I recently talked to a pro that recently hung up his wheels, and started as a directeur sportif in the team that he left.
After the couple of first races that he had done, being a DS, I met him during a race, and he honestly didn't seem as excited about the pro cycling world as when he was a rider.
That evoked the question... Do riders that get hired as a DS, consider it to be a step down?
A couple of days ago I read an old interview with Daniel Lloyd in Velonation.
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/10666 ... -road.aspx
It seems that he would have turned down a contract as a DS in the team, and instead went on to ride one last season with a much lower level team.
There are of course a number of riders that have turned DS. Maybe almost all DS:s have been pro riders at some point?
When you consider that riders can rise and fall under good/bad leadership, it seems odd that the good DSs are not given more credit.
Michael "Rusty" Woods did however give credit in his latest column regarding his success at TDU.
http://rustywoodscycling.com/2016/02/06/5132/
Cyclingtips.com touched the subject in a recent "Team tactics 101" article, but tactics are just a small part of it.
http://cyclingtips.com/2016/02/team-tactics-101/
If Charley Wegelius would have told Woods on the day of the race to attack Porte on Corkscrew, the result would not have been the same.
Yes, Woods is particularly skilled at writing a good column, but there must be dozens of similar stories where riders really got that extra boost from a DS that knew how to get the most out of his riders.
So, what are the qualities that make a good DS?
Who are known to be good DSs, and why?
What makes a good Directeur Sportif, and who are they?
Moderators: robbosmans, Moderator Team
A good DS is someone who is able to see clearly the race and is able to motivate beforehand the team.
Simple? Not really, if you look at some documentaries where riders are complaining to their DS for the training schedule, training camps etc.
If you read the recent complain of Bonifazio (Trek Segafredo) and his old team Lampre, you have an example of difficult situation that need someone smart able to handle them.
Simple? Not really, if you look at some documentaries where riders are complaining to their DS for the training schedule, training camps etc.
If you read the recent complain of Bonifazio (Trek Segafredo) and his old team Lampre, you have an example of difficult situation that need someone smart able to handle them.
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micky wrote:A good DS is someone who is able to see clearly the race and is able to motivate beforehand the team.
Simple? Not really, if you look at some documentaries where riders are complaining to their DS for the training schedule, training camps etc.
If you read the recent complain of Bonifazio (Trek Segafredo) and his old team Lampre, you have an example of difficult situation that need someone smart able to handle them.
True. Bonifazio seems like a young talent that needs someone with very good people-skills to guide him...
I found another article where Paolo Bettini talks about stepping up to fill the shoes of Franco Ballerini as the head of the Italian national team.
“I was a great athlete, but I don’t know if I will succeed in being a great manager. Certainly I will give everything to achieve great results"
In hindsight, he didn't get much out of his team.
On the other hand, Charly Wegelius was never a leader on the road, but has evidently managed to be a very good DS.
Do riders appreciate their directeurs sportifs? (On a general level... or do they think they would do as well without the person talking in the race radio?)
As you brought it up, Ballerini is considered in Italy to have been a great DS; if you look at the results alone, yes, it would look like that away, but I think that any other person (even myself) would have won as a DS with that riders in that exact time.
Im talking of Cipollini, Bettini, etc.
When Bettini took the role as DS for the national team, I remember his sentence after his first Worlds in Valkenburg "I told the guys what to do until the 3-4kms to go, then it was up to them".
Up to them is not exactly a sentence I expect from a good DS.
As in every "commanding" role, you must be able to take the good and bad side of the events.
Bettini is a good example of a very good rider who was expected (from many, not me) to be a good DS as well, but that's not the case.
There are many guys who have not be winners, you mentioned Wegelius, who are more used to think about what's going on and try to focus on it from start to finish.
Do riders appreciate their DS? I would expect a 50/50 from what I see/hear.
Some DS try to build it like a "family experience" (Scinto?) while some others keep it more professional (Guercilena?).
Gain respect is a key role for get the 100% out of the riders from a DS.
Im talking of Cipollini, Bettini, etc.
When Bettini took the role as DS for the national team, I remember his sentence after his first Worlds in Valkenburg "I told the guys what to do until the 3-4kms to go, then it was up to them".
Up to them is not exactly a sentence I expect from a good DS.
As in every "commanding" role, you must be able to take the good and bad side of the events.
Bettini is a good example of a very good rider who was expected (from many, not me) to be a good DS as well, but that's not the case.
There are many guys who have not be winners, you mentioned Wegelius, who are more used to think about what's going on and try to focus on it from start to finish.
Do riders appreciate their DS? I would expect a 50/50 from what I see/hear.
Some DS try to build it like a "family experience" (Scinto?) while some others keep it more professional (Guercilena?).
Gain respect is a key role for get the 100% out of the riders from a DS.
micky wrote:When Bettini took the role as DS for the national team, I remember his sentence after his first Worlds in Valkenburg "I told the guys what to do until the 3-4kms to go, then it was up to them".
Maybe what he meant was the team put the riders in position and it was then up to them to not only show if they wanted it, but how much they wanted it.
