The Official LANCE ARMSTRONG Thread 2010-2011

[thehog]

I don't get Armstrong's schedule at all. He's riding a 68 mile public bike ride in South Africa on March 14th (Paris Nice ends the same day).

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/441314/armstrong-to-ride-cape-argus-sportive.html


I thought he was supposed to be having a more traditional year? Seems like an odd detour. I wonder if there is appearance money involved.

Floyd must be getting demanding. Quick detour to South Africa, collect the booty, cut Floyd a cheque and that should keep things shhhhhhh well into the next retirement phase.

.........hang on. Didn't Lance say he "goofed off" after last years TDU's and this year won't be the same?? Game set match Alberto methinks.

 

[Publicus]

Floyd must be getting demanding. Quick detour to South Africa, collect the booty, cut Floyd a cheque and that should keep things shhhhhhh well into the next retirement phase.

.........hang on. Didn't Lance say he "goofed off" after last years TDU's and this year won't be the same?? Game set match Alberto methinks.

He did. He'll be there from March 9-14 (apparently) doing fundraisers, etc. After 5 days of racing (Murcia) he's not racing again until April (unless his calendar changes). Maybe I'm missing something but this does not seem like a more focused approach than in 2009.

 

[Runitout]

He did. He'll be there from March 9-14 (apparently) doing fundraisers, etc. After 5 days of racing (Murcia) he's not racing again until April (unless his calendar changes). Maybe I'm missing something but this does not seem like a more focused approach than in 2009.

Being out of competition does not mean you aren't focused on your preparation. It just means a different approach. After last year I am sure he'll do whatever it takes to win.

Still think he won't, though.

 

[Publicus]

Being out of competition does not mean you aren't focused on your preparation. It just means a different approach. After last year I am sure he'll do whatever it takes to win.

Still think he won't, though.

I understand that. I'm just noting the disconnect between what he is saying and what he is actually doing.

 

[Carboncrank]

Ah but CC and his ilk love to cry 'conspiracy theory' when the facts are demonstrably against them

Who tells us that the sponsors didn't pay up? Bruyneel. Who was responsible for paying the riders wages? Bruyneel. Who was in negotiation to start a new team with Armstrong throughout the supposed 'non payment' period? Bruyneel. It's much simpler than a conspiracy theory - it's a little game called 'join the dots'. And you've still never given a credible answer as to why Horner would report being paid as usual whilst the big stars of the team were staging their 'faded out' protest.

To be clear I'm not claiming conspiracy, I'm claiming that you are when you claim "However, the UCI have been more than happy to ease the way of any rider breaking their contract to go to Shack or Sky." or you claim Bruynee has McQuaid in the bag, or you claim favoritism. and on and on.. that's conspiricy thinking. You, not me.
In what way has UCI eased the way?

On another question you asked, It was KCF's job to get money from sponors and pay it to Olympus Sarl, who then pays the riders.

You look silly continuing to argue that the payment issue didn't happen.

Invest 30 seconds in a Google search and you can find plenty of documentation.

 

[Carboncrank]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/radioshack-leave-beppu-matter-to-skil-shimano


What, you think Skil took kindly to him not showing up, so they just let him go for free, with no compensation?
Get real.
Sky paid Garmin for Wiggins. That's public knowledge.
The Shack will have done the same.
It's called contract buyout and it stinks, because it means the big budget teams can ride roughshod over less glamorous outfits.

What if one of those bought out riders had be Contador?

 

[Carboncrank]

Who remembers this question in the Feb edition of ProCycling 2009. Readers were asked to send in their questions for Lance. Read it well CC.

Lance was asked why he signed up for Astana instead of setting up a team to promote Livestrong and clean cycling.

Lance: This idea came together in September and there's no way to put a team together that quickly. There's no way to raise €15 million that quickly. Even before I answer the quesion.....I love the idea and if I had a magic wand I would have done that. But guys were already contracted, you would have been scouting the free agents marker looking for something. Its like saying "Why is George Hincapie on Astana? You did 7 Tours with him, why dont you try to do an eigth". Because he has a contract. People cant just up and leave.
And then the most important is becasue Bruyneel is under contract. He couldnt and wouldnt leave his current situation. And I didnt want to race against him. He's been my partner for a long, long time and I believe in him. He's one of my best friends. So me racing, with all due respect to Kazakhstan and Astana really doesnt have anything to do with raising awareness of Astana. It has everything to do with my loyalty to Johanas well as raising the profile of Livestrong.

So will there be a team? ideally yes.

Instead of guessing, I'll just ask. What's your point?

 

[Runitout]

I understand that. I'm just noting the disconnect between what he is saying and what he is actually doing.

Fair enough. His track record for doing what he says is not great.

I was just pointing out that plenty of riders these days seem to benefit more from avoiding competition than racing.

 

[Carboncrank]

You make a thoughtful reply. My comments are not hate motivated since he certainly has brought a new dimension to professional cycling & I am more motivated by character analysis.

Which has quickly devolved into character assassination.

 

[Big GMaC]

Wow CC,

10 posts so far on this page

40% by you.

A lot of insulting to catch up on eh?

 

[Hugh Januss]

Which has quickly devolved into character assassination.

I found it to be an honest and insightful analysis.

 

[blackcat]

Being out of competition does not mean you aren't focused on your preparation. It just means a different approach. After last year I am sure he'll do whatever it takes to win.

Still think he won't, though.

he can't, StrongArm can take all the PFCs, SARS, and whatever, but Contador was hitting better numbers than StrongArm at the height of his reign, and he was tt better if you can believe that.

So StrongArm only wins if he bribes the UCI to put a fork into Contador's spokes, and he is either sanctioned on a PED charge, or Astana don't go to the Tour. Simple equation really, as Runitout is asserting.

 

[Carboncrank]

I found it to be an honest and insightful analysis.

I don't doubt that you did.

 

[Runitout]

he can't, StrongArm can take all the PFCs, SARS, and whatever, but Contador was hitting better numbers than StrongArm at the height of his reign, and he was tt better if you can believe that.

Armstrong's problem is his position. His crook back means he's never had a really good ITT position. His ability to put down incredible power has meant he never needed to - but as he gets older his positional problems are becoming more apparent. It's one reason I suspect he never seriously considered the Hour Record.

So it doesn't surprise me that Contador could be a more efficient TTer on the same preparation and diet. The resources available to each competitor this year will determine much, however.

Lastly, I wonder how much improvement the Liquigas boys will make. Nibali has been on the scene since, from my memory, 2005 TdSuisse. It's time to deliver.

 

[theyoungest]

That's the impression you get some times, and after reading a very interesting book illuminating how the UCI totally f##ked M. Rasmussen, while letting Rabobank off the hook, you sometimes wonder what the hell is going on.

Let me quote Rasmussen himself on the subject:

"Maybe the problem is that when people think of sport, they have this very naive feeling that they're entering an ideal world. Sportsmanship, and fairness, and so and so. But that's incredibly naive."

 

[pmcg76]

Which has quickly devolved into character assassination.

Well if I am guily of character assassination then I am ok with it.

All I did was include a few things Armstrong said at the start of the season and I think everyone seen for themselves what actually occured.

Dont blame me, talk to Lance for making such proclamations and then going completely against them. Its Lance that makes the fool of himself not us, we are just here pointing out the obvious.

I know its hard for you to handle but you cannot argue with the facts and truth.

 

[bianchigirl]

CC so you can find me a link that isn't either Bruyneel, Armstrong or McQuaid saying that the Kazakh Federation was at fault? I can provide this:

Astana’s Chris Horner told VeloNews last month that he has always received his monthly paychecks from the team.
“If the check comes, I am happy – but I know if Alberto (Contador) didn’t get paid, he would have a new contract tomorrow – I’m sure Levi (Leipheimer) could find a job whenever he needed to. I would assume all the big guys are being paid,” Horner said. “I’m always working with the team, while having financial issues in the back of my mind, but so far I’m being paid, and being paid pretty well.”
http://velonews.competitor.com/2009...n-astana-kit-despite-the-financial-woes_91702

You may like to note the subtext of the article which was the attempted licence grab by Bruyneel/Armstrong - now, ask yourself, what better way to convince the UCI to hand you a nice, shiny PT licence with guaranteed entrance to all the Pro Tour races (something the Shack don't enjoy) than to engineer a financial crisis in the team? Join the dots, CC, join the dots - oh and follow the money whilst you're at it and ask yourself why on earth the KF would let a situation develop where they were about to lose their much prized licence?

 

[frenchfry]

He did. He'll be there from March 9-14 (apparently) doing fundraisers, etc. After 5 days of racing (Murcia) he's not racing again until April (unless his calendar changes). Maybe I'm missing something but this does not seem like a more focused approach than in 2009.

Focused on maximising cash flow.

 

[kurtinsc]

He did. He'll be there from March 9-14 (apparently) doing fundraisers, etc. After 5 days of racing (Murcia) he's not racing again until April (unless his calendar changes). Maybe I'm missing something but this does not seem like a more focused approach than in 2009.

Depends on what you mean by "focus".

If you clearly have your schedule based around one event... it shows quite a bit of focus on that event. Riding a lot of events in March would actually be taking away focus on the Tour... unless you were riding them to train rather then to win.

And if you're doing that... you could do just as well riding by yourself.


Lance pretty much has always used the early season as a money making/sponsor placating period of his schedule. Before he'd ride the US races so that the US team got him on home soil... not because he had any interest. Now he rides races that pay him. Those early races never really had anything to do with his tour preparation... they were just practice days for him where he was riding with a lot of other riders.

 

[Iker_Baqueiro]

he can't, StrongArm can take all the PFCs, SARS, and whatever, but Contador was hitting better numbers than StrongArm at the height of his reign, and he was tt better if you can believe that.

So StrongArm only wins if he bribes the UCI to put a fork into Contador's spokes, and he is either sanctioned on a PED charge, or Astana don't go to the Tour. Simple equation really, as Runitout is asserting.

Totally agree. Pharmastrong could be buying a "positive" for Alberto.

Two questions for you:

1. If LA won the TDF by crooked ways, what would that mean for the cycling world ?

2. If LA won the TDF "honorably", what would that mean for the cycling world ?

 

[Publicus]

Depends on what you mean by "focus".

If you clearly have your schedule based around one event... it shows quite a bit of focus on that event. Riding a lot of events in March would actually be taking away focus on the Tour... unless you were riding them to train rather then to win.

And if you're doing that... you could do just as well riding by yourself.


Lance pretty much has always used the early season as a money making/sponsor placating period of his schedule. Before he'd ride the US races so that the US team got him on home soil... not because he had any interest. Now he rides races that pay him. Those early races never really had anything to do with his tour preparation... they were just practice days for him where he was riding with a lot of other riders.

It doesn't matter what I mean by focus, since we are talking about what Lance has actually said on the subject. He's talked about having a more focused year, less of the LiveStrong events and more racing and training. He says that he wants to be at a higher level sooner this year compared to last year.

So I'm just making a note of how much bs he is putting out in the run up to the TdF.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Two questions for you:
1. If LA won the TDF by crooked ways, what would that mean for the cycling world ?

2. If LA won the TDF "honorably", what would that mean for the cycling world ?

1. Fanboy celebration hysteria, McQuaid overjoyed and skeptics vindicated.

2. Fanboy celebration hysteria, McQuaid overjoyed and skeptics move on.

 

[BYOP88]

Ok mayne on topic maybe a little off, but I just read this article in this months Procycling(If I can find an online link to it I'll post it later) about Retirement Shack.

"Getting Bruyneel's old crew from Astana proved easier than expected,though."

The Hog's own words from article, "Because it was my team, it was easy for riders to make the switch," he said "It was relatively easy to convince the core group to say, Hey, I have other plans now. What do you want to do?" And without too much discussion or negotiation, the vast majority made the switch."

So the thing I don't get is if it was the Hog's team, how come Contador couldn't leave and join another team when the ones heading to the Shack had no problem leaving? Answers on a postcard please.

 

[Sprocketboy]

On the subject of early season prep, it looks like Lance is going to South Africa in March for the Argus Tour, which I don't think is a race but more like a gran fondo. Sounds like another big promotion and he is bringing some team members along. Seems like kind of strange training preparation (plus you have the danger of collisions from 40,000 cyclists of varied skill levels) but I am sure there is a serious appearance fee.

 

[Ripper]

Ok mayne on topic maybe a little off, but I just read this article in this months Procycling(If I can find an online link to it I'll post it later) about Retirement Shack.

"Getting Bruyneel's old crew from Astana proved easier than expected,though."

The Hog's own words from article, "Because it was my team, it was easy for riders to make the switch," he said "It was relatively easy to convince the core group to say, Hey, I have other plans now. What do you want to do?" And without too much discussion or negotiation, the vast majority made the switch."

So the thing I don't get is if it was the Hog's team, how come Contador couldn't leave and join another team when the ones heading to the Shack had no problem leaving? Answers on a postcard please.

Because many of the riders in question had a contract with the Hog, not Astana. Contra had a contract with Astana though, with all sorts of strings (blame Fran for that), so even getting a buy out was next to impossible.