Hinault Taking a Shot at Armstrong

[Mr. Gipsy]

Yeah, Hinault does talks sh*t about everyone, but he was the last trully great champion. How many Tour winners since Hinault have won Paris-Roubaix and the Tour in the same year? Heck, how many Tour winners since have actually won Paris-Roubaix? Zero!

 

[Mellow Velo]

Yeah, Hinault does talks sh*t about everyone, but he was the last trully great champion. How many Tour winners since Hinault have won Paris-Roubaix and the Tour in the same year? Heck, how many Tour winners since have actually won Paris-Roubaix? Zero!

How many Tour winners since, have even ridden Roubaix?
Just mentioning its name sends them into hibernation.

 

[schadenfreude]

How many Tour winners since, have even ridden Roubaix?
Just mentioning its name sends them into hibernation.

only one that comes to mind is...

 

[TRDean]

True, Lemond should get tons of credit for being a much more well rounded rider (full season) than Mr. Armstrong and the current crop of "specialists". Anyone see a rider coming along to change this? I mean one who will race the entire season and be good the entire season?

 

[franciep10]

True, Lemond should get tons of credit for being a much more well rounded rider (full season) than Mr. Armstrong and the current crop of "specialists". Anyone see a rider coming along to change this? I mean one who will race the entire season and be good the entire season?

EBH he's a bonafide all rounder, he can climb well sprint, and ride with the best of them in april

 

[BroDeal]

only one that comes to mind is...

Heh. That was the year he tried using rockshox. Now we just need a pic of that crazy bike Bauer used one year.

How many riders who have placed in the top ten of the TdF have ridden P-R?

It is a real shame that a rider like Ullrich did not race the classics. He could have won many.

 

[grimpeur]

Could it come to this? The badger vs. the codger?

 

[rapistwit]

True, Lemond should get tons of credit for being a much more well rounded rider (full season) than Mr. Armstrong and the current crop of "specialists". Anyone see a rider coming along to change this? I mean one who will race the entire season and be good the entire season?

It's true that riders are much more focused on single events these days but thats how it is across the sporting world (not just cycling). I think its a little unfair to rip on Armstrong for that. Besides, if my memory isn't failing me, Armstrong actually has won a classic or two and Lemond hasn't.

 

[Escarabajo]

It's true that riders are much more focused on single events these days but thats how it is across the sporting world (not just cycling). I think its a little unfair to rip on Armstrong for that. Besides, if my memory isn't failing me, Armstrong actually has won a classic or two and Lemond hasn't.

To me both were the same when it came down to classics. I think it has more to do with the american mentality than anything else.

 

[BikeCentric]

It's true that riders are much more focused on single events these days but thats how it is across the sporting world (not just cycling).

It's true, in the NFL for example you have players becoming so specialized that they have several different players of the same position that have different roles. For example big short yardage running backs, 3rd down backs, and big play capable running backs for 1st and 2nd down. Then you have 2 different Safety's, the "linebacker" Safety who comes in on likely running downs and the cover safety who comes in on nickel or dime defenses when they're expecting pass and want an extra defensive back on the field.

 

[elapid]

It's true that riders are much more focused on single events these days but thats how it is across the sporting world (not just cycling). I think its a little unfair to rip on Armstrong for that. Besides, if my memory isn't failing me, Armstrong actually has won a classic or two and Lemond hasn't.

To be fair to Lemond, Armstrong won a classic (La Fleche Wallone, 1996; second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1994; also won Clásica San Sebastián in 1995 and second in 1994) and the world championship (1993) in his pre-cancer days when he was well and truly a one-day rider. He made no such attempts other than to support Hincapie post-cancer when he was a TdF rider. Lemond rode both the classics and the tours in the same years.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

Could it come to this? The badger vs. the codger?

Awesome!! I knew it was only a matter of time before someone made that image. If it happens in real life I'll go out and print myself an "Hinault 3:16" shirt.

 

[pmcg76]

To be fair to Lemond, Armstrong won a classic (La Fleche Wallone, 1996; second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1994; also won Clásica San Sebastián in 1995 and second in 1994) and the world championship (1993) in his pre-cancer days when he was well and truly a one-day rider.

Lance was most definitely a classics rider in his early career, he even admitted he was unlikely to ever be a Tour contender. He could have been a classics contender after his comeback, he came close at Amsel Gold and Zurich but he never rode Paris-Roubaix which was a dissappointment. A lot of Lance fans dont realise thats why many are suspicious about his transformation into a Tour winner because he was never a major Tour rider beforehand.

In fairness, LeMond was the first major Tour winner to focus on just the Tour but he usually rode early season/spring races as training including Paris-Roubaix, in which he was competitive. He was also very competitive in the Classics before his hunting accident. Tour of Lombardy 83 and Milan-San Remo 86 are two races in which he battled with king of the Classics Sean Kelly.

Armstrong took it to another level showing up at Amstel, then disappearing again until Midi-Libere/ Dauphine Libere, then the Tour before finishing his season except if Olympics were on. That is akin to Tiger Woods showing up at US Masters, dissappearing again before playing British Open and finishing his season then, wouldnt be very popular.

This is why guys like Merckx/Hinault/Coppi will always be ahead of Lance in the all-time greatest list. If he wins the Tour this year, it will be sad to think he didnt compete in more races in his prime such as the Giro.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

To be fair to Lemond, Armstrong won a classic (La Fleche Wallone, 1996; second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1994; also won Clásica San Sebastián in 1995 and second in 1994) and the world championship (1993) in his pre-cancer days when he was well and truly a one-day rider. He made no such attempts other than to support Hincapie post-cancer when he was a TdF rider. Lemond rode both the classics and the tours in the same years.

You're right that it's important to distinguish between the pre- and post-cancer Armstrongs -- two really good cyclists with different specialities. Nevertheless, we shouldn't forget that Armstrong did make a concerted effort to win the Amstel Gold Race every year from about 1999 through 2003, and finished in the top ten (almost?) every year, but was always outfoxed in the final kilometers by a Boogerd or a Dekker or a Vinokourov. After the 2003 Amstel he was so frustrated that he showed up at Liege a week letter steamin' to win, and put in a big attack which came to naught. The point to take away here was that, even at his best, Armstrong had limitations as a rider. He had the winning of stage races down to a science, but he could still be beaten fair and square in a classic even if he was in great shape.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Heh. That was the year he tried using rockshox. Now we just need a pic of that crazy bike Bauer used one year.

I think you're thinking of the full suspension Bianchi that Museeuw rode in 1994, no?

 

[BroDeal]

I think you're thinking of the full suspension Bianchi that Museeuw rode in 1994, no?

No, Bauer used a bike with a seat tube angle near sixty degrees in 1993 or 1994. It was called the "stealth bike."

 

[Anonymous]

No, Bauer used a bike with a seat tube angle near sixty degrees in 1993 or 1994. It was called the "stealth bike."

I remember that bike actually. It was a Merckx, or at least painted to look like one.

 

[BroDeal]

I remember that bike actually. It was a Merckx, or at least painted to look like one.

I tried googling a picture but failed. The best I could do was this info:

"As I recall, Bauer's original chopper was not built by Eddy (his company that is) but by some obscure small framebuilder in Belgium or the Netherlands. (Today, he could probably get something like this built by Rivendell!!!-just joking, folks...)The chainstays were too long for any available tubes to work, so I remember that they had an extra length of chainstay welded to the ends (on the BB side). The chain was also almost twice the normal length. To add to the chopper effect, he used a saddle that had about a 10 cm section of back on it...ostensibly to push against...."

I forgot that aside from the stealth bike it was also called the chopper. Dang, I wish I could find a pic.

 

[BroDeal]

Eureka! Does not show the saddle extension. That may have been outlawed before this pic was taken.

 

[Anonymous]

Eureka! Does not show the saddle extension. That may have been outlawed before this pic was taken.

Great find!

 

[ElChingon]

I love tangents

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Ahh, yes, the "Stealth" bike.

Still "prefer" Musseuw's bike. Raced once and only once, 1994 Paris-Roubaix.

Video to it on YouTube.

Cool story behind it.

Photo of the bike itself:

 

[elapid]

Eureka! Does not show the saddle extension. That may have been outlawed before this pic was taken.

Man, I know he had a sore back, but that couldn't look more uncomfortable. Great pic.

 

[whiteboytrash]

From the International Herald Tribune editorial.... nice print.
____
Lance Armstrong: This guy needs to just go away. My advice to you, Lance, is to find out where Miguel Indurain is hiding and ride your bike over there. Don't get me wrong, Lance is an amazing cyclist. I won't say how amazing because I don't know anything about cycling.

Which leads me to this: What, Lance, do you know about journalism? You must know an awful lot after this showed up on your really boring Twitter page: "Up reading the paper(s). Yet another poorly researched piece in the WSJ. Did Murdoch know he was buying such C-level journalism?"

For some reason, Lance, I have a hard time believing that you know the journalistic difference between Cycling News and The New Yorker. This story has Lance worried. I think Greg LeMond, the people's champion, has you bro.