Gran Fondo Hincapie (Feat. Lance)

[the sceptic]

I have to say, this article is just comedy cold. I dont know where to begin.

his weekend, at a gran fondo in Greenville, South Carolina, several members of the former U.S. Postal Service team will ride together again.

Four members of the USPS team that won the 1999 Tour de France — Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde, and Kevin Livingston — will reunite at the October 25 Gran Fondo Hincapie.

Former Postal/Discovery Channel team members Michael Barry and Tom Danielson will also be attending. Though initially listed as a participant, former USPS rider David Zabriskie has said he will not be able to make the trip.

Mixed with this group are several notable names from the younger generation of American racers, including Tejay van Garderen, Brent Bookwalter, and Larry Warbasse, all of BMC Racing, Hincapie’s last team as a professional.

American WorldTour riders Alex Howes (Garmin-Sharp) and Matthew Busche (Trek Factory Racing) are also participating.

Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2014...ran-fondo-hincapie_349986#A8aSiaKjD2XSCjoE.99

Did they forget to invite Frankie?

The comments from the riders at the end are hillarious too.

 

[Samson777]

Is Floyd not going? What a shame..

 

[Race Radio]

George's global victory tour continues.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Alex Howes says.. "help them kind of reintegrate into clean cycling."

He's the parole officer of cleans.

Major League Baseball would have Pete Rose throw out the first pitch in Cincinatti every year since his retirement if they ran Baseball the way USA Cycling operates.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Better still, the $10,000 entry fee for 'platinum package.' That's not a typo.

http://www.granfondohincapie.com/assets/downloads/GFH14_Platinum_Package.pdf

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Who will fetch the bottles?

 

[mrhender]

Who will fetch the bottles?

Maybe Motoman?

 

[DirtyWorks]

Sanctioned by USA Cycling

A banned-for-life athlete rides(?) at an event sanctioned by a WADA-compliant sport.

http://www.usacycling.org/events/state_search.php?state=SC

Seems legit.

 

[ralphbert]

Yawn. Who cares. If a bunch of Freds want support these old dopers then good for them.

 

[Granville57]

Ya' can't make this sport up.

@nyvelocity
George is getting the banned back together. < Dammit, it was right there!
https://twitter.com/nyvelocity/status/524695769153298432

 

[Granville57]

Tejay sharp as a tack, as always:

Thor Hushovd said to me once, in regards to Lance, ‘If I had a family member, or friend, who committed a crime and went to prison, I wouldn’t support what they did — but I would still go visit them in prison.’ And I agree with that.

Not sure I'm following the correlation on that one.

Lance lives down the block from me, in Aspen. We’ve gone on some rides together, he’s even motorpaced me behind his Vespa. I don’t feel like there’s any hidden agenda there. He still loves the sport, and wants to see it get better. I don’t think he is the evil guy he’s been depicted to be, in all these books and movies, but I suppose that is ultimately going to be left up for people to decide for themselves.

Lance took the brunt [of the USADA investigation], much harder than anyone else, and in my opinion, he might deserve a bit of a break. To say whether he deserves equal punishment to everyone else, that’s not up to me to decide.

Keep it comin'! The longest response from any of the riders just gets better and better.

 

[86TDFWinner]

Who will fetch the bottles?

Och and Comical might be free that weekend.

 

[Granville57]

Och and Comical might be free that weekend.

Or maybe this guy

 

[Fausto's Schnauzer]

Major League Baseball would have Pete Rose throw out the first pitch in Cincinatti every year since his retirement if they ran Baseball the way USA Cycling operates.

 

[Archibald]

Och and Comical might be free that weekend.

Levi unavailable?


what about Tyler? no invite either?

 

[richwagmn]

Tejay sharp as a tack, as always:

Doesn't sound like too bright of a guy does he? He's being played by Lance and he doesn't have a clue.

 

[orangey]

Striking Tejay off my list. Disgusted he's just another one of them, albeit not even that good enough of a rider.

 

[blackcat]

Or maybe this guy

i did not realise that was lim.


he of the hail mary thermal regulation frozen bidons from heaven TM

 

[blackcat]

no thats beet juice

or extract for cortisone <strikethru> beet. extract of beet

 

[biokemguy]

Alex Howes:

as a generation...I’m pretty proud of where we are from a results standpoint. From an ethical standpoint … Where we stay in our little bubble, how we relate to the rest of population, I don’t know. It’s complicated. It’s absolutely not black and white.

Wow! Doesn't instill tons of confidence that he's clean, or has a clear conscience himself.

 

[hegemon]

Alex Howes says.. "help them kind of reintegrate into clean cycling."

He's the parole officer of cleans.

Major League Baseball would have Pete Rose throw out the first pitch in Cincinatti every year since his retirement if they ran Baseball the way USA Cycling operates.

Except Pete Rose never cheated. He just placed bets on his own baseball team, always to win.

 

[hegemon]

Or maybe this guy

Is that a photo of Lim helping with a blood transfusion?

 

[Archibald]

Striking Tejay off my list. Disgusted he's just another one of them, albeit not even that good enough of a rider.

after the gran fondo he will suddenly become a great champion, I'm sure

 

[zigmeister]

Yawn. Who cares. If a bunch of Freds want support these old dopers then good for them.

You obviously didn't read the article. A lot of comments and issues people have with this is the newer generation of riders who are the "clean" future like TJ, Baushce etc...are part of the event.

Yes, it is for charity as well, but they just shrug off all of the negative impressions that people might have and say, oh well, let others decide on that subject.

Personally, I wouldn't be showing up as a current clean rider and persona in the peloton and be seen with these guys. Friends or not. Just can't do it. Shows how self serving all of these guys are, dopers/former dopers or not.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Except Pete Rose never cheated. He just placed bets on his own baseball team, always to win.

Think about it in broader terms.

MLB, in a move to "protect the integrity of the sport" banned the guy and won't soften the ban a bit regardless of his extraordinary record as a player. That's good PR. It sends a message to anyone there is supposed to be a real game played without even the tiniest bit of potential for corruption.

Meanwhile, in cycling, athletes directly responsible for damaging "the integrity of the sport" are celebrated. The event is sanctioned by USAC, has current WT pros showing up associating with cheaters and no one on the sports administration side (no surprise, Thom Wiesel) thinks twice about the impression it makes regarding the integrity of the sport.

Apparently none of the current pros are smart enough to hire a PR agent. It is entertaining and stupid at the same time.

Howes is now very suspect.