tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500968037344704527.post5861380195225059975..comments2023-10-11T03:51:05.438-07:00Comments on The CaliRado Cyclist: 2010 Pro Tour Team Preview: G-SCaliRado Cyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02228453234910383998noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500968037344704527.post-40926588918385101382010-01-14T18:55:57.289-08:002010-01-14T18:55:57.289-08:00I think you're on to something Sebastian. Eve...I think you're on to something Sebastian. Ever since ASO started deciding who they would or would not invite to their races, and the UCI just let them refuse dues-paying Pro Tour teams, the whole system basically fell apart. The main reason they went with the different licenses was to guarantee Pro Tour team sponsors that their jerseys would be in the biggest, best races. <br /><br />But now that everything with the UCI is so sketchy and flimsy, there is really no concrete reason to go Pro Tour when you can just hire individual riders (like Evans, Sastre, Hincapie, Hushovd, etc) and bank on wild card bids as a Continental team without having to pay Pro Tour dues.<br /><br />As with many business models these days, the trend seems to be more autonomy and more creative organizational structures. Cervelo really paved the way with that last year. The old models don't work anymore, whether it is a "real" business or a bike racing team. <br /><br />And yes..the UCI is obviously a little slow on the draw. Yeah...CaliRado Cyclisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02228453234910383998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500968037344704527.post-39845178753397892492010-01-13T12:30:52.510-08:002010-01-13T12:30:52.510-08:00I inclination not agree on it. I think precise pos...I inclination not agree on it. I think precise post. Particularly the designation attracted me to be familiar with the unscathed story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500968037344704527.post-12019723510205445662010-01-13T11:16:56.814-08:002010-01-13T11:16:56.814-08:00Reading your team run-down made me realize how man...Reading your team run-down made me realize how many powerful (at least on paper) teams there actualy are outside the ProTour, or the World Calendar, or whatever it is now: Cervelo, Radio Shack, Sky, BMC, Skil-Shimano . . . All of these seem far worthier of a Tour invitation than Euskatel, or Milram, or FDJeux, or that team whose outfit is now so deeply offensive that its name cannot be mentioned in polite society. Anyway, I wonder if this development reflects the fact that the World Calendar system is too slow to respond to the way teams change, grow, diminish, form etc. Or if it actually represents an exodus from the World Calendar / Protour system -- a desire by top teams and riders to operate outside those strictures (for whatever reason).Sebastiannoreply@blogger.com