What's this man crush between Cadel and Lance???

[richwagmn]

Lance goes all sloppy whenever he talks about Cadel. Looks like Cadel is returning the favor. Strange.

Maybe Cadel is just happy someone likes him (Sally Fields anyone?)

 

[yakko!]

Maybe they know the only way to take Bert down is to work together! Better add Schleck to that mix too...

 

[PACONi]

LA is jealous of Evans ability NOT to be linked to doping.

Not saying he's clean, just no prior positives/Puerto link/Humanplasma link/etc.

Actually, I've never really heard LA say much about Cadel, except prior to the 08 TdF where he picked Cadel to win, because there wasn't anyone else to choose from (in his opinion). That was hardly a gushing comment.

I for one would like to see guys like Evans (who claim to be clean) be less complimentary (can't go too far without a lawsuit) about riders who have such shady backgrounds. In other words break the Omerta!

 

[Anonymous]

Lance and Cadel share a common interest - beating Alberto Contador.

Cadel has been 'just' beaten by AC too often, and even when he does beat him, AC alligns with Piti to ensure Cadel doesn't win.

Obviously, we all know Lance and AC's rivalry as well.

it was interesting that a month ago, Cadel said that he has a better chance to win his first TDF than Lance winning his 8th, now he is praising him (nice double bluff cadel - give lance a false sense of security)

About the Omerta, Cadel does speak out about it, he does it in code tho. When you listen/read his interviews, you can tell he is frustrated by being beaten by the 'suspects', and gives little hints about it quite often.

 

[progressor]

So both Schleck and evans pick Armstrong to be stronger next year. Of course being his peers what would they know?

 

[Ferminal]

Actually, I've never really heard LA say much about Cadel, except prior to the 08 TdF where he picked Cadel to win, because there wasn't anyone else to choose from (in his opinion). That was hardly a gushing comment.

I always wondered if he selectively left him out of his "I mean come on, CVV and Sastre" comment.

Lance wouldn't want to **** off the Australian public, they are worth a few 000's

 

[badboyberty]

Going the full cycnical here...

Evans needs to prop up his book sales so he can buy a new Lamborghini, so he mentions Lance in a interview and it gets reported instantly across the English speaking world. Cadel's PR agent knows that he'll probably get more press talking about Lance than he will get for podiuming at a GT.

Or maybe Cadel just likes guys who wear black socks and Lance has a thing for big chins...

 

[soix716]

I think it is kind of silly to even bring up Cadel as cyclingnews does. AND against Armstrong?? Lets just focus on those who CAN win.

Cadel gets a little lucky and wins one race that happens to be Worlds and now he is a contender again? If lance and the rest go away like in 2006, Cadel would have a chance but then again, he didnt do it then.
Well, I suppose if we keep talking about Evans he will blow it every time.
He freaked me out when he won Worlds...he was blessing the crowds like the Pope..and crying like a child.

 

[Martin318is]

I think it is kind of silly to even bring up Cadel as cyclingnews does. AND against Armstrong?? Lets just focus on those who CAN win.

Cadel gets a little lucky and wins one race that happens to be Worlds and now he is a contender again? If lance and the rest go away like in 2006, Cadel would have a chance but then again, he didnt do it then.
Well, I suppose if we keep talking about Evans he will blow it every time.
He freaked me out when he won Worlds...he was blessing the crowds like the Pope..and crying like a child.

Actually, to be fair, he was blowing a kiss to his family but he had no idea where they were sitting.

And are you seriously telling me that you would win a World Championship and just sit there emotionless?

 

[Anonymous]

So both Schleck and evans pick Armstrong to be stronger next year. Of course being his peers what would they know?

i think they are all making alliances for next years tour.

the spanish always help each other out on the road, alpe d'huez 2008 tour says it all. valv and sanchez join in on the 'lets all work against cadel' train to help sastre get the win.

the only way to beat AC, is the way the Cadel lost the 2008 tour. everyone against him. everyone attacking him and not worrying about the rest. AC has to be the focus for all the teams, he is the benchmark.

AS, LA and CE all share a common goal, and they should adopt the spanish tactic of helping out competitors on other teams (sure it's frowned upon, but it's blindingly obvious that the spanish help each other out and have unwritten alliances) in order to stress out contador.

AC will have astana helping him, and once valv has his mandatory blow-up day, the entire caisse squad will dedicate their tour to helping their future leader in contador. so if AC has two squads working for him, AS, LA, CE need to combine strengths to counter this - hence, the praising of each other.

 

[flicker]

I used to think Cadel was a wuss!

I really used to think Cadel was a princess. After this season where he conquered adversity he has shown he is champion material.
He has always been so close to big wins. He is smart to make alliances. Also he looks like a good man with a solid family behind him. Perseverance is key Cadel.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Actually, to be fair, he was blowing a kiss to his family but he had no idea where they were sitting.

And are you seriously telling me that you would win a World Championship and just sit there emotionless?

I think most people would say that LA is going to come back bigger and better. Why wouldn't you show some emotion and express your joy for a big win. i would like to see riders get a bit more emotional about winning. it shows how much they care and want to win.

 

[auscyclefan94]

What about Mende in 05 where LA yelled at CE for sprinting. they weren't good friends then. i remember in an sbs interview how LA was talking about evans of how good he was and vice-versa.

 

[Hugh Januss]

i think they are all making alliances for next years tour.

the spanish always help each other out on the road, alpe d'huez 2008 tour says it all. valv and sanchez join in on the 'lets all work against cadel' train to help sastre get the win.

the only way to beat AC, is the way the Cadel lost the 2008 tour. everyone against him. everyone attacking him and not worrying about the rest. AC has to be the focus for all the teams, he is the benchmark.

AS, LA and CE all share a common goal, and they should adopt the spanish tactic of helping out competitors on other teams (sure it's frowned upon, but it's blindingly obvious that the spanish help each other out and have unwritten alliances) in order to stress out contador.

AC will have astana helping him, and once valv has his mandatory blow-up day, the entire caisse squad will dedicate their tour to helping their future leader in contador. so if AC has two squads working for him, AS, LA, CE need to combine strengths to counter this - hence, the praising of each other.

I think that might actually be a pretty accurate assessment of what we are seeing.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I think it is kind of silly to even bring up Cadel as cyclingnews does. AND against Armstrong?? Lets just focus on those who CAN win.

Cadel gets a little lucky and wins one race that happens to be Worlds and now he is a contender again? If lance and the rest go away like in 2006, Cadel would have a chance but then again, he didnt do it then.
Well, I suppose if we keep talking about Evans he will blow it every time.
He freaked me out when he won Worlds...he was blessing the crowds like the Pope..and crying like a child.

Every race you win you need a bit of luck. i don't see what's wrong of showing some emotion. i was quite emotional when he won. he's had a tough year and to win like that for your nation, that moment was pretty special.

 

[Walshworld]

Cadel is really Matthew McConaughey.

That's why he has the man crush on Lance. It's part of the Americanization of Cadel now that he's on the BMC team. Pretty soon they'll be hanging in Austin together, drining beer and eating Tex-Mex.
Twisted Spoke
http://walshworld.wordpress.com/

 

[sida-mot]

Well they might just actually like each other. Who knows.

Neither of them strike me as diplomatic so in this case I vote for the least cynical explanation: Man crush.

 

[progressor]

i think they are all making alliances for next years tour.

the spanish always help each other out on the road, alpe d'huez 2008 tour says it all. valv and sanchez join in on the 'lets all work against cadel' train to help sastre get the win.

the only way to beat AC, is the way the Cadel lost the 2008 tour. everyone against him. everyone attacking him and not worrying about the rest. AC has to be the focus for all the teams, he is the benchmark.

AS, LA and CE all share a common goal, and they should adopt the spanish tactic of helping out competitors on other teams (sure it's frowned upon, but it's blindingly obvious that the spanish help each other out and have unwritten alliances) in order to stress out contador.

AC will have astana helping him, and once valv has his mandatory blow-up day, the entire caisse squad will dedicate their tour to helping their future leader in contador. so if AC has two squads working for him, AS, LA, CE need to combine strengths to counter this - hence, the praising of each other.

Interesting post. You could be right. Although I suspect LA will be better next year as well.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Interesting post. You could be right. Although I suspect LA will be better next year as well.

Of course you do. You have been fantasizing about it, since August.

As for on the road alliances with Armstrong, would anyone buy a used car from the guy?
Schleck I would not class as Armstrong's peer. A totally new and different generation. Pretty chummy with Contador, at that.

Evans? So far they've got wild cards for:

Tour Down Under
Qatar
Oman

 

[bobbins]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Cadel will know that LA remembers any slight on him, however small. Cadel also has a point, LA will be stronger next year, he'll have a years racing in his legs and will have all the data from him tours to identify what he needs to do to improve. LA might be a prize a-hole but he knows how to win a tour better than anyone currently racing and Cadel knows that.

 

[Galic Ho]

Every race you win you need a bit of luck. i don't see what's wrong of showing some emotion. i was quite emotional when he won. he's had a tough year and to win like that for your nation, that moment was pretty special.

Team numbers at worlds, 9 riders. Each rider votes on who the team rides for. 8 vote Gerrans, 7 aside from his own vote. Evans votes for himself. This and the results suggest it is more likely Evans rode for himself primarily and as a secondary thought for his nation. Who benefited more, Evans or Australia? The answer is also revealing. Cadel thinks of himself and his family first. This isn't a bad thing, but don't mistakenly assume he rides to fulfill patriotic virtue.

As for the theory of playing politics and building bridges. Cadel is better than Lance these days. He can climb and has a great chrono. He can benefit though because the Shack has 3 top 10 GC riders, a few who have issues with Contador. Issues I add, with their hurt egos. Alliances won't make a difference. None of them can out climb Contador so he won't be seriously threatened. On the contrary, the guys making alliances are threatened. On paper Spain have 3 of the top 5 GC riders. They can tag team the others all day long if the need.

 

[yetanothergreenworld]

I seem to recall Evans ****ing off Armstrong on the last mountain stage of the 2005 Tour: they arrived at the finish in a group of about four or five guys, and Evans sprinted for fifth place (or whatever it was) because he wanted the bonus seconds, and this ****ed Armstrong off because he thought it was ceremonially correct that he should cross the line first out of the group.

 

[buckwheat]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Cadel will know that LA remembers any slight on him, however small. Cadel also has a point, LA will be stronger next year, he'll have a years racing in his legs and will have all the data from him tours to identify what he needs to do to improve. LA might be a prize a-hole but he knows how to win a tour better than anyone currently racing and Cadel knows that.

Just one question. At what age do "humans" normally stop improving physiologically?

I love how Armstrong brought all of this bs into vogue about "knowing" how to win the Tour. I'm sure a lot of people "know" how to win. I thought cycling was a physical and not an intellectual exercise.

All this crap about Armstrong saying that Contador has a lot to learn and giving currency to the thought that you need all this "experience" before you are ready to win.

Ullrich, Fignon, Hinault; jeez LeMond was "old" before he finally won.

 

[bobbins]

He's won the ****ing thing 7 times so knows alot more than most about winning it! I can't see the tour just awarding the title to the most physiologically able athlete.

 

[usedtobefast]

dara rogers had a good comeback at age 40 i think. what about bret farve?