A. Schleck and O'Grady thrown out of Vuelta

[Archibald]

“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?

Perhaps it's just the arrival of Riis to make the expulsion himself for their misdemeanor(sp?) after the first stage?

Kind of a "you wait til Mum gets home!" type deal with someone ratting them out.

Stuey doesn't actually say anything about "last night" except to say that was what they had done...

 

[supercameron]

if only cycling new brought out their monthly fitness tips a day earlier

Hi,

I just want your expert advice on recovery after a very late night. If you have only three hours of sleep the previous day, how long you need to recover after that until you're recovered enough to go on your next ride.

Lashan

 

[GroupDK]

come on.
Not many weeks that Andy stated, that Riis was the best dir. he had ever met, and he owed Riis everything.(everything)

Come on, not many days since that Riis was telling Andy and also showing Andy what not too do. !

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/riis-haaber-andy-fik-en-laerestreg

(you can almost hear Riis telling Andy, the choice of life)

Yeah so what, Andy is a drunk, and that his nature, and i also remember his Face from Bumfight.(he was one of the person that was sleeping out, and got cought like a Crocodile)
Riis haved tryed thrue out years to make sure that he didnt fall back.

Anyway thumps up to Riis for trying to help him.!

 

[theswordsman]

We might be able to get closer to whether the Riis 5:00 quote is right (news sites all over Europe are using that version. La Gazzetta dello Sport has audio of the interview, hopefully the right part, but it's not English and that's all I've got. Help?

http://video.gazzetta.it/ciclismo-riis-ecco-perche-ho-caccia
to-schleck/e86cd90a-baa8-11df-b683-00144f02aabe

Schleck had said that when they arrived at 1:00, Riis was in a bar and saw them? Tuttobiciweb has part of the La Gazzetta story saying it wasn't Riis who busted them:

The two were surprised to return to the hotel at 5 am drunk. Husa Imperial Tarraco in the lobby was waiting for them Trey Greenwood, technical director of the team. Greenwood probably was not there by chance

http://www.tuttobiciweb.it/index.php?page=news&cod=32501&tp=n

So perhaps it was Trey Greenwood who was one of the sources for Ekstra Bladet?

http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/cykling/article1405913.ece

 

[paperbackwriter]

Funny that just before the Vuelta, Andy said he was impressed by Vande Velde's professionalism in his last days of riding for Riis, and that he'll act the same way.

And when few days ago Andy tweeted: "(...) we get awesome hotels here! LOVE LA VUELTA!", it was already kind of obvious his mind is not in the race and surely it was bad for the team (probably also annoying and disturbing for Frank). I guess it's more about this than a night out, so it's not really fair to say Riis wouldn't have done that if Schleck was in yellow in the Tour- circumstances are crucial here (especially that I doubt team rules are "don't drink" or "don't you dare to come back after 10 pm", they're not 16 anymore).
I don't have anything to back this up, but wasn't there a rumour about Cancellara partying with Pozzato the night before winning the ITT during Vuelta 2009? But even if it's true he didn't s**** up and still cared about doing his job above all, maybe that's why Riis didn't have a problem with that and not because he's some *** who wants to make Schlecks' life miserable as long as he can, what has he done as a DS that suggests he'd waste his time (and risk results) on something like that?

 

[hrotha]

If the reports about several nights out are true, O'Grady's statements are hilarious. "No way, that's a filthy lie, we were back at the hotel by 1 am, what kind of professionals do you think we- Oh. Oh you mean the rest day's night. Nevermind then."

 

[brianf7]

At what stage will Frank spit the dummey he cant ride without Andy

 

[Anonymous]

new TOTO

 

[GroupDK]

Frank admits that the rules, was wellknown

and Andy 100 % knew what his action would meen.

this is nothing new, and we all now these rules, and its the same for ALL on the team, in these vital few weeks where we have to be the best in the peloton.
and this is the way it should be..

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/fraenk-schleck-andy-kendte-konsekvensen

I think frank is bit sad that Andy didnt come thrue for him, in his chance to get the biggest price (vuelta) in his carrere.

 

[Angliru]

As a Contador fan, I'm happy with the development of Andy's story in the Vuelta. Crawling on the road, crawling on his way back to the hotel

Congratulations, Andy! Welcome to the Ulrich's club

Ullrich had and has much more class than Andy. The two don't belong in the same sentence together.

 

[Angliru]

what a joke. Riis is imo the worst of the directors. Such a power hungry sore loser who is trying to create a legacy in others after being a faliure and cheat.

You dont kick out ur best rider from the veulta for a small thing like that.

drinking after a race... honestly...

"ur best rider" who is currently 30+ minutes down in the gc, getting dropped on every freeway overpass they encounter, and soon to be exiting the team for his own specially designed personal team. He was contributing nothing and his late night action(s) were a cancer to the team. I commend Riis for his decision.

 

[dolophonic]

I think Andy blew it... Seems to act a bit selfish. Drink all you like after the Veulta not in the middle of it when you are not even supporting the team leader ! Kind of Lame

 

[Machu Picchu]

it doesn't matter if they returned at 1:00am or 5:00am tbh, Andy and Stuart put themselves in the firing line and can have no complaints that Riis pulled the trigger. It's poor by Andy and I'm not sure if he even regrets being pulled from the Vuelta, perhaps he had already given up on Frank's chances...

 

[Kellys Big Sprocket]

A pint between mates. Whats the harm in this ?

 

[JPM London]

If this had happened during the TDF, when AS was contending for yellow, would he have been kicked out? No way.

This was a relatively easy decision for Riis, because AS was not in contention.

That's a completely irrelevant and hypothetical statement - IF Andy was in contention for anything he would be far, far too occupied with that to even contemplate going out for a drink.

Andy Schleck has performed extremely well in the only races he cared about this year. After seeing his performance in France I have a hard time comprehending how anyone could critique his ability to prepare for a race he intends to win.

Bjarne Riis has not said that they were intoxicated. All of that is coming from us.

This is also quite irrelevant - The key is "intends to win". Actually the fact that he can't mount the same care and preparation to help his brother win is quite telling - although not in a positive way...

And no, it's not all coming from us. In case you haven't followed BeerGate in detail (hey, we coined the phrase earlier - we need to start using it more) a "high level official from SaxoBank" is quoted as saying they came back pss drnk at 5.30 - as mentioned elsewhere this could well be Trey Greenwood

True. And others on the Saxo squad who would probably kill for the opportunity to ride the Vuelta.

Not least Matti Breschel who was severely disappointed of not riding - I'm pretty sure he's not much more impressed now...

when Sastre publicly announced his departure from Saxo while in the Vuelta- Riis behavior was really undesirable and bitter nonetheless-

Funny, I remember it the other way around - Sastre acting like a spoilt brat and, among others, the Schlecks saying he sounded ridiculous.

Just a suggestion, but Andys lack of protest may be because he still would like Frank to do well at the Vuelta so has decided that there is no need to increase the damage. Riis could, if Andy provoked him sabotage Franks Vuelta. Also a big Schleck vs Riis conflict would hurt Franks chances as well.

I hear flat earth society is looking for members:
http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm
Yes, it sounds absolutely reasonable that Riis, who is not even the DS at the race, would do all he could to ruin his own teams chances of winning what he himself calls the "3rd biggest race". That would make much more sense than, say, simply removing the involved riders from the squad and move on to help the dust settle quicker...

Apparently he was lost in time as well.

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?

Maybe it was one very, very long night out? Did anyone actually see either O'Grady or Schleck in the peloton over the course of the last week?

Also I can't help notice that O'Grady says he worked his **** off for the last 6 seasons - didn't he join in 06 and wouldn't that make it 5 seasons? Maybe a year was added for impressive drinking behaviour?

new TOTO

Wow, they're not slow on the trigger are they?

 

[Anonymous]

Things to remember at work

I had to fire an employee last week. We thought he was just immature, but after 4 months he just never "got it". He never understood that he was being paid to do the job I had hired him to do, the way I wanted it done, not what HE wanted to do HIS way.

Let frankenandy drag his own carcase to Mardrid.

 

[Magnus]

Riis just said in a interview on Danish TV2 that he will not tell what rule was broken. But he also said that nobody gets thrown out of the race for drinking a single beer.

 

[GroupDK]

Riis just said in a interview on Danish TV2 that he will not tell what rule was broken. But he also said that nobody gets thrown out of the race for drinking a single beer.

Yeah i did se this interview with Riis on Danish TV, he also sais something about O´grady that if he wants to lie to the media, its hes choice, but he shall not lie to me...

Also just been an interview with Andy from the Airport, where he stod with a funny smile, and said, yeah i got cought and its was to bad that there boss (Riis) see them when the come home that morning.(I was unlucky that he see me..)

damn..

 

[Black-Balled]

...I believe Bjarne is being a gentleman not telling the whole story, ... Devil is in the details.

Interesting theory. Possible.

I believe Bjarne is fuggin angereded though! Those boys might be lucky!

 

[GroupDK]

Yeah i did se this interview with Riis on Danish TV, he also sais something about O´grady that if he wants to lie to the media, its hes choice, but he shall not lie to me...

Also just been an interview with Andy from the Airport, where he stod with a funny smile, and said, yeah i got cought and its was to bad that there boss (Riis) see them when the come home that morning.(I was unlucky that he see me..)

damn..

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..

There new boss on there new Lux team, the danish guy Kim Andersen is also out today and saying that Andy is immature, and if he was riding for him, he would slap him around and set the rules straight.(Google translate)

I have a girl at the moment, but in time, i would also like to get my own Andy..

http://www.sporten.dk/cykling/riis-andy-er-ked-af-det

 

[Boeing]

Or...a good way to avoid testing coming up in the second week.....

 

[Bicicleta]

Comments from Frank and a few more comments from Stuey:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5...-from-Vuelta-OGrady-blames-team-tensions.aspx

 

[theswordsman]

A pint between mates. Whats the harm in this ?

Please look at some of the links and quotes in the thread. Sources say Trey Greenwood was waiting for them when they stumbled in at 5:30 in the morning on a race day. A "senior member" of the Saxo Bank team said they'd obviously not shared a bottle, but been on a full-on drinking spree.

I'll repeat this for new people to the thread. If the Riis quote about 5:00 AM is correct, then Schleck and O'Grady are both lying to the press and the fans and don't deserve people to stick up for them. Andy made it worse by stating that Riis was in a bar when he saw them come in. O'Grady is talking smack today. Here's a link of Riis saying that O'Grady is lying:

http://sporten.tv2.dk/article.php/id-33430763:riis-lad-bare-ogrady-lyve.html?forside

On the other hand, if Riis said 5:00 for some bizarre reason and it was really 1:00, the riders should be talking to a lawyer, because their employer has publicly, in media around the world, done serious harm to their reputations that could cost them future personal sponsors and income, etc. But I haven't seen either use the word "sue".

It's nice that people stick up for their favorites. I have in the past, but stopped when I realized certain truths. There's plenty of information in this thread alone for people with an open mind. Please page back a bit if you think it was just a drink.

And if you look through the Spanish press, you'll see they've been telling stories about the two drinking since the first night of the race, in Seville, Malaga and Murcia. They were just arrogant enough or stupid enough to do it again when the boss flew into town.

 

[indurain666]

Also just been an interview with Andy from the Airport, where he stod with a funny smile, and said, yeah i got cought and its was to bad that there boss (Riis) see them when the come home that morning.(I was unlucky that he see me..)

damn..

Lol, what a selfish cynic SOB. Least he could do is apologize to the team, particularly his brother who must be feeling like a total jackass. I mean, picture being the team captain and two of your domestiques go out chasing strippers a few nights before the race enters into key stages.

I mean, we never saw the likes of Azevedo, Padrnos and Hincapie going out for some heavy partying a few days the race would hit the Alps, when they were riding for Armstrong.

Next year, Frank should consider going out for some heavy drinking the day before the TDF hits Alpe D'Huez. He should also consider going out on vacation with Alberto sans Andy, payback time.

 

[Aguirre]

I have read all spanish newspapers today.

It seems Cancellara has been hanging out quite visible during the whole vuelta, and not only this year. The question is: was Cancellara with Andy and Stuart that night and, for obvious reasons, Riis didn't have the "balls" to fire him too or... Spartacus was quite tired from the previous party the night before and decided stay at the hotel recovering...

I think is simple like this