No bad blood. Team Type 1 philosophical on missed Giro invite.

//No bad blood. Team Type 1 philosophical on missed Giro invite.

No bad blood. Team Type 1 philosophical on missed Giro invite.

Vassili, Team Type 1

Diabetics out, Germans in. That was the decision of RCS, the company that oversees the Giro d’Italia invitations. Team Type 1-Sanofi and founder Phil Southerland will have to wait another year for a shot at the Italian Grand tour.

Instead, the four wildcards went to three Italian teams and German squad Team NetApp. Farnese Vini-Selle Italia, Colnago-CSF Inox and Androni Giocattoli can break out the Barolo and toast to another year in the spotlight.

Nevertheless, team director Vassili Davidenko struck a conciliatory and even philosophical tone when speaking about the exclusion. “I think it was a really tough choice for RCS. They were look at several parameters but I don’t want to criticize anyone, he said.

This is a smart move because today is the first day of Team Type 1’s plan to get an invite for next year’s Giro. DO not piss anybody off at RCS by dumping on NetApp or the selection process how start screaming about politics or favoritism or how who wish ex-Giro boss Angelo Zomegnan was still around.

“This year we invested in a number of high quality riders, riders who are ready for that level. It’s a young team but we also have some good experience and that we’d have been competitive at the giro. We did all we could and we’ve built the team well,” said Davidenko. “I think we’ll have our chances throughout the season so show that we deserved more..”

That’s long range strategic thinking and smart public relations. Be classy, make your case without bitterness, move on and promise an even greater effort. Chapeau Vassili.

Remember, the hyper aggressive Phil Southerland is already working the Vuelta folks even harder now. No need to freak them out and hurt your case if somebody at Team Type 1 goes ballistic about missing in the Giro party. It’s still old world and old school in Europe and you just don’t do the obnoxious American thing by yelling and shouting and throwing money around — besides, that’s what the Russians do these days.

A shrewd move by Phil and Vassili. This is how you leverage a non-invite, it’s the ground work for the next invitation.

By |2019-02-03T16:11:35-08:00January 10th, 2012|Uncategorized|0 Comments

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