Where else to hold the presentation of the Russian-Italian cycling team Tinkoff, if not at the Bosco bar in GUM? The owner of the bar is a symbol of glamor in sports. Having your own cycling team is cool. Not everyone can afford it.
Oleg Tinkoff, the head of Tinkoff, decided that he needed to develop cycling at all costs. In the presentation booklet he was called not only as a "spare racer", but only then as "owner".
- And how do you like a spare racer? - were interested in Mikhail Ignatiev, the Olympic champion on the track.
“And who is our replacement?” - the athlete recalled fearfully. But after the prompt, he relaxed. “Ah ... not bad.” At the mountain stages he has no chance, but the finish spurt is shock.
The champion modestly kept silent that it was still necessary to get to the finish line.
Ignatiev, meanwhile, revealed professional secrets. He, of course, was asked about doping. And how Tinkoff is fighting this evil.
“We have no such problems,” the champion smiled slyly. But then, remembering that careers were collapsing and because of clearer answers, he concentrated. - The doctor carefully monitors what we take. We don’t drink anything illegal.
- Michael, thanks to WADA we know that cycling is the dirtiest sport. You must have already been terrorized by the searches?
- Luckily, there were no searches. (But the team is still young - A.Sh.). Only doping tests are carried out very often.
- You probably do not eat in unfamiliar places? You never know what they can add.
- During the race we’ll definitely not take water from the wrong hands. And so no restrictions. There is a risk, but it is minimal.
Here in the hall where the press conference was held, they brought a huge suitcase. It turned out that there was a real professional bike.
- Who will collect it for us? - worried the organizers. “What will we do with these details?”
“Calm down, I will collect if necessary,” Ignatiev volunteered.
- And for how long do you generally collect and disassemble a bicycle? Is there any standard?
- It depends on what state it is. Usually a minute leaves, but if it is very well understood, then five.
In the suitcase lay some designs that resembled an iron horse only to people with a rich imagination. Ignatiev was not allowed to approach. The device was assembled by Dmitry Konyshev (sports director of the team) and Tyler Hamilton (leader of Tinkoff). Ignatiev was a little offended.
“Better let's break what lies there,” he suggested cheerfully.
Konyshev grinned, but continued to concentrate the details intently. The bike was not going to.
“What five minutes,” Ignatiev urged. - Half an hour is not enough. And also professionals ...
“Well, it's all in suits,” Mikhail defended his colleagues. - Without costumes, everything goes much faster. In addition, you did not notice the time.
The owner of the team Oleg Tinkov finally came to the hall. Many felt it necessary to rush to his back in order to wipe some kind of stain from his jacket. Lucky one woman and a man with a camera.
“What are you doing here?” - Tinkov attacked one pretty lady. - You are writing about a socialite. And we have a sporting event.
The lady sluggishly retorted, knowing full well that everything that happens at the Bosco bar has a distant relation to sports.
“I want through the media (with emphasis on the last syllable) of the media to appeal to businessmen, wealthy people and Roman Abramovich with a request to help finance this project,” Tinkov began. “It's hard for me to do it.”
He later assured that he would save funding until December 31, and then he would “think.”
And the language does not turn to say that we risk losing Russian cycling.
Alexey Shevchenko