Lance's Twit: how ironic

[fulcrum]

Ohhhh? I guess I didnt catch what you were getting at. I also didnt realize that the knowledge of where a particular cyclist was born is how you want to gauge a persons knowledge of cycling. It just so happens I was born 30 miles from Plano Tx. The birthplace of LA. I was born in Sherman Tx. I even competed against him in some triathlons. Only I chose to stay an amateur so I could stay eligible to compete in high school and college in distance running. Even got a track and cross country scholarship to a college in San Angelo, Tx. So if you want to question my knowledge of cycling by all means go ahead, as I have been following Lemond and LA since the mid 80's.

By all means please. Proceed... I'm holding my breath in anticipation of having an extremely well informed discussion about Garate's stage win at Mont Ventoux with you.

And if you are going to use this forum to flash gang signs and scare us all, I suggest you skip Texas as a credential of your cycling knowledge (you might want to save that for a high school football or bbq ribs cooking forum... looks awkward, kind of like Urs Freuler in a polkadot jersey)

 

[scribe]

Garate got away early and survived the GC group's advance. Pretty simple to break down, really.

 

[cody_57]

From [And asked if his team manager Joh...tour winner, not somebody close to his 2nd ;)

 

[fulcrum]

Garate got away early and survived the GC group's advance. Pretty simple to break down, really.

Garate got lucky Frank Schleck didn't have his best day. If Frank would've been able to shake Lance off, the Schleck brother's would have caught up to Garate before the end and bye bye stage win.

Regardless, he's always been a quality rider. Good enough to ride for a professional team (mainly in Italy) without having to go through Euskaltel.

He seemed in control of Tony Martin at all times, showing his quality as a climber. Nice way to end a decent professional career.

Basque people will be celebrating tonight. They take their cycling a little bit more seriously than the texans. Lots of tradition over there. It's really the only part of the world with enough public support to actually finance a professional cycling team with fan donations. And what they do with a very limitted budget and talent pool is noteworthy.

 

[ggusta]

Sounded like a reasonable answer to me.

Now that's classy! What you'd expect from a 7 times tour winner, not somebody close to his 2nd

It is very hard to tell 'tone' from text. He was being asked what a 3rd party thought. So he said go ask the third party.

question: does your next door neighbor think you are an a-hole?

answer: ask him.

Not so hard to appreciate his response. He seems quite bored by this. He knows his legs can do his talking for him. Does Lance?

I like Lance, but his use of the media goes beyond 'use' and well into the realm of 'manipulation'. He expected to have the team centered around him after 3 years off and no one at his age ever winning and has been whining about it at every opportunity. He just needed to let his legs do the talking and if top step of the podium was his benchmark of success, his legs couldn't back up his mouth. Which is why all the drama from Lance.

Personally I think 3rd is an awesome result, but all the diva behavior was just pathetic.

 

[ggusta]

I was impressed by the Liquigas riders today. Pellizotti and Nibali. They look like they will be a great team next year.
Did anyone notice Pellizotti's polkadot bike today? I know there were some getting down on him for wearing polkadot shorts.

I thought the polka dot bike was stellar. Yes, Liquigas team looked good. Judging by the hair, he is not troubled by criticism of fashion choices. Good for him. We should all be so secure.

 

[ggusta]

two things

1. "RT" is short hand on twitter for re-tweet. Re-tweeting is like forwarding or repeating a tweet you agree with.

2. Neither LL or LA should be communicating about internal conflicts publicly. Whether that's thru mainstream media or twitter or facebook or whatever. That's public relations 101 which I'm sure they know all about. If they do communicate in this way they are attempting to shape the narrative and shift public opinion of AC. Not cool.

I think if Lance had his charities' best interests at heart, he'd show a lot more tact and class. I am wondering if Livestrong and all that stuff is, well, nice, but it is more his vehicle for promoting himself. Smart guy, but quite whiny when things aren't going his way. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut is the better part of valor.

 

[lean mean &green]

I think if Lance had his charities' best interests at heart, he'd show a lot more tact and class. I am wondering if Livestrong and all that stuff is, well, nice, but it is more his vehicle for promoting himself. Smart guy, but quite whiny when things aren't going his way. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut is the better part of valor.

LA is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he gets it right and sometimes he gets it wrong.

Because he manipulates public perception a little thru interviews/twitter, which I clearly don't like, does not make his humanitarian efforts and the LAF insincere. I wouldn't suggest making him your hero because he will let you down. I would also caution against obsessive hatred as well b/c he has and does make very positive contributions.

 

[lean mean &green]

I think if Lance had his charities' best interests at heart, he'd show a lot more tact and class. I am wondering if Livestrong and all that stuff is, well, nice, but it is more his vehicle for promoting himself. Smart guy, but quite whiny when things aren't going his way. Sometimes keeping one's mouth shut is the better part of valor.

LA is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he gets it right and sometimes he gets it wrong.

Because he manipulates public perception a little thru interviews/twitter, which I clearly don't like, does not make his humanitarian efforts and the LAF insincere. I wouldn't suggest making him your hero because he will let you down. I would also caution against obsessive hatred as well b/c he does make very positive contributions to cycling as well as to the cancer community.

 

[fulcrum]

LA is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he gets it right and sometimes he gets it wrong.

Because he manipulates public perception a little thru interviews/twitter, which I clearly don't like, does not make his humanitarian efforts and the LAF insincere. I wouldn't suggest making him your hero because he will let you down. I would also caution against obsessive hatred as well b/c he does make very positive contributions to cycling as well as to the cancer community.

I dunno... I think something is wrong when people have to refer to his humanitarian work to defend him as a decent teammate.

 

[Escarabajo]

two things

1. "RT" is short hand on twitter for re-tweet. Re-tweeting is like forwarding or repeating a tweet you agree with.

2. Neither LL or LA should be communicating about internal conflicts publicly. Whether that's thru mainstream media or twitter or facebook or whatever. That's public relations 101 which I'm sure they know all about. If they do communicate in this way they are attempting to shape the narrative and shift public opinion of AC. Not cool.

+1............................

 

[Escarabajo]

Ohhhh? I guess I didnt catch what you were getting at. I also didnt realize that the knowledge of where a particular cyclist was born is how you want to gauge a persons knowledge of cycling. It just so happens I was born 30 miles from Plano Tx. The birthplace of LA. I was born in Sherman Tx. I even competed against him in some triathlons. Only I chose to stay an amateur so I could stay eligible to compete in high school and college in distance running. Even got a track and cross country scholarship to a college in San Angelo, Tx. So if you want to question my knowledge of cycling by all means go ahead, as I have been following Lemond and LA since the mid 80's.

Hey, do you know who my Avatar is?

 

[fulcrum]

Hey, do you know who my Avatar is?

I do. That's Lucho. And God is Colombian

The Texas based Garate expert might not know that though. He might not know what Radio Caracol is either.

 

[jamfra67]

Bruyneel's guy got the win. That is all he ever really wanted. Given that he tabbed Contador publicly as the team's strongest rider before the tour began confirmed he wasn't working against Contador.

come on get real. Bruyneel's guy is in 3rd. His sinister mind games with lance To unsetlle the young contador as they prepare to launch team Radio shack blow up in their face. He did not just tabbed Contador as the strongest rider before the tour, but said that he earned the right to be the leader for the tour. My question is why did his tune change when the tour began?. He also knew that Contador was resistant at Lance coming to join the team and when Contador indicated that he wanted to opt out of the team and his contract he persuaded him to stay. Bruyneel's publicity Stunt with Lance was simply to launch their new sponsors and that showed disrespect to the Astana sponsors. Why not wait after the tour? Contador spoiled the show so they had to anounce prematurely.

 

[Bagster]

Thanks. I added the correction.

Why is it that people like you can't just say that Armstrong rode a really great tour, competed well against guys 10+ years his junior and at the end of the day accepted his third place with grace. In doing so he smoked Cadel, Sastre and Menchov and showed he is still one of the top five best stage racers in the world. Why do you and others like you always have to slag riders off. LA showed today he is up with the best. He was stronger than Frank Schleck. Andy and AC were obviously a class above everyone else and could have ridden away if they chose but they chose to play the team game and support their respective podium hopes, thats what team cycling is all about.

 

[singlspeeder]

Thanks for the ray of sanity, Bagster. It was a great stage, and while we all have our disappointments and even suspicions based on who we were cheering for and what we thought we saw, Armstrong rode well, Andy and Contador were frighteningly strong, and Rabo saved their Tour. I've waited all summer for the last thirty minutes on Ventoux, and I'm not complaining at all.

 

[Amsterhammer]

Why is it that people like you can't just say that Armstrong rode a really great tour, competed well against guys 10+ years his junior and at the end of the day accepted his third place with grace. In doing so he smoked Cadel, Sastre and Menchov and showed he is still one of the top five best stage racers in the world. Why do you and others like you always have to slag riders off. LA showed today he is up with the best. He was stronger than Frank Schleck. Andy and AC were obviously a class above everyone else and could have ridden away if they chose but they chose to play the team game and support their respective podium hopes, thats what team cycling is all about.

Because the extreme hateboys are so consumed by their own miserable negativity that they have lost all grip on reality. All they do is ***** about one man to the exclusion of all else. Of course, they're all absolutely gutted after yesterday, having pinned all their hopes on the old man failing. The fact that he didn't sticks in their craw something awful. You don't have to be a 'fanboy' or even like LA to admit that he rode a very decent Tour, all things considered, but the extremists cannot even acknowledge this simple fact due to their hateful and narrow-minded obsession.

There are lots of positives to take from this Tour - the whole business of 'leaking' bits of information via Twitter is however, not one of them. Maybe they can ban twitting by participants during future Tours?

 

[Anonymous]

Why is it that people like you can't just say that Armstrong rode a really great tour, competed well against guys 10+ years his junior and at the end of the day accepted his third place with grace. In doing so he smoked Cadel, Sastre and Menchov and showed he is still one of the top five best stage racers in the world. Why do you and others like you always have to slag riders off. LA showed today he is up with the best. He was stronger than Frank Schleck. Andy and AC were obviously a class above everyone else and could have ridden away if they chose but they chose to play the team game and support their respective podium hopes, thats what team cycling is all about.

Armstrong RODE a good tour. He was stronger than I would have believed, and I think he will be competitive next year if his team is invited.

Past that, I then have to ask why HE has to slag off other riders? Why does he have to do that to a teammate? Why can't he be positive about his team winning the yellow in his tweets? Armstrong never rode for Contador, did little to nothing but marginalize and admonish the LEADER of his team, and acted like Contador was doing something different than he had done when he was the strongest rider. Let me ask you, do you think that Radio Shack will come to the tour with two leaders next year? Let me answer, NO. They will do what they always do when he is leader, EVERYONE will be there to ride for him and him only, and ANY personal ambition they have will be ceded to doing whatever Lance needs them to do. Why is it that even thought there was a CLEARLY superior rider on their time, they rode as a fractured team?

I have respect for his physical abilities, but NONE for the man on a personal or professional level.

 

[Darrylc]

A few days ago, Lance posted the following on Twitter:

RT @LeviLeipheimer: If Andreas finishes 4th in GC by less than 2' from 3rd, we know where he lost it. . .

It turns out that Andreas finished 6th 6:42 behind Contador.

The day Armstrong posted those words, sharing Levi's thoughts and critisizing AC, Kloden lost 2:27 to Contador, although only about 2:18 can be attributed to Contador's attack (that's the time Lance and Nibali lost that day).

So if it weren't for that, Kloden would now be 4:24 secons behind Alberto in the GC and Lance would be outside the podium in 4th.

So despite what Liggett said on Versus today, Contador didn't cost Astana the 1-2-3. Kloden and Lance not being able to keep up with Andy did.

And all this is without factoring in that Lance pretty much used Kloden as his personal domestique. Possibly costing Kloden more than the 13 seconds he would have been behind Andy.

Which brings up the question of whether Lance's neediness cost Astana a podium 1-2. It also raises the question of whether Lance demands leader status within the team to the detriment of guys that are actually stronger than him on the road.

This is what I kinda said from the beginning, Lance used far too much of his fame and influence for his own gains. It is a shame that the Astana team seems to have been so much for Lance, and that he has had to be dragged up some of the mountains, causing much stronger riders to sacrifice their own success in this tour for him, all the while leaving AC out there pretty much on his own.

 

[wayfool]

a professional cyclist can use twitter to tell us what they're having for dinner or what music they're listening to, not to say how much you dislike teamates, your DS, your bike sponsor, etc.

they need to learn to run things through a "filter" and if they don't they'll soon learn that lesson the hard way.

I think twitter is a useful tool to capture your initial reaction, and it sounds like that's what Levi was doing. That being said, I think if Levi was being malicious, he wouldn't have posted the tweets:

@rkrug20 I AM a fan of Alberto but that was not a good move8:43 AM Jul 22nd from Tweetie in reply to rkrug20

AC said in post race interview he had asked Andreas if he was up 4 the attack and got an ok. AC was upset he got left.. (via @theprecipice)9:06 AM Jul 22nd from Tweetie

I can tell you that AC and AK speak to each other in English, so it's easily possible there was a misunderstanding. I'm sure we will see9:12 AM Jul 22nd from Tweetie

Alberto talks about distancing Andreas and he doesn't feel good about it. http://bit.ly/wBqot (via @TeamAstana)2:48 PM Jul 22nd from Tweetie

 

[ggusta]

LA is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes he gets it right and sometimes he gets it wrong.

I would also caution against obsessive hatred as well b/c he does make very positive contributions to cycling as well as to the cancer community.

I don't think I hate him at all. I was as big a fan of him as anyone until he decided to sully his own legacy with his obsessive hatred to a threat to his control that he perceived. He stated he ought to be number 1 on the team based on his 7 wins, but you must know as well as anyone, sports is about what have you done for me lately, and lately AC has done a lot. AC was ready to go to another team as soon as Lance annouced his return to Astana. JB got him to stay because he knew he had the winner. I don't think JB counted on the unending ugliness dished out by Lance.

A little class and he could amplify his legacy. Instead he has turned 3rd place - an astounding accomplishment - into a lesser memory. His legacy for THIS tour will be as a man who behaved like a jackass at every chance and lost a lot of supporters like me. He looks so small.

I wonder what interviews for riders for Radio Shack will be like. I think his behavior in front of the peloton would make some of them say, " Do I really need to support a 38 year old man who can be very nasty towards his own teammate? I think more will come to be with Johan than Lance.

 

[scribe]

" Do I really need to support a 38 year old man who can be very nasty towards his own teammate?

Armstrong will absolutely control the Peloton, as he has since 2000, and will fortify it with a completely loyal team. Talent does not alone make a leader. I will be watching Contador with interest. He clearly cannot gain the trust and confidence of his teammates or team directors.

 

[mikkemus23]

Armstrong RODE a good tour. He was stronger than I would have believed, and I think he will be competitive next year if his team is invited.

Past that, I then have to ask why HE has to slag off other riders? Why does he have to do that to a teammate? Why can't he be positive about his team winning the yellow in his tweets? Armstrong never rode for Contador, did little to nothing but marginalize and admonish the LEADER of his team, and acted like Contador was doing something different than he had done when he was the strongest rider. Let me ask you, do you think that Radio Shack will come to the tour with two leaders next year? Let me answer, NO. They will do what they always do when he is leader, EVERYONE will be there to ride for him and him only, and ANY personal ambition they have will be ceded to doing whatever Lance needs them to do. Why is it that even thought there was a CLEARLY superior rider on their time, they rode as a fractured team?

I have respect for his physical abilities, but NONE for the man on a personal or professional level.

+ 1

His tweets says alot about the man. Domsetique, all for cancer, I dont think so. But he got stronger in the third week, as he (and the Hog?) suggested...

 

[richwagmn]

Armstrong will absolutely control the Peloton, as he has since 2000, and will fortify it with a completely loyal team. Talent does not alone make a leader. I will be watching Contador with interest. He clearly cannot gain the trust and confidence of his teammates or team directors.

Really? Did Contador have this problem last year? What about 2007? Now, using all your intellectual firepower, what was different about this year for AC?

 

[scribe]

You ask a lot of questions. hahaha