The new mega-bucks super squad, Team Sky, had their team presentation Monday. It looked to be the typically exciting affair with skinny, lycra clad guys standing around on stage answering questions about how their team is so much better than the other skinny teams that are standing around stages around the world answering questions while dressed in lycra.
The evenings activities did give us the opportunity to see Team Sky's new kit. Initial photos indicated a very understated kit black kit with a blue chest stripe emblazoned with the word SKY. Nice, simple and actually a little too boring for me, which is hard to do. Maybe some small pinstriping in an accent color would have been nice to make the blue stripe stand out but it did not look awful. The jerseys benefits by having one major sponsor. The design is not bogged down with ten different company names cluttering up the jersey. And, ten bonus points for wearing black shorts. The most unique feature is having the riders name on the side panel of the jersey.
Those were my first impressions of the jersey. Then I saw the back of the jersey and, frankly, I am puzzled. First, the title sponsor is a tiny little logo. Brilliant marketing. Second is an full length, inch wide blue stripe running down the spine of the rider. The stripe is not a terribly offensive feature but it is rather contradictory to the horizontal stripe across the front of the jersey. And the third most puzzling feature on the back of the jersey is a giant, white, lightbulb shaped blob covering much of the back. What is that? Why?
I'm also a little disturbed by Team Sky's decision to use Jaguar's for team cars. Jaguar's are fine cars but a little over the top for a team car. Using Jaguars takes Team Sky dangerously close to Rock Racing use of Hummers for team cars and being associated with Rock Racing has not been something many people seek.
Let me correct that statement, Rock has been a refuge for dopers and ex-dopers. Hamilton, Sevilla, Botero, Leogrande and Mancebo. Mancebo wasn't caught but was so scared of Puerto he immediately "retired" until Rock came knocking.
Rock also has a penchant for going after aging Italian stars. Cipollini was signed a couple years ago and now Rock is reportedly at the top of nearly retired, Gilberto Simoni's list of teams... provided Rock actually gets licensed as a Pro Continental team. That's a big IF, given their track record but the I give them credit for sticking with the sport despite their own missteps, gaffes and the recession which has reportedly hit the company hard. Actually Simoni and Rock actually makes a little now that I think about it. Not is only is Gilberto an over the hill Italian climber but he, or his mother, can supply the team with cocaine tainted candy. Excellent!
Speaking of climbers, one hit wonder Jose Rujano claims that he is back and will win the Giro. This prediction flies in the face of the fact that Rujano has had no success as a cyclist for the last four years. He figures he can win because he is one of the three best climbers in the world. And he is modest, too.
Who are the two better climbers according to Rujano? Alberto Contador. That makes sense. And #2 is Joaquin Rodridguez. Excuse me, Joaquin Rodriguez? Me thinks Jose has been chewing on some of Simoni's Colombian coke candy.
Rujano's logic is that Armstrong and A. Schleck are not natural climbers. Okay, I guess he defines a climber as a guy capable of repeated quick accelerations of speed up the mountain. Frankly, I consider a good climber as being someone who gets to the top of the mountain ahead of the others. And, on that count, I can list a bunch of people better than Rujano.
By his definition, he MAY be right. Right off the top of my head, I would list Ricco as a better climber, too. Oh sure, he was on the juice. But, for all we know, so was Rujano. I will have to give some more thought about current climbers and see what I come up with.
