A. Schleck and O'Grady thrown out of Vuelta

[theswordsman]

If it really was 5AM, I have no sympathy for Frank and Stuey.

Andy. And yeah, he finished fifteen minutes back on a number of stages. Riis wasn't working the Vuelta, so only arrived recently. We have no idea what the guys might have been up to earlier in the race.

 

[Oldman]

Andy Schleck told us that it was because he and O'Grady had a drink after dinner last night.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/updated-andy-schleck-ogrady-removed-from-vuelta

Dudsn

Tour of California...stage 2 for those that were wondering why FC and Andy were off the pace.

 

[Jamsque]

Andy. And yeah, he finished fifteen minutes back on a number of stages. Riis wasn't working the Vuelta, so only arrived recently. We have no idea what the guys might have been up to earlier in the race.

I did mean Andy, my bad.

I love the idea that Andy and Stuey have been treating their last Vuelta for Riis as one three-week bender around Spain, and poor Frank can't take part because he's been waiting all year to be leader.

 

[JPM London]

I did mean Andy, my bad.

I love the idea that Andy and Stuey have been treating their last Vuelta for Riis as one three-week bender around Spain, and poor Frank can't take part because he's been waiting all year to be leader.

Hah, you can just picture the two of them, all excited, pulling out the pub-crawl map and Frankie sitting next to them pouting cos he can't go

 

[theswordsman]

I did mean Andy, my bad.

I love the idea that Andy and Stuey have been treating their last Vuelta for Riis as one three-week bender around Spain, and poor Frank can't take part because he's been waiting all year to be leader.

Yeah. Frank also just got married, and became a father earlier in the year, so maybe his running would have cut down anyway.

Andy's statement about 1:00 AM and the two beers at most was in a press release, so cycling journalists and fans should have an idea of how much respect he has for them.

 

[smoking roach]

Maybe Riis really is looking out for his riders.

I remember when Floyd Landis went out for some "Jack Daniels and a beer" the night before Stage 17 at the 06 TDF. We all know how that turned out...

 

[indurain666]

So Poulidor was a drunk deadbeat and Anquetil was the most sober rider in the peloton? Interesting.

You missed my point. What I was trying to say is that if you pick two exceptionally gifted athletes such as AS and AC and you monitor their preparation for their year's big. You'll notice a lot of details such as:

-AS spent the winter XC skiing while AC was on the bike.

-AC has been working his TT position while AS has not improved his position or wattage output.

-AS drinks until 5 am while racing. AC is training.

BTW, AS is a piece of work. Freaking liar, his version of the story goes from one to two drinks and from 1 am to the actual version which was 5 am. Be a man Andy and tell the truth. I called this one a few hours ago before Riis released the official version. I hope Frank remembers how supportive his lil brother was at next year's TDF Now, call me a cynic but you don't stick with two drinks from 11 pm to 5 am. More like 12 drinks, crack and strippers

 

[JPM London]

Maybe Riis really is looking out for his riders.

I remember when Floyd Landis went out for some "Jack Daniels and a beer" the night before Stage 17 at the 06 TDF. We all know how that turned out...

Yeah... He won - absolutely tore the race apart. Maybe Riis should have let them compete?

 

[JPM London]

More like 12 drinks, crack and strippers

I think that's another story - you know the one with the American cast...

 

[Parrulo]

good decision by riis. staying in the team next year or not, rules must be enforced no matter who is the guy braking them and the situation that they are in.

 

[DamonAlbarn]

Lol

Oh, everybody I think... there's a pattern going here:

Ivan Basso, ex-rider for Riis: "I did get blood taken out, but I never used it."

Frank Schleck, coming ex-rider for Riis: "I wired the money to Fuentes, but I never used whatever it was I bought."

Andy Schleck, also coming ex-rider for Riis: "We did buy the beers, but we never drank them"

Bill Clinton, not a rider for Riis: "I did try Marijuana, but I never inhaled"

All sounds regular to me...

Comedy gold mate

 

[khardung la]

Wow, 5 AM, that is not even normal in Spain on monday . The "Spaniards have dinner late" excuse is a bit out of place now...I would be angry if I would be Franck. The sponsors of the new Luxembourg team will not be very happy. I hope they had everything well tied before this.

Meanwhile Contador has a team, is training, and seems much more reliable and serious than Andy.

 

[theswordsman]

good decision by riis. staying in the team next year or not, rules must be enforced no matter who is the guy braking them and the situation that they are in.

Yeah. And it's not like either of them were doing anything in the race anyway. And O'Grady is on my Virtual Director Sportif team (he was cheap)

The next thing is people start putting together the rumors from ATOC, and this, and ask two questions:

How much partying do they do during their big races?

If they act like that during a race, in a team hotel, where someone is around them all day, what are they up to when they're training alone at home? And outside of three weeks at the Tour that I still have trouble believing, what have Schlecks results been like the rest of the year? Was he hung over the day he and the car made contact and he messed up his knee.

Oh yeah. Riis can't be lying about the 5:00 AM thing, because the guys could sue him if he was wrong.

As to the Riis comments, whatever his past, he's now in a management position with responsibilities for riders, staff, equipment, sponsor interests, etc. I used to run a warehouse, and if a guy came in who had obviously been drinking not long before, I wouldn't let him get on a fork lift. I sure as heck wouldn't let him get on a bicycle in a large group where he could cause a crash on a descent.

 

[Anonymous]

Just as long as AC doesn't pull a Tiger Woods he has an edge on AS.

AS is still a relative kid so he's doing stupid stuff he should grow out of. O'Grady is an old man so he just doesn't give a crap and does what he wants since he knows his best days are gone.

AC is just right in age because he's already tasted success at the top rung and knows what it takes to stay on top from working under Bruyneel.

Hopefully AS can grow up and take his job seriously all year around if he hopes to take the yellow from AC and keep it.

 

[JuandeBapos]

are there any pics of the party out yet?

 

[roundabout]

Pfft, Riis retained a rider who transferred money to Funtes because it couldn't be proven that it was for doping. God help a rider going for a drink at night though.

Talk about a bent moral compass.

 

[hrotha]

Personally I'm fairly impressed that they managed to find any bars open on a Monday after 3 am. Kudos to them.

 

[Barrus]

Personally I'm fairly impressed that they managed to find any bars open on a Monday after 3 am. Kudos to them.

If you offer enough money you can always find something that's open. And I guess Andy, or Stuey would not have a problem finding some woman's house where they could continue drinking

 

[robertocarlos]

Pfft, Riis retained a rider who transferred money to Funtes because it couldn't be proven that it was for doping. God help a rider going for a drink at night though.

Talk about a bent moral compass.

you did read what i had to say about doping and recreational use of alcohol ( that includes other recreational drugs). let me see i who do i want to support the guy that wants to win or the guy that does not care.

 

[theswordsman]

Personally I'm fairly impressed that they managed to find any bars open on a Monday after 3 am. Kudos to them.

Any strip clubs in Tarragona, preferably with an employee who resembles AC?

 

[theswordsman]

Pfft, Riis retained a rider who transferred money to Funtes because it couldn't be proven that it was for doping. God help a rider going for a drink at night though.

Talk about a bent moral compass.

Getting to the hotel at five in the morning after drinking, would you want them next to you while descending at speed on curves? Schleck has had a number of stages where he lost fifteen or so minutes. Riis wasn't around until recently, so we don't know what might or might not have gone on the rest of the race. But he couldn't let him ride knowing what he knew, because he would be putting the team, sponsors, and the peloton and moto drivers at risk if anything happened.

 

[icefire]

Any strip clubs in Tarragona, preferably with an employee who resembles AC?

Follow this link

 

[Wergeland]

It's hard to speculate about. What is too many drinks 3, 4 or maybe 5? or when does it gets to much? It sure sounds like a harsh decision, but also think Riis need to show he wont tolerate this kind of behavior. Seems like there's alot of unrest at the team atm. and guess he needs to show who's boss.

One drink is too much during a GT. You won't see athletes in endurance sports like track and field, cross country skiing and speed skating drinking the day before a race. Probably not during season either. Drink a glass of wine once in a while out of season. Bingedrink every weekend when you're retired, but drinking during a Gt; that means you either don't know much about physiology or you don't care. So far in the Vuelta it's been pretty clear that Andy don't care.

A lot of cyclists seems to drink during season. Probably the same cyclists that eat baguettes and white bread. Don't they know anything about nutrition. Especially the the french teams seems to be way behind nutrition wise.

Looking forward to see how Le Mevel does next year when he's off the white bread and red wine diet at FDJ. I predict he'll finish in the top ten.

 

[Wergeland]

lance i know would allow one to two beers during his good tour years if he had over a minute on his rivals. i can say from experience 1 to 4 drinks has no effect on performance unless you have the constitution of a two year old girl in which case you wont win **** anyways. these guys are generally not pussies quite a few drink even during races much more common than you know. also who cares there grown men what is the world coming to?

One drink is too much during a GT. You won't see athletes in endurance sports like track and field, cross country skiing and speed skating drinking the day before a race. Probably not during season either. Drink a glass of wine once in a while out of season. Bingedrink every weekend when you're retired, but drinking during a Gt; that means you either don't know much about physiology or you don't care. So far in the Vuelta it's been pretty clear that Andy don't care.

A lot of cyclists seems to drink during season. Probably the same cyclists that eat baguettes and white bread. Don't they know anything about nutrition. Especially the the french teams seems to be way behind nutrition wise.

Looking forward to see how Le Mevel does next year when he's off the white bread and red wine diet at FDJ. I predict he'll finish in the top ten in the tour.

 

[Race Radio]

The 5 am time is a missquote. What Riis said was

“It doesn’t matter if it was one drink or 10, or if he was out until five in the morning"

It was theoretical. They were not out until 5, they came in at 1:00. Hey, this is Spain. I have seen 7 year olds drinking a beer at 2:00 am in Spain.