Ouch! Mr Bruyneel has fangs!

Whoo hooo! In a staggering display of bad manners and bad management, Mr Bruyneel has told a Luxembourg magazine, Tageblatt ("Daily Paper") that he is disappointed in Frankie for leaving the Giro as he did, and has insinuated that Frankie's shoulder injury was not bad enough to cause him to abandon the race.

"He might have had an injury to his shoulder, but yesterday he finished with the best, so his physical condition could not have been bad, when he rides with the top 10 places.”

This is, of course, a valid criticism, but doesn't take into account Frankie's own point of view, as reported on the RadioShack website, where he says:

“My right shoulder has been hurt and dislocated and since I was sitting wrong on the bike my entire left side is numb,”

I don't think anyone would expect a rider to continue in that sort of condition, and if Frankie managed to come in the top 10 despite that level of discomfort, then he is to be praised for struggling on, I would have thought.

I wonder if Frankie did not want to make a fuss about his shoulder over the weekend? Personally, if I were in that situation, and if I knew my boss didn't like me, I'd keep as quiet as possible and hope that it got better. But if I liked and trusted my boss, I'd discuss it with them, ask for their advice, discuss the options, maybe try a different treatment in the evenings, etc. So it's quite possible that Mr Bruyneel has brought this on himself.

There's even a lovely rumour, in that article, that Frankie chose that stage to quit, specifically because it was near to an airport so that he could fly home as quickly as possible!  And instead of dismissing this as ridiculous rubbish, Mr Bruyneel said that he asked Frankie about it! (Frankie denied it, in case you wondered.)

Mr Bruyneel goes on to say that "after his crash he was broken down in the head."  Way to go, Mr B, that's really the way to motivate your riders. OK, it might have lost (or gained) something in the translation, but what ever happened to positive spin? Apparently that is no longer required if you ride for RadioShack, as Mr Bruyneel, after saying that no-one is guaranteed a place in the Tour, not even those who finished on the podium last year - er, that would be Andy and Frankie, then - goes on to say, as Brisbane Gal commented on the last post:

"Currently none of the team is at the level that we expected. Only Fabian Cancellara was, before he crashed; all the others have under performed. Currently there isn’t a single rider set for the Tour de France."

“Nobody.”

*rolls eyes* Yes, definitely the way to motivate your team - slag them off in public!  I am so glad that I'm not going to be invited to the forthcoming intimidating-sounding meeting: “I have to say some things internally. I’m very dissatisfied." says Mr Bruyneel to the newspaper.

Nice of him to tell the world before he tells his own riders...

The only bright spot in the whole debacle is that at least we have now been told that Frankie will be riding the Tour of Luxembourg.

That'll be without Andy, then.