'If we're in crisis, then imagine the other teams,' says Russian
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Tinkoff team owner Oleg Tinkov points to his Peter Sagan shirt after his rider won stage 2 and took the yellow jersey
Oleg Tinkov holds up the yellow jersey(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Tinkoff's Alberto Contador at the finish of stage 5.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) went in the early move but was caught
Oleg Tinkov has pushed back suggestions that his Tinkoff team are in crisis and told people who post on social media about tactics from their sofa should spend €20 million on their own teams and run their own tactics.
Tinkov was answering questions in relation to stage 5 when Roman Kreuziger failed to wait for his team leader Alberto Contador on the final climb. The team later criticised Kreuziger in public, telling Cyclingnews that he was asked to wait four times on the radio.
Kreuziger later told Cyclingnews that communication within the team needed to improve. Before stage 5 Tinkoff had won a stage via Peter Sagan and spent several days leading the race. Contador has, however, lost time to his GC rivals after consecutive crashes in the opening two stages.
"I read on Cyclingnews that we are in crisis but if we're in crisis after winning a stage and spending three days in yellow then imagine the others. The French should then go home and 19 other teams should be in a panic," Tinkov told Cyclingnews at the finish of stage 7 in the Pyrenees at the Tour de France.
With regards to the team leadership and Contador, support, Tinkov added the Spaniard still had the full support of the riders around him, and he looked to calm the situation with Kreuziger.
"Alberto has crashed twice and things are different and it's getting tougher. We'll see what happens tomorrow and we'll understand then if we have GC run.
"We are united until he's out of the GC race. People are talking about tactics but for me it's divine analytics."
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Tinkov, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, then hit out against those that have criticised the tactics displayed by his team in the race. However, it has been the execution of tactics, rather than the tactics themselves that have raised eyebrows.
"These people talk about tactics but they do it from their sofas and then they tweet about it. If they know about tactics then they need to spend €20 million and have their own team. That's our tactic," he said.
"I've not seen the situation to be honest," he said in relation to the moment Kreuziger rode away from Contador.
"I tried to check on Youtube but not found it. I can't see that situation with Roman and Alberto but my observation is that once dropped on the final climb there's not much a teammate can do. If it's two or three climbs to go and in the wind then it's different but again I've not seen the situation."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
