Rainbow doesn't always bring a pot of gold

For Matt Goss, last night’s second place to Mark Cavendish will be an uncomfortable sentiment to the concept of “what if” and “If I had done this different”.

However, for the rider who has shown over the past season his talent is eminent (being the first Australian to win the Milan San Remo classic, and riding his debut tour) it is not all over for the GreenEdge rider who next year, more than likely will play a prominent role in the one day classics at the beginning of the cycling season.

All is not lost for Goss, sure, the idea of Rainbow Jersey has alluded him but I question, is it really going to be a benefit for the World Champs jersey to be worn by a member of team in its first year?

If anything, it would create added expectation (already heaped on GreenEdge by the names that they have signed, heaped on like nuts to a chocolate sundae) to a team starting out, taking its inaugural pedal strokes.

As with any grand tour, the leaders jersey (whether it be pink, red or yellow) places pressure on the team to take a certain responsibility to perform, to lead the group of riders (a peloton for the initiated).

But for the Rainbow jersey, the pressure comes from being expected to be on a roll, a hot winning streak (after the winning streak standard set by one Mark Cavendish, how can anyone do better at the present time? It’s astounding) and on a developing squad learning the ropes of dynamics and working together, it’s not possible or fair tp expect that much.

For the dynamics that are seen between winning teams (now defunct HTC Highroad, BMC and the US Postal/ Discovery Channel Team) it takes a whole lot more than a training camp to pull this off.

So while it might be a case of “the one that got away” for Matthew Goss, perhaps it can be a blessing is disguise for both him, and GreenEdge.

After all, not all Rainbow Jersey’s can bring with them a pot of gold or good luck.