A. Schleck and O'Grady thrown out of Vuelta

[Escarabajo]

What we know:

1- Andy and Stuart like drinking 1 or 2 beers frequently.
2- It sounds from the many sources (including a Pedro Delgado Interview that Andy and company like some drinking during races.
3- Andy has not performed near a decent professional leader during La Vuelta this year or last year. That includes California also. Some forum members have questioned how is that possible for a quality rider like him (That includes me).
4- If you are actually under the alcohol influence, you are more likely to forget things, omit things, or not recollect exactly a series of events (It happens to me also).
5- Google and Yahoo make awful translations.

What we don't know:
1- The true version. We have to give the benefit of the doubt to each side.
2- If this was just an expulsion based only on the rest day incident or was it a cumulative one.
3- If the fact that Andy and company are forming a new team affected the decision.

Based on the facts, I have to side with Riis.

 

[Archibald]

The interviewer asked "have you been telling the truth" to wich he said yes. I take that as previous interviews as well have been true, as per Andy.

hahaha!!

reporter: "have you been telling the truth?"
Schlecklet: "Naah, I've been lying my ar$e off..."

seems somewhat unlikely, no?

 

[Christian]

I don't know if anyone posted this article from velonation already, but it is really, really good:

“It doesn’t matter if it was one drink or ten,” Riis told the media after today’s stage, “or if he was out until five in the morning and that’s between us anyway, rules are made to be kept. I’m not here to give any explanations or further details. What actually happened will stay between us.”

Two pretty long sentences there, but the only part anyone seemed to hear was “five in the morning”; nobody seemed to notice the bit where he said: “or if he was out until.”

So, according to those four words, and ignoring the rest of the statement, Andy Schleck was out until 5am the night before a Vuelta stage! I’m not surprised Riis sent him home!

And wasn’t there something there about him having ten drinks? Jeez, he had ten drinks and then stayed out ‘til five! Fire him, no shoot him, on the spot Bjarne.

Hmm, what Riis actually said there was “mind your own business”, but nobody heard him.

For such a great relationship to end on such a sour note would be a sad thing indeed.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5580/Bjarne-Riis-and-the-Schleck-boys-The-end-of-the-affair.aspx

Another thing I thought of which speaks against the 5 a.m. theory is that it was a Monday night in the rather medium-sized city (142.000 inhabitants according to Wikipedia) of Tarragona. Now I have never been there but I can't imagine there being so much partying going on on a Monday night, or many clubs and discos being open. I mean, it's not Berlin or Barcelona.