cycling, but in europe we believe {enter alternate fashionable opinion} is correct. i know this because 1) i'm the voice for cycling in europe 2) i'm an authority on the US and 3) cycling doesnt exist anywhere else.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

*When is a Contract a Contract?*



Salsa_Lover said:


> Offended LA fanboys....


LOL

Seems like riders are taking the term "contract" very lightly these days. 
Riis finally stopped the bleeding by saying "Nej!" (No) to Richie Porte's agent - about time he started enforcing those contracts - 
he was too soft and let people out of their contracts (pushed by agents who want better commissions). 
If Riis made a mistake, it was being too soft on this issue.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

32and3cross said:


> Coolhand said:
> 
> 
> > Neither side did anything wrong- its just business.QUOTE]
> ...


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

End of the line for Julich and Frank Hoej as well now.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

den bakker said:


> End of the line for Julich and Frank Hoej as well now.


Things are getting a little odd, eh? I realize a lot of this is to make room for Conador and his crew, but I can't help but wonder why so many previously loyal crew from the CSC days are jumping ship.


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

den bakker said:


> End of the line for Julich and Frank Hoej as well now.


Saw Julich hanging out with JV last week in Vegas. I'm sure he'll land on his feet somewhere, cough... Garmin... cough.


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

spade2you said:


> Things are getting a little odd, eh? I realize a lot of this is to make room for Conador and his crew, but I can't help but wonder why so many previously loyal crew from the CSC days are jumping ship.


Hoej is a classics guy, nothing to do with the GT rooster. Although if the team looses a few more guys Contador might be the most experienced on cobbles


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## AdamM (Jul 9, 2008)

> don't get the impression AC cares about anyone but himself. He's coming in with his entourage and clearly nobody with the team now wants to stick around and be a part of it. Not a ringing endorsement of AC's 'like-ability'.


Where would you get that impression of AC's "like-ability"? Armstrong? 

I've seen for a couple years now riders from other teams help AC. 

I think it's just a question of team tactics. Cancellara will burn team matches getting and defending the yellow jersey during the first week of the Tour, so he can play the role of Peloton Boss. If Schlecks want that for their new team, good for them, but I think the Postal/Disco set-up with one star surrounded by a mostly anonymous group of Spanish climbers is a better plan if winning the TDF is your goal.


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## FlandersFields (Jul 16, 2010)

This reply is dedicated to all you trolls doubting my words about Canc. being a bigger champ than Contador...:aureola:


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

FlandersFields said:


> This reply is dedicated to all you trolls doubting my words about Canc. being a bigger champ than Contador...:aureola:


This post is dedicated to all of those, trolls or otherwise, who jump to conclusions about riders using enhanced methods to win.


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## Tlaloc (May 12, 2005)

RRRoubaix said:


> By the way, GREAT thread title! :thumbsup:


Actually I believe the correct Shakespearean quote from Othello would have been:

"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Tlaloc said:


> Actually I believe the correct Shakespearean quote from Othello would have been:
> 
> "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."


True, but the play is "Hamlet"


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## Tlaloc (May 12, 2005)

LostViking said:


> True, but the play is "Hamlet"


My mistake.


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## FlandersFields (Jul 16, 2010)

LostViking said:


> This post is dedicated to all of those, trolls or otherwise, who jump to conclusions about riders using enhanced methods to win.


I wasn't even talking about 'enhanced methods'...I was talking about dominating the Classics in the beginning of the season, and winning the TT at the end of the season. Which is something else as winning the Tour because somebody else's chain dropped, and not even trying !! to win a stage.


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## LostViking (Jul 18, 2008)

Flanders - don't get me wrong, I'm a big Sparticus fan and loved watching him knock out those classics this season - but I don't think it diminishes Conti's victory at the TdF that he didn't win a stage this year - the person who wins is the overall fastest rider - not the one who racks up the most stage wins. Conti won by riding smart and not falling victim to the temptation to win a stage (potentially at the cost of your next stage time). And well he did, as he only won the TdF by half a minute.


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