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news
Dave Brailsford faces the press, Paris, October 2012 (copyright Simon MacMichael)"Stick it up your arse" - Sir Dave Brailsford lashes out at reporter
Team Sky’s decision to control media access during yesterday’s second rest day at the Tour de France has backfired spectacularly, with many mainstream outlets focusing just as much on an extraordinary outburst by Sir Dave Brailsford against a cycling journalist as they are on Chris Froome’s thoughts on the final week of the race.
Ahead of the team departing on a training ride, Team Sky set up a mixed zone at their hotel near Le Puy en Velay and invited broadcast media along to speak to race leader Chris Froome. Journalists from print and media outlets also turned up at the hotel, hoping to grab some quotes.
Among them was Barry Ryan of Cycling News, who was told by Brailsford in front of other reporters that he was unwelcome there. The website says he was told: “You're not invited. We have invited the people we want to speak to. You've been writing shit about me."
Brailsford was apparently unhappy with a feature Ryan wrote before the Tour de France and which was published by Cycling News under the heading, Strong and stable? Dave Brailsford's year of saying nothing.
In response to Brailsford telling him to leave yesterday, Ryan asked what it was he thought was incorrect in the article and was told: "I'm not getting into that. It was opinion, you write shit.
“We make ourselves available, we answer all the questions and you write this shit.”
Cycling News says that Ryan suggested to Brailsford that his attitude was similar to that of Johan Bruyneel who barred Belgian broadcaster Sporza during the 2009 Tour de France.
At the time, Bruyneel was manager of the Astana team in which Lance Armstrong was making his comeback and which also had that year’s overall winner, Alberto Contador.
Brailsford asked: “Are you accusing me of running a doping programme as well?”
Ryan’s response was: “Well, UK Anti-Doping are investigating that ...”
In reply, Brailsford told him, “You can stick it up your arse” and departed.
Besides being reported on in outlets including the Daily Mail, the Independent and the Guardian – whose William Fotheringham had previously noted that it was almost unheard of for a race leader not to give a press conference on the first rest day – yesterday’s incident also got attention on social media.
Among those to share their thoughts was Jonathan Vaughters, whose Cannondale-Drapac team has Rigoberto Uran in fourth place, just 29 seconds off the race lead.
If I refused journos that wrote sh!t about me,at one point or another, to press conferences,I'd be talking to myself. Kinda do that anyway..
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) July 17, 2017
,Others such as Fred Dreier, editor in chief of US-based publication VeloNews, drew parallels with the sport’s past.
Inviting some while blocking others. Intimidating those who criticize. Cycling has seen this before and @TeamSky should be ashamed. #TDF17
— Frederick Dreier (@freddreier) July 17, 2017
Danish commentator and journalist Bryan Nygaard – press officer at Team Sky in its early years – had a suggestion.
Brailsford and Cyclingnews should get a room. The awkwardness is getting equally embarrassing for both parts.
— Brian Nygaard (@nygaardbn) July 17, 2017
Meanwhile, Owen Gibson, head of sport at the Guardian – whose Marina Hyde wrote a particularly scathing piece on the Team Sky boss a fortnight ago – tweeted a link to the Cycling News article, with the words: “Not sure Dave Brailsford is doing himself any favours here.”
One effect of Brailsford’s outburst is to send people off to check what exactly it is that Ryan wrote that could have offended him so much.
Essentially, it’s a summary of many of the stories that have built up over the past year and which have been extensively covered in the specialist and mainstream media.
Those include the therapeutic use exemptions issued to Sir Bradley Wiggins ahead of his participation in the 2011 and 2012 Tour de France and 2013 Giro d’Italia, as well as the contents of that mystery Jiffy Bag.
There’s also reference to the UK Sport-ordered independent review of British Cycling, which described the management of the national team at the time Brailsford led it as “untouchable” in its report published last month.
Those stories, of course, have given rise to questions to which many people – not just journalists, but also fans, people within the sport and even a House of Commons Select Committee – are still awaiting answers.
And that, of course, is the other effect of Brailsford’s outburst yesterday. By seeking to exclude those who might ask awkward questions, he’s ensured thanks to the ensuing coverage that those questions are fresh in everyone’s mind again.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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39 comments
The troubled waters will be calmed once Murdoch takes over Sky. He will make sure that everything is above board. There will be no dodgy reporting on team Sky.
I'm sure we can all rely on Rupert. (Not!)
Haha
I work for an organisation that suffered a major incident a few years ago, we made some mistakes and our partner companies made some mistakes, all of which resulted in a major incident which cost people their lives.
We tried to be open and honest, answered all the questions, and tried to do the right thing to put things right where they could be put right.
But reporters continued to make things up, speculate, and basically, as Dave says "write shit". It was my first real exposure to this situation, where I knew the facts and read the shit in the papers. It's a real eye opener and therefore I can understand Dave's reaction, it may be unproffesional, but in my opinion, not as unproffesional as writing the shit in the first place.
I'm no fan boy of Dave or Sky, but just don't believe everything that is written about him or them.
Who does believe that?
Points are that 1. Pesumably your organisation made a genuine mistake? And 2, it tried to be open and honest in dealing with it.
Now look at Sky/DB. As to 1 - we don't know, but there's a mightly wiff of the brown stuff. and as for 2 - err, no. See my earlier quote from the then head of anti-doping.
In the light of all that's gone on in cycling in recent years, those in posiitons like DB need to be professional and squeaky clean about all aspects of what they do, for their own, their team's, and the sport's sakes. If of course, they give a crap about one of more of those.
DB just isn't cutting it for me; it's all going Lance again.
Unfortunately there are a hell of a lot of people who do... In my situation I fell out with family members who were regurgitating the shit written in the papers at every opportunity.
Apart from listening to official communications, e.g. the head of anti-doping, we base most of our opinions on what journalists have written and nowadays also on what we read in discussion forums like this. I'm not getting in to the debate about what sky did/did not do, but your "wiff of the brown stuff" is a classic example.
Personally, I was just sharing my example and will base my opinion on what does/does not happen through the official channels. If there is evidence of wrong doing, then fine, throw the book at him, if there's not then leave it. I do agree that we need journalists to do their investigative thing and uncover wrong-doing, but just want them to report on facts uncovered, not speculate about what "might" be going on.
Re your comment "those in posiitons like DB need to be professional and squeaky clean about all aspects of what they do, for their own, their team's, and the sport's sakes". Although you think that is 100% true and correct, it might not be. I personally think that they need to be ruthless and push the limits wherever possible, but that's a whole different debate.
My company really was open and honest in the way that we dealt with our issue, would we be again? If it was up to me I'd say absolutely not. It earnt us no good will or favours and probably ended up costing us a whole lot more money. So fcuk it, what's the point? We were actually ridiculed in some parts for being so open and honest like we were being naive rather than trying to do the right thing.
1. You might. I listend to DB in front of the Select Committee, inter alia, and that's where I formed my opinion.
2. No it isn't. You can be ruthless and push the limits without cheating.
3. Integrity.
On top of that, there's the CLEAN drum that Sky have banged since their inception, to set them up as better than, or at least different from, the rest.
You can't have that as a USP and then have any shades of grey. And as we've seen with the jiffy bag and 'needles? what needles?' scenarios, and mismanagement/lack of records/inability to answer straight questions, they've created a murky lump for themselves that's greyer than a January day in the Manchester showroom of World of Taupe.
He created the situation himself though, only people with something to hide would pick and choose the journalists invited to ask questions. If they have valid press credentials they should be allowed to be there.
Dave needs to go IMO, he's made too many mistakes and is tarnishing the team's image
Fixed.
Perfect bit of work by brailsford, all the pressure and scrutiny is centred on him now and not froome or landa who can quietly get on with winning the tour.
Here we go: all part of the plan. He just attended the Fergie 'youse are all fucking idiots' school of deflection. Okaaaay.
Fanboys attributed genius to his every mistake, too.
Im totally with Sir Dave. A Human response. It is tabloid the way Barry approached - and the reaction was not professional but honest.
Going Postal is a logical progression I guess. If 15 years of following pro cycling has taught me anything, it's that it's not a great idea to believe the guy who's shouting and screaming that journalists are picking on him.
I thought the CN article was pretty 6th Form And they need to be careful of the company they keep in the forum.
Marina Hyde usually writes about lesbian handbags and how yoghurt is sexist.
No, she really doesn't.
It's all been explained now. Sky's press guys have released a statement saying that just at the time "that" question was asked, another journalist nearer the front asked what the point of the Assos Chamois Cream seen in the Team bus window was....
All perfectly innocent as per.
"At the time, Bruyneel was manager of the Astana team in which Lance Armstrong was making his comeback and which also had that year’s overall winner, Alberto Contador.
Brailsford asked: “Are you accusing me of running a doping programme as well?”
Ryan’s response was: “Well, UK Anti-Doping are investigating that ...”
If the cap fits, David...
Behaving like a guilty man ... someone with nothing to hide would be welcoming everyone to ask questions.
And he could say that, quietly, calmly and without fuss, getting knickers in a twist isn't doing himself any favours.
He needs to come clean, so they can get to the bottom of it. No ifs, no butts....
He's gone Full Trump. Never go Full Trump.
with partial Streisand.
And a little touch of Danny La Rue for good measure!
313640322.jpg
As Jimmy Ray Will says, maybe time to actually find some evidence, whistleblowers etc. While Sky's behaviour is far from transparent that doesn't mean they are hiding wrong doing. David Walsh was embedded with the team for a while and he seemed happy. Some will suggest he was paid off. Cos of course Armstrong/USPS were so poorly funded they couldn't have afforded a bribe to make the investigation disappear.
Dave who?
Cycling News and its 'forum' is an embarrassment full of tin foil nut jobs. How can the same group produce a great magazine like Pro Cycling but publish utter bollocks on a website? Their click bait headlines are only surpassed by the tosh that appears on here half the time. The only good thing about their website is the live feed during races.
As one guy posted over on Bike Radar – ‘Barry Ryan is a nobody – just a Poundshop Kimmage’. Considering Kimmage is a grade one bell end…
The trick is to focus on the issue, not the site you are looking at. Not that hard.
And the issue is that some of the 'cycling press' are a bunch of w4nkers looking for a bite. I'm not a Sky fan so have no reason to defend them. What gets my back up (and I shouldn't let them) are forum trolls masked as 'fans' when they quite clearly aren't and bottom feeders like Cycling News that give them a platform and ammunition. It's these guys that make Pro cycling look bad.
Aaah, it all makes sense now. And we thought it was the cheats and dopers..
Performance enhancing suppositories?
I actually feel more positively about Brailsford after this. What annoys me about him and Sky has been their lack of emotion and silence... showing a bit of emotion and bitterness is not a bad thing to me.
As I've said many times... there are plenty of reasons to be investigating the activities of Team Sky... what none of these reasons are however is concrete evidence of wrong doing, or even a smoking gun.
Investigative journalists need to get investigating, do a Walsh, find the evidence. All I see is lazy journalism, asking the same questions to the same people in the same way hoping to get a different response. After a while the only response change will be 'I don't talk to you any more'.
So my call is... journos, get out there and find that smoking gun.
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