Tuesday, October 11, 2005
A Bittersweet End, and a Tenuous Beginning
For the record, I called Paris-Tours.
Erik Zabel’s win brings a bittersweet end to his storied career with the Magenta Troup – as noted before, it was his win 11 years ago in the same race that announced his arrival on the pro scene. But isolated at the end of the race and left to his own devices, the race underscored once again the lack of confidence T-Mobile management had in the aging former world number one rider. And it was precisely this lack of confidence that led Zabel to reject the retirement plan offered by T-Mobile – one more year racing, then a job in the PR-section – and instead for the first time, switch to a new racing stable.
Next season will see the answer to a lot of questions for a number of different teams. Most immediate for Milram will of course be if Zabel still has any gas left in the tank. And similarly, can Zabel and co-captain Alessandro Pettachi share the leadership duties. A first clash of egos could come as soon as the opening of the Classics season with Milan-San Remo – will the squad be solidly behind defending champ Pettachi or bet on four-time winner Zabel? The combination of seasoned Italian coach Ferretti and a German head sponsor will also help to muddy the waters. It seems a certainty that Zabel is still not ready to concede that his days of winning the best races – against the best fields – are over, but will he check his own ambitions in races like San Remo in exchange for unqualified support in the other Classics?
A different sort of challenge faces the remains of T-Mobile. With the departures of Zabel and Alexandre Vinokourov, for the first time in his career, Jan Ullrich will start the 2006 season as the sole captain of the top German squad (in their eyes, at least). Although Jan has been the de facto captain since 1997, in every previous season the pressures to win have been lessened by the presence in the squad of riders like Zabel, and Vinokourov – and nice “surprises” like impressive seasons from Andreas Klöden or Steffan Weseman. Absent a similar surprise from one of their erstwhile support riders, Ullrich will have the entire hopes and ambitions of the team, its sponsors, and fans (and critics) squarely on his own shoulders. And if there is one thing the last decade has shown us, its that Ullrich doesn’t exactly respond well to pressure.
It is his squad now – in addition to the departure of the other top riders, his own manager Rudy Pevenage has been rehabilitated with the retirement of former colleague Walter Goodefroot, and will be driving the team car in 2006. Oh yeah, and Lance retired, too, so it is finally time for Ullrich to confirm his 1997 win and prove he really is best of the rest.
Speaking of the Texan, his departure leaves another huge void at Team Discovery Channel, but I’ll discuss that in the next posting.
Erik Zabel’s win brings a bittersweet end to his storied career with the Magenta Troup – as noted before, it was his win 11 years ago in the same race that announced his arrival on the pro scene. But isolated at the end of the race and left to his own devices, the race underscored once again the lack of confidence T-Mobile management had in the aging former world number one rider. And it was precisely this lack of confidence that led Zabel to reject the retirement plan offered by T-Mobile – one more year racing, then a job in the PR-section – and instead for the first time, switch to a new racing stable.
Next season will see the answer to a lot of questions for a number of different teams. Most immediate for Milram will of course be if Zabel still has any gas left in the tank. And similarly, can Zabel and co-captain Alessandro Pettachi share the leadership duties. A first clash of egos could come as soon as the opening of the Classics season with Milan-San Remo – will the squad be solidly behind defending champ Pettachi or bet on four-time winner Zabel? The combination of seasoned Italian coach Ferretti and a German head sponsor will also help to muddy the waters. It seems a certainty that Zabel is still not ready to concede that his days of winning the best races – against the best fields – are over, but will he check his own ambitions in races like San Remo in exchange for unqualified support in the other Classics?
A different sort of challenge faces the remains of T-Mobile. With the departures of Zabel and Alexandre Vinokourov, for the first time in his career, Jan Ullrich will start the 2006 season as the sole captain of the top German squad (in their eyes, at least). Although Jan has been the de facto captain since 1997, in every previous season the pressures to win have been lessened by the presence in the squad of riders like Zabel, and Vinokourov – and nice “surprises” like impressive seasons from Andreas Klöden or Steffan Weseman. Absent a similar surprise from one of their erstwhile support riders, Ullrich will have the entire hopes and ambitions of the team, its sponsors, and fans (and critics) squarely on his own shoulders. And if there is one thing the last decade has shown us, its that Ullrich doesn’t exactly respond well to pressure.
It is his squad now – in addition to the departure of the other top riders, his own manager Rudy Pevenage has been rehabilitated with the retirement of former colleague Walter Goodefroot, and will be driving the team car in 2006. Oh yeah, and Lance retired, too, so it is finally time for Ullrich to confirm his 1997 win and prove he really is best of the rest.
Speaking of the Texan, his departure leaves another huge void at Team Discovery Channel, but I’ll discuss that in the next posting.
Comments:
<< Home
Comprehensive articles in November's Cyclesport regarding Jan, T-Moile and even some on Zabel
# posted by 
: 3:37 PM
: 3:37 PM
Hmmm. Wonder if that's a Freudian-typo. Can you seriously imagine a squad like T-mohelim? I mean, if the Vatican can sponsor a team, why not rabbis performing a circumcision?
Post a Comment
<< Home
