A. Schleck and O'Grady thrown out of Vuelta

[theswordsman]

What everybody has appeared to miss in all of this is Andy accepted Riis's decision.

Why would you accept a sanction from your employer without protest - in particular when you are leaving to a new team?

Firstly - having a drink (even a few) is not uncommon - even during a GT.
However staying up late is frowned upon.

In this incident - I think Riis is telling the truth and was right and whatever about Schleck, O'Grady should have known better.

The problem is that people can't agree what Riis said. I believe the Sporten.dk story. But a guy at Velonation just posted a story about "Chinese whispers" implying that we and the media took the two beers and 1:00 story and made the rest up.

I follow some Liquigas riders on twitter, and one mentioned having a beer after training on the rest day. No big deal at all. But if Sporten has it right, other sources, including a senior guy from Saxo Bank, had them on a drinking spree, and probably smoking something I couldn't get from the translation "as usual". Even if it was tobacco, it's not the breakfast of champions for a grand tour.

And if Riis didn't enforce the rules for two big names, he
couldn't enforce them for anyone.

I was a warehouse supervisor years ago, and went in alone on New Year's day to move things around to make inventory with out of state auditors possible. After hours on the fork lift, I got sloppy once and left the blades up when I backed up, and it caught something, causing damage. I hadn't been out the night before, or at all during the holidays, but I still took myself for a drug test because I knew all the drivers at the main office would claim special treatment if I didn't. It's just part of the deal.

 

[Christian]

And now we are talking about Denmark and we are probably the world champions in drinking.

And that is exactly where you're wrong: the current world champion in alcohol consumption is Luxembourg. Here are the latest statistics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption

This is a list of countries by alcohol consumption measured in litres of pure ethyl alcohol consumed per capita in a given year, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization. The methodology used by the WHO counted use by persons 15 years of age or older.

United States: 8.6
Australia: 9.0
Denmark: 11.7
Luxembourg: 15.6

No one else even has 14, Czech Republic and Moldova are the only others who have over 13. So basically it was just a cultural misunderstanding. Believe me this won't happen again next year at Team Luxembourg! The internal rules will be: you come back from the bar before 5 a.m. - you're suspended!

 

[The Hitch]

come on..

do you really think that Riis would sabotage his own captain chance for getting a Vuelta victory to his team.
(the team is created for Frank)

You clearly havent thought this thrue.-

and you have clearly miss what the Saxo bank is all about and why they have been the topteam for many years..

So you think the idea that Andy might try to limit the damage to help his brother is ill thought through

I was merely giving suggestions as to what Andys thought proccess might be like.
And i do think that if a row became very high profile it would hurt Franks chances significantly

 

[The Hitch]

And that is exactly where you're wrong: the current world champion in alcohol consumption is Luxembourg. Here are the latest statistics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption

How ironic.

 

[GroupDK]

And that is exactly where you're wrong: the current world champion in alcohol consumption is Luxembourg. Here are the latest statistics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption

Damn, i also tought that Denmark was the country with highest drinking..
But i guess the record is for the teenager, thats where they have the top-nudge in the world.(shame)

But Denmark can take the price in following:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/member.php?u=16081

 

[Polyarmour]

If Andy and Stuey don't take the Vuelta seriously I'm sure there are plenty of others willing to take their spot.

 

[Christian]

Damn, i also tought that Denmark was the country with highest drinking..
But i guess the record is for the teenager, thats where they have the top-nudge in the world.(shame)

But Denmark can take the price in following:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/member.php?u=16081

Well to be fair I have to admit that the statistics aren't 100% accurate. You have to consider the fact that alcohol and cigarettes are much cheaper in Luxembourg than in the bordering countries. Therefore many people from France, Belgium and Germany buy their liquor in Luxembourg, yet are not included in the statistics. That means that a much larger amount of people than the population of Luxembourg buys alcohol in Luxembourg, and a large amount of the liquor purchased in Luxembourg is actually consumed outside of the country.

In your Denmark list you speak of the highest income - to you mean per capita GDP? Because if you do, then again Luxembourg got you beaten - e're number 1 there as well. But again, the statistics are not very accurate, since they don't count the humungous number of "frontaliers" - i.e. Belgians, Germans and French people coming to work in Luxembourg.

 

[Christian]

We was havin' so much fun -
I didn't know it was half past one.
Turned around to have one more
Looked at the clock and it was half past four!
I said: Hey, bartender ...


Blues Brothers - Hey Bartender

And in a different thread people are wondering "Why is Contador never the story?".

 

[Je ne sais quoi]

I can't get those Sporten.dk articles to load. Is this really what Bjarne says?

"Normally when someone is celebrating getting laid for the first time I wouldn't be so strict. In all honesty, if Andy could hold his liquor I wouldn't have sent him home. It's for his own safety. I hope Andy can get through to his Mom on the phone from the summit before his descent on the escalator at the airport, and that Stu can make sure he gets home the rest of the way safely."

 

[GroupDK]

I can't get those Sporten.dk articles to load. Is this really what Bjarne says?

"Normally when someone is celebrating getting laid for the first time I wouldn't be so strict. In all honesty, if Andy could hold his liquor I wouldn't have sent him home. It's for his own safety. I hope Andy can get through to his Mom on the phone from the summit before his descent on the escalator at the airport, and that Stu can make sure he gets home the rest of the way safely."

What i can understand from Sporten.DK, its was Andy that was still totally drunk at the start today, and when the peloton was asbout to start..

He was not sitting on his bike, but instead he was sitting on the metalgrid (that seperate the riders from the spectuators) and shouting ´ im ready to go - Im ready to go..!


So I understand Riis decission..

 

[GroupDK]

Well to be fair I have to admit that the statistics aren't 100% accurate. You have to consider the fact that alcohol and cigarettes are much cheaper in Luxembourg than in the bordering countries. Therefore many people from France, Belgium and Germany buy their liquor in Luxembourg, yet are not included in the statistics. That means that a much larger amount of people than the population of Luxembourg buys alcohol in Luxembourg, and a large amount of the liquor purchased in Luxembourg is actually consumed outside of the country.

In your Denmark list you speak of the highest income - to you mean per capita GDP? Because if you do, then again Luxembourg got you beaten - e're number 1 there as well. But again, the statistics are not very accurate, since they don't count the humungous number of "frontaliers" - i.e. Belgians, Germans and French people coming to work in Luxembourg.

yeah i see your point, a bit like Switzerland, where there are a lot of foreign cash in work.

About highest income, its from the Wikipedia, that stats that Denmark have the world highest income equality.
(Denmark ranks as having the world's highest level of income equality. Denmark has the best business climate in the world, according to the U.S. business magazine Forbes)

It also looks like Kim Andersen (a former danish dir. from Saxo-bank) is trying to scalp to hole saxo-bank team to his new Lux sponsored team..
And want to buy Cancellara free from Riis amount of 3 mio euro is in speek..)

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/riis-og-kim-.-i-cancellara-krig

 

[pedaling squares]

That is what Saxo bank is all about.
Respect for each other.
and everybody is there 100 % for each other.

Yep. They're nearly 100% together alright, just not on Saxo.

Riis and saxo bank have spend så much time on trips and survivel tours and on and on and on.
To get that ultra tight internal respect, so the riders really are ready to work and give them self 100 % for there teamfellows.

No man drinks alone! If Stuey's staying out all night, I've got his back.

...saxo bank... the team with the strongest rules and dopingtests.

Rule 1: don't get caught.
Rule 2: don't (see Clinic). Intention to (see Clinic) is another thing altogether.
Rule 3: If you violate rules 1 or 2, see Johann for a contract.

is all about first or second..

Er, in a GT it's all about second.

 

[For The World]

Here's an article with direct quotes from Stuart O'Grady:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...and-andy-schleck/story-e6frg7mf-1225915776866

I do believe that the 5am thing is a misquote.

 

[EmpressJo]

And, yes, probably half the Spanish peloton does it and the Italian peloton drag the podium girls to their rooms - but that doesn't mean it's the done thing on Saxo... "Sorry Bjarne, but the other guys did it and we didn't want to feel left out!... It's so unfair! - I'm telling Kim"

Okay, I really need to stop reading threads like this at work. My giggling is starting to attract attention, but dammit, you guys are just too funny!

"I'm not here to give any explanations or further details. What actually happened will stay between us."

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/07092010/58/vuelta-espana-schleck-kicked-drinking.html

One drink or two, 1am or 5am, it doesn't matter - if the above quote is true, then I think there's more to it than everyone is letting on and that we'll never know what *really* happened. Suffice to say that Baby Schleck and Stuey did a bad, bad thing and were punished.

I would've thought that Stuey knew it was a bit too early for Mad Monday just yet, but maybe it's a case of when in Spain... I guess Baby Schleck went with him because he just wanted a good time.

 

[pedaling squares]

Here's an article with direct quotes from Stuart O'Grady:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...and-andy-schleck/story-e6frg7mf-1225915776866

I do believe that the 5am thing is a misquote.

He's corroborating Andy's claim of two beers. Maybe I shouldn't be such a cynic. O'Grady's comment is pretty understated but it seems like there's some frustration and maybe hostility under the surface.

“It also means I've ridden my last race for Saxo Bank. This is not the way I would have wanted my career racing for Bjarne Riis to end. I've ridden my guts out on the front for the team for the last six seasons.”

"If we don't have teamwork, we have nothing"
-Bjarne Riis in Overcoming

 

[For The World]

I guess it's just a case then of being guilty until proven innocent (of stumbling into the hotel at 5am). Such a shame.

 

[theswordsman]

Here's an article with direct quotes from Stuart O'Grady:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...and-andy-schleck/story-e6frg7mf-1225915776866

I do believe that the 5am thing is a misquote.

Apparently he was lost in time as well.

“Mate, we stepped out of the team hotel at 10pm and stopped for a couple of beers at a bar in the local piazza,” O'Grady said.

“We had two beers, that's all. Some members of the European press over here have made us sound like we were on the drink all night.

“That's simply not true.

“We had just ridden our guts out in the team time trial. I don't want to sound like I'm whinging, but the decision to pull us out of the race was harsh,” the South Australian added.

The TTT was the first night of the race in Seville. I've seen a number of reports in the Spanish press that say Schlecklet and O'Grady were seen out drinking that night, as well as in Malaga and Murcia, with a teammate who is still under contract for next year.

But if Stuey is right, why on Earth is he after a rest day talking as if he rode a Team Time Trial last night?

 

[For The World]

I wish I could answer that for you. As it is, and having raced for many years myself, i've no idea why ANY cyclist would be out until 5am the day before or after a race. It really makes no sense at all.

 

[Polyarmour]

I wonder how Andy would've felt if his domestiques were out drinking beers beyond 10pm in the TdF? If I were Frank I'd be pretty annoyed.

Saxobank pays their wages to win races. Schleck and Stuey are happy to take Saxos money but not that happy about delivering results for them it would appear.

 

[theswordsman]

I guess it's just a case then of being guilty until proven innocent (of stumbling into the hotel at 5am). Such a shame.

It was a really brief phone interview. Is there some reason I can't think of why he was talking about Stage 1 when he got tossed out after a rest day, before stage 10?

Or does he mean that he rode hard for 14 minutes and 19 seconds a week and a half ago and so deserved to stay out late for a drink?

Do a Google search for him and see how many Spanish news sources say he's been seen out drinking three other times this race. These guys aren't in a cycling bubble when they go out - regular people see them and talk.

I wish that everyone had the same quote from Riis, even though Sporten had other sources. If Cycling News were the ones who got it wrong, shame on them. If Riis did say they came in at 5:00, and they were actually in at one, Andy and Stuey should get on the phone immediately to lawyers and sue him for doing serious damage to their reputations. Seriously, it should happen.

But there are enough other sources reporting the drinking on different occasions that I tend to believe the guy from Danish cycling and the guy from Saxo Bank referenced by Sporten. I probably read sixty or more articles today looking for the correct quote and the truth to the story. That's the best I can offer. But the interview with the Team Time Trial doesn't sway me.

 

[Ruxen1989]

Two nights?

O'Gradys comments makes me think there is talk about two nights out. And if that is so then both Bjarnes and Andys statements make a little more sense. The night after the TTT they were out to 5 am? (that doesn't mean that they got drunk that night). If the 5 am night is from the TTT it is more understandable that it got so late but still not good. and then the rest day where they were out having two beers, met Bjarne and was home at 1 am?

 

[EmpressJo]

But if Stuey is right, why on Earth is he after a rest day talking as if he rode a Team Time Trial last night?

Because he got so smashed he forgot what day it is? Or he and Baby Schleck were so smashed that they actually *did* ride a TTT, but only with confused Spanish locals?

The TTT was the first night of the race in Seville. I've seen a number of reports in the Spanish press that say Schlecklet and O'Grady were seen out drinking that night, as well as in Malaga and Murcia, with a teammate who is still under contract for next year.

Seriously though, I'm beginning to think that it's all cumulative. When the boss is away the boys do play. And maybe they played one day too many when Riis showed up.

 

[brianf7]

Podium girls and wild women led them astray . All work and no play makes a very dull life.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hmm... they went out to get a drink. I'd consider getting a drink pretty much the opposite of doping. Does anyone remember what happened to Millar during the Tour...?

But... maybe the real punishment would've been to force them to the front...
Or, as Brian Holm would put it: "Er muss!"

 

[NickBVK]

Can't get decent beer over there anyway, poor Stuey