Will the "BooBirds" help or hinder Alberto?

[Polish]

It is a longstanding tradition at the Tour de France to sometimes BOO the Greats.

Eddy was booed and punched and even paid to stay away.
Lance was booed and spit upon throughout his reign of greatness.
And now the boos Alberto faced last year are continuing this year:

Most of the riders were cheered by the crowd but Alberto Contador was booed loudly as he stepped on to the stage.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photo-gallery-the-tour-de-france-team-presentation

So how will Alberto handle the boos?

Eddy and Lance took a "STFU attitude" and seemed to gain an anger driven inspiration from the boos.

I truly hope Alberto can do the same.

Also, maybe some of the other teams were joining in the boo chorus yikes?

 

[Mambo95]

Andy Schleck had booze at the Vuelta last year. It didn't seem to help him.

 

[veganrob]

Won't affect him at all. Alberto has proven he is mentally tough as they come. What he went through in 09 with Lance proves it. He beat the bully where it counts. On the course.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

no affect imo.

If you need to be booed to get fired up and win the tour then you shouldn't be riding it.

 

[seaby71]

it only takes one of these boo people to do something silly, that will be albertos only concern. A little push here or their in the mountains is all it would take to ruin his tour!

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

no affect imo.

If you need to be booed to get fired up and win the tour then you shouldn't be riding it.

IMO too. He'll be focused.

 

[musorowegudo]

Alberto is a champion. He will not be deterred at all! Any ways without him I don't think the TDF'11 was going to be something to look forward to. The authorities did good by considering us the fans. We also want action. Alberto brings action. The boobirds . . . . its a pity they don't see the fun in it . . .

 

[greenedge]

He will fail one stage hard, get booed and launch himself back into contention.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Won't do anything either way. He certainly didn't look comfortable when on stage.

 

[spalco]

I don't think it will affect Contador's performance, but he's much more sensitive than Armstrong or Merckx, so I think there's a chance his desire to be popular could cause him to give one gift too many or not take as much time as he can when he has the chance and lets Andy slip through into 1st. Maybe not likely, but possible.

 

[SiAp1984]

Oh, I hope he will be booed quite a lot. He deserves it for several well-known reasons. But of course it won't affect him or his performance. He is a true professional. And professional athletes can cope with (even crowds of) booing fans.

BTW: I hope that nobody is stupid enough to attack him physically. That would be too much, a criminal offence and a desaster for cycling. I remember when Lance got strongly hassled by German fans during the Alp d'Huez time trial in 2004. Even that was already disproportional.

 

[JimPanzen]

I don't think it will affect Contador's performance, but he's much more sensitive than Armstrong or Merckx, so I think there's a chance his desire to be popular could cause him to give one gift too many or not take as much time as he can when he has the chance and lets Andy slip through into 1st. Maybe not likely, but possible.

I think it's a HUGE misconception to call Contador sensitive. He's an introverted guy and not much of a loud speaker, but I doubt he's cracking under the pressure or making presents (unless he can afford easily like in the Giro).

 

[JimPanzen]

Oh, I hope he will be booed quite a lot. He deserves it for several well-known reasons.

Which reasons? Winning too much? Being too dominant? Owning the frenchs race?

Hoping that he will get booed is just pathetic by the way. Let the guys race, hope for a good fight for yellow, enjoy it.

 

[Midnightfright]

Won't do anything either way. He certainly didn't look comfortable when on stage.

I did notice that but he seemed to feel more comftable when he turned to his teammates and seen hernandez in stitches. Things like that will really help, having a group of friends who have your back. I hope they don't boo him. Regardless of what he's done he's always polite and professional and doesn't deserve that

 

[spalco]

I think it's a HUGE misconception to call Contador sensitive. He's an introverted guy and not much of a loud speaker, but I doubt he's cracking under the pressure or making presents (unless he can afford easily like in the Giro).

I agree, I didn't mean it that way. Clearly he's very good at concentrating on what needs to be done. His record speaks for itself in that regard, you don't win that many GTs by getting distracted.

 

[Zerak-Tul]

Quoting OneNut

"A boo is a lot louder than a cheer. If you have 10 people cheering and one person booing, all you hear is the booing."

So Bert will probably be grinding his teeth with frustration, but I doubt it'll affect his racing, he's too determined for that.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

I'm more intressted in seeing a thread on whether Contador is going to benifit from Riis talking in his ear. How are those two getting along?

 

[henryg]

Booing fans, Doping investigations, Bruyneel trying to put Armstrong in the top spot, less then perfect form in last years tour. Nothing distracts this guy from his goal. He has a laser mental focus and he looks like an unstoppable force this year.

 

[Cimber]

Copied my post from another thread since it seems more relevant here:

About how the booing affects Bertie, Riis said that directly after the presentation he came into the team bus and said the the whole team: "this will only motivate me even more".

CAS found the booing "shocking" but also said that the whole team is even more motivated to show its abilities.

Google-translated:
http://translate.google.com/transla...en&u=http://spn.dk/cykling/article2478574.ece

 

[Swabian Lass]

Don't suppose that he enjoys it, but will it affect his performance? No.

 

[Señor_Contador]

Alberto feeds off of the pressure, thus, if the cycling fans booing him want him to not do well I'd tell them to STFU.

 

[hrotha]

I agree with spalco. There's a part of Contador's personality that's a bit too keen on pleasing everyone and coming across as a nice guy. I think it'll be very tough for him mentally, but I doubt it'll significantly affect his performance (might affect his shenanigans though).

 

[ansimi]

I don't think the negative reception will fuel him but he can focus it out. There might be times when he'll have to be alert to the spectators for his personal safety though and that's not a good thing to have to worry about.

Him being physically assaulted is a realistic danger

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Which reasons? Winning too much? Being too dominant? Owning the frenchs race?

Hoping that he will get booed is just pathetic by the way. Let the guys race, hope for a good fight for yellow, enjoy it.

The determined ignorance of the doping apologist.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

AC manged to win over the Italians as the Giro played out.
Perhaps it might be a little more difficult with the French - often a stubborn lot!