"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Bjarne Riis genius or miracle worker?

What is it with this guy?
Is he an expert motivator?
has an expert eye for picking out non performers
who he knows he can do better?
He resurrects careers better than any other DS that I know.
examples? Tyler Hamilton, Bobby Julich are the two that come
to mind the most.
I'm thinking that it won't be long till CSC takes the final
podium on the Champs Elysees.

Marty

i'm thinking you're right. and i think it's "all of the above."

the thing that i find most impressive is the way his riders want to work for him. he's probably as much of a hardass as saiz, but he does motivate his troops positively. the neat thing about csc is that there are relatively few big marquee stars on the team, if any, but the team has incredible depth. any rider on the team could, conceivably, win just about any race with the right support -- and he always gets his support. jan should've gone with csc. he's have won two more tours by now.

or he's Mr. 60%... :eek:

Riis is known to apply unconventional (for the peloton, that is) team building methods. CSC go on 'survival camps', 'military training', etc. Maybe that pays off.

Other than that, I would say that he has quite a good hand at contracting riders.

I like his attacking style. Unfortunately, in last year's Tour de France there were moments where the CSC squadra was focusing a bit to hard on consolidating Basso's 2nd spot, rather than attempting to 'break open' the race.

I really think Ullrich would have benefitted from Riis' hardass approach and those survival-training camps.

"Put down that pastry this instant! Drop and give me 20!"

Chemistry is a funny thing. What would work for some, won't work for others.

On a local level, I'm reminded of Alexi Grewal and Len Pettyjohn in the Coors Lite days.
Alexi didn't click with some of his Director Sportiff's. He did with Len.

Chemistry is a funny thing. What would work for some, won't work for others.

On a local level, I'm reminded of Alexi Grewal and Len Pettyjohn in the Coors Lite days.
Alexi didn't click with some of his Director Sportiff's. He did with Len.

Alexi didn't click with anyone. I've heard he was a real pita to deal with
(from a builder at Serotta who built the team bikes).

Marty

Bjarne is my hero. Seems like a class act. Jullich is up there too. Did you see his post win interview at Paris-Nice? Being thankful for Jens, speaking eloquently and humbly. Jens Voight is a beast (if you look closely at my avatar, that's him behind Lance on Brasstown Bald.) Anyway, back to topic: Bjarne has got to be doing a lot of things right. His team fires on all cylinders from the beginning of the season to the end of the TDF. Pretty impressive.

Chemistry is a funny thing.

Er, given some of the past allegations surrounding Riis, that could be taken two ways ;-)

I think he can get Basso to the top of the podium this year, so long as everybody on the team is riding for Basso. That means no breakaways from Voigt, Piil, Sastre, or Julich. Can you imagine all of those riders working for one guy? They could definitely toe the line with Discovery.

I think Zabriskie is a great addition too. Don't know if Bjarne intends to use David at the Tour, but if so, then I think he's a perfect fit to counter Discovery's strategy of tempo riding everyone into the ground at the base of the mountains, get Lance up the side, and have Lance close it out. I can't imagine anyone tempo riding any of those guys from CSC out of their legs.

I'm rooting for Basso for the confirmation of CSC's greatness as much as anything else, though I like Basso too.

Sorry. Gotta disagree. While you may be right that Alexi didn't click with MANY, he did with Pettyjohn. Know for a fact.

Riis Rocks and thats that....

Apparently he's also really laid back and easygoing. I remember Tyler Hamilton saying that when you talk to Riis on the phone it sounds like there's nobody there.

here ya go:

http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/7702.0.html

or he's Mr. 60%... :eek:
Exactly. Ever since the 1996 TdF I have no respect for Riis at all.

He did miracles for Hamilton? Well, we know the trouble Hamilton is in :rolleyes:
Julich? Last time he was great was with Cofidis (Cofidis: alarm bells ring!). Then he was invisible until he moved to CSC :rolleyes:

He did miracles for Hamilton? Well, we know the trouble Hamilton is in
Julich? Last time he was great was with Cofidis (Cofidis: alarm bells ring!). Then he was invisible until he moved to CSC
Let's assume Riis has these riders doping. Is that it? Is this why Julich is on top of his game? I'm just a hayseed when it comes to doping, but I don't understand how it can make that much difference.

Then again, I genuinely believe steroids make 25-30 homerun hitters annual locks for 50+ dingers.

Lets say I get suspicious when a rider who had "doping" written all over him becomes a team manager and all over sudden performes miracles with his riders. Reminds me of Gewiss in the early 90's (Colombo, Berzin, etc.) and Cofidis in the late 90's (vdBroecke, Rinero, Julich, Casagrande).

Rinero was suspicious,the guy has done nothing since 1998 of note. Casagrande at least has had some success.

Let's assume Riis has these riders doping. Is that it? Is this why Julich is on top of his game? I'm just a hayseed when it comes to doping, but I don't understand how it can make that much difference.


Drugs can be huge for endurance cycling.
But I'm sure most other teams are using the same things. Riis probably knows how to do it most effectively - along with most effective tactics, morale building, etc. Like Discovery, I'd say they are the most 'professional' teams.

I think CSC's relatively small budget forces him to be creative, which is part of the equation. You'd think such a huge company (worldwide presence, 90,000 employees, etc) would have a bigger budget.

Basso rules!