Why is Contador never the story?

[StyrbjornSterki]

I thought that Phil and Paul's favourite had always been "Big George" Hincapie!...

With good reason. IMHO, GQ Georgie is the nicest guy in the peloton. Even when he rode for His Lanceness, he'd still be signing autographs when other riders (who shall remain nameless but whose initials are Lance Armstrong) would grow impatient and insist he get on the bus so they all could leave. When he starred for HTC-Columbia, he got to decide when the bus should leave so it was common at the AToC to see his among the last busses leaving the parking area, with fans still lined up to get his autograph when the other teams already were half way to the next night's hotel.

Georgie always has a smile and a nod or a handshake for a fan.

It sucks bad he spent too much time as LA's lapdog.

 

[StyrbjornSterki]

...We speak Dutch here. And we write in Dutch as well....

Even the Frisians habitually speak Dutch, do they not? I once had a Frisian landlady and she and her husband spoke Dutch to each other in the home.

 

[theswordsman]

I just checked in on the last couple of pages of the thread, and it turns out Contador isn't the story here either

There will be stories of Saxo Bank Sungard signings, but I doubt we'll see anything much about him until the 2011 TdF presentation

 

[Beech Mtn]

Contador is supposed to be going to Kazakhstan this fall for some kind of public appearance to to say farewell to the sponsors and fans, and to thank them for their support.

 

[El Pistolero]

Even the Frisians habitually speak Dutch, do they not? I once had a Frisian landlady and she and her husband spoke Dutch to each other in the home.

Yeah, most of them can also speak Dutch. But I sure as hell can't speak Frisian xD

Contador is supposed to be going to Kazakhstan this fall for some kind of public appearance to to say farewell to the sponsors and fans, and to thank them for their support.

Hah, that's nice of him. Although the sponsors probably forced him to do it or something lol.

 

[Beech Mtn]

In addition to whatever formal events in Kazakhstan, it will also apparently involve some kind of classes for young aspiring cyclists - classes to be taught by Alberto, Vino, and other guys from Astana team. Cool opportunity for a kid - getting personal lessons from Vino in how to attack.

 

[ManInFull]

I realize this is old and you guys probably discussed this a million times during July 2009. However, I wasn't reading the forum then. What would have happened on Team Astana had Lance actually taken the yellow jersey after the TTT?? He came within a second of taking it. JB and LA would have been even more aggressive in trying to make AC ride for LA.

 

[El Pistolero]

I realize this is old and you guys probably discussed this a million times during July 2009. However, I wasn't reading the forum then. What would have happened on Team Astana had Lance actually taken the yellow jersey after the TTT?? He came within a second of taking it. JB and LA would have been even more aggressive in trying to make AC ride for LA.

I was wondering that my self not too long ago!

I think Contador would have disobeyed orders and attacked the maillot jaune anyway. I sure as hell would have attacked that old geezer. Let your legs do the talking instead of your jersey would be my response to the journalists asking dumb questions and to Lance's dumb twitter account.

 

[La Pandera]

I realize this is old and you guys probably discussed this a million times during July 2009. However, I wasn't reading the forum then. What would have happened on Team Astana had Lance actually taken the yellow jersey after the TTT?? He came within a second of taking it. JB and LA would have been even more aggressive in trying to make AC ride for LA.

Same outcome, different circumstances. Andy would've attacked, LA would not have been able to respond, Contador would've countered while Johaan was yelling in his ear not to. This scenario would've repeated itself over the course of the Tour until Contador was in yellow and Armstrong was twittering his fingers raw whining about Contador being "uncoachable" and riding for himself (instead of for his Highness).

 

[No_Balls]

It's not a language. It's a collective name of regional dialects in the region Flanders. Every country has its dialects, including the Netherlands(Fries IS a different language tho). Flemish is not a language, it's not even a single dialect. Everybody who speaks Dutch can easily understand a Flemish regional dialect.

We speak Dutch here. And we write in Dutch as well. Just because someone speaks a dialect doesn't mean they can't speak or write the language properly.

--------------

Anyway, Contador gets more attention here in Belgium than the Schleck brothers I think. Or at least as much.

He (Contador) get´s a lot of attention were there are lots of tradition for this sport. For example in Italy he is looked upon as some sorts of majesty, mainly because they compare every spanish rider with Indurain and Indurain is HUGE in Italy.

I remember even during the Lance-years all they could talk about (on Rai) and compare riders with was Indurain.

Ok that on the anglophone outlook of the world everyone must speak english to be taken serious (and get their fair shair of attention), but that ain´t the case everywhere.

 

[Berzin]

Disagree. I thinks it's more of the case that british and american commentators tend to concentrate on british and american riders. I've watched the TdF in several different languages and each one tends to favor their own home country's riders. There's no harm in it. heck, the Canadians on Evasion talk about Ryder all the time and they're speaking French!! (well, it's kind of French)

Very true. I remember Charly Wegelius and Jeremy Hunt and the publicity they received in the British cycling press, especially Cycling Weekly magazine-it was as if they were trying to will these chaps to victories that were beyond their talent.

Then again, Versus has shown a clear disdain towards Contador because he was boorish enough not to let Armstrong win his 8th Tour last year.

They are clearly biased against him.

 

[El Pistolero]

He (Contador) get´s a lot of attention were there are lots of tradition for this sport. For example in Italy he is looked upon as some sorts of majesty, mainly because they compare every spanish rider with Indurain and Indurain is HUGE in Italy.

I remember even during the Lance-years all they could talk about (on Rai) and compare riders with was Indurain.

Ok that on the anglophone outlook of the world everyone must speak english to be taken serious (and get their fair shair of attention), but that ain´t the case everywhere.

Yeah, I noticed that a lot of Italians wanted Alberto Contador to participate in the Giro. You'd think they want an Italian to win, but they seemed very happy that Contador won it. In France, that situation is totally different. Just look at Merckx, couldn't participate in the Tour of 1973 because they were too jealous and he got punched in the kidney during the 1975 Tour(which imo is the reason why he lost, and he also broke his jaw)

 

[RobbieCanuck]

Heres the thing - AC is the good guy who finishes first.

He is your basic all round nice guy who is friendly, a bit shy, doesn't brag, acts with dignity, has no arrogance or hubris, doesn't speak English that well yet, not a hint of scandal and just loves to cycle race.

From a "journalist" point of view he is therefore pretty boring. They could go broke covering AC. From a journalist point of view he is - not acerbic like LA, not goofy like Jens, not brash like Cav, not abrupt like Hushovd and so on...

But what makes AC great is that underneath that nice guy exterior he is very, very, very competitive. The "journalists" have not cottened on to this. Anyone who has been involved in competitive athletics will recognize a guy like Alberto and I for one would want him as a friend.

 

[outrage9]

Ya'll might want to stop lumping everything together and go back and watch the race again without looking for something to ***** about. Just go back and watch the time trial, Phil and Paul spoke about AC, and in a very positive light, for the entire hour he rode. They did bios on him about his comeback, hardships, journey to the top, etc as well all throughout the weeks.

No he isn't going to get the pomp and circumstance in America as an American would. Did Carlos Sastre? Indurain? Jan? Pantani? Riis? Pereiro as the only challenger to Flandis?

As MANY have said here already, his interviews are boring, it takes forever for them to get a point across to him in a pre/post race interview just for him to say "huh" or "I don't know." If there were no rivalries to chat up and try to get some excitement about the possibility that someone else could win, who would want to watch the race? It just so happens that the only person for that last 2 years that could keep up with him is white so everyone thinks coverage is biased towards Andy. They already know that 2011 will have less viewers here so they have to do what they can to keep things exciting and interest up.

Why wasn't Ale Jet the story? They spent the whole time talking about Cav, Farrar, Thor, but no one is *****ing that Petacchi wasn't the story and he won the green jersey at 36 after missing out on so many Tours.

 

[Angliru]

For the 2nd consecutive year Cycle Sport America magazine's Tour de France Review issue has slighted the actual winner of the event. Last year his image didn't even appear on the cover. They chose to show an image of Armstrong with Frank Schleck in the background on the final stretch to the finish at Mt. Ventoux. This year they did a slightly better job. Andy Schleck is in full focus in the foreground with Contador's slightly out of focus image in the background, both partially bathed in the fog of the Tourmalet stage.

 

[Señor_Contador]

Ya'll might want to stop lumping everything together and go back and watch the race again without looking for something to ***** about. Just go back and watch the time trial, Phil and Paul spoke about AC, and in a very positive light, for the entire hour he rode. They did bios on him about his comeback, hardships, journey to the top, etc as well all throughout the weeks.

No he isn't going to get the pomp and circumstance in America as an American would. Did Carlos Sastre? Indurain? Jan? Pantani? Riis? Pereiro as the only challenger to Flandis?

As MANY have said here already, his interviews are boring, it takes forever for them to get a point across to him in a pre/post race interview just for him to say "huh" or "I don't know." If there were no rivalries to chat up and try to get some excitement about the possibility that someone else could win, who would want to watch the race? It just so happens that the only person for that last 2 years that could keep up with him is white so everyone thinks coverage is biased towards Andy. They already know that 2011 will have less viewers here so they have to do what they can to keep things exciting and interest up.

Why wasn't Ale Jet the story? They spent the whole time talking about Cav, Farrar, Thor, but no one is *****ing that Petacchi wasn't the story and he won the green jersey at 36 after missing out on so many Tours.

There's a huge difference between making a competition interesting (which Universal does with the Giro and the Vuelta) and what Versus did, and have been doing, with Alberto Contador. HUGE difference.

It's one thing to water down the intricacies of a sport that has never taken hold in the USA until LA showed up, and something totally different to put down another rider.

And don't give me any crap about Alberto's English. The problem is that Versus either utterly refuses to put a microphone in front of the guy, when he does something they perceive to be unsportsmanlike behavior (which they usually beat to death incessantly), or purposely make the interview look and sound "odd" by having Frankie Andreu or Ventura (the gumbah brigade) show up without a translator. I mean, if you're asking someone a 50-word question knowing that he only knows 25 words in English... To me it's obvious character assassination.

Versus' Tour de France format used to be all about seeing Lance win. Now it has mutated into a hate fest to see Alberto Contador lose.

It's pathetic.

 

[khardung la]

It just so happens that the only person for that last 2 years that could keep up with him is white so everyone thinks coverage is biased towards Andy. They already know that 2011 will have less viewers here so they have to do what they can to keep things exciting and interest up.

Is Contador blue? Black?Orange?.
According to you the Americans (or at least the Coastal Georgians) favour one or other rider according to his colour?
To keep things exciting is to make 2 guys spitting bull**** against each other, and therefore Contador makes for a boring cycling show?

Sometimes I feel that the distance between this and the other side of the Atlantic is collosal.

 

[lostincosmos]

Sometimes I feel that the distance between this and the other side of the Atlantic is collosal.

sadly, too true....
we'd do well to stop worshipping/demanding bravado here and focus more on talent, results and reason.

course, if we did that, the entire LA thread would vanish and all those violent defenders of the uniballer would feel weird inside when they realized contador has every bit the story their hero has....and might be a better rider. THE HORROR!!!!!

 

[El Pistolero]

Is Contador blue? Black?Orange?.
According to you the Americans (or at least the Coastal Georgians) favour one or other rider according to his colour?
To keep things exciting is to make 2 guys spitting bull**** against each other, and therefore Contador makes for a boring cycling show?

Sometimes I feel that the distance between this and the other side of the Atlantic is collosal.

I guess white Americans make a difference between them and Hispanics. Can't blame them as there kind of is a difference in colour and in America also a social and historical difference.

 

[Barrus]

I guess white Americans make a difference between them and Hispanics. Can't blame them as there kind of is a difference in colour and in America also a social and historical difference.

But isn't it so that the term hispanic purposely rule out the Spanish and Portugese and instead focuses on other groups. I really find it odd to view Spanish and Portugese as anything other than Caucasian

 

[Libertine Seguros]

But isn't it so that the term hispanic purposely rule out the Spanish and Portugese and instead focuses on other groups. I really find it odd to view Spanish and Portugese as anything other than Caucasian

Mainly cos they are. Iberians are white. Maybe a lot of Latin Americans are ethnically different because of mixing with the native populations of the area, I don't know. But Iberians are white.

 

[khardung la]

I guess white Americans make a difference between them and Hispanics. Can't blame them as there kind of is a difference in colour and in America also a social and historical difference.

The term hispanic in the USA refers to people from "Latin American" countries, that were once under the rule of Spain. They have a strong component of indigenous American blood, although they are not at all a racial unity. To say so would be simplifying.

The term hispanic in Spain does not have that meaning. Anyway the Spaniards are far from being a racial unity since the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by many different types of people. One cand find people looking North European (blonde and white if you want) or arabic, anything in the middle after a very complex and old history.

Contador does nothing to do with a "hispanic" according to the US perspective, since he has no connection with the Latin American blending of races. He is therefore not hispanic.

 

[outrage9]

But isn't it so that the term hispanic purposely rule out the Spanish and Portugese and instead focuses on other groups. I really find it odd to view Spanish and Portugese as anything other than Caucasian

No, actually the exact opposite.

 

[El Pistolero]

The term hispanic in the USA refers to people from "Latin American" countries, that were once under the rule of Spain. They have a strong component of indigenous American blood, although they are not at all a racial unity. To say so would be simplifying.

The term hispanic in Spain does not have that meaning. Anyway the Spaniards are far from being a racial unity since the Iberian Peninsula was inhabited by many different types of people. One cand find people looking North European (blonde and white if you want) or arabic, anything in the middle after a very complex and old history.

Contador does nothing to do with a "Hispanic" according to the US perspective, since he has no connection with the Latin American blending of races. He is therefore not Hispanic.

From my understanding the term is used for people in the USA who come from Latin American countries or Spain. I never said it was one ethnic race. People with Spanish(or European) and Amerindian ancestry were referred to as mestizos in the past and I guess now as well. It's hard to tell the difference between mestizos and Spaniards sometimes(depends which ancestry you're more related to I guess)

 

[khardung la]

From my understanding the term is used for people in the USA who come from Latin American countries or Spain. I never said it was one ethnic race.

I don't intend to discuss but IMHO you have a bit of a confussion .

I guess white Americans make a difference between them and Hispanics. Can't blame them as there kind of is a difference in colour and in America also a social and historical difference.

To start with many Americans (USA) are hispanic, black, amerindians, etc...So Americans do not make a diffference between them and the hispanics. In many cases there is not difference at all . Almost a third of the USA was Mexico not so long time ago, that people and many other later hispanic inmigrants are Americans also.

Second you say there is a difference between them and the hispanics in colour, but then you say

I never said it was one ethnic race.

To finish with you say

It's hard to tell the difference between mestizos and Spaniards sometimes(depends which ancestry you're more related to I guess)

Spaniards are the inhabitants of Spain. Until about 10 years ago there were very very few Spaniards that were mestizo, i.e. with Amerindian blood (I agree with you that a mestizo is a blend of European and Amerindian blood), and today some inmigrants from Latin America that happen to be mestizos have been granted the Spanish nationality and hence are Spaniards.

Still Contador could have blood from almost every part of Europe + almost every part of the Mediterranean, including Arabic and Jew. Not from Latin America. He cannot be Hispanic according to the term as coined in the USA.