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Sastre blasts Armstrong ! "He has no respect and no point"!!

whiteboytrash

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Mar 17, 2009
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Check out the comments about VanVelde ? Fark Armstrong is a total w+nker.
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MONACO (AP) — Defending Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre says Lance Armstrong could use a lesson in respect after the Texan reportedly called the race last year "a bit of a joke."

Sastre, a 34-year-old Spanish veteran, says seven-time Tour champion Armstrong is entitled to his opinion — but insists it's the wrong one.

"It his point of view, it's his words — his life," Sastre said at a news conference Friday. "He is a great champion, he won seven Tours de France, a world championship, he's a great rider."

"But behind every rider must be a person, and on that point, maybe he needs to learn something more," he said, adding: "There is something wrong with him about respect."

In the new book, Lance: The Making of the World's Greatest Champion by John Wilcockson, Armstrong is said to have recounted his early musings about a possible comeback after the 2008 Tour.

"The Tour was a bit of a joke this year. I've got nothing against Sastre ... or Christian Vande Velde," he was quoted as saying shortly after the race last year. "Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"

Vande Velde, of the Garmin-Slipstream team; Sastre, of Cervelo, and Armstrong and 2007 Tour winner and pre-race favorite Alberto Contador of Astana will square off among the 180 riders set to start the race Saturday in Monaco.

Sastre shrugged off all the attention heaped on Armstrong and Contador, saying he prefers to express himself "in the saddle," not in the media spotlight.

But make no mistake — he will be the only rider wearing jersey No. 1 on Saturday. Quietly, he has demonstrated solid recent form with two mountain-stage wins and a fourth-place finish overall at the Giro d'Italia in May.

The Tour better suits Sastre this year than most as the 96th edition favors climbers. Time-trials — which are not his strength — have been given relatively less importance than the mountains, where he excels.

Sastre is not the only rider overshadowed by the suspected Contador-Armstrong rivalry.

Russia's Denis Menchov, who won the Giro d'Italia in May; Australia's Cadel Evans, runner-up at the Tour for the last two years; and the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, are not to be ruled out in the title quest that ends July 26 on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

On Friday, an unofficial poll of 30 riders, race veterans and team sports directors in the French sports daily L'Equipe showed that most don't expect Sastre to make the podium this year. They picked Contador first, Evans was second, and Menchov third. Armstrong and Sastre were tied for fifth.

But Sastre believes otherwise.

"I think that I am ready for this race," he said. "Winning the Tour de France last year has changed a lot of things, but myself: I'm the same person."

But can he win again?

"Yes, why not?" he said with a grin.
 
Jun 23, 2009
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I am a LA fan for life - but that is just BS if that is an accurate quote. The tour last year, like every year, wasn't a joke. It was fun to watch, good racing, crashes, scandals, new names and faces etc.

Like I said, I like LA but that is just a slap in the face to the guys who were ripping it last year.
 
That's an example of why I stopped being an LA fan - I really dislike the way he disrespects his competitors. Cycling is a brutal enough sport as it is - it hurts like Hell physically and mentally when you lose; no one needs a champion to rub salt in the wounds of the riders he's beaten. Of course for Armstrong he sees it as part of his mental chess-match with the other riders, I'm sure he justifies it as he's just "getting in their heads and psyching them out." Regardless, it's just not befitting of a great champion to belittle his rivals.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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whiteboytrash said:
"The Tour was a bit of a joke this year. I've got nothing against Sastre ... or Christian Vande Velde," he was quoted as saying shortly after the race last year. "Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"


Spoken like the unapologetic champion he is. Maybe it was a joke for him because he beat them both silly for years. He's being honest.

But oh . . .what, we don't want the riders to be honest? We them to blow smoke up everyones yahoo and pat them on the back when they don't mean it?

Armstong shoulda coulda woulda . He says what he means and means what he says. I don't have to agree with it, but I have no problem with it.
 
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BikeCentric said:
That's an example of why I stopped being an LA fan - I really dislike the way he disrespects his competitors. Cycling is a brutal enough sport as it is - it hurts like Hell physically and mentally when you lose; no one needs a champion to rub salt in the wounds of the riders he's beaten. Of course for Armstrong he sees it as part of his mental chess-match with the other riders, I'm sure he justifies it as he's just "getting in their heads and psyching them out." Regardless, it's just not befitting of a great champion to belittle his rivals.

He disrespects his own teammates. Just read his twitter about Contador from earlier this year.

He might be physically gifted and have won 7 times, but he is not a great champion. That takes a class that someone who defends accusations about his doping by using cancer as his PR campaign just doesn't have. Again, the only joke and fraud is the man himself.
 
Mar 20, 2009
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Thoughtforfood said:
He disrespects his own teammates. Just read his twitter about Contador from earlier this year.

He might be physically gifted and have won 7 times, but he is not a great champion. That takes a class that someone who defends accusations about his doping by using cancer as his PR campaign just doesn't have. Again, the only joke and fraud is the man himself.
Ditto TFF !
 
For crying out loud, what a bunch of envious ***. The man is an entertaining athlete, and part of his persona is, let's face, some pretty subdued chest thumping. "The Tour was a bit of a joke". BFD.

What you're complaining about pales in comparison to the "disrespect" :rolleyes: conveyed by great entertaining champions like Muhammad Ali.

Folks, this is pure envy. Every teeny tiny excuse you can use to justify the immense envy you feel for this man, you do. Grow some spines. Sheesh.
 
Apr 12, 2009
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Ninety5rpm said:
For crying out loud, what a bunch of envious ***. The man is an entertaining athlete, and part of his persona is, let's face, some pretty subdued chest thumping. "The Tour was a bit of a joke". BFD.

What you're complaining about pales in comparison to the "disrespect" :rolleyes: conveyed by great entertaining champions like Muhammad Ali.

Folks, this is pure envy. Every teeny tiny excuse you can use to justify the immense envy you feel for this man, you do. Grow some spines. Sheesh.

Well I don't agree on sastre but, vandevelde great guy but top 5 at the tour, that sounds like a joke.
 
Ninety5rpm said:
For crying out loud, what a bunch of envious ***. The man is an entertaining athlete, and part of his persona is, let's face, some pretty subdued chest thumping. "The Tour was a bit of a joke". BFD.

What you're complaining about pales in comparison to the "disrespect" :rolleyes: conveyed by great entertaining champions like Muhammad Ali.

Folks, this is pure envy. Every teeny tiny excuse you can use to justify the immense envy you feel for this man, you do. Grow some spines. Sheesh.

LOL, no I am not at all envious of people who are jerks! But yes of course I'm envious of his riding skills.
 
Mar 19, 2009
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What is the story that Vandevelde tells...when he was at US Postal, I think it was very early in his pro career, the team did some physiological testing. Vandevelde had the best results but team management decided not to tell Lance. They lied and told Lance he had tested the best to keep his feather from being ruffled.

Vandevelde is greatly lacking in the self confidence department, something Armstrong has in spades but he also was never put in the leadership position and he surely didn't have the prepatore Armstrong did.
 
Apr 12, 2009
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Epicycle said:
What is the story that Vandevelde tells...when he was at US Postal, I think it was very early in his pro career, the team did some physiological testing. Vandevelde had the best results but team management decided not to tell Lance. They lied and told Lance he had tested the best to keep his feather from being ruffled.

Vandevelde is greatly lacking in the self confidence department, something Armstrong has in spades but he also was never put in the leadership position and he surely didn't have the prepatore Armstrong did.

Imagine if vandevelde drops lance, can you imagine how funny that would be.
 
Jun 16, 2009
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franciep10 said:
Imagine if vandevelde drops lance, can you imagine how funny that would be.

I would absolutely love to see it happen. I don't think it will due to Christian not seeming to being fully healed from his injuries from the Giro.
 
Apr 27, 2009
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Face it folks, the Tour was a joke last year. When you remove the top 3-5 stage race riders in the world, you are left with the guys that normally would be battling it out for 5-10th.

Was it a close race? sure. But that doesn't make it great. If you excluded the top 100 riders in the world from the Tour, you would have a close race and somebody would win, but that wouldn't necessarily make them great.

The Tour was a bunch of top tenners looking at each other for three weeks. At least the race was won by the only guy who had the balls to make a real attack (Sastre).

The last three Tours have been a mess: Let's see 2006: A top tenner (Pereiro) is allowed to take the yellow jersey on day ten after he loses 30 minutes earlier in the race. (Joke)...2007: Top 2 are tossed for doping infractions and Cadel Evans almost wins (Joke),...2008 (see above).

The Tour this year will be a real race with the best rider winning and will be able to say that he's the best stage race rider in the World (not just the guy who was able to win the Tour de France)
 
Mar 18, 2009
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Epicycle said:
What is the story that Vandevelde tells...when he was at US Postal, I think it was very early in his pro career, the team did some physiological testing. Vandevelde had the best results but team management decided not to tell Lance. They lied and told Lance he had tested the best to keep his feather from being ruffled.

Actually, Vaughters (who rode for Postal at the time) told that story. Supposedly they told everyone that Lance won, not just Lance himself.
 
Well, whether Sastre intended it or not, this brings to the fore another great race within the race this year: Armstrong vs. Sastre.

Armstrong threw down the gauntlet with the "bit of a joke" statement last September, and Sastre finally picked it up (coincidentally on the day before the Tour starts :rolleyes:).

Regardless of what happens with the overall race win, Armstrong's position at the end with respect to Sastre is going to be very important to him. In particular, if he beats him, and especially if he ends up second to AC, he will prove, at least to himself, that he was right. If Sastre leaves him on the climbs however, Armstrong should be eating crow.

20 hours to go!!!
 
Mar 18, 2009
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Ninety5rpm said:
coincidentally on the day before the Tour starts :rolleyes:

Sastre already commented on this briefly during the Giro. Simply they keep asking and asking and asking and re-asking and eventually he's got a bit miffed and said more than just the "that's armstrong's problem, not mine" that he's been saying since the Giro.
 
Lion of Flanders said:
Face it folks, the Tour was a joke last year. When you remove the top 3-5 stage race riders in the world, you are left with the guys that normally would be battling it out for 5-10th.

Was it a close race? sure. But that doesn't make it great. If you excluded the top 100 riders in the world from the Tour, you would have a close race and somebody would win, but that wouldn't necessarily make them great.

The Tour was a bunch of top tenners looking at each other for three weeks. At least the race was won by the only guy who had the balls to make a real attack (Sastre).

The last three Tours have been a mess: Let's see 2006: A top tenner (Pereiro) is allowed to take the yellow jersey on day ten after he loses 30 minutes earlier in the race. (Joke)...2007: Top 2 are tossed for doping infractions and Cadel Evans almost wins (Joke),...2008 (see above).

The Tour this year will be a real race with the best rider winning and will be able to say that he's the best stage race rider in the World (not just the guy who was able to win the Tour de France)

Exactly. And that's obviously all that Armstrong meant. There is no reason to take him to task for it. Such rationalizations can only be fueled by irrational envy.
 
Apr 12, 2009
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Lion of Flanders said:
2007: Top 2 are tossed for doping infractions and Cadel Evans almost wins .

What are you talking about rasmussen was thrown out after that Contador took over the top two weren't thrown out.
 
May 13, 2009
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BikeCentric said:
That's an example of why I stopped being an LA fan - I really dislike the way he disrespects his competitors. Cycling is a brutal enough sport as it is - it hurts like Hell physically and mentally when you lose; no one needs a champion to rub salt in the wounds of the riders he's beaten. Of course for Armstrong he sees it as part of his mental chess-match with the other riders, I'm sure he justifies it as he's just "getting in their heads and psyching them out." Regardless, it's just not befitting of a great champion to belittle his rivals.

My thoughts exactly. I was and LA fan too, but can't stand the guy anymore.
 
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gingerwallaceafro said:
I saw an interview today where Armstrong suggested that Sastre would be the man to beat. Anyone else see that one? Depends what you want to focus on I guess...

Yes. Lance said Sastre has shown he can be strong in the third week of hard tours and this years tour has a incredibly hard final week.

How disrespectful.
 
Ninety5rpm said:
Exactly. And that's obviously all that Armstrong meant. There is no reason to take him to task for it. Such rationalizations can only be fueled by irrational envy.

I don't think this bit of pop-psychology makes sense Ninety5. By extension you are saying that every one of us must subconsciously envy the riders we are not fans of and that just doesn't make any sense. I'm sure that all of us respect (and perhaps envy, but I doubt all of us actually want to be pro bike riders) the riding abilities of even the lowliest pros, but to say we envy the riders we aren't fans of more than the riders we are fans of is ridiculous.
 
Lion of Flanders said:
Face it folks, the Tour was a joke last year. When you remove the top 3-5 stage race riders in the world, you are left with the guys that normally would be battling it out for 5-10th.

(Joke)...2007: Top 2 are tossed for doping infractions and Cadel Evans almost wins (Joke),...2008 (see above).

The Tour this year will be a real race with the best rider winning and will be able to say that he's the best stage race rider in the World (not just the guy who was able to win the Tour de France)

How was the tour last year a joke? from what I saw CSC rode a good tactical race (something different from the lance years) and perhaps Evans f**ked his chances a bit on the alp but more interesting than the LA years, 7 or 8 different leaders pretty good I thought.

The only thing I see different from last year is Contador and yes he will probably win, I don't think LA will make the podium at all.

I hope I am right and the young riders show Lance he is to old, if only to show that he is not some invincible freak but just a good rider who had a very good team behind him. In fact if you look at the 7 of his wins he had a team of 8 other committed domestiques, I think he may struggle with just two or three.
 
Armstrong and Sastre are such a study in opposites that I actually look forward to watching this little rivalry unfold.

Obviously, their personalities are different; but they will also have to employ very different strategies to do well in this year's race. Whatever his former prowess, Armstrong probably won't be able to hang with the climbers at this Tour, whereas Sastre will likely be outclassed in the TTs. So Armstrong may come out on top in the first week, but then Sastre will have a shot in the mountains.

It's great that these two guys whose personalities and abilities are so different are being put up as rivals. The whole issue may be a bit inflated, but who cares? I think it's fun.
 

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