Linus Out - Monfort In
by Jens on Oct 29, 2008 6:25 AM EDT
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Linus Gerdemann has finally been released from Columbia and will instead ride for Milram next year. This was confirmed today at the same time as Columbia announced that they have signed Maxime Monfort from the downscaling Cofidis. For Columbia this means they are swapping one promising young stageracer for another and also severing yet another link to their german past.
This is the second time in his short career that Gerdemann has jumped teams before the end of his contract in order to ride on a german team. As the dominating presence of Cavendish on Columbia casts doubts on their commitment to GC-competitiveness the move seems a smart one for a rider with Tour-ambitions but it also leaves Gerdemann with a bit of a reputation as a golddigger. His penchant for Gucci-luggage also does little to negate that stereotype.
None the less, as long as Columbia where handsomely rewarded for releasing Linus, this looks like a win-win situation for everyone. With Monfort and Lövkvist on their roster Columbia certainly aren't lacking in stagerace-talent, eventhough neither of them are as charismatic (or promising) as Gerdemann
Source. Radsport-News
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Win-win, yes
I was wondering why Monfort was still on Cofidis and, yeah, Columbia probably earned some coin in these two transactions. Now let’s see what a healthy Linus can do- but does he have enough support? I am asking cause I don’t know…
Milram has signed some decent talent from Gerolsteiner
so he should be well looked after. If he has the qualities to do well over three weeks? I’m not so sure.
BTW Ursula, could you email me at the adress in my profile? I’d like to coordinate som statistics nonsense with you.
Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets
Not sure about three weeks
I’m not convinced he’s a rider for three weeks either. But he should have a free hand in the races he wants to ride, so probably in that respect a good transfer.
Regardless of it being a German team
Milram is NOT Columbia. It also shows a complete lack of the ability to commit. He left the best team in the world for Columbia and now this? I hope Bob raked Milram over the coals on this one and made them pay big time.
If I just had one more gear, I...
But maybe good to be a big fish in a smaller pond?
Like Ursula, not sure about the depth of support he’ll get, but he’ll certainly have more of the team at his disposal in stage races that Cav would also have been at. I think it cuts both ways.
I think it's more about nationality
His German heritage seem very important to him and with Columbia’s transformation into an American team Linus didn’t have much of a choice.
It does, doesn't it
He really does seem to want to ride for a German team. Or, follow the biggest salary he can possibly score. I’m not sure which.
I always chose to see people from their best sides ^^
Unless it’s Cadel, who(m?) I dislike with a passion.
Gavia help me, My bike's been delayed.
The Italians are not sticking to their deadlines. I want to cry :-(
Perhaps we could write them a letter at little like the Pinarello one….? It’s so not fair.
Awww :-(
You could definitely write them a letter. Maybe it would help.
Patience is so hard where new bikes are involved :-(
The week after next at the earliest. I'm in such a bad mood.
I don’t want to ride my old one anymore. I want the cute little Bianchi. Plus, if CycleGirl’s new bike comes before mine, I lose our little bet. Boooo hooo hooo.
Excellent move.
If Linus were to have any GC aspirations in the Tour for Columbia, it was going to be an extremely complicated situation. Of course, Cav was going to need some guys to break wind for him, but then then what about the other GC guys – Kim Kirchen, Mick Rogers, and even Lovkvist? Far too many cooks in the kitchen. Smart move for Linus.
Gerdemann may not be ready to contend for the GC this year, but by 2010 he should. For a more in-depth analysis check out my article on The Virtual Musette, which can be found here. (I know I’ve linked to it before in another thread, but it was buried amongst 200 other posts.)
That must be the pinnacle of laziness
needing other people for breaking wind… what a stinky job that must be by the way.
Yeah,
there was supposed to be a “the” between “break wind.” I don’t suppose there are too many pro cyclists who need help farting.
by The Team Chef on Oct 29, 2008 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Oops.
Forgot to add the NOT SAFE FOR WORK disclaimer.
by The Team Chef on Oct 29, 2008 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions
That should be first. I got the security warning.... again.
I so should maybe someday concern myself with who sees thoughs. LOL :-)
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
You think that's tough
would you rather be the guy sitting in tight behind him?
Milram
will be a much more all around team next year. They still have some sprinting power in Forster and Ciolek(most likely) and they will also have some good one day racers, especially Wegmann. Now they also have a rider who can go for the overall gc and they will have some helpers in Rohregger and M. Fothen. I’m excited to see what Milram can do next year and i’m excited to see what Linus can do if he stays healthy. I also think that this was a good deal for both sides as Columbia knew they wouldn’t be able to re-sign Linus after next year so they save some money now and Linus gets to go to the German team, were he seems to feel the most comfortable.
Endlich
I’ve been all over Milram the last couple years for putting together a ridiculous team that seemed constructed specifically to achieve total irrelevance. But the crop of kids this year made me think someone there knows something. Now, with money, roster flexibility, and a G-8 nation all to itself, they appear to be getting serious and smart all at once. Bears watching…
CQRanking.com, you complete me.
by Chris Fontecchio on Oct 29, 2008 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm looking forward to Milram next year
I’ll support Linus as well. He was on my VDS this year I was very disappointed with his early season injury. I love watching him ride.
Remember what the dormouse said, "Feed Your Head, Feed Your Head." ~ Grace Slick
Ciolek transfer to Milram also complete
story at the Milram website. I have to always remind myself not to look at those damn recipes. That is the most tasty cycling website you can possibly have, always makes me really hungry.
Yum.
Funny how they all contain Milram products. I don’t think i’ve ever seen a Milram product in the flesh….perhaps Aldi sells them.
Well no, I can't prove it
but I don’t really see the purpose of lying about my time in the Milram matching game :-)
I'm getting worse rather then better :-(
I’ll have another assault on your time later! What’s Petacchi still doing on there anyway?!
He must have the record time in the game
or Milram is in denial that they sacked him, seeing that he got them practically all their wins the last few years.
Damn - I was so close.
I got 17 seconds on 3rd try but will admit 2 hit were matches with out trying at all so that helped.
I might have to keep that link handy. Keeping your memory in check is a good thing so it could be argued as helping with long-term productivity. I see this as being one fun afternoon filled Milram matching tomorrow when most leave early to get home for the trick or treaters.
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
I would try again to beat Phil...
….but I’ve just had a wee bit too much red wine to be all that accurate with my clicking! It could be a good brain warm up at the start of a working day I feel….
I can't match my score tonight.
More fun for tomorrow afternoon for sure!!!
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
What is
a FrühlingsQuark?
Remember what the dormouse said, "Feed Your Head, Feed Your Head." ~ Grace Slick
Hmm, well Fruhling=spring,
Quark…that’s some sort of particle is it not? Sciencey types will help me out here. Makes no sense at all but no doubt it tastes nice.
Quark is tough to explain in English
as it doesn’t really exist in the US( not sure about Britain) but I wouldn,t really call it cottage cheese. I don’t know of a type of cheese in English that could be called Quark. But for all those who are obsessed about Quark, and who’s not, here’s the wiki page on it
I hope Gerdemann does the Giro next year.
Hearing the RAI commentators call him Lee-noose never gets old :-)
If you'd like to hear them again
then check out the last few kilometers from Eroica on Daily Motion. Go to the finish to hear them say Lee-noose Gerrrrrdemann, they make it sound so much better than it does in Deutsch.
fantastico!
thanks for the link.
You’re right, the Lee-noos Gerrrrrdemann combo is awesome.
by Susie Hartigan on Oct 30, 2008 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah it's a great combo
and I hope he rides the Giro next year too, it would be awesome to hear the Lee-noos Gerrrrdemann combo for 21 stages. I would listen to the RAI stream just for that, and I don’t even speak Italian.
If you watch RAI
for 21 stages, you will speak Italian before you know it :-)
I like what they do with Zahbreeeskeee, too.
I might just start to learn it, wouldn't I
I also might start to learn it while reading all the rumors on the Circloweb Giro route rumor forum, I look into that thing everyday to see if there’s anything knew. The only problem is that Google translator is so bad that it is tough to learn what the Italian words mean.
Listening to RAI while watching the Giro
is a great way to learn Italian. Of course, your vocabulary will center around words like corridore (racer), scalatore (climber), traguardo (finish line), and my personal favorite, brutta caduta (nasty crash), but hey, what more do you really need to know?
by Susie Hartigan on Oct 31, 2008 12:55 AM EDT up reply actions
lol, totally
And when Bulba and Cassani get really excited, you won’t really understand anything except that the bike race just got really really really good :-)
@Phil H: Forums are always hard to read, so I’m not surprised the Googler can’t really do it. Native speakers abbreviate and leave stuff out and it can be hard to follow. Tuttobiciweb.it is a good place to go, if you want to start learning – they write very plain, to the point Italian. Gazzetta sometimes gets flourishy, which makes it more complex, though not by much. News presenters are the easiest to understand in any language – they usually speak a very clear straightforward version of the language. Interviews, gah, the devil. There are a few Italian riders that I still struggle to understand – spoken Italian can be difficult because there are a lot of regional variations.
It’s not a hugely hard language to learn as these things go. A grammar book for the verb forms is pretty key, though, since it retains the latin habit of dropping subject pronouns.
I think I might start to pick up Italian
I find it to be such a beautiful language. If genes run in the family then it shouldn’t be to tough for me to learn a new language, as both my parents are translators and very language gifted.
If you have a knack for languages
you shouldn’t have too much trouble. I just sorta learned it by osmosis. It quickly became my fave :-)
The main thing is sorting out the verbs. Otherwise, not too hard.
Sheesh.
I’ll board a plane to Switzerland this very afternoon, remembering not to carry my scissors in hand luggage.
This is definitely an emergency, he really needs our help
the have fashion, will travel group is ready to go
Always on standby for such occasions.
I’ll be at City Airport in 10 minutes flat. Now where exactly is the Leenoos Pad?
Yes, much better.
Good thing, too. Columbia needed extra points in the hair category—they’re still trying to overcome Hincapie’s past:
Speaking of fashion
Thanks for the info.
Learning Dutch is on my to-do list. I already know the important bits: fiets, wielrennen, Ewoud Broeksma, wielerploeg, Er is niets mis met mijn bloedwaarden…
I think the apostrophe, like in english, is for missing letters
photgraphs (or something like) —→ photo’s (they just remember that there are letter’s left out!). In some older english texts I’ve seen ’bus for “autobus,” only now we just use “bus” (no apostrophe).
words usually pluralize with -s or -en (fiets / fietsen)
Dolphin security.
Can’t let them near the real dolphins until you see what they do to the plastic ones.
ROFL and spitting out water all over computer keyboard.
That poor thing gets a lot of abuse reading these threads.
I think Chris should invest in some keyboard dryers for us next year. :-)
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
That person melted the keys...
Ummmm…. try not to get it so close? Ouch.
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
Yeah! What a tool.
Everyone knows you should use your creme brulee-torch for that kind of stuff.
Carlos Sastre - Tour de France winner - Born From Jets
Jens is so good to bring us back to the desserts.
"The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed."
Stuff the races next year
I’m going to curacao …… LOL..
Frank is single, and i’m sure i would have been better company then the plastic dolphin he was playing with :-)
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