Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race was a sublime example of how to win a bike race, with victory snaffled by the inimitable Philippe Gilbert, so ably supported by rest of the BMC Racing Team roster present on the day.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in a nondescript hotel room and listened to the team manager lay out his plans for the following day, bored half senseless because I know, like everyone else in the room, that in bike racing 99 per cent of plans get cast aside almost as soon as the action starts.
Yet here was a victory so beautifully orchestrated that it seemed Gilbert himself had written the script.
Early break goes off up the road – check.
Teammates control gap with relative ease – check.
Team leads captain into perfect position for final climb – check.
Teammate offers self up for sacrifice with hard attack at start of climb – check.
Team leader then smashes it, opens gap, looks imperious while doing it, wins race – check!
Of course, you need a Gilbert to be sure that this kind of victory is achieved, but it was the tireless work of Michael Schar, who pulled the peloton along for dozens of kilometres when no one else would work, that laid the foundation of the win.
Gilbert then demanded his teammates get him into the top six by the bottom of the Cauberg, which they did. Samuel Sanchez put in an attack that had his tongue trying to escape his mouth, forcing the others to play their hands early. Simon Gerrans and Michel Kwiatkowski set off on the left, only for Gilbert to hammer up the right.
Up, off and away. Three wins here now, four if you count his World Championships, and it looks like they may have to rename the Cauberg the ‘Philberg’.
One could say it’s about time, because BMC have been kind of pants for a while now. Any team with Cadel Evans, Gilbert, Tejay van Garderen, Taylor Phinney, Thor Hushovd and Sammy Sanchez in it should have been winning a lot more. But better late than never.
Gerrans, who came third, can ride a bike a bit, no doubt (though I am sorry my Aussie friends, but his national champs jersey is one of the naffest among the nations – a re-design is sorely required). It’s unfair to criticise him for not beating Gilbert, because there is no one in the world who can live with the Belgian on this terrain and in this form.
However, it is possible to criticise his team. Orica-GreenEDGE just has too many Aussies in it.
Before the blood starts to boil and you head to the comments section to tear me a new one, let’s look at other teams.
OmegaPharma-QuickStep have 13 Belgians in a roster of 30. Team Sky have 8 Brits in a roster of 29. BMC have three Swiss guys out of 30. Giant-Shimano have 8 guys from the Netherlands out of 30.
That OPQS have 13 Belgians is very telling. There are enough good Belgians out there without pro contracts to fill three new World Tour teams, or, at the very least, to take the place of many a non-Belgian on the existing squads. OPQS though are looking not primarily for Belgians but for kick-ass bike riders of any nationality.
This is, after all, business.
Orica-GreenEDGE have 13 Australians out of a roster of just 25. The foreign riders they have are not exactly at the height of their powers, which makes the team, on paper, look a little lacking in the firepower required to win races through teamwork.
Gerrans is world class for sure. He’s the number one guy. Simon Clarke is very, very good and can get better. After that though, you are looking at a few guys who have yet to fulfil early promise and, beyond that, slim pickings.
That Orica-GreenEDGE is working to bring on new talent is to be applauded, but very good and experienced non-Australians could help them win more in the short term and help educate the up-and-coming Aussies.
Sky is a very ‘British’ team, most would agree, yet there are few actual Brits on the squad.
You can have your national identity, but without guys who can win, it doesn’t mean much. Gerrans can win a handful each year because he is a phenomenal rider, and Clarke can chip in too, but it’s time for the OGE management to look abroad for some certified talent that will, in the long run, allow them to achieve their goals in full.
Eiger Enola
Guest
Of Lancaster, Cam Meyer, Howson, Howard, Durbridge, Goss, Hayman, Hepburn, Matthews, Docker, Clarke, Gerrans I would argue the only underachiever would be Matt Goss who appears to have got progressively worse in his time at OGE. For this reason I havn't seen the Aussie quota as a problem. I feel with Ewan coming next year more eggs should be placed in Matthews basket over the next couple of years in the big tours and perhaps Goss should be cast aside to another team so he can refind his mojo. ... hopefully they've cleaned out their roster so that they can bring Porte and some GC lieutenants across ASAP.
Tony
Guest
We now have an Aussie team represented by a majority of Australians. Let us be proud of their achievements in the short time Australia has been racing in the classis.Simon's place in the Amstel Gold was fantastic against top class riders. We have some excellent juniors coming through the ranks. Well done OGE on your helmets which stand out from the crowd.
Francis Curro
Roar Pro
I think we need to be made up of a few Aussies. We need some GC riders. In order to get our name out we need to get riders who can actually win the tour, take a risk OGE.
Bobo
Guest
I was looking for something more constructive - a suggested alternative. Green and gold are not easy to work with. The yellow sleevs were added in 2003? (from memory) on Stuart O'Grady's jersey - the McEwen champs jersey from the year before did not have the yellow sleeves, iirc, but was considered too close [identical] to the national team jersey. Yes, it's an old school design, but so is Britain's, so is Belgium's, Spain's, France's, Netherlands'. etc. I think it's awful, but it's hard to work with those colours, and it clearly beats the USA in last place.
Dorothy
Guest
I agree with Geoff - it's Aussie pride because at last we have an Aussie team with Aussie riders. They'll learn - remember the start of last year's Tour? I still have it on my video machine as a reminder of how great it is to see Aussies on the podium!!
geoff
Guest
The team was and still is mostly funded by one passionate cycling fan who wants to see the dream of an Australia cycling team. This was not a business for him but a fulfilment of a vision, yes it needs to be financially viable but that is not the purpose of the team. Aussies riding for an Australian leaders Australian victories instead of riding against each other for international leaders.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Personally, as much as BMC Racing played the race masterfully and did not underachieve for once, can there be questions asked of the response of the other favourites to Sammy Sanchez's spoiling attack? Michal Kwiatkowski is young and so falls for the bait and once a favourite that strong responds you feel that Valverde and Gerrans are almost required to follow the young Pole's actions. Yet you get the feeling that a Cancellara would have risked losing the race in his interests of winning the race, knowing that Sanchez's attack was possibly a concerted effort to soften everyone up before Gilbert's all-in attack came.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
It helps that even before Euskaltel's collapse as a cycling team Movistar, and others, could often poach any existing or upcoming talent they wanted from Euskaltel due to having a larger budget to offer higher wages. Obviously it happens to the lower tier Spanish teams too, and has repeatedly happened to Caja Rural until last year's glut of riders searching for contracts allowed them to consolidate and improve for once. Going to be interesting to see how the pool of Spanish cyclists is affected by the rough economic times, it is affecting the nation's grassroots development. So I was really grateful to see the continental Euskadi team survive against all the odds. However, at Spain's best it is obviously currently easier to make a deep highly competitive World Tour team of Spaniards than it is Polish (though that is changing).
Tim Renowden
Expert
True, it was a buyer's market this year, but that was an exceptional year with teams folding. For every multinational team there is one dominated by its 'home' nation: AG2R, Cannondale, Movistar all have a similar proportion of their respective nationalities to OGE. I suppose it's horses for courses but when you've got a limited budget and a mandate to develop cycling in your home country (tied to support from home federation and links to sports institutes etc) you've got limited options.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
On the flipside Garmin, Lotto Belisol, and Movistar have never been the wealthiest of teams compared to Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, Sky and BMC. Not to mention that the collapse of Euskaltel Euskadi, Sojasun, Vansoleil - DCM and others last year made the contract season very much a buyer's market. Many riders took paycuts to ensure they got a new contract, just look at the paycut Thomas De Gendt took with his move to OPQS, or ended up reviving their career with very late deals in the case of Sammy Sanchez. One must also consider the tax situation some of these teams face as well. As a generalisation, French teams can have a particularly hard time of it due to having to pay a rider more money pre-tax to match the same after tax income of a rider contracted to, as an example, Team Sky.
Matthew Boulden
Roar Guru
Actually you were kind of correct the first time round Lee. While BMC Racing are American registered they are Swiss backed ultimately, and from what I have heard the owner likes to have some at least some sort of Swiss presence in its roster. BMC cannot really be called a Swiss team, but BMC as a sponsor still have desires or demands. These days there are a few handy riders of Swiss nationality, tossing aside Cancellara from that equation.
Tim Renowden
Expert
Can OGE afford more big name international riders? They don't have the budget of OPQS, Sky or BMC!
Sean Lee
Expert
It is toilet house Bobo, simple as that!
Bobo
Guest
I want hear your ideas on the Aussie Champs jersey.
jose tavares
Guest
Winning is not everything. You forgot about the guys from Orica that fight in the classics and in Giro. Team union, image, and the enjoy of the thing by them all is a lot important too... I see Orica as a really equilibrated in many aspects.
Lee Rodgers
Expert
Quite right Mark, my mistake! I blame the Amstel beer ;-)
Aljay
Guest
I think there is possibly some truth in this, but when Greenedge started it sought and received a nationalistic boost by being the "Aussie" team which helped establish its identity and support back home. This would have been a very valid criticism 2 years ago when they reportedly turned down Mark Cavendish because of his nationality, but now there is enough progression outwards, inwards and upwards to show they are on the right path. Outgoings of guys that might not have been up to it like Travis Meyer and Sulzberger or retirees like McEwan and O'grady; incomings like the Yates brothers or and guys moving upwards in the world like Durbridge, Matthews and Hepburn. They seem to be sorting the more talented Aussies from just the blokes with a blue passport. It is also worth pointing out the Aussies that have come in have done well like Matt Hayman, or have bucket loads of potential like Caleb Ewan. It is also telling that there are well performing up and comers they have missed out on like Rohan Dennis. I'd love to see an article on Drapacs' first year, possibly including why their fixture list has been a little disappointing?
Mark
Guest
BMC is an American team, not Swiss.