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Johan Bruyneel talks AC/LA

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Mar 16, 2009
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Now to the part everyone wants to hear. A lot has been written and said about the war between Lance and Alberto. I always knew that the race would decide who would be the leader of the team. That Contador finally was the strongest is not even a surprise. From the beginning of the season he made it clear that the Tour was his main goal. From the start in Monaco, he showed his ambitions. I know that some people thought that since I have a special relationship with Lance, that I would make decisions that influenced the race for Lance, however this is the contrary. My main concern was winning the Tour de France - whether it be with Alberto, Lance, Levi or Andreas.

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I normally don't talk about private discussions I have with riders or staff, but in the train from Avignon to Paris, I spoke with Alberto. He told me that he appreciated the way the race was directed from the team car. I also had many discussions with Lance during the Tour. He recognized that Alberto was better and agreed that we should try to go for a stage win and take the yellow jersey with Alberto in the stage to Verbier.


For me it is logical that Alberto does not want to share the leadership in the team and that he will not be teammates with Lance. When I first discussed the plans with Lance for his comeback, Lance told me that he would understand if I chose Contador over him. "With Contador you are ‘good’ for five, six years." Lance’s comeback could offer me maybe only one interesting year. Immediately I answered that I found his comeback after four years of inactivity so unique and intriguing on so many levels that I wanted to be part of it.

http://www.johanbruyneel.com/blog.html
 
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krebs303 said:
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I normally don't talk about private discussions I have with riders or staff, but in the train from Avignon to Paris, I spoke with Alberto. He told me that he appreciated the way the race was directed from the team car. I also had many discussions with Lance during the Tour. He recognized that Alberto was better and agreed that we should try to go for a stage win and take the yellow jersey with Alberto in the stage to Verbier.


For me it is logical that Alberto does not want to share the leadership in the team and that he will not be teammates with Lance.

http://www.johanbruyneel.com/blog.html

Oh boy!! Let the sheitstorm begin...
 
Mar 17, 2009
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Quite a diplomatic statement from Bryneel. It is almost as if he is leaving the door open for Contador to stay with him. There is no question in my mind, that absent Armstrong, Contador will have the better chance of repeating this year's Tour chances if he could keep a strong team around him. Some say Astana didn't help Contador much, but I saw it differently.
 
Bruyneel's statement comes out as a "control damage" to the already known "Astana's Chaotic & dirty Internal battle" in which he holds a lot of responsability, and the obvious preference of LA over Contador, which contradicts previous statements/interviews-even the Monaco conference press.-in another words-He's full of sh!t as LA is-- I don't think he could or would make any difference at all by putting "sweet" words" to repair a "bitter situation"....
 
Jul 17, 2009
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hfer07 said:
Bruyneel's statement comes out as a "control damage" to the already known "Astana's Chaotic & dirty Internal battle" in which he holds a lot of responsability, and the obvious preference of LA over Contador, which contradicts previous statements/interviews-even the Monaco conference press.-in another words-He's full of sh!t as LA is-- I don't think he could or would make any difference at all by putting "sweet" words" to repair a "bitter situation"....

Probably not; but all of your views around this are negative so I understand your position.
 
Jul 20, 2009
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ilillillli said:
i'm going to take this at face value. he's either an expert politician, a really fair and honest guy, or both.

You don't get to be one of the best DS in the tour if you can't even handle having two or three riders who could win the Tour in the same team! As a DS, I would rather have more weapons at my disposal than less.
 
Aug 4, 2009
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I think Bruyneel was instrumental in creating this drama within astana team. did he really believe armstrong had the temperament to play a subordinate in a team? probably not, my guess is that he overestimated armstrong and thought he could threaten his plan to win the tour if he was on another team. I didn't think Bruyneel had a preference - the media probably blew that out of proportion. So he's not yet decided on going to radioshack?

I dont think it's fair to say Contador won without ANY help of the team, probably not so much so in the mountains. His major time gain of 3 mins was from ITT and mountain solo. His teammates were dropped in major mountain stages nor did they ride to launch him like the team Saxo bank did for the Schlecks.

It doesnt matter which team Contador will be on next year, win or not, for sure he and armstrong will battle out against each other on the road. Then throw in Rasmussen and Vinokourov, let's give the Tour a major shakeup.
 
hfer07 said:
Bruyneel's statement comes out as a "control damage" to the already known "Astana's Chaotic & dirty Internal battle" in which he holds a lot of responsability, and the obvious preference of LA over Contador, which contradicts previous statements/interviews-even the Monaco conference press.-in another words-He's full of sh!t as LA is-- I don't think he could or would make any difference at all by putting "sweet" words" to repair a "bitter situation"....

I think it’s less about "damage control" and more about trying to sound like he was "in control" of a situation which he was clearly not. Seeing that Bruyneel is supposed to be the "master tactician" and “DS of the century” this years Tour showed he was neither a tactician nor leader among men. I guess he was worried that he might not be able to sell a sequel to “We might as win”. Perhaps “I’ve lost control again” would be a better title for the follow-up?
 
Jun 18, 2009
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JB's statement makes sense to me.

He has said he was getting bored with running Astana (sorry, no link). He's good friends with LA and it's far more of a challenge to try to win with LA than with AC.

I still would like to read interviews with other riders from Astana to find out what was going on between AC and LA (besides the Spanish newspaper articles).

I'm not an LA fan, but it is impressive to finish 3rd at his age given the number of years off form racing. And one can't argue with the ratings numbers produced by his return. Plus having a big rivalry between and LA and AC will only add to the interest.

I hope AC can get out from under Astana and land on a good team for next year. Can't wait for TDF 2010.
 
Aug 4, 2009
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ashaman said:
You don't get to be one of the best DS in the tour if you can't even handle having two or three riders who could win the Tour in the same team! As a DS, I would rather have more weapons at my disposal than less.


Yes you can be the top DS by purchasing the top ten pro riders, it's yet another thing of managing and providing a healthy team environment for riders to compete in, and i wouldnt say Bruyneel succeeded in doing that. I think the statement Contador made apres tour was a genuine depiction of the tension in the team. If Contador cracked under pressure, he wouldnt be worthy. I think regardless you like him or not, Contador gets credit for what he did in the tour - total domination.
 
thehog said:
I think it’s less about "damage control" and more about trying to sound like he was "in control" of a situation which he was clearly not. Seeing that Bruyneel is supposed to be the "master tactician" and “DS of the century” this years Tour showed he was neither a tactician nor leader among men. I guess he was worried that he might not be able to sell a sequel to “We might as win”. Perhaps “I’ve lost control again” would be a better title for the follow-up?

Three ISN'T Company would be perfect title :cool:
 
we'll never really know

It seems unlikely that JB could have known how LA was going to act at the time he agreed to have him back on the team. I also think a lot of JB's income both present and future is pretty directly linked to his association with LA, so it certainly would seem natural that he would want to have continued such an association and say as little as possible to disrupt the flow of sponsors' cash to his pocket.

In hindsight, who knows how JB will really think of 2009? You can't read a blog post 2 weeks after the tour and think it's the final word. He is still running a business. Words must be chosen with great care. Perhaps in a few years he will divulge his thoughts honestly, and we will probably regard it as spin then, too. Does he really believe RS is going to contend for a tdf tour win in 2010? It seems unlikely right now but it will be great to watch.

As far as AC goes, I think there are other contenders for 2010 that are deserving of his attention than LA. I hope he isn't hypnotized by the Lance trance and loses focus of more legitimate contenders.
 
Jul 20, 2009
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dblueroom said:
Yes you can be the top DS by purchasing the top ten pro riders, it's yet another thing of managing and providing a healthy team environment for riders to compete in, and i wouldnt say Bruyneel succeeded in doing that. I think the statement Contador made apres tour was a genuine depiction of the tension in the team. of course if Contador cracked under pressure, he wouldnt be worthy. I think regardless you like him or not, Contador gets credit for what he did in the tour - total domination.

Contador sure rode very well and deserve all the credits. A DS can only prepare you on what to come and how to react to a certain situation during the race. But at the end, the rider must have the strength to execute it. What good is a general if he doesn't have the weapons to wage war with? But the best weapons, may or may not win the battle without the best general.
 
I do not think some of you give JB the credit he deserves. The day to day direction of riders on the road is not as important as selecting the right riders to begin with. Back in 2007, who among us expected Contador to show the form he did at the TdF? He was a talent, but who knew he would go on to win 4 grand tours in 4 starts? The credit for this has to go to JB. I doubt that any great DS would be able to control LA and AC completely.
 
**Uru** said:
I do not think some of you give JB the credit he deserves. The day to day direction of riders on the road is not as important as selecting the right riders to begin with. Back in 2007, who among us expected Contador to show the form he did at the TdF? He was a talent, but who knew he would go on to win 4 grand tours in 4 starts? The credit for this has to go to JB. I doubt that any great DS would be able to control LA and AC completely.

Oops--you misspelled Manolo Saiz.
 
Jul 19, 2009
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Isn't this at odds with the AC interview? Supposedly he felt isolated in his team with the LA and JB influencing the team.

"From that moment on, [Lance Armstrong] stopped considering the Spaniard a member of the team, acting as if he, Contador, simply didn’t exist. Contador was left without defense; if at least he would’ve attacked from far away and conquered the leadership…After that, he found refuge more in his little group of support: his mechanic, his masseuse, Paulinho, his brother-manager-comforter, and his press agent. While members of Armstrong’s side on the team didn’t hold back in showing their sentiments, the rest of the members, the independent guys, impartial ones, the ones that thought of only the good of the team, they found themselves in a balancing act. They couldn’t show any signs of happiness or unhappiness for the actions of one or the other so it wouldn’t be misinterpreted because the pride of the champions are very susceptible; also, they had to calculate the hours that they would wear the different team jerseys: the blue Astana, the black Trek….All in order not to throw more fuel on the fire since the fire couldn’t be extinguished."
from NYVelocity translation

The analysis can vary widely, because we have to try to dissect the motivations of each party.

I think El Pais wanted to portray Contador as a victim and someone who overcame all the odds. They (along with many of our forum contributors) also want to portray Lance as petty and controlling. This creates a better story with more drama. There's some evidence for it.

Bruyneel wants to portray himself as a tactician and a politician. This puts himself in the best light given the Astana-drama.

LA's post-Tour interviews have mentioned that "sometimes in sports... there's somebody that's better." He followed that with the statement that "that's what the great thing about the Tour is that the best man always wins." This goes along with the pre-Tour statements that Contador was by far the best stage racer and best climber in the world today. LA even said that Contador 2009 could have beaten Armstrong during his string of victories. I'm impressed with his humility in saying that. Unfortunately for him, this has been lost on most people.

Armstrong offered high praise for Contador, who won his first Tour in 2007. He said that even at his peak while winning the tour from 1999-2005, he may have lost to his 26-year-old Spanish teammate.

"Contador is that good, so I don't see how I would have been higher than that, even in the other years, I think his performance this year would have beaten my performances in '01 and '04 and '05," Armstrong said, referring to his best years on the Tour.

Associated Press
 
Jun 24, 2009
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tiggertoo said:
Quite a diplomatic statement from Bryneel. It is almost as if he is leaving the door open for Contador to stay with him. There is no question in my mind, that absent Armstrong, Contador will have the better chance of repeating this year's Tour chances if he could keep a strong team around him. Some say Astana didn't help Contador much, but I saw it differently.

Looking at it through rose colored glasses, were you, mate? As you can check through posts on this very forum. Even without the TTT Alberto would have won. Other than that, I'm not sure what you were looking at or listening to. Although the deafening roar from the incredibly knowledgeable team at Versus sure made it sound like Alberto lacked any kind of intelligence, was a loose cannon, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
Other than the TTT the "Team" helped him by leaving him without a car before the ITT in Annecy. Without a car post stage, atop Mont Ventoux.
Early on, they ran as hard as they could in the wind, even though they had dropped him, their "team leader". And then there was all the Twitter DRIVEL, and all the upstaging of the race itself, let alone his inevitable victory, with the announcement of the new Radio Shack team.No psychological warfare going on that I can see! Oh yeah, they helped alright. Are we going to try to counter all that by saying that when he finally commented on the whole experience in a post race interview, he was out of line? after all the negative comments that were directed against him throughout the race, by his own teammates? Director, ex-staff(eki)? injured teammate(levi)
Man, the conclusions that I hear drawn sometimes are simply astounding.
BTW, I think Bruyneel, who I used to respect, is a lying sack of ****. All respect is gone. He should have stayed retired himself. Lance brought him 7 Grand Tour titles. Alberto only fattened his total, and is more than half way there already, at the tender age of 26. You don't need to be a clairvoyant to know that the deck is not stacked toward Team Radio Shack. Bet hey put yer money down, I'll take any suckers bets next year.:D
 
Jun 24, 2009
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thehog said:
Bruyneel has always been an honest man. We have no reason to think he's lying.
Roll the video tape, my man! I'm sorry to say, and with all due respect. How you cannot see all the lying that went on, is not a good comment on your own ability to observe situations as they truly are.
 
Jun 24, 2009
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thehog said:
I think it’s less about "damage control" and more about trying to sound like he was "in control" of a situation which he was clearly not. Seeing that Bruyneel is supposed to be the "master tactician" and “DS of the century” this years Tour showed he was neither a tactician nor leader among men. I guess he was worried that he might not be able to sell a sequel to “We might as win”. Perhaps “I’ve lost control again” would be a better title for the follow-up?

+1 Bravo, I knew you could do it!:D
 
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racerralph said:
Try this one: A really poor BS artist!

All vitriol aside, how do you suppose JB has been able to attract such talent over the years? If he were such a piece of (fill in the blank), then would the riders in the peleton not know this and steer clear?

Do you think JB being at RadioShack or Shack (whatever they are going to call it) will have one bit of trouble attracting and fielding a team at the very top end of the sport?

Once again, the perception of the folks on this forum and the perception of the folks actually involved in the sport are (seemingly) very different.
 
I think we would all do well to remember that the Press is a business, and that getting things right, is largely a secondary concern to getting people engaged. Most of the controversy generated around Astana and it's riders during the tour was the product of rampant speculation within the press corp. A very savvy DS like Bruyneel is an expert at letting the press feed on it own speculation and propagating a myth of dissension as a means to an end for gaining a tactical advantage.

Every team has personnel problems and compatibility issues. But the scenario being played out in the Press during the TDF for Astana was not realistic. These riders eat together, lodge together, travel on the team bus together, have team meetings and discuss logistics and tactics at length. There is no place for a dissenting opinion to hide. It will be discussed and resolved, or the team will implode.

There was a tactical faux pas or two by an inexperienced Contador, but largely Team Astana functioned as a well oiled machine and dominated the GC and Team competitions at the TDF. If even a fraction of the controversy that we were fed by the Press during the Tour was accurate, this simply would not have been the result.

Yes, individual riders will make decisions about where and how they want things to go next year, and they will all be in their personal and professional best interests. Any speculation that Contador did not have the teams full support during the TDF is just nonsense, and successful hype and pandering from the media to their own best interests. The number 21 on his jersey speaks louder than most of the media commentary, and there were no situations or behavior on course that called that strategy of team leader into question.

If you want to satisfy yourself on that point, go back and watch your most controversial race moments from the 2009 TDF without the benefit of commentary. It can be like watching it again for the first time.
 
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