A Tribute to.. er.. Team Milram
by milram- on Oct 21, 2010 6:13 PM EDT
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After five seasons of not winning very much (well apart from multiple stages of the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt) very few will bat an eyelid, never mind shed a tear, at the passing of the Milram team. However for one cycling fan (that fan being me) the demise of the Dortmund based team signifies the end of an era and leaves me at a bit of a loss as to what to do next when it comes to trying to follow a sport which I enjoy so much.
Having only really discovered and fallen in love with road racing in 2005/06 at the same time as Team Milram formed with Alessandro Pettachi and Erik Zabel leading the charge, I admit that I became a bit enamoured with the promise of following a new and succesful team who would clean up at every sprint. For me it was a means to learning more about the sport. However a serious injury to Pettachi and an ageing Zabel meant that success was very limited (a common theme throughout the last 5 years when it came to Milram)
By then however I was hooked on Milram; for me though it was no longer about rooting for the team to win big events and prizes, I found myself more interested in the form of the likes of Alberto Ongarato, Bjorn Schroeder and Marcus Eichler, I was delighted as Andryi Gryvko won the Ukranian Championships ITT and I flipped when Pettachi won Paris-Tours. For many following the sport, cycling is about following individual riders and appreciating the brilliant individual rides which win monuments and grand tours; I embraced an almost football supporter-like mentatility to it all - if they aren't wearing a Milram jersey then I didn't want to know.
Milram may not have cleaned up in the manner that Quick Step and Columbia have over the last few years, however I have enjoyed the ride. Talented riders like Terpstra, Knees, Velits and Visconti have been fun to watch. Issues surrounding Pettachi, Stanga and Astarloa were low points. Personally, the less said about Gerdemann, Ciolek and Wegmann the better.
I guess following the sport will be less frustrating and less heartbreaking when you're not so emotionally invested in a team but I guess it's time to moo-ve on.
Photo: Jasper Juinen, Getty.
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"condolences"
it always sucks to see a team disappear. especially one with such cool jerseys.
"Ants don’t worry, they operate like a fantastic team, they accept obstacles and deal with them in a positive manner, they don’t complain and remain positive. An ant doesn’t work on emotion, is proactive and always chooses the ant role."
+1
I will miss the blue cow jerseys. And the yearly team presentation where all the riders would smile unconvincingly while eating and drinking the sponsor’s products.
I am not afraid of guys who are too pussy to wax.--tedvdw
And Gerard Ciolek doing cookery demonstrations
in Milram Blue pants?
Do you know, I'd almost forgotten that...
Hope he has many exciting adventures at Quick Step.
I am not afraid of guys who are too pussy to wax.--tedvdw
I don't know . . .
by any objective measure, Milram sucked and underperformed.
The cool thing about cycling is that teams like the Los Angeles Clippers disappear.
especially one with such cool jerseys.
Black instead of powder blue would have been far cooler! ;)
moo
Aaaaaaah! There's a little crack in his head! Doodsmak????
I love your gingerbread men so much.
I am not afraid of guys who are too pussy to wax.--tedvdw
NetAPP's plan to become a top team
appears very admirable and hopefully they will succeed. However the team must probably show better success in 2011 to keep the ProTour plan alive.
Just know that...
the Mooo will live on, here at the Cafe.
"It's a lovely thing, feeling that momentum. If you're lucky, it's also about grace." Tim Winton
alt titles
my new hobby.
"is "il re di stile" correct, or are the Google Translate gnomes drunk again?" - Majope
by Chris Fontecchio on Oct 21, 2010 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions
May they win one
go out in stylez
"is "il re di stile" correct, or are the Google Translate gnomes drunk again?" - Majope
by Chris Fontecchio on Oct 21, 2010 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions
We so need Albertina's After Pic here... another great MILRAM memory
"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"
Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009
Oops After Party Pic
"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"
Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009
I don't know why the man reminds me a bit of a clown.
And its not because of this picture.
You can buy a Milram replica bike at Performance...
for a mere $5,500!
Racing for Victory and Free Beer!
R.I.P. Milram.
Not much love for cycling in Germany!
My final MOOO!
I used to be a big fan of the Racer Formerly Known as Bert! But then again, I used to believe in Santa ,Tooth Fairy and innocence of Floyd!
.
Milram
a team full of underachievers and frankly riders who seemed not to give a shit much this year. Maybe they just aren’t that good but boy did some look uninspired, a damn shame.
DISCLAIMER: Fairly unintelligent, usually unknowledgeable, gullible fool speaking. My views do not necessarily represent those in charge of this blog or most of the known universe. Stride with caution
Quitter's People United member # 42
I would counter that this was in fact more of a management issue and not that of the riders.
It will be interesting to see where everyone goes next year and if their performance improves, or not.
I suspect very many will have very good year in ’11.
There might be some great VDS returns on some very undervalued riders.
What would Deming do?
If you were wearing cow spots
perhaps you may feel a tad underwhelmed too. I don’t know, just a theory.
DISCLAIMER: Anything I say is ultimately blinded by my ridiculously unnecessary love for all things Cancellara, or Schleck related....
There, you have been warned.
great post! really enjoyed that.
Any new favourite team on the horizon?
I'm feverished, or the way you want to spell it
No, probably just keep an eye out for Knees and Terpstra!
milram-fan
2006 Rund um Koln.
2008 Bayern Rundfahrt.
2010 Deutsche Meisterschaft -Straße.
"He is the greatest. I said that before he even knew he was" Muhammad Ali on Christian Knees.
Nice post.
Milram is fortunate they’ve got a good fan like you to write their epitaph.
What else can I say? I'm really happy. --Vincenzo Nibali
Well done
we do need to send them off with a little regard, even if they appeared anonymous most of the last season or two (or five). I have a feeling alot of those riders may end up at Net App, could always jump on that bandwagon while theres still plenty of room.
DISCLAIMER: Anything I say is ultimately blinded by my ridiculously unnecessary love for all things Cancellara, or Schleck related....
There, you have been warned.
At this point, no Milram riders will be on NetAPP so your feeling is unfortunately wrong.
And its doubtful any will be joining the team.
Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!
by Vlaanderen90 on Oct 22, 2010 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Thats weird
lot of available German riders available, and the new largest german team isn’t gonna expand to accomodate? Where are these guys gonna find jobs, i really fear that some deserving riders are not gonna get pro contracts.
DISCLAIMER: Anything I say is ultimately blinded by my ridiculously unnecessary love for all things Cancellara, or Schleck related....
There, you have been warned.
Actually the majority of them all ready have jobs. Biggest portion of them so far have gone to Pegasus/Fly V with 3 riders there
Guys without jobs are Roels (though he is probably retiring which is such a shame…great attacker), Eichler, Fothen bros. (probably a package deal…could end up with Schlecks), Gajek, Schröder, Stroetinga, Voss and Wrolich (though his name was with a few continental teams)
Only ones I worry about not getting work are Gajek, Eichler and Schröder.
Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!
by Vlaanderen90 on Oct 22, 2010 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions
You forgot Russ.
And Schroder can ride a prologue and lead out.. Think he’s one of the most ta;llented out there. Markus Fothen rides very weak this year. Can he recover?
Russ was set to retire anyway
voluntarily I believe. We can never be sure how much the bleak future of Milram factored into it, but he seemed disenchanted with his cycling career and the sport in general and his case is more one of walking away than not finding a team to take him on (though he may have had trouble with that had he tried).
He's going back to school
good for him
DISCLAIMER: Fairly unintelligent, usually unknowledgeable, gullible fool speaking. My views do not necessarily represent those in charge of this blog or most of the known universe. Stride with caution
Quitter's People United member # 42
Fingers crossed for all these guys.
I really like Gajek, still relatively young and impressed me on a number of occassions – a rider who is not afraid to put in a hard shift, would like to think he will get something!
Fröhlinger seventh in Japan.
milram-fan
2006 Rund um Koln.
2008 Bayern Rundfahrt.
2010 Deutsche Meisterschaft -Straße.
"He is the greatest. I said that before he even knew he was" Muhammad Ali on Christian Knees.
Skil-Shimano made out very good in this transfer season with getting Fröhlinger and Kluge
Johannes is very under-rated
Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!, Tommeke!
by Vlaanderen90 on Oct 26, 2010 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I hope roels doesn't retire
I want one more year of pudgy pro.
analysis is speculation in disguise
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