Lance Armstrong Appreciation Thread: Part Deux

[nayr497]

Went for a ride with an old riding pal over the weekend. He was telling me how Lance, Georgie and Johan were all recently on his podcast marveling at the peloton speeds right now and how they woulnd't be able to keep up.

Yup, people tune in for his podcast.

 

[red_flanders]

Went for a ride with an old riding pal over the weekend. He was telling me how Lance, Georgie and Johan were all recently on his podcast marveling at the peloton speeds right now and how they woulnd't be able to keep up.

Yup, people tune in for his podcast.

The podcast is good. Not a ton of english-speaking content when it comes to bike racing. Bruyneel and Hincapie are particularly good. Armstrong is...well...let's say often wrong, and still has to make it all about him. But they cover the big races and Bruyneel is worth listening to regarding tactics etc.

And yes, I thought that bit was remarkable, how they genuinely felt they couldn't keep up in today's peloton.

 

[zlev11]

i do enjoy when they make picks for races, you can tell sometimes they have some "insider" knowledge, ie Lance picking Fuglsang to win the 2019 TDF and then it coming out months later that he was working with Ferrari. too much of a coincidence there.

also, did anyone else catch what Bruyneel said about Dumoulin at the end of their latest ep? That he has a "theory" about why he was out of racing for the last few months, but he couldn't elaborate. it really seemed to me that he was hinting that he tested positive.

 

[Rackham]

i do enjoy when they make picks for races, you can tell sometimes they have some "insider" knowledge, ie Lance picking Fuglsang to win the 2019 TDF and then it coming out months later that he was working with Ferrari. too much of a coincidence there.

also, did anyone else catch what Bruyneel said about Dumoulin at the end of their latest ep? That he has a "theory" about why he was out of racing for the last few months, but he couldn't elaborate. it really seemed to me that he was hinting that he tested positive.

I just watched it (because this post made me curious).

And yes, that's exactly what he was hinting at. But it's pretty self-evident really, i.e. at the January training camp on the Friday, Dumoulin was talking about his excitement for the season ahead (classic etc.). Then kaboom on the Saturday morning, he was packing his bags on unpaid leave.

Either it was an internal test which revealed he'd messed up his dosages off-season, or it was a heads up from higher up he'd been popped & they were pretty much forced to give him a 4 month suspension or whatnot.

 

[BlueRoads]

Well he's better right and has some serious knowledge about it. Otherwise it's a pretty ugly move, hardcore dopers imputing a doping catch to a rider with depressions.

 

[Rackham]

Well he's better right and has some serious knowledge about it. Otherwise it's a pretty ugly move, hardcore dopers imputing a doping catch to a rider with depressions.

True, but the entire "I'm depressed so I quit... now I'm coming back with no preparation & I'll race the Olympics" does require a certain suspension of disbelief.

Now it might seem inconsequential, but I also note a perceptible "stiffness" about Dumoulin within the Jumbo the social media sphere, i.e. where other riders get constant bromance, posts, articles & likes from their teammates, DS & team principle even, Dumoulin is treated with a sort of polite "distance".

I don't know whether it's just me, but it seems like there's an awkwardness. I guess we'll know more next week in the Tour of Switzerland.

 

[limak_]

True, but the entire "I'm depressed so I quit... now I'm coming back with no preparation & I'll race the Olympics" does require a certain suspension of disbelief.

He was "inspired" to get back to racing after he watched Amstel, don't you remember?

Tom always had some kind of mental instability, so this situation fits somehow into his personality, but the fact that he changed his mind so quickly (after his initial announcement I got an expression he might not come back to cycling ever again) is really bizarre. Like he lost nothing so far in terms of this season (he'd be only helper in classics) and coming back to racing just in the right moment to prepare to his biggest goals.

 

[Rackham]

He was "inspired" to get back to racing after he watched Amstel, don't you remember?

Tom always had some kind of mental instability, so this situation fits somehow into his personality, but the fact that he changed his mind so quickly (after his initial announcement I got an expression he might not come back to cycling ever again) is really bizarre. Like he lost nothing so far in terms of this season (he'd be only helper in classics) and coming back to racing just in the right moment to prepare to his biggest goals.

I don't know whether this is the correct thread for this, but Dumoulin just did an interview with L'Equipe: Tom Dumoulin, après quatre mois de pause : « J'avais besoin de cette période » - L'Équipe (lequipe.fr)

He said the biggest change since his break is he'll now always question "why" he's doing something in cycling (words to that effect) & ask whether he likes it & wants to do it, basically. He also says he's spoken to the team about it.

...

People can read into this what they want, but going back to Bruyneel's cryptic comments, when combined with Dumoulin's above interview the exact opposite of my previous "guess" could be interpreted, i.e. maybe he just didn't want to do the program which the rest of the Jumbo guys are on?

That's just another guess. But I still obviously don't buy the official version which is full of holes.

 

[Scarponi]

Was there any ever serious discussion at the time that Lance would attempt the Giro-Tour double? Surely with the best program in the peleton he could have managed it once, considering it was a big thing in the 90s.

 

[staubsauger]

Lance didn't have Ferrari exclusively in Italy I believe. Vice versa Simoni hasn't gotten his program in France.

There were links between Dumoulin & Aderlass from Süddeutsche Zeitung. They've have a good research crew and uncovered various scandals together with German broadcasting cooperations NDR & WDR lately. So they don't release stories like this out of the blue like Bild, Sun, Telegraaf or Ekstrabladet. Remember Preidler originally was Dumoulin's domestique at Giant. So if Bruyneel hints something....

Di Luca was banned for 6 months, including roughly 4 months during competition, for his contact with Santuccione. They couldn't prove anything more than the contact back then. So in theory, the time frame would be fitting with Dumoulin.

But honestly I don't think they gave him a silent ban if they had anything valid in hands.

Could've been a mix of mental health issues and cautiousness though. One doesn't necessarily exclude the other!

 

[TMJ]

Was there any ever serious discussion at the time that Lance would attempt the Giro-Tour double? Surely with the best program in the peleton he could have managed it once, considering it was a big thing in the 90s.

He mentioned this on his show recently and made it clear "the only race anyone cares about or has heard of is the Tour de France."
Therefore he put all his efforts into that one race.
I was living in the US at the time and the media dubbed it the "Tour de Lance".
However, both Lance, George Hincapie and Johan Bruyneel all agree the Giro and Vuelta need to be reduced to two-week races to give one rider the opportunity to go for the season "Grand Tour Grand Slam".
I personally think that is the dumbest idea ever.
How is one rider/one team taking all the glory good for cycling?
Share the wealth I say. Three different teams won the GT's last year, but one dominating team snatching all the wins would be the death of cycling.
But, I suppose why would those three care about that?