FORMER TOUR DE FRANCE cyclist and award-winning author Paul Kimmage has launched a stinging attack on the London 2012 efforts of Irish cyclists Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin.
Speaking on Newstalk’s Off The Ball show on Tuesday, Kimmage said the performance of Roche and Martin was the worst he had ever seen from Irish cyclists at the Olympics.
Roche and Martin, cousins that competed for rival teams in the Tour de France, finished 89th and 90th respectively in Saturday’s road race, which was won by Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan.
Daniel Martin, the third member of Team Ireland, crossed the line in 55th and escaped criticism from Kimmage during the radio interview.
Huge effort from Team GB
Kimmage was less critical of the British team, including Bradley Wiggins, Ian Stannard, David Millar and Christopher Froome, who failed to control the race pace sufficiently to set teammate Mark Cavendish up for a sprint finish and possible gold.
He said, “I take issue with you on the point that they were the chief losers. certainly, in terms of the expectations, they were the biggest losers but in terms of what they actually delivered, I would suggest that they were actually the biggest winners.” Kimmage added:
You really have to understand the sport to appreciate how close they came to pulling it off on Saturday. They had four guys to control a race of 250 kilometres and were pitted against 140 guys trying to stop them.
“Basically, they came up short by about 25k from bringing it all back together again but the effort they put in, the selflessness of Wiggins, Millar, Stannard and Froome in rying to bring the race together for Cavendish in trying to set up the sprint for him was absolutely remarkable.”
He added, “Where I a team manager I would have nothing but praise for them. That praise is not something I would extend to a lot of other teams, particularly the Australians, who were really, really poor.”
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Damning assessment
Kimmage also noted the indifferent efforts of the German and Belgian teams, who did not assist Team GB in the pursuit of breakaway riders, but reserved some of his most withering words for Team Ireland.
He said, “It was an absolutely dreadful performance.”
Kimmage continued, “I’m trying to be as polite as possible. There are a lot of Irish riders, very average Irish riders, who have represented us at the Olympics over the years. What they did give however was 100% commitment to the jersey.” He declared:
That is not something I could extend to Nicolas Roche or Daniel Martin on Saturday. I thought that was one of the poorest performances I’ve ever seen.
“If I was (chief executive of the Irish Sports Council) John Treacy now, looking at the funding that we’ve put into these guys for the last number of years, I would be seriously questioning their commitment to the cause.”
Kimmage commented that he had read Roche’s column about the race, published on Sunday.
The author said, “(Nicolas) said in it that he decided he best bet would be to stay with Cavendish. In a million years he is not going to beat Cavendish in a sprint. His only chance was to go with the moves on the last climb.
“It was what I expected them to do but I saw nothing from them.”
The Irish road race team of David McCann, Nicolas Roche and Daniel Martin. (John Giles/PA Wire)
Kimmage criticised the preparation of Team Ireland, in the six-day turnaround after the Tour de France, when compared to the Great Britain team, who travelled to Surrey to keep up their conditioning.
He criticised reports that Roche fly into London last Monday and found himself waiting around to catch a bus out towards the Olympic Village. Kimmage said:
This is a guy who is earns about €200,000 a year. If he is not capable of getting himself from Heathrow into the Olympic Village in some sort of comfort, or car, I’ve got to question the preparation there.
“As a bike rider and as an Irishman I was really disappointed by that.”
Kimmage complimented the other member of Team Ireland’s cycling team on Saturday, David McCann.
“I didn’t agree with his selection for the road race but he acquitted himself quite well.
“He hung in there, he finished. It was as much as you were going to ask of him. I don’t hold him as responsible as the other two in terms of the performance.”
McCann is in action on Wednesday afternoon’s time trial.
Kimmage, ever the pragmatist, says McCann has ‘no chance’ against the likes of Wiggins, Christopher Froome, Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara.
Somewhat agree with your sentiments as far as some casual viewers are concerned but that’s not the attitude of our Olympians by a long shot.
Look at the boxers for a good example. The folks in the various boats are also doing a great job as did our Badminton players to name but a few.
Totally agree with PK. One wonders why we bothered sending a team at all. Also I wasn’t to impressed with NR’s interview afterwards where he ‘mistakenly’ call Team GB, Sky. Maybe he was thinking of who he works for rather than his country?
In fairness now, that’s a pretty easy mistake to make given that they share the same manager, their most prominent cyclists and almost all gear that Team GB uses apart from jerseys is Team Sky.
There is no excuse for not going with the break. PK was spot on in his assessment. NR and DM it’s fair were capable of medalling if they were bothered. Look at the guys who stood on the podium and you’d have to admit they’re sub-standard compared to our lads. And Vinokourov is very old. TDF can’t be a legitimate excuse.
Vino is very old. What like 80? He’s a professional athlete who had just completed the Tour de France and indeed was starting to look very dangerous in the last week of it. Anybody who knew anything about cycling know better than to dismiss him by saying he was “very old”!
whatever way you look at it vinos age should be a significant determinant in performance. NR is a team leader and should have been capable of competing at that level. Kimmage is justified in his critique of both NR and DM and to dismiss me as saying I know nothing about cycling is a bit silly imo.
While we’re all happy that the 2 boys compete in the UCI pro tour, I think that the lack of any attack from both Nico and Dan has people’s backs up. Ask Vino or Sami Sanchez would they swap their Olympic gold for 12th in the TDF and I know what their answer would be.
It’s ‘were you over there..’.
So nobody is allowed an opinion? In that case we would have zero analysis or contributions from anyone but the participants on the day…..that’s nonsense.
Ah the expert view of Paul Kimmage who won ………………… em he won …………….. yep he won that thing ………………… or was it the other thing, ye know the……………………….. Jaysus if I’m honest I can’t remember anything he won! Paul who did you say?
So only very successful sports people should be allowed comment on spots events? Judging by the interviews given by winners after most sports events give me an above average performer with an opinion any day
Kimmage is a has-been cyclist. And a very average one at that who seen an opportunity to get out of the sport that he was never going to win anything in and go into journalism. There’s only so long he can insult people to generate headlines before the intelligent people realize that all he really is is a chancer.
Why is his performance as a cyclist relevant here? Should we restrict the sports journalism profession to past winners only? And if we can’t have ‘had beens’ then all we’re left with is the banal drivel that make up both Dan Martins and Nic Roches ‘Tour de France diaries’ published in two papers recently.
I want me sports journalists to be knowledgable and opinionated. PK ticks both boxes.
i would argue that Nicolas Roche’s diaries are a little more stimulating than the usual banalities. Kimmage’s credentials as a cyclist are fundamental to his journalism because his cycling career (and his subsequent disillusionment with it) led directly to his establishment and reputation as a sports journalist. Former pros make good journalists because of their insight and their ability to read a race. Sean Kelly as a commentator makes a good example of this and he can be harsh too when need to be. Kimmage’s Comments are undermined by his exoneration of the British team. That’s why his comments on the Irish riders will strike many as being uncharitable
Paul Kimmage was one of the best amateur cyclists Ireland has ever produced. At a time when the sport was riddled with doping. He became a pro and realised the only route to success was doping. He began the fight to make out sport clean. In my eyes he is a hero and should be applauded for his work. Yes he is outspoken but at least he has the balls to speak.
Flash back a few year to the Tour of Calafornia. Paul questions lances intentions for coming out of retirement and all the pro lance fans abuse him. I say WHERE ARE THEY NOW.
Sorry @Urban no body mentioned anything about doping, obvi Kimmage’s credentials in antidoping circles have been established but that has nothing to do with his criticism of the Irish Riders. I have great respect or any rider who even manages to complete a tour but his reading of the race was all wrong. His analysis was way off in his exoneration of team GB.
Also just on this point you say “He became a pro and realized the only route to success was doping” are you actually saying that a) cyclists of that generation who were successful were so because of doping and that b) Kimmage had the potential to join them if he did go on the sauce?
The entire race was something of an anomaly. You’d have to go a long way to see a cycling race that contained as many elementary and tactical mistakes by professional cyclists as that. Leaving that group of20 up the road , that group leaving Vino off, cancellara’s bike handing and most inexplicably, Team GB tactical naivety. Kimmage undermines his entire position by exonerating the Brits they got the race badly wrong. Theyleft a massive group off the front adjust the time they shouldn’t been twisting the screw, instead they started riding from the front from thievery start of the race trying to control it and show how much they controlled the peloton and then they couldn’t closedown the group. Kimmage is an honest report whose integrity respect but he was an distinctly average cyclist as a pro and his cycling analysis is of similar quality.
Nicholas Roche is not exactly the worlds most competitive rider, Martin is still a bit green. Roche never had any expectation of beating Cav in a sprint. He gambled on Team GB bringing the group back together but that didn’t happen. They missed the break and that was the race finished for them. And be under no illusion the winning if the Olympic road race is surely an honour but not really regarded as one of the top top races in the pro calendar
If Roche is guilty if anything its putting too much faith in gb. Was probably thinking they would bring the breakaway back and have a go at the sprint. He wasn’t the only one who confused team gb and team sky. Wiggins and co thought they were riding with a full team too. Pure arrogance to think they could ride down a breakaway with 5 men. Even when Cancellara went on box hill they just sat there. Cav’s lead out man Bernhard Eisel working with them towards the end??? An Austrian with no team mate in the breakaway?? The Irish effort wasn’t epic by any means but I thinks it’s a bit harsh from PK
Its very easy to say what Paul said. The two boys just came from a grand tour and can be sure to be feeling it. Dan racing it on intibiotics and Roche emptying himself for 12th place. Anyone who has ridn a race knows it is very easy to miss a group of 25. you dont just decide il go with this move. that move was formed with loads of individual moves and if the two boys could have bridged the gap on the last lap with cancelara and vino then im sure they would have tried. this crap of sitting on the back, its no different to riding directly behind the four riders of GB as they set the pace. The break was established and they knew it.
Cycling is unlike other sports and you have to take into consideration the olympics doesnt come first and happens to fall a week after the biggest 3week cycling event. In the end of the day they were the only riders that could do anything for ireland but the course didnt suit them at all.
As for funding i dont think they should have got any, it could have gone to lesser sports. they didnt need it and were never going to prepare for this race, it was always going to be a lottery if they were to get anything out of it especially the course being the way it was. I think Paul should wind it up a bit, sometime i wonder if he has ever raced!!
Prior to the race Paul kimmage had tipped the two Irish lads to do well and I think yesterday was a bit of back tracking from him to justify his original position. I think he said team gb tried something very difficult(control peloton with 5), failed but not by much. He didn’t say their tactics were spot on just that he respected how close they came. Most interesting was his references to Bradley wiggins ..ahem ..ability to recover after that effort on Saturday for the time trial today. Paul Kimmage rode and completed the tour de France as a pro and is a former olympian. Hardly a has been cyclist.
Surprise surprise, Paul Kimmage is still suffering from that dreadful chip on his shoulder he’s had for years now. Life must be pretty miserable being so negative all the time.
Tony your missing his point. It’s not a chip on his shoulder. It’s his desire to see the sport become cleaner. What about Jonathan Vaughter has he a chip on his shoulder too.
Sorry Urban Monks but I may not have been clear enough. I have no problem with PK’s work against doping. In fact the sport needs more like him on that front. My problem is with his constant negativity journalism on all aspects of cycling. There are great positivies in the sport at both pro and amateur levels and a constantly growing band of amateur racers and sportive cyclists and I feel he puts people off. In my opinion he has become a bit of a headline grabber and is therefor much less effective in what he started out to do as fewer and fewer take him seriously any more.
cycling is unpredictable, you cant gauge a riders performance based on the results sheet! There is no difference between finishing 50th and 90th when it is a pack finish. What matters is the breakaway riders vying for the win and then the top 10 in the bunch. Beyond that there is no indication of top or mediocre performances – they all finished in the pack. Why would you kill yourself to finish 30th? and well out of medal contention by that point. Its not always the best or strongest rider that will win.
I guess he’d know a lot about average riders considering he was the epitome of a below average rider. If grand tour winners like Kelly and Roche wrote this it wouldn’t bother me so much. They actually achieved great results in their career, whereas Kimmage clearly hasn’t and has made a career out of bitterness.
most of the comments on here are fair enough , and i think we all were a little dissapointed with the outcome of the race. But the problem is that we are just no up to competing in these big events and our olympics sofar have been dire., excuses and near misses . a.nd we only seem to be able to compete in the most violent sport in the olympics and no hope in anything else. ,says something for this country i think. . we always have the attitude that taking part is what matters and love to party. Just listen to the morons singing at taylors scrap today in excel arena.. Other small countries are winners but we only want to make fools of ourselves on and of the pitch. Sure some people think that the gaa is serious big time sport and that all other sports are just foriegn or protestant games and wount have their children involved, this is a big issue still in ireland .
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Irish attitude to the Olympics seems to be that, “but shur didn’t we all have a lovely time and isn’t that what matters, now where’s the bar?”
Taking part is NOT what it’s all about, that’s for the community games, school field days etc. The Olympics is about bringing home medals.
No doubt Kimmage will be lambasted for his comments, as was Roy Keane after the Euro 2012 disaster.
Somewhat agree with your sentiments as far as some casual viewers are concerned but that’s not the attitude of our Olympians by a long shot.
Look at the boxers for a good example. The folks in the various boats are also doing a great job as did our Badminton players to name but a few.
Get down off that fence!
Totally agree with PK. One wonders why we bothered sending a team at all. Also I wasn’t to impressed with NR’s interview afterwards where he ‘mistakenly’ call Team GB, Sky. Maybe he was thinking of who he works for rather than his country?
In fairness now, that’s a pretty easy mistake to make given that they share the same manager, their most prominent cyclists and almost all gear that Team GB uses apart from jerseys is Team Sky.
Why are we shite at all sports? Bar bogball of course, of which we are world champions.
It’s because of cynical little people like you!
Ah, you must be a bogball fan then.
Cycling fan ya muppet!
Worse again.
We’re not even good at bogball, the dubs beat us at that too! ;)
There is no excuse for not going with the break. PK was spot on in his assessment. NR and DM it’s fair were capable of medalling if they were bothered. Look at the guys who stood on the podium and you’d have to admit they’re sub-standard compared to our lads. And Vinokourov is very old. TDF can’t be a legitimate excuse.
Vino is very old. What like 80? He’s a professional athlete who had just completed the Tour de France and indeed was starting to look very dangerous in the last week of it. Anybody who knew anything about cycling know better than to dismiss him by saying he was “very old”!
whatever way you look at it vinos age should be a significant determinant in performance. NR is a team leader and should have been capable of competing at that level. Kimmage is justified in his critique of both NR and DM and to dismiss me as saying I know nothing about cycling is a bit silly imo.
As a cyclist fan I’m more interested in the tour de France and Nicholas Roche and dan Martin did really really well with Roche finishing 12th overall
While we’re all happy that the 2 boys compete in the UCI pro tour, I think that the lack of any attack from both Nico and Dan has people’s backs up. Ask Vino or Sami Sanchez would they swap their Olympic gold for 12th in the TDF and I know what their answer would be.
Wiggins wond the TDF, Didnt stop him giving everything!!
Paul Kimmage, cycling’s Roy Keane!
Didn’t get to see the end of it ,but the bits I did see were the two lads dead last having an auld chat while out for a pedal.
All they were short was two baskets on the front of the bikes with two yorkshire terriers in them.
Paul is correct.
The boys went though the motions.
This cash should have been given to our sailors, swimmers, boxers and athletes.
Go back to the Sindo, Paul. They miss you there. That kind of bile spewing and snarking would go down a treat with them.
where you over there?? no them shut your cake flap.. idiot..
It’s ‘were you over there..’.
So nobody is allowed an opinion? In that case we would have zero analysis or contributions from anyone but the participants on the day…..that’s nonsense.
Ah the expert view of Paul Kimmage who won ………………… em he won …………….. yep he won that thing ………………… or was it the other thing, ye know the……………………….. Jaysus if I’m honest I can’t remember anything he won! Paul who did you say?
So only very successful sports people should be allowed comment on spots events? Judging by the interviews given by winners after most sports events give me an above average performer with an opinion any day
Silly comment, John Halton.
Kimmage is a has-been cyclist. And a very average one at that who seen an opportunity to get out of the sport that he was never going to win anything in and go into journalism. There’s only so long he can insult people to generate headlines before the intelligent people realize that all he really is is a chancer.
Who did he insult?
Why is his performance as a cyclist relevant here? Should we restrict the sports journalism profession to past winners only? And if we can’t have ‘had beens’ then all we’re left with is the banal drivel that make up both Dan Martins and Nic Roches ‘Tour de France diaries’ published in two papers recently.
I want me sports journalists to be knowledgable and opinionated. PK ticks both boxes.
i would argue that Nicolas Roche’s diaries are a little more stimulating than the usual banalities. Kimmage’s credentials as a cyclist are fundamental to his journalism because his cycling career (and his subsequent disillusionment with it) led directly to his establishment and reputation as a sports journalist. Former pros make good journalists because of their insight and their ability to read a race. Sean Kelly as a commentator makes a good example of this and he can be harsh too when need to be. Kimmage’s Comments are undermined by his exoneration of the British team. That’s why his comments on the Irish riders will strike many as being uncharitable
Paul Kimmage was one of the best amateur cyclists Ireland has ever produced. At a time when the sport was riddled with doping. He became a pro and realised the only route to success was doping. He began the fight to make out sport clean. In my eyes he is a hero and should be applauded for his work. Yes he is outspoken but at least he has the balls to speak.
Flash back a few year to the Tour of Calafornia. Paul questions lances intentions for coming out of retirement and all the pro lance fans abuse him. I say WHERE ARE THEY NOW.
Sorry @Urban no body mentioned anything about doping, obvi Kimmage’s credentials in antidoping circles have been established but that has nothing to do with his criticism of the Irish Riders. I have great respect or any rider who even manages to complete a tour but his reading of the race was all wrong. His analysis was way off in his exoneration of team GB.
Also just on this point you say “He became a pro and realized the only route to success was doping” are you actually saying that a) cyclists of that generation who were successful were so because of doping and that b) Kimmage had the potential to join them if he did go on the sauce?
The entire race was something of an anomaly. You’d have to go a long way to see a cycling race that contained as many elementary and tactical mistakes by professional cyclists as that. Leaving that group of20 up the road , that group leaving Vino off, cancellara’s bike handing and most inexplicably, Team GB tactical naivety. Kimmage undermines his entire position by exonerating the Brits they got the race badly wrong. Theyleft a massive group off the front adjust the time they shouldn’t been twisting the screw, instead they started riding from the front from thievery start of the race trying to control it and show how much they controlled the peloton and then they couldn’t closedown the group. Kimmage is an honest report whose integrity respect but he was an distinctly average cyclist as a pro and his cycling analysis is of similar quality.
Nicholas Roche is not exactly the worlds most competitive rider, Martin is still a bit green. Roche never had any expectation of beating Cav in a sprint. He gambled on Team GB bringing the group back together but that didn’t happen. They missed the break and that was the race finished for them. And be under no illusion the winning if the Olympic road race is surely an honour but not really regarded as one of the top top races in the pro calendar
If Roche is guilty if anything its putting too much faith in gb. Was probably thinking they would bring the breakaway back and have a go at the sprint. He wasn’t the only one who confused team gb and team sky. Wiggins and co thought they were riding with a full team too. Pure arrogance to think they could ride down a breakaway with 5 men. Even when Cancellara went on box hill they just sat there. Cav’s lead out man Bernhard Eisel working with them towards the end??? An Austrian with no team mate in the breakaway?? The Irish effort wasn’t epic by any means but I thinks it’s a bit harsh from PK
Its very easy to say what Paul said. The two boys just came from a grand tour and can be sure to be feeling it. Dan racing it on intibiotics and Roche emptying himself for 12th place. Anyone who has ridn a race knows it is very easy to miss a group of 25. you dont just decide il go with this move. that move was formed with loads of individual moves and if the two boys could have bridged the gap on the last lap with cancelara and vino then im sure they would have tried. this crap of sitting on the back, its no different to riding directly behind the four riders of GB as they set the pace. The break was established and they knew it.
Cycling is unlike other sports and you have to take into consideration the olympics doesnt come first and happens to fall a week after the biggest 3week cycling event. In the end of the day they were the only riders that could do anything for ireland but the course didnt suit them at all.
As for funding i dont think they should have got any, it could have gone to lesser sports. they didnt need it and were never going to prepare for this race, it was always going to be a lottery if they were to get anything out of it especially the course being the way it was. I think Paul should wind it up a bit, sometime i wonder if he has ever raced!!
Prior to the race Paul kimmage had tipped the two Irish lads to do well and I think yesterday was a bit of back tracking from him to justify his original position. I think he said team gb tried something very difficult(control peloton with 5), failed but not by much. He didn’t say their tactics were spot on just that he respected how close they came. Most interesting was his references to Bradley wiggins ..ahem ..ability to recover after that effort on Saturday for the time trial today. Paul Kimmage rode and completed the tour de France as a pro and is a former olympian. Hardly a has been cyclist.
Surprise surprise, Paul Kimmage is still suffering from that dreadful chip on his shoulder he’s had for years now. Life must be pretty miserable being so negative all the time.
Tony your missing his point. It’s not a chip on his shoulder. It’s his desire to see the sport become cleaner. What about Jonathan Vaughter has he a chip on his shoulder too.
Sorry Urban Monks but I may not have been clear enough. I have no problem with PK’s work against doping. In fact the sport needs more like him on that front. My problem is with his constant negativity journalism on all aspects of cycling. There are great positivies in the sport at both pro and amateur levels and a constantly growing band of amateur racers and sportive cyclists and I feel he puts people off. In my opinion he has become a bit of a headline grabber and is therefor much less effective in what he started out to do as fewer and fewer take him seriously any more.
cycling is unpredictable, you cant gauge a riders performance based on the results sheet! There is no difference between finishing 50th and 90th when it is a pack finish. What matters is the breakaway riders vying for the win and then the top 10 in the bunch. Beyond that there is no indication of top or mediocre performances – they all finished in the pack. Why would you kill yourself to finish 30th? and well out of medal contention by that point. Its not always the best or strongest rider that will win.
paul kimmage was rubbish everything he says is sour grapes finishing last in tour de france was his career highlight.
I guess he’d know a lot about average riders considering he was the epitome of a below average rider. If grand tour winners like Kelly and Roche wrote this it wouldn’t bother me so much. They actually achieved great results in their career, whereas Kimmage clearly hasn’t and has made a career out of bitterness.
most of the comments on here are fair enough , and i think we all were a little dissapointed with the outcome of the race. But the problem is that we are just no up to competing in these big events and our olympics sofar have been dire., excuses and near misses . a.nd we only seem to be able to compete in the most violent sport in the olympics and no hope in anything else. ,says something for this country i think. . we always have the attitude that taking part is what matters and love to party. Just listen to the morons singing at taylors scrap today in excel arena.. Other small countries are winners but we only want to make fools of ourselves on and of the pitch. Sure some people think that the gaa is serious big time sport and that all other sports are just foriegn or protestant games and wount have their children involved, this is a big issue still in ireland .