Why is Contador never the story?

[SpartacusRox]

For the same reason that Indurain was never the story. They were/are both so dull. Jan Ullrich was fairly boring as well, although his inconsistency at least added a little drama.

I don't think AC is as boring as Indurain. If he spok fluent English the press in englich speaking countries would be all over him.

Jan wasn't boring he just wasn't particularly ebullient in his speech. Get him at a party and it was a different story.

Anyway, if AC became more the story you would get people on here claiming he was empire building, that he was arrogant, that he used his teammates to win (who would have thought that would be a good tactic), that he was using his popularity for personal gain and not forgetting that as he has always denied doping, he would become the next great fraudster.

I think thats why AC keeps his profile low, so he does not become the next target for CN Forum posters after Lance has gone.

 

[redtreviso]

Just generally speaking I don't think Spanish or Italian winners of the tour de france are too popular in northern europe. They'd much rather a frenchman, a belgian or netherlander win..A home team guy more or less..
As far as the american media and cycling media aimed at America is concerned for most of 10 years it has been the Lance show..Lance/Rocky.. Lance beating the cowardly, surrendering French on their home turf.. USA USA RAH RAH RAH.. or Lance beating the Communists.. Lance beating the mud people,,,and booo hooo Lance being beaten by the moorish contador...Only Greg LeMond brings out more hate from the Lanciphiles than Contador. Those Michelob Ultra people who run up stairs won't watch tv if Lance's hate for others is not promoted and maintained.

 

[S2Sturges]

He did learn french eventually but was too shy to speak it (it turned into a game that the french journalists tried to make him say something in french every day, and after some years they managed. It was all in good humour). I remember a lot of ink being spilled about it, as it's traditional for a prominent cyclist to learn french (most still do it). Indurain got a pass in France and was forgiven, but he never stirred the same adoration as Roche or LeMond (say), actually. (I think any rider who learns and speaks french in the tour is tacitely given a french psychological passport of a sort. They just get adopted immediately. Listening to the level of cheers, Schleck is the new surrogate french)
The difference there being that of course, french or no french, Indurain was the star, and not ignored or set aside. I do not know about Contador since I am not there anymore. I doubt it is as selective as the american / british coverage, at least I hope it didn't fall that low.

oh, I agree, to be sure.. Roche started racing with the ACBB in Paris, then Puegot, was married to French woman (Lydia) and integrated into french society, his son, as we know, rides for a french team and probably feels as French as one can get. Greg initially moved to Paris too,then rode for Gitane-Elf before going to La Vie Claire and working for Hinault.
So no small wonder that the French took them to their bosoms.I met Lemond some years ago and was amazingly impressed at his humility and demeanor, his actions were his words..as far Roche, I couldn't understand half of what he said, his french is much better than his english...

 

[flicker]

Just generally speaking I don't think Spanish or Italian winners of the tour de france are too popular in northern europe. They'd much rather a frenchman, a belgian or netherlander win..A home team guy more or less..
As far as the american media and cycling media aimed at America is concerned for most of 10 years it has been the Lance show..Lance/Rocky.. Lance beating the cowardly, surrendering French on their home turf.. USA USA RAH RAH RAH.. or Lance beating the Communists.. Lance beating the mud people,,,and booo hooo Lance being beaten by the moorish contador...Only Greg LeMond brings out more hate from the Lanciphiles than Contador. Those Michelob Ultra people who run up stairs won't watch tv if Lance's hate for others is not promoted and maintained.

Hey I like and love Lance. I also realize that C-pistol will probably win more TdFs than Lance. Unfortunatly I believe in the cultures outside Spain ther is a stigma against brown folks. Versus carries no influence on who I like or if Contador appears Moorish. I like Schlecks personality above Contadors. Ulrich more than Lances, Kloedens more than Ulrich. Sometimes it is not the greatest rider ie; Poulidor/France.

 

[SlantParallelogram]

Jan wasn't boring he just wasn't particularly ebullient in his speech. Get him at a party and it was a different story.

Yeah that is what I have heard. It adds to his status as a tragic hero. It almost seemed as if he was forced into bicycle racing.

Unlike most of the other pro-racers, he doesn't look like a complete square when he is off the bike in street clothes. He looks like a Euro DJ ready to play a huge club.

 

[SilentAssassin]

Hey I like and love Lance. I also realize that C-pistol will probably win more TdFs than Lance. Unfortunatly I believe in the cultures outside Spain ther is a stigma against brown folks. Versus carries no influence on who I like or if Contador appears Moorish. I like Schlecks personality above Contadors. Ulrich more than Lances, Kloedens more than Ulrich. Sometimes it is not the greatest rider ie; Poulidor/France.

Really think C-pistol will win more than Lance with Andy on the rise? I am doubting this. Contador has never faced adversity in a tour. He's never had a bad crash or incident where he had to recover in a difficult part of the stage. That will be the true test of champion.

 

[Jeanne]

Nobody wants to hear an interview with guys who are always winning and always smiling. That is why the interviews with Contador and Indurain have always been so dull. I am sure they are nice guys, but they don't give interesting interviews. Lance Armstrong interviews were almost as boring for the same reason. The constant controversy about doping has always added a little bit more excitement to the otherwise dull Armstrong interviews.

That`s almost exactly what some commentators said also about AS yesterday on German Eurosport, that he was always smiling, needs to grow up, be more competitive and not always being friends with everyone, not forgive AC and so on. Seems to depend A LOT in which country you live who the story is about, and WHAT the story is about. No one special was in the focus there (mainly doping discussions went on). They had an interview with all the "winners", but I have to say, it`s easy to come across a bit "dull" in those interviews when one considers the questions asked there; like "was this the best victory for you? how does it feel?" What interesting and brilliant answer can you give to that kind of questions?!

 

[JohnNordin]

I used to be frustrated about this and wonder why they didn't try to expand the viewers' horizons. I couldn't understand why they didn't have interviews and profiles that focused on Lance's competitors or interesting riders from other countries. Now I think it was always going to be a losing proposition.

Yes, this is what I was trying to point to. I admit that I get my tour coverage from Vs. and I also admit I like AC a lot more than AS, but my real point was the lack of ability for Vs. to actually tell the many stories of the tour. You're bang on, I just bet there are lots of interesting human interest stories among riders who are not in the top - guys who are just happy and honored to be in the tour. At the Olympics they (used to, anyway) tell us about the guy from some 3rd world country who trained barefoot or something and it was interesting becausec we can connect as people.

But Vs. doesn't even try. Did they do anything about the Lance doping issue other than just dismiss it? Did they do any investigation - even to try to disprove it? Of course Lance's last tour and the young Andy are good stories but what did we learn about Andy's life either? And yes, the two guys battling for 3rd, and the sprint competition and the French riders winning stages. Dang, a tour has so much going on and I feel at the end of the day like all I heard was "job of work" and "turning himself inside out" about 50 times and Lance, Lance, Lance - without actually learning anything about Lance.

As for AC being dull - well - that is a story also. So go do an "up close and personal" on him - find his friends who will talk about him, tell stories about him being humble, talk about what drives him, how he got started. Is this hard? Recount his races in the Giro, anything.

Hiring someone who speaks Spanish might help, hiring someone who can write a story would work also.

 

[sienna]

I like Schlecks personality

What personality?
He is condescending to other riders, wise after the event and not very interesting.

 

[JohnNordin]

Contador has never faced adversity in a tour. .

How about last year where his team manager didn't support him and his co-star played stupid games with him? And he kept his cool and won anyway.

 

[SlantParallelogram]

What personality?
He is condescending to other riders, wise after the event and not very interesting.

Andy and Frank both have awesome personalities. Did you ever see the interview that they did together where they were both in street clothes? It was so funny. They were HI-larious!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3sKyP2WgQ

 

[nia O'Malley]

I doubt that's true. The reason why so many great cyclists speak French is because French is an important language in some countries. Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg,etc

Do past Tour winners like Sastre, Pereiro, Armstrong, Ullrich and Pantani speak fluent French?

Yes it is true. Or at least was until 10 years ago. IIRC french is the official language of the federation

Armstrong learned french I was told (but didn't speak it - was considered a valid reason to find him arrogant), Pantani spoke french, Chiappucci and Adboujaparov learned french virtually overnight the minute they got famous, Delgado, Bugno, Cippo, Riis....but you're right, Armstrong probably changed that too. I don't even know about Sastre or Ullrich; they probably didn't bother.
It used to be unthinkable for a tour de france contender to not speak french. Indurain was the first, he really was.

Vino speaks beautiful french

 

[Big GMaC]

Vino speaks beautiful french

Was your post sarcasm?

Because Vino does speak French, but like his english he doesn't speak very much or loudly in any language

 

[ManInFull]

Man in full of it, soon to publish his exhausting survey of American "cycling" fans. I am an American, North American, from the United States, but I like Contador. It doesn't bother me that he can't speak English. I should try to improve my Spanish.

The bottom line is that the media has taken a position that it will be hard to make a superstar out of him because is is not "non-hispanic," doesn't speak English well enough and doesn't give a s*** about being a media darling. Like any one, he likes to be liked, but he doesn't have the same needs as Lance, whose apparent needs are insatiable.

Ah, I think we're actually in agreement, Sherlock. Go around and ask your cycling buddies who their favorite rider is. I just finished one of the French cycling tours with a bunch of hard-core riders, most of them from the US, and most of them are Lance Fanboys--which means they absolutely hate AC. They jumped on the AS bandwagon largely because of what happened in the 2009 TdF.

 

[Paco_P]

He dominated the news last night in Spain. He's not the best interview because he's a bit stiff. He's not a naturally charismatic guy, but he's well enough liked in Spain.

 

[Paco_P]

My impression was always that Indurain was famously dull. Almost as dull as the King of Spain.

 

[Paco_P]

He attacked his own team in 2009,

At least in Spain the story was that his team actively undermined its leader (him), in part because of the last minute inclusion of the prima-donna of all prima-donnas, who then raced against his own teammate, stealing from him the team's resources.

His victory was seen as a triumph over the worst aspects of the yanquis.

 

[koolkinks]

There are a lot of things to Alberto Contador that a lot of us do not know. He knows English, but does not speak because he is afraid that his words will be twisted by the media.

I discovered a lot of facts regarding Contador at this website

Let us not villify any person without trying to get to know better.

 

[rhubroma]

Because AC dared to be the one to defy the Texan and beat him soundly in his own house last year. It seems to me that the Anglo-American cycling press, which has made a killing off of selling Armstrong, from what I have gathered here, has simply been on a propaganda campaign to vilify the Spaniard. All of which is as clamorously pathetic, as it is horribly sad.

A couple of seasons ago when Contador came to Italy to race the Giro, which he eventually won, the Italians felt as if they were graced by royal presence and fittingly, as the race developed, and the Spaniard wound up in Pink, the opening of the Giro daily coverage began with an ode to Prince Alberto.

It makes all the sense in the world why Alberto is downplayed in the US coverage, especially because the nation is usually childish about these things. Whereas on the Continent he will continue to be watched with eyes in admiration of one who will go down as one of the greatest talents in the history of the sport.

 

[reubenr]

At least in Spain the story was that his team actively undermined its leader (him), in part because of the last minute inclusion of the prima-donna of all prima-donnas, who then raced against his own teammate, stealing from him the team's resources.

His victory was seen as a triumph over the worst aspects of the yanquis.

I agree, totally. The fact that some one still believes that Contador attacked his own team in 2009 has more to do with the power of the media and its mindless followers, than it does the truth. This year Liggett and Sherwen had Vinokourov attacking Contador and Contador attacking Vinokourov, when even the most ignorant cycling fan would question the basis on which they stated that. The media loves a victim and obviously will report anything that contributes to that kind of interest. It is apparently not important whether it is true or false, which says a lot about the viewing public and their own needs. Sports noise in general has gotten way out of hand, so a genuine, descent, humble person in that world would never qualify of being of interest. Today, if you are not controversial or a complete idiot you are not useful to the media, who are always trying to sell you something you don't really need.

 

[Angliru]

Really think C-pistol will win more than Lance with Andy on the rise? I am doubting this. Contador has never faced adversity in a tour. He's never had a bad crash or incident where he had to recover in a difficult part of the stage. That will be the true test of champion.

What alternate universe do you live in???

 

[Angliru]

He dominated the news last night in Spain. He's not the best interview because he's a bit stiff. He's not a naturally charismatic guy, but he's well enough liked in Spain.

I'm in the US and Contador is respected and liked among my circle of cycling friends.

 

[musorowegudo]

Alberto needs to speak English and perhaps, and French! Otherwise they will continue to sideline him. Contador is the best, he is not a spoiled brat like AS! He is dignified and doesnt show off. I heard one journalist admitting that AC is good but he would wish AS to win the TDF because AS is better when dealing with the press, more presentable perhaps!

It seems there, too, is a lot of racism . . .

. . . and the story of him attacking the alpha male in 2009??

 

[sotampacane]

because hes not the winner public likes,hes quite shy,dominant on the bike,no off bike issues to talk about,hes not outspoken,he is friend with everyone

nobody likes good guys

Contador is not a good guy. He seems like a pretty big douche quite frankly. Rotten teammate, selfish and a liar. Extremely talented, but also likely dirty. I see no reason to embrace him at all.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Alberto Contador is not white enough...Somebody had to say it.

I would have to agree.