Can't adore Contador

[dolophonic]

I think he is pretty cool in the interviews. He downplays a lot, does not seem to be boastful or do the whole prediction thing. two quality's you see in other riders i find unnecessary.
He's giving it his all out there, cant ask for more than that.

 

[warmfuzzies]

He is by far my favorite (active) bike rider. He is the best, pretty down to earth, humble, professional...wow this is sounding pretty gay...nevertheless he is a great person and the best endurance cyclist. And he is only 26, so if you hate him...sucks to be you...you will be hearing/reading/breathing AC over the next five years or so

He's worked miracles in my life too. Having his gear all over my head and chest makes me feel like a real man. Ohh, Alberto!

 

[Ninety5rpm]

Whinger. Is it ten characters now?

???The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Call me petty, but that high pitch whiny squeaky voice makes me hit the ffwd every time, and it wouldn't matter if I understood whatever the heck he was saying.

Don't criticise Conti! Your head will be chopped off!

 

[Saddlesaw]

(SNIP)
.
What does Cadel have?
.

A World Champion's Jersey...........

 

[Spare Tyre]

For many Americans, it is difficult to relate to a sportsman who doesn't speak English. Add to that fact the situation where many Americans idolize Armstrong and he had that over-dramatized feud with Contador last year. Throw in a victory salute that is almost unanimously agreed upon as being kind of annoying. Just for a little extra he is sponsored by a former cold-war opponent of the US.

Summed up, you get an athlete that will find it very difficult to endear himself to American fans and sponsors.

Wow. Are Americans really so shallow, dumb and/or America-centric that they can't get beyond a language difference, some PR-spin, a silly gesture and an 'enemy' that disintegrated decades ago?

 

[M Sport]

Call me petty, but that high pitch whiny squeaky voice makes me hit the ffwd every time, and it wouldn't matter if I understood whatever the heck he was saying.

Sour grapes?

Oh, and yes. Petty.

 

[khardung la]

How about having a stroke during the race, falling off his bike, and having a brain operation?

Or having a brother in a wheelchair?

Is that cool and engaging enough for ya?

Maybe you should try to know something about the riders first yourself, not wait for them to advertise themselves in american style.

+1 . Sadly the American histeria is reaching cycling since LA won some TdFs. I miss the old days, when stupid marketing strategies and silly gossiping were secondary. An squeaky voice or a pistolero show lead some guys here to assume they know the guy....pathetic.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

Wow. Are Americans really so shallow, dumb and/or America-centric that they can't get beyond a language difference, some PR-spin, a silly gesture and an 'enemy' that disintegrated decades ago?

Pretty much.

It doesn't really help that Alberto wouldn't really talk back and wouldn't sprout some sappy stories about himself left and right.

I think most of the guys on this side of Atlantic find this kind of activity quite embarrassing.
________
Caodaism forums

 

[RedheadDane]

Cuz that victory was dedicated to his incoming child...



El Pistolero don't talk in english cuz he doesn't want that the newspapers or the tv news and the reporters misunderstand his words and the real meaning that they have... also his english is quite bad but he is improving it...

Yes! Last year he never made interviews in English, this year I've actually seen it quite a few times. And at one interview, when he didn't know how to say one after another he just said again and again and again! That's how language teachers tell us to do.

That said, its painful to listen to Contador's english interviews.

BTW, I'm North American. English, but also speak French and a bit of Spanish, Italian and Dutch.

I enjoy watching Sastre give interviews in Italian and English. His Italian is impeccable.

More and more I find myself interested in knowing how many different langauges some of the Euro pros actually speak. I once saw Cancallera bounce between English, Spanish, Italian and German in the space of about 35 seconds... he seemed pretty fluent in each and it was impressive. Granted I have no clue if his German was any good or not

Well... I think Contador's English is funny! (On the other hand... I think some Danish people speak English in a painful way...

That's a lot of languages to speak! I only speak Danish, English and a bit of German

Cancellara's German would be Swiss-German.

'i can eat 20 energy gels without throwing up.' rofl

'I can eat 21, and a deep-fried turkey!'

I don't adore him, I respect him.

Exactly! Isn't adore something with young children? "Nuuaaahh! Isn't he adorable, puzzi, puzzi, puzzi!!"
Contador is... 5-6 years older than me...

 

[HL2037]

Pretty much.

It doesn't really help that Alberto wouldn't really talk back and wouldn't sprout some sappy stories about himself left and right.

I think most of the guys on this side of Atlantic find this kind of activity quite embarrassing.

Agree. I respect Contador for not degrading himself to being a media whore

 

[The Hitch]

on the subject of contadors english i like it when he (and other spanish people as well) finish many a sentence with no (pronounced in the spanish way - a sharp "o" sound rather than the english "n-o-w")

like he will say

"i feel good, no?, stage 3 will be hard, no?" etc etc

Also his astana team mate after winning lbl while doing the final interview in english (after first russian and french) answered

"i am happy, is good revanz for me"

 

[RedheadDane]

Said team-mate would be Vino! who... as far as I understand, really doesn't speak much. In any language.

 

[The Hitch]

Said team-mate would be Vino! who... as far as I understand, really doesn't speak much. In any language.

Correct. I was hoping they would speak to him in english today but, no dice.

 

[DL9999]

Flemish is not a language, it refers to the dialects that exist in Flanders, but they don't differ much from the Dutch language. They speak Dutch in Flanders, French/German in Walloons and French/Dutch in Brussels.

These people think Flemish is a language, as do many others:

http://www.vlaamsetaal.info/

And FWIW, there is no such place as Walloons.

 

[craig1985]

I'm pretty I remember Armstrong speaking in French during the presentation for the 2005 Tour, which I found to be pretty funny.

 

[bobs nob]

and what was with paulinho sucking his thumb the other day ... was he coming out ?

erader

I haven't read the next 6 pages of discussion of his voice, which no doubt will be scintillating and a fine use of my time.

But...re: Paulinho's thumb sucking
That looked like a guy who had never given a thought about what to do when winning a stage and that was all that came to mind. Please don't tell me that's his 'thing'.

 

[bobs nob]

Guys at versus sort of stare at one another after an AC interview and wonder how they are gonna program the next 5 years around this guy. OLN is toast already.

OK, nostradumbaas, they have painted him as the villain. I hate to get insulting, but keep up or shut up.

It's pretty easy to program how they will cover him. Their problem is it's a false narrative. He has an enormous following among cycling fans regardless of geography.

 

[lagartija]

I like a bunch of them, hate a few of them. Where they are from doesn't matter.

how about a straight answer..........seems like some kind of subtle language barrier going on

 

[bobs nob]

Wasn't Kazakhstan a part of USSR and a base for many nuclear missiles and a space-launching site?

Yes, and they were thrilled to welcome their Soviet occupiers.

 

[scribe]

OK, nostradumbaas, they have painted him as the villain. I hate to get insulting, but keep up or shut up.

It's pretty easy to program how they will cover him. Their problem is it's a false narrative. He has an enormous following among cycling fans regardless of geography.

Easy there bro. It's ok that someone else doesn't like your favorite rider. You're behaving like LA's jilted ex-lover that you likely are. They always have an impressive amount of PASSION on the fora.

 

[bobs nob]

Easy there bro. It's ok that someone else doesn't like your favorite rider. You're behaving like LA's jilted ex-lover that you likely are. They always have an impressive amount of PASSION on the fora.

uhhh...I assume that I wasn't very clear in my post, so sorry to insult you and for not being clear. Versus will do just fine, that was my point.

Oh, and as stated earlier and elsewhere, if you have nothing to add, it's OK, you are under no obligation to say you have nothing to add.

 

[Straßenrennen]

mm .