Ok so now the Team Sky and Davy B debate has died down, I'm going to weigh in as I have some time.
Cycling must have been the last 'professional' sport to still be 'steak and eggs' for breakfast amateur.
The answer 'because we've always done it like that' gets right on my tits and clearly Brailsford's as well.
Yet that has always been cycling's mantra and it needed a good shake up.
Marginal Gains did make Sky smarter than everybody else, and it paid dividends - chapeau.
The problem I've had with MG is that you can only go to the well so many times, to me it feels like Sky haven't learned to say 'no'.
I don't expect them to rest on their laurels but by the same token you can't reinvent the wheel, so stop claiming you are.
Every once in a while a little nugget pops up, a la Froome's Giro winning break, the planning that went into that and I think you've got to say well done, you out smarted everybody else.
Regarding MG I don't believe Sky has stepped far enough back from 'the line'.
They have every right to walk up to it, many teams in the past charged right though it, but I don't think Sky have ever really attempted to be clearly behind it.
Which brings me onto my next point, the one constant of Team Sky's reign has been their PR has been shitehouse, proper proper shitehouse.
It feels like every option they've been given they have always taken the wrong one, which in itself is pretty impressive.
Finally do any of us actually support a team?
I don't, the nearest I get is GarminEFDrapacCannondaleMrsMigginsPiesShop, primarily because their PR is the exact opposite of Sky's.
But I couldn't name their roster, I'd never buy a kit, and definitely wouldn't stand on the roadside chanting 'give us a G'
I guess I'm saying overall I'm broadly in favour of Sky and Brailsford's approach, but I just wish they did it with a little more panache.
(although I think Matt Smith quoted someone else in commentary, words to the effect of 'Team Sky win because they have no flair').
Cycling must have been the last 'professional' sport to still be 'steak and eggs' for breakfast amateur.
The answer 'because we've always done it like that' gets right on my tits and clearly Brailsford's as well.
Yet that has always been cycling's mantra and it needed a good shake up.
Marginal Gains did make Sky smarter than everybody else, and it paid dividends - chapeau.
The problem I've had with MG is that you can only go to the well so many times, to me it feels like Sky haven't learned to say 'no'.
I don't expect them to rest on their laurels but by the same token you can't reinvent the wheel, so stop claiming you are.
Every once in a while a little nugget pops up, a la Froome's Giro winning break, the planning that went into that and I think you've got to say well done, you out smarted everybody else.
Regarding MG I don't believe Sky has stepped far enough back from 'the line'.
They have every right to walk up to it, many teams in the past charged right though it, but I don't think Sky have ever really attempted to be clearly behind it.
Which brings me onto my next point, the one constant of Team Sky's reign has been their PR has been shitehouse, proper proper shitehouse.
It feels like every option they've been given they have always taken the wrong one, which in itself is pretty impressive.
Finally do any of us actually support a team?
I don't, the nearest I get is GarminEFDrapacCannondaleMrsMigginsPiesShop, primarily because their PR is the exact opposite of Sky's.
But I couldn't name their roster, I'd never buy a kit, and definitely wouldn't stand on the roadside chanting 'give us a G'
I guess I'm saying overall I'm broadly in favour of Sky and Brailsford's approach, but I just wish they did it with a little more panache.
(although I think Matt Smith quoted someone else in commentary, words to the effect of 'Team Sky win because they have no flair').
