Hinault Taking a Shot at Armstrong

[franciep10]

Mate I'm with you. It’s outrageous to think that a rider other than Armstrong would speak his mind. Scandalous.

armstrong is controversial that's why i used him as an example

 

[Anonymous]

To me, the best thing about this skirmish is that Hinault is untouchable. There will be no effective chastising, blacklisting, or veiled threats against him by the LA camp. Anyways, he works for the race LA covets. If there was a face to face on the TdF podium, Hinault can more than stand his ground. Anyways, a LA podium appearance won't be for the maillot jaune.

and if lance does his job, is a help to contador, and finishes in the top ten hinault can think lance got his @ss kicked.
i listen to anything a five time winner has to say but this is pretty much what he's all about isn't it?

 

[rhubroma]

So, it appears Rhubroma is actually the Badger's script writer. Excellent!

Can't understand why Armstrong would get so upset at someone wanting Contador to beat him at the Tour. Isn't that what is supposed to happen to a domestique?

Yea, Armstrong in the role of a domestique...it's like Bill Clinton taking joy in being Hillary's first gentelman, or whatever the **** the case would be...

 

[BigBoat]

and if lance does his job, is a help to contador, and finishes in the top ten hinault can think lance got his @ss kicked.
i listen to anything a five time winner has to say but this is pretty much what he's all about isn't it?

Ha! THIS *** (Lance not Hinault) deserves to be BUSTED and humiliated with the 21 guage IV needle up his leg.... Taking a "refill" of hemodilution to pass his crit checks. The jerk. And he goes off on Kohl... And treats Lemond/ Hinault like "tools."

And then lies to all those poor sick people on their deathbeds... Who dont know sh$t about cycling and just want hope and motivation. And he goes off about how he wins on sheer willpower. What a load of CRAP!

 

[180mmCrank]

Not all great champions are nice people, they are often ruthless, agressive and selfish. It sort of goes with the territory.

Hinault has a ferocity and a directness that looks majestic expressed in a bike race but a little inappropriate in a press conference or media interview.

It's quite common in sport. You can be gladiatorial in the sporting arena and it is celebrated. It's one of the things many athletes enjoy (and miss when they retire) - you can think, say and do things on the road, playing field, water, mat, ice... that are unacceptable in normal life.


I quite like directness myself

 

[whiteboytrash]

I like Roger Federer. He is the greatest tennis player of all time. Does it with dignity, does it with panache and respects all his fellow players. He smashes them all on the court but is the nicest guy in tennis. Probably the best sportsman ever. Just proves you don’t need to be a khunt to win.

Not all great champions are nice people, they are often ruthless, agressive and selfish. It sort of goes with the territory.

Hinault has a ferocity and a directness that looks majestic expressed in a bike race but a little inappropriate in a press conference or media interview.

It's quite common in sport. You can be gladiatorial in the sporting arena and it is celebrated. It's one of the things many athletes enjoy (and miss when they retire) - you can think, say and do things on the road, playing field, water, mat, ice... that are unacceptable in normal life.


I quite like directness myself

 

[Escarabajo]

I like Roger Federer. He is the greatest tennis player of all time. Does it with dignity, does it with panache and respects all his fellow players. He smashes them all on the court but is the nicest guy in tennis. Probably the best sportsman ever. Just proves you don’t need to be a khunt to win.

I was trying to think of a great champion who was not arrogant, and Roger Federer is a good example. Good one.

Very few like him though.

 

[schadenfreude]

I was trying to think of a great champion who was not arrogant, and Roger Federer is a good example. Good one.

Very few like him though.

 

[whiteboytrash]

I was trying to think of a great champion who was not arrogant, and Roger Federer is a good example. Good one.

Very few like him though.

The chic Federer is banging is much better than any of ths skank Armstrong's been through. The guy is a legend.

Federer once said: "Its nice to be important but its much more important to be nice".

I saw him win the French Open at the weekend and Big Rog spoke French for the post match interview....... Big Austin would never do that !

 

[longrun]

Not all great champions are nice people, they are often ruthless, agressive and selfish. It sort of goes with the territory.

Many top athletes, in all sports, at all levels, leave a trail of bad feelings behind them. It takes selfishness to get to the top.

On the topic of sport as entertainment, Hinault gets the yellow jersey for stimulating pre-race excitement. Look at the speed with which this thread has gone to six pages. Love it or hate it, he gave us something interesting to talk about.

 

[euphrades]

Lemond is too much of a pussy to follow up anyways.

Why would Lemond devote his effort to someone that is going to blow him off? Taking on Armstrong will not fix doping in cycling.

 

[boalio]

I like Roger Federer. He is the greatest tennis player of all time. Does it with dignity, does it with panache and respects all his fellow players. He smashes them all on the court but is the nicest guy in tennis. Probably the best sportsman ever. Just proves you don’t need to be a khunt to win.

But he is pretty dull as a character i think. Lovely guy but zzzz.

At least Hinault makes me laugh. I love a ranty old guy. Sport in general has seemed to become way too serious. All these 'nice' but dull champions. I like a bit of b**tard in someone. A lil bit of crazy. Your Federers, Schumachers (Michael), Tiger Woods etc. All very nice but way too serious. So then the sport becomes serious, methodical and dull.

 

[longrun]

but he is pretty dull as a character i think. Lovely guy but zzzz.

At least hinault makes me laugh. I love a ranty old guy. Sport in general has seemed to become way too serious. All these 'nice' but dull champions. I like a bit of b**tard in someone. A lil bit of crazy. Your federers, schumachers (michael), tiger woods etc. All very nice but way too serious. So then the sport becomes serious, methodical and dull.

+1,000,000!!

 

[dgodave]

I thought more people would react to Hinault demolishing the "cycling at 2 speeds" idea.
.
An interesting diatribe by the Badger, but only gets picked up because of Lance. Lance rules. He rules this place, for better or worse.

 

[boalio]

Seriosuly, I have read that article like 5 times. I still laugh.

Ear pieces: "I am against [them]. It is only a Game Boy with a gigolo at the end who tells the rider when he must go and ****. With [Cyrille] Guimard, we studied the map and the winds on the morning of the stage.

Pollution: "Riders do anything. There is a pack of pigs in the bunch. One day it will be necessary to fine them."

I want him to commentate the Tour!

PS I actually have more respect for Armstrong now, just because he called Hinault a '****er'. Normally these things end up being whiny girl responses. Haha.

 

[boalio]

I know this has been said many times before about auto censoring swear words on this forum, but that's hilarious. I used actual quotes from Cyclingnews, but they were censored on their own forum???

 

[Azdak6]

I thought that interview was a hoot. Love Hinault's shoot from the hip style. Didn't hold anything back, on anyone, including candid comments on his own countrymen, which were more scathing than what he said about Lance as I read it.

Most of all absolutely loved his comments on radios. So true.


Totally agree! Hinault's assault on his own countrymen would suggest there's no anti-Armstrong/pro French agenda.

We need more colourful, outspoken commentators like Hinault. He's been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. Respect, mon ami!!

What's so "outspoken" about a bitter old guy yelling at the kids to stay off his lawn?

What insight do I gain from a grumpy old codger reflexively complaining that everything was better in his day and the "newfangled" ways just don't measure up?

Where was Mr Tough Guy in 1985? And what does it say about him that 25 years after his riding days, the only job he can get is to put on his blue shirt and khaki pants and stand by the podium for 20 days a year, still trying to bask in some reflected glory? If he has all this great cycling and coaching knowledge, why isn't he putting his *** on the line as a team director?

His cycling performances speak for themselves--unfortunately, every time HE speaks up, he just sounds like......well, a ****er.

 

[grimpeur]

What's so "outspoken" about a bitter old guy yelling at the kids to stay off his lawn?

What insight do I gain from a grumpy old codger reflexively complaining that everything was better in his day and the "newfangled" ways just don't measure up?

Where was Mr Tough Guy in 1985? And what does it say about him that 25 years after his riding days, the only job he can get is to put on his blue shirt and khaki pants and stand by the podium for 20 days a year, still trying to bask in some reflected glory? If he has all this great cycling and coaching knowledge, why isn't he putting his *** on the line as a team director?

His cycling performances speak for themselves--unfortunately, every time HE speaks up, he just sounds like......well, a ****er.

Christ—someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed eh? Maybe he doesn't want to be the "gigalo" on the end of the wire. So what are YOU doing to make this sport better? Put on a race lately ? Helped a young rider with a new bicycle ? Nothing ? You know nothing about Hinault's work with the sport except what you see on the boob-tube. As far as I'm concerned, his winning record let's him say whatever the "F" he wants.

 

[Parrot23]

Not all great champions are nice people, they are often ruthless, agressive and selfish. It sort of goes with the territory.

Yes, agree. Think that's Daniel Coyle's point, author of Armstrong's War, when interviewed about athletes. It's a mistake to think a winner is necessarily a nice guy too (it's a non-sequitur; it doesn't follow).

Fostering this illusion is all part of the commercial marketing hype by companies like Nike and Trek, and what have you, the $hype aiming to sell products, create an ambiance of someone you would like to have in your living room, etc. But Hinault is useful antidote to all of this candy-coated public relations BS--esp. by team nowadays--that passes for truth these days.

BigBoat's earlier point about narcissicistic personality disorder (see the Wikipedia entry on this) seems relevant. If you watch the Giro videos of the One, narcissim was the word that came to mind. Reality shows and Twitter etc. today are promoting a sort of general unbridled exhibitionist narcissim among lots of people.

Then again, most people act out of mixed motives, some base, some pure, including philanthropy (which could be a mix of both). Look at Bill Gates: great at philanthropy, but it came after bruising court battles where his image was battered. He's a human being, like everybody else.

 

[Mellow Velo]

What's so "outspoken" about a bitter old guy yelling at the kids to stay off his lawn?

Or maybe, stay out of his watering hole........

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/us/16lance.html


http://tech.blorge.com/Structure: /2009/04/02/lance-armstrong-joins-drink-clean-go-green-campaign/

Gives a pretty good insight into how the guy's mind works.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

As much as I'm enjoying watching these two divas fight it out, I'm also disappointed, in the sense that I always figured that Hinault and Armstrong liked each other. They've got the exact same big-boss-man, "my way or the highway" personality (cf. their similar taste in sunglasses); it was Hinault who gave Armstrong the famous "no gifts" line in 2004; and I've read at least one interview in which Armstrong compares Texans to Bretons.

 

[ElChingon]

PS I actually have more respect for Armstrong now, just because he called Hinault a '****er'. Normally these things end up being whiny girl responses. Haha.

I thought that was a girly response, that's all he's got?

In conclusion, I do think Lance is afraid of France and the French. What surprises me the most is all the dumb comments he's said about France and the French over the years yet he still shows up at le Tour? Who shows up at a guys house that they hate? I don't really understand that at all.

 

[Angliru]

I thought that was a girly response, that's all he's got?

In conclusion, I do think Lance is afraid of France and the French. What surprises me the most is all the dumb comments he's said about France and the French over the years yet he still shows up at le Tour? Who shows up at a guys house that they hate? I don't really understand that at all.

Isn't it the French media that Armstrong detests not necessarily the French people? I think he's shot himself in the foot with his constant derogatory remarks made in fits of anger or frustration regarding the French people and the media. Also the treatment he received on the roads of France in his last Tour in 2005 where he was spit on by fans probably has something to do with his attitude. He has to accept that with all his fame and fortune and constant need for adoration, acceptance and attention also comes the derision that comes from the French history for rooting for the underdog.
While it appears that at first upon his return he was trying to show a warmer gentler Armstrong once things didn't go his way the thorns came out and he resorted back to his old self.
Until Armstrong shows some vulnerability aside from his well known successful return from cancer, the French media aren't likely to ever warm up to him. Take into account his obsession with manipulating the media and also micromanaging who he gives media access to if at all other than his recent "Twittering", there doesn't appear to any light at the end of this dark long tunnel that his relationship with the French.

 

[benpounder]

the irony...

I saw him win the French Open at the weekend and Big Rog spoke French for the post match interview....... Big Austin would never do that !

Stupid post by a stupid person.

Pot kettle.

 

[franciep10]

Listen the badger is one of the best of all time, instead of mouthing off at everybody and everything take a promising french rider under your wing, mentor him and help french cycling that way, what he is doing is demoralizing rather than inspiring, frankly i dont give a rat's *** about LA in this.