New Irish pro Conti team (aka The Aquablue thread)

Steve SilverMint

py wrote: »

You'd wonder if they would've gone on for another year had they got invites to any of the grand tours. Hoping the riders and staff get sorted for next year.

Yeah you’d have to think not getting a GT has left them in this situation. Disappointing as they gave some very good racing.

They didn't even get invites to things like the Tour of California which they may have rightly expected to get given they had the US National champ in their squad at the time.


Dunbar pulled out a very solid race in France this week which won't hurt finding a new home.

Pudsy33

Dunbar's performance in L'avenir could not have come at a better time, he'll be snapped up by a WT team I have no doubt

mr spuckler

some contrast with the position of a couple of weeks ago

unless this is another premature statement on their behalf :pac:

CrowdedHouse

mr spuckler wrote: »

unless this is another premature statement on their behalf :pac:

https://twitter.com/TourDeJose/status/1034003765924454400

Taxuser1

Tesla has just bought Aqua Blue

MPFGLB

Eddie Dunbar will be fine

I hope Connor Dunne,Larry Warbsss,etc get contracts ...not going to be easy at this stage of the year and the market flooded with BMC , etc

lukegjpotter

I hope Conor Dunne gets a good team.

If World Tour comes a-calling, Dunbar to BMC CCC??? With Niccco Roccche?
Team Wiggins is an U23 Team, so Dunbar (21) might be able to sign with them.

The Strada road bikes and Ridley TT bikes might be going very cheap on the online shop.

MPFGLB

lukegjpotter wrote: »

I hope Conor Dunne gets a good team.

If World Tour comes a-calling, Dunbar to BMC CCC??? With Niccco Roccche?
Team Wiggins is an U23 Team, so Dunbar (21) might be able to sign with them.

The Strada road bikes and Ridley TT bikes might be going very cheap on the online shop.

Maybe SKY will offer for Dunbar..Brailsford likes to take young popular up and coming riders .they have the budget and he could do alot worse...wonder if McQuaid is his agent ...he gets riders into SKY

Dont think Nicolas Roche will be riding for BMC..CCC in 2019 ..Not sure about this team though

Thud

MPFGLB wrote: »

Dont think Nicolas Roche will be riding for BMC..CCC in 2019 ..Not sure about this team though

Sean Kelly mentioned Nico had offers yesterday on the Vuelta commentary but was still looking and a good performance or stage win in Vuelta would help

CrowdedHouse

Suggestion that the riders only found out this morning the same way as ourselves

Really shoddy if true

https://www.velonews.com/2018/08/news/aqua-blue-sport-to-fold-after-2018-season_476338

neris

https://twitter.com/conordunnealot/status/1034160077391966214?s=19

conordunne1

Green Giant for sale...
Feed me porridge and I'll be happy. I know all the lyrics to every Dolly Parton song ever made. Slightly forgetful, due to all the door frames I've walked into, but I'm sure we can learn to get round this. Have a large tattoo of my recently deceased obese cat, Smudge, on my left buttock. I can eat 44 weetabix in less than an hour. Also, I come with a slightly lunatic Irish girl called Stacey, who supports me at every race... please don't panic, I have a handbook explaining how to look after her.

Bambaata

Very sorry to hear this, even worse is it seems riders didn't know! That to me, if true, does not look good on management (Delaney). Fair play to Delaney for putting the money up but from outside looking in i never saw this lasting. Mouthing off on twitter etc cant have helped. I appreciate his frustrations but he didnt do himself any favours.

Their funding model was a joke really, as others on Twitter have said - has anyone actually ever bought from it? In today's online market if you arent cheapest you wont get the sale and anytime i looked i found cheaper elsewhere. The site isnt very user friendly either.

Happy to have witnessed their Vuelta win!

I think a lot of what Delaney said publicly on twitter or where ever would have got peoples backs up and might have come across as entitlement. They were a new team and no one owed them a start.

In saying that most world tour races have 4 slots for pro conti teams so it would be a bit fairer if there was a draw system or something for those instead of having the same teams take them up all year. I know why likes of Cofidis etc get invites but to nearly every race? Organisers pick 2 then the other 2 slots gets drawn for based on what teams are interested in the races.

neris

Maybe have a closer look at the finish lines in the vuelta and it might give aslight hint about cofidis getting invites

CrowdedHouse

Looks like the team has stopped completely

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/08/aqua-blue-sport-cancels-tour-of-britain-participation-riders-left-in-limbo/

Veranda's Willems-Crelan are in talks with Roompot, makes you wonder what happened with Aqua Blue now as VWC seem to be determined to get something done to keep the team racing.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-aerts-verandas-willems-crelan-team-discussing-merger-with-roompot/

neris

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Looks like the team has stopped completely

https://cyclingtips.com/2018/08/aqua-blue-sport-cancels-tour-of-britain-participation-riders-left-in-limbo/

thats ****. one of their riders was meant to be doing a tour diray for the cycling podcast aswell. guess that wont be happening

I'd imagine it's airing on ITV also so would have been decent TV time for them , and with Froome and Thomas riding interest would be higher than usual.

Bambaata

Looks like another rash Delaney type decision. That man seems to be a looney bin!

RobFowl

Disgraceful conduct and the sport is better off without fruitcakes like him.

Weepsie

Just going to leave this here from a few months ago.

https://twitter.com/RickDelaneyABS/status/1009859474700595200

Makes him look like the kid in the playground who stuffs the ball up his jumper and runs away when things don't go his way.

If this is how he does business in public view who knows what he's like behind closed doors in negotiations etc :rolleyes:

Steve SilverMint

What a complete shambles. If Aqua blue actually intend on racing as a team at any stage in the future who’d want to join them?

Riders and all staff must be so disappointed to be left in this situation with the season ending for them now. Shocking way to be treated.

From here http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-riders-left-in-limbo-as-team-pulls-out-of-tour-of-britain/

Cyclingnews has obtained that email and has also learnt that in the team's Whatsapp group – which includes riders, staff and management – a rider asked legitimate questions about the team's future after finding out that Aqua Blue were folding via a press release. In the Whatsapp group, a teammate quickly responded with ''team's ended mate." Delaney then promptly left the group. Delaney has not responded to messages from Cyclingnews.

Lumen

This kind of disorderly disbanding suggests a non cycling problem.

mr spuckler

Deleted User wrote: »

From here http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aqua-blue-riders-left-in-limbo-as-team-pulls-out-of-tour-of-britain/

that's horrendous if true.

eeeee

Horrific goings on. People's short (and longer in terms of non riding staff) careers are being fcuked over by this shyte.
Inexcusable behaviour.

wirelessdude01

Deleted User wrote:

Veranda's Willems-Crelan are in talks with Roompot, makes you wonder what happened with Aqua Blue now as VWC seem to be determined to get something done to keep the team racing.

Said it a while back but Delaney really must have pissed alot of people in cycling off. No one wants anything to do with him.

wirelessdude01

Wonder did Dunbar have some prior knowledge as he wasn't on the 3T bike last week.