Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 51 total)
  • Peter Kennaugh – Tour of Yorkshire
  • xc-steve
    Free Member

    Anyone planning on seeing this? If so give him a good boo will you and throw a couple tomatoes can paypal you the costs…

    Incase you don’t know what I’m on about – http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/apr/28/peter-kennaugh-emma-pooley-sexism-claims-cycling-british?CMP=share_btn_tw

    ads678
    Full Member

    What an arsehole!

    xyeti
    Free Member

    I’ve got to put my neck on the line here……….. I had NO idea either that Women Cyclists did the Giro at all let alone instead of the TDF? Does that make me Sexist or not interested? Or have I read that completely wrong.

    I didn’t even know they were doing stage 2 of the TDY until recently?

    And as for the allegations about selling team kit, I CAN CONFIRM THATS GOING ON, what size do you want ?

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Whilst he could have made it better, his point is valid.

    What commercial benefit is there in Sky sponsoring a woman’s cycling team? If Sky thought for a second that by doing so it would increase their profits and brand exposure I’m sure they’d do it.

    Its not their job to increase the profile/stature of woman’s cycling or its events.

    steve_b77
    Free Member

    xyeti – Member
    I’ve got to put my neck on the line here……….. I had NO idea either that Women Cyclists did the Giro at all let alone instead of the TDF? Does that make me Sexist or not interested? Or have I read that completely wrong.

    I didn’t even know they were doing stage 2 of the TDY until recently?

    Ah yes, but you’re not a British Pro, funded by Sky & British cycling who one would assume would be up to date on the female calendar.

    It’s like a Premier League footballer, who’s also an England international coming out and saying I didn’t realise that there was a European Championships for Women’s football. Those in the public eye have to be very careful about what they say about all aspects of their chose sport.

    DaRC_L
    Full Member

    What commercial benefit is there in Sky sponsoring a woman’s cycling team?

    Shurely at the time Brailsford was head of British Cycling, perhaps he should have had an eye on the bigger picture?
    Wiggle obviously think there is commercial benefit in sponsoring a cycle team.

    xyeti
    Free Member

    Steve, I think I’ve read it wrong, I didn’t read it as he didn’t know what was going on in the women’s team and that he didn’t have his ear to the ground, I read it as he just wasn’t interested and in his opinion no one else is,

    Clover
    Full Member

    It has always annoyed me that the BC Sky deal has never had any interest in women’s cycling. I don’t have high expectations of Sky but the fact that the national body for cycling didn’t even bother to include any element in the deal is just rubbish.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    Shurely at the time Brailsford was head of British Cycling, perhaps he should have had an eye on the bigger picture?

    But its sky that pay the bills ultimately, not brailsford

    Wiggle obviously think there is commercial benefit in sponsoring a cycle team.

    but Wiggle don’t already sponsor one of the highest profile cycling teams do they.

    ads678
    Full Member

    EP said:

    “I think the issue is much bigger than him,” she said. “If you’re going to ask questions of Shane Sutton you have to ask them of Dave Brailsford too. I wish more questions had been asked of him before he was awarded his knighthood and moved to Sky. It was when he was running British Cycling that there was no women’s Team Sky.”

    Pooley added: “Why didn’t anyone ask how it could be that a publicly funded body like British Cycling joined together with a privately funded team – Sky – on a mission to get a British winner of the Tour de France within five years? Why wasn’t there a similar plan for the women? The women’s Giro d’Italia was the most important race for women but where was the funding for that? I came second twice and no one from British Cycling offered to put together a team to help me win it.”

    I think she has a fair point really. And don’t think PK really should be saying stuff like:

    “Stop being so self centred and get over it.”

    christhetall
    Free Member

    I’ll be by the roadside for both races on Saturday and won’t be booing anyone

    PK has made a fool of himself, but we don’t know the full story and we shouldn’t hang someone out to dry for a single ill-thought out comment on social media. I guess he feels that Sutton has been treated unfairly, is grateful to him etc etc.

    Can understand Pooley and others being frustrated at the lack of opportunity and coverage for women’s cycling, but I don’t think its fair to criticise Brailsford for not setting up a women’s team, any more than the fact he failed to set up a MTB team despite the huge amount of UK talent.

    xyeti
    Free Member

    It’s looking a lot like a house of cards at the minute, It’s alright getting rid of the culprits and I’m all for outing bullies, one has gone and now he’s been toppled it looks like Brailsford has had his head placed firmly on the chopping block, I can see why all this is happening so close especially as the selections have been made and those not participating just seem to be hell bent on bringing the whole lot down around their ears,

    It would have made more sense to bring this up when it was happening as it appears to have been going on a while, and from the criteria openly speaking out who seem to be disgruntled quite rightly you can only assume that those who have been selected have opted to keep stum, if this is the case then it’s not good, best get it out now instead of during or after the games, I’ll tell you what though, I bet our competition are loving this. All we need now is a doping allegation and we’re screwed completely.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    PK has made a fool of himself

    Not the for first time either, and I doubt it’ll be the last.

    lunge
    Full Member

    Not sure how Brailsford head is for the chop, he’s nothing to do with BC anymore, he’s now 100% Sky focused.

    Re. Kennaugh, I can see his point, the mission to win Le Tour and build the best road cycling team in the world is much more impressive and attractive to sponsors than winning the women’s Giro. Yes, it would have been great to have a women’s team too but that’s more money from Sky for not much return I suspect. Saying that, it doesn’t seem an overly sensible thing to Tweet…

    mtbmatt
    Free Member

    One thing that Peter Kennaugh perhaps doesn’t appreciate is that no one in the UK really knew or cared about the Tour de France until Team Sky. Cycling wasn’t a mainstream sport and watching cycling was pretty much unheard of.

    You have to think, had some money also been pumped into the Womens sport, would more people know about the Giro d’Italia Femminile?

    FuzzyWuzzy
    Full Member

    It’s like a Premier League footballer, who’s also an England international coming out and saying I didn’t realise that there was a European Championships for Women’s football. Those in the public eye have to be very careful about what they say about all aspects of their chose sport

    No really – Kennaugh didn’t say he didn’t know the women’s Giro existed, he was implying the general public weren’t very aware of it (as opposed to the TdF which is fairly well-known). The further implication being why invest the money (either public or private) in something that’s of much less significance. Personally I think his comments were ill-advised but I do agree with them.

    The whole women’s sport thing is a thorny issue with a big chicken-and-egg problem to overcome. Yes I think women’s thought can be at least as good as men’s sport but it suffers from a lack of interest/spectators because many of the participants aren’t well-known which means the coverage and marketing is poor which creates a vicious circle.

    christhetall
    Free Member

    One thing that Peter Kennaugh perhaps doesn’t appreciate is that no one in the UK really knew or cared about the Tour de France until Team Sky.

    What utter crap !!!!!!

    imnotverygood
    Full Member

    What utter crap !!!!!

    + about 100

    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    @mtbmatt – i was just writing a response echoing the same argument

    Those of us who were into road racing before Team Sky (BTS) knew the significance of the monuments and grand tours etc but now they are mainstream

    I got into following a bit of the women’s racing through the Velocast when they started talking about it and the exploits of these awesome riders. Women’s road racing can be bloomin awesome, there’s some seriously talented bike handlers and tactical brains in that peloton including some very good British riders.
    Wiggle are a very good team without big name British riders. Imagine a more british focused team with more media exposure and Lizzie Armistead on board then it could really up the profile of womens cycling in a lucrative media and cycling equipment market

    One thing that Peter Kennaugh perhaps doesn’t appreciate is that no one in the UK really knew or cared about the Tour de France until Team Sky

    .

    What utter crap !!!!!! [/quote]

    Not as far from the truth as road race fans would wish to believe

    gastromonkey
    Free Member

    I’m not defending his comments. But, on a commercial basis Sky sponsor a mens world tour team makes sense. It raised their profile a the same time as cycling exploded in the UK. Mens TDF was already on mainstream TV and had an ok following, combining that with the level of talent coming out of the BC performance programme allowed them to exploit that perfect storm.

    Sadly womens bike racing has not had the coverage on UK TV or other media that makes it attractive to a company like Sky have loads of money to spend on sponsorship. I would guess that Wiggle would love to be a headline sponsor of a mens world tour team, but their pockets aren’t deep enough. The womens pro ranks offer Wiggle a cheaper alternative, that probably attracts viewers who are interested in their products.

    Overall my view on this issue is that PK should have kept his mouth shut or/and his iphone locked and that I would like to see more womens racing on TV (with bigger sponsors if possible).

    unklehomered
    Free Member

    Giro Rosa is usually a very good race, as is the women’s tour of britain. You want to encourage the bigger powers to do more with women’s Cycling, watch them on streaming services so you get counted. You won’t regret it.

    Spin
    Free Member

    Young and dumb explains, but doesn’t excuse quite a lot.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I had NO idea either that Women Cyclists did the Giro at all let alone instead of the TDF?

    There use to be a women’s TDF too, ran for about 20 years. Nicole Cooke won it twice. Emma Pooley won it the last time it was held in 2009.

    christhetall
    Free Member

    Not as far from the truth as road race fans would wish to believe

    I first heard of the TDF when Roche won it, and got hooked on watching it during the Lemond/Fignon epic. Back then it was primetime on C4 and lots of billboards. Sorry, but pretty sure most people had heard of it, but few could name any other race, and certainly not a women’s race.

    Now, the knowledge of other men’s races in Europe has gone up and the knowledge of womens… probably still as poor.

    Except that there is now growing interest in women’s racing in the UK – the women tour, Ride London and the TdY. Britain seems far closer to equality than the traditional nations. And I reckon team Sky, even without a women’s team, has been a very big factor in this

    xyeti
    Free Member

    I was watching the TDF in the 80’s, The Milk race came right past our house prob 1980, I was on a 5 Speed racer in metallic blue with the Olympic Rings on. A Raleigh Olympic I think? I watched it on TV and also remember Cyclo Cross on grand stand sat afternoons.

    My dad used to take us across the channel on a ferry in our Saab and we would watch the some of the Belgian classics, sleep in tents for a few nights and then carry on with our Easter Hols, still not sure which races they actually were and my dad used to say they were all the PR, they couldn’t have been………..

    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    I first heard of the TDF when Roche won it, and got hooked on watching it during the Lemond/Fignon epic. Back then it was primetime on C4 and lots of billboards. Sorry, but pretty sure most people had heard of it, but few could name any other race, and certainly not a women’s race.

    Most people have heard of the TdF but how many actually knew what was involved in it or even watched the C4 coverage. I was one of them from a very small boy, I’m in the affirmed road race fan camp and love the fact it gets more attention now and better coverage. But I’m not blind to the effect of Team Sky in the last 5/6 years. That has shifted the mainstream knowledge of the race from the “People know nothing” generalisation you poo-pooed, nearer to your “everyone knows about it” generalisation.

    By not supporting the development of a major women’s team there is the creation of a self-fulfilling prophecy. “No one supports it so we won’t support it” instead of “If we support it and win, others will follow”

    davidtaylforth
    Free Member

    Strange one really. Bit of an odd moan aswell. Guess it comes down to us, the audience.

    Would anyone watch women’s road racing? Obviously for a lot of sports, the women’s version never seems to be as exciting/good as the men’s.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    id never been on a road bike until 3 years ago, but was well aware of the tour, all the competitors and teams etc. Even my mum has heard of Big Mig.

    Only diehard fans know anything about womans cycling, I wasn’t even aware there was a Giro for the ladies.

    If woman’s cycling requires a boost you can hardly expect the likes of companies like Sky to provide it.

    mrhoppy
    Full Member

    I’m not sure the returns on a women’s team would’ve been that bad looking at the tiny budgets they run on.

    christhetall
    Free Member

    I agree it would be great if Sky did have a women’s team, but on the charge sheet against the Murdoch empire that’s pretty low on the list.

    But female cyclists in the UK are benefiting from the Sky/Wiggo effect, and what they need more of is TV coverage.

    However this statement

    no one in the UK really knew or cared about the Tour de France until Team Sky

    remains utter bollocks. And I haven’t made any statement to merit this comment

    your “everyone knows about it” generalisation

    Anyway PK has now apologised and people still want him hung, drawn and quartered

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    Would anyone watch women’s road racing? Obviously for a lot of sports, the women’s version never seems to be as exciting/good as the men’s.

    How much of that is because you maybe don’t know the riders, characters, stories, the background. Often that’s what makes the racing interesting.

    It’s actually quite nicely structured too over a season, with the World Cup system with points and rankings.

    Coverage is definitely improving too. Usual cycling news sites carry a lot more coverage. UK sites too with Armitstead doing so well. There’s some good sites out there with good women’s sections too, Cyclingtips Ella for example.

    gwaelod
    Free Member

    I expect he apologised because Fran Miller took him into a corner and beat him over the head with his own iPhone. (I presume Fran is still TeamSky media person?).

    The whole story this week has been about instututionalised sexsm in British Cycling….and then the reigning British Road Race Champion comes out with that!!!

    FFS – self awareness and critical reflection is obviously not something that BC teach riders is it.

    There’s a list…
    https://prowomenscycling.com/2016/04/28/british-cycling-women/

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    This does seem to be the pervading attitude at Sky, self absorbed head up their own arse weasels 😡

    I shall continue to support Etixx and other teams over sky

    beej
    Full Member

    The whole story this week has been about instututionalised sexsm in British Cycling….and then the reigning British Road Race Champion comes out with that!!!

    FFS – self awareness and critical reflection is obviously not something that BC teach riders is it.

    That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking.

    As MrBlobby mentioned, coverage of women’s racing is improving and when it is on it’s generally just as good as the men’s race. Women’s Tour of Flanders had a better finish than the men’s race.

    honeybadgerx
    Full Member

    I’ll see what comes out in the media in the next day, but might start warming a bottle of piss ready… 😈

    Clover
    Full Member

    British Cycling have a fancy brochure published in 2013 all about their vision for women’s cycling. I read it if I ever need a (hollow) laugh.

    They pay lip service to having a national role in equality and as Emma Pooley and countless others rightly point out they don’t follow through. I wonder whether anyone at BC apart from the person who wrote the document has even read it.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Can understand Pooley and others being frustrated at the lack of opportunity and coverage for women’s cycling, but I don’t think its fair to criticise Brailsford for not setting up a women’s team, any more than the fact he failed to set up a MTB team despite the huge amount of UK talent.

    It is fair to criticise his lack of effort with regards to properly supporting a women team. The British women were all expected to wear the Sky logo on their kit during that time, they should have had some benefit from it.

    beej
    Full Member

    Emma’s just tweeted a response…

    Why the twitterfuss? My views on need for greater gender equality in road cycling are hardly news! @Petekennaugh is entitled to his opinion.

    How dare she be so reasonable!

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    The British women were all expected to wear the Sky logo on their kit during that time, they should have had some benefit from it.

    I imagine that the Sky link up helped to pay alot of their salaries at that time….

    hairybiker84
    Free Member

    Greater gender equality, perhaps to gauge how much interest there is in womens cycling you need to assess the proportion of male to female cyclists. By my admiitedly very crude observations I would perceive 95% male participation. Would therefore expect the same proportion of relative investment and interest.
    Perhaps if they used 24″ wheeled bikes they may appear to be taking the bikes for a ride rather that the other way round.
    Much as I have enjoyed spectating many womens races they hardly compare for spectacle to the mens, the relatively small pool of entrants results in far greater difference in ability with the resultant strung out field and lack of bunch finish.

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