Lance Armstrong wines and dines, Alberto Contador just whines – Post Tour de France news and notes
July 29th, 2009 by Ron Callahan
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2010 looks like it is going to shape up to be a very interesting year. The gloves are off and the battle between Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong is ON. By now, of course we know that Lance Armstrong is heading to the new Radio Shack Cycling team, while Contador is headed to parts unknown. All we know for sure is that they will both be at the 2010 Tour and it’ll be “no more mister nice guy.”
- Contador says that this year’s victory was his hardest ever, saying that he had to fight the battle on both the roads and in the hotel. Since Sunday, Contador has not held back in his derision for Lance Armstrong, saying “We are simply incompatible.” He told reporters at a press conference in Madrid, “My relationship with Lance is non-existent. Even if he is a great champion, I have never had admiration for him and I never will.”
- There seems to be more rumors swirling around about Contador jumping to Garmin, but the Astana team seems to be making moves to extend his contract to as far as 2013, with a strong role as the only team leader with Alexander Vinokourov as one of his lieutenants.
- Velo News doesn’t seem to think that Vino will play second fiddle to Contador and also theorizes (correctly, I think) that Vino’s presence may jeopardize Astana’s chances to be invited back in 2010.
Lance Armstrong moves on. Quickly.
- Lance Armstrong chose to wine and dine his new sponsors at Radio Shack rather than celebrate Contador’s victory with the Astana team. [It's certain that Alexander Vinokourov was at the Astana celebration, so I can't blame him for not going, but... still bad form - Ed.]
- Lance responded later in the day to Contador’s comments, reminding him that it takes a team to win a stage race. He also commented that this reflects some of the immaturity that he pointed out earlier in the year.
- The closing count on doping controls on Lance Armstrong during the 22 days of the Tour de France was 11. One every other day.
- Beyond the obvious transfers to Radio Shack Cycling (Leiphimer, Horner, Kloden, Zubeldia) there are some surprising names being tossed around for rounding out the squad. Negotiations are said to be underway with Brice Feillu, who was a standout in the early part of the race (and without a team in 2010) and with Andy Schleck. Schleck is said to be interested but wants brother Frank to be a part of the team as well. Saxo Bank, of course, insists that Schleck is under contract until 2010 and will not be going anywhere.
- Lance’s third place finish ties him with Raymond Poulidor for the most podium appearances in the race. Poulidour finished 2nd twice and 3rd five times
The cleanest Tour ever, or not? Opinions differ:
- Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme says that this year’s clean (so far) Tour is exactly what the sport needs to restore its image.
- Prudhomme may think that the race was clean, but AFLD president Pierre Bordry says that some teams were found with banned substances (in their trashcans) used by diabetics that encourages the production of insulin. Bordry also said that samples from the race will be tested in the fall for two new substances that aren’t even on the market yet: The first is a third generation version of EPO and the other is a product that increases both strength and fat burning. They expect to tests ready in September or October. [Hats off to Bordry and the AFLD for being vigilant in the fight against doping, but his comments make one think that they might be looking just a little too hard and pointing fingers where they shouldn't. - Ed.]
Bradley Wiggins was the breakthrough rider of the race. Sort of last year’s Christian Vande Velde:
- Garmin Slipstream’s Bradley Wiggins was a bit of a surprise in this year’s race, finishing fourth overall and matching the top finish ever by a British rider.
- Wiggins was one of Britain’s track cycling stars before trying out the road, but he is now saying that he will forego track competition for the next two years to focus on winning the Tour.
- He is expected to return to the track in time to go for glory at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
- Wiggins’ success has caused some to question if he might be doping. Wiggins has responded by saying that he is going to put all of the results from his latest tests online for public review. “I don’t want there to be any suspicion or doubt that what I did was natural. I have nothing to hide and I want this transparency,” Wiggins said Wednesday. “If more people did that fans would have a lot more respect for our achievements.”
Injuries, recoveries and retirements:
- George Hincapie rode the last six stages of the race with a broken collarbone. He thought that it was just badly bruised, but x-rays taken on his return to the states confirmed that it was actually a break.
- Jens Voigt will undergo surgery to repair the broken jaw he suffered in a fall in the 16th stage of the race.
- Rabobank’s Robert Gesink broke his wrist early in the race, but the cast is already off and he’s back to training.
- Quick Step’s Steven De Jongh has decided to retire after the end of the season. He will turn 36 this year and wants to focus on his private life and his children. He has been a pro for 15 years and has enjoyed 50 career victories. He expects to stay active in cycling in some way, but has not decided quite how.
Mark Cavendish is OUR sprint winner:
- No one went for it harder or more often. Thor Hushovd won on a technicality. Cavendish and Hushovd reportedly have kissed and made up, but Cavendish said all that he really needed to say in the final sprint on Sunday.
Here are the last two Cavendish videos from Nike:
Cav pt. 6:
Cav pt. 7:
Then there are the post-Tour Crits. These races are carefully orchestrated, delivering the expected winner to the line and earning them some healthy bonuses as well:
- Mark Cavendish won the Aalst nighttime criterium on Monday night, besting Robbie McEwen and Greg Van Avermaet at the line. This was McEwen’s first race back after a fall in the Tour of Belgium two months ago.
- Andy Schleck was the winner in the Tour of Boxmeer, outsprinting Koos Morehout at the finish. Brother Frank Schleck rolled across in third.
- Thor Hushovd won the Diksmuide crit, knocking back a recovered Tom Boonen at the finish. Jurgen Van Den Broeck came across in third.
- Alberto Contador bested the Schleck Brothers in the Stiphout criterium.
Of course, it’s not to early to start talking about the next Grand Tour: The Vuelta
- Vacansoleil has named their pre-selections for the Vuelta: Borut Bozic, Matteo Carrara, Baden Cooke, Johnny Hoogerland, Sergey Lagutin, Bjorn Leukemans, Gerben Lowik, Marco Marcato, Jens Dying, Matthieu Pronk, Bobbie Traksel, Frederik and Veuchelen Lieuwe Westra.
- Andy Schleck and Ivan Basso have already expressed interest in racing the Vuelta. Alberto Contador will not return to defend his title, however.
- Contador’s (new/old) Astana teammate Alexander Vinokourov will make the Vuelta his Grand Tour comeback race.
- Mark Cavendish has decided to pass on the Vuelta. The Columbia-HTC team will send Andre Greipel as their sprinter.
- Universal Sports will be broadcasting the race both online and on TV, giving many fans their first opportunity to see the race.
And yes, as usual, there are other things happening in cycling besides the Tour:
- Did you know that the World Championships were last weekend? Donny Robinson won Gold for the U.S. at the BMX World Championships in Adelaide, Australia. He had previously taken bronze at the Olympics and won the 2008 UCI Supercross World Championships. Robinson’s compatriot Mike Day brought home silver. Olympic champion Maris Strombergs had to settle for fourth.
- Davide Rebellin and Stefan Schumacher appeared before the disciplinary committee of the International Olympic Committee on Monday to defend themselves against their positives tests for third generation EPO (Cera) in the 2008 Olympic Games. The IOC did not make it clear when they would announce their decision.
- Rumors are flying today that Shimano, or some other Japanese company, has purchased Campagnolo. I’ve never been a big Campy person, but this is still tantamount to blasphemy.
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Tags: alberto contador·alexander vinokourov·andre greipel·andy schleck·ASO·astana·Baden Cooke·bjorn leukemans·bobbie traksel·Bradley Wiggins·brice feillu·campagnolo·christian vande velde·columbia·Davide Rebellin·Donny Robinson·doping·EPO·frank schleck·garmin·garmin slipstream·George Hincapie·Greg Van Avermaet·Johnny Hoogerland·Lance Armstrong·Maris Strombergs·Mark Cavendish·mike day·olympics·Quick Step·Rabobank·radio shack·Robbie McEwen·Robert Gesink·Saxo Bank·Shimano·Slipstream·stefan schumacher·Steven de Jongh·Thor Hushovd·Tom Boonen·Tour de France News·UCI·vacansoleil·World Championships
Dear “Friendly” Editor,
I thought your site would be a little objective, atleast in the headlines. So what about Alberto Contador makes you think that he “just whines”. He was provocatively asked a question about tensions between him and Lance and when Contador felt he could speak now that the Tour was over, he expressed himself and was honest.
By the way, the meaning of whine is “uttering complaints with distressed cries”. After you see the press conference again, you’ll have to improve your choice of vocabulary next time. http://www.steephill.tv/2009/entries/contador-post-tdf-news-conference/
Bye Friendly Editor.
The headline was just a little fun, but yes, while “whining” does not exactly correspond to Alberto’s behavior, let’s just be clear that he knew what he was getting into. Sort of like the kid who begs his parent to go to the amusement park, then complains because it’s too hot and the rides are scary.
LA was and is the Alpha dog and even though he didn’t win the race, the structure in the team was largely his old Discovery Channel crew.
Alberto Contador certainly deserves the win and I hope to see him win again with a team that will be fully behind him. Alexander Vinokourov is back with Astana and has pledged to support Alberto, but I hope that it won’t be setting up another internal battle. Contador should now have the clout that he needs to be able to put and strong team around him that is working solely for him. If he can, as I mentioned, 2010 is going to be very interesting.
[...] Lance Armstrong wines and dines, Alberto Contador just whines … Bike World News The gloves are off and the battle between Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong is ON. By now, of course we know that Lance Armstrong is heading to the new … See all stories on this topic [...]
I used to be a big fan of LA, until I discovered a few things.
To begin with, so much is made of his amazing recovery from cancer, but unbeknownst to most, AC also had to battle a life-threatening disease that nearly ended his career. In 2004, when he was just 21, he had an aneurism in his brain. He collapsed during a race and started having seizures, and then spent 10 days in a coma. Doctors performed a risky operation to clear the clot in his brain, and weren’t sure if he would ever walk/talk/think again, never mind ride. Eight months after the surgery, he won the fifth stage of the 2005 Tour Down Under.
Much could also be made, therefore, of AC’s impressive ability to rebound from adversity. But few people are aware that his career nearly came to an end in 2004 and how hard he had to fight in order to come back and become the champion that he is today – the reason being that AC does not attempt to build his name, reputation and career on a personal tragedy, unlike somebody else…
Also, LA’s record of 7 consecutive wins of the TdF really needs to be put into perspective, particularly in light of AC’s incredible achievements at so young an age, which force even greater respect.
At age 26, AC has already won the last 4 Grand Tours (France x 2, Italy and Spain) that he consecutively entered, and he is still younger than LA was when he won his first ever Grand Tour! He is also already one of only five riders in pro cycling history to win all three Grand Tours, and the youngest to have done so.
Unlike LA, AC does not specialise in a single event: he enters classics and various cycling events throughout the year, making him a much more rounded cyclist and earning him much more respect from his peers than LA. He is ranked #1 in the world in the UCI rankings with 527 points, with Andy Schleck coming in second place with 334 points. LA is a distant 75th.
LA’s performance is the equivalent of a tennis player who would only enter clay court tournaments his entire life, by-passing every hard court and grass court event that is played during the last 8 months of each year, in order to increase his chances of a win on clay courts. To become a good tennis player on all surfaces requires far more physical and mental toughness than otherwise. So it is with cycling.
But the main difference between the two lies in the manner in which they have won: to win the TdF, LA employed every possible tactic at his disposal, even nasty ones. His dictatorship and gagging of team mates are infamous. AC, on the other hand, is a classy guy, well-liked on the tour, who respects his peers. He does not try to win at any cost, but he does win anyway, even with his own team trying to bury him.
One understands, therefore, AC’s statement that he has zero respect for LA at a personal level; and you can bet that this feeling is shared by the great majority of professional cyclists who know LA for who he is: an arrogant, egocentric, publicity-hungry, megalomaniac, and to some extent a major fraud, despite his 7 wins of the TdF.
AC deserves nothing but respect from anybody, both as an extraordinary athlete and as an extraordinary person. The same certainly cannot be said of LA, and he can count himself lucky to be from a country that reports only on his athletic achievements without ever reporting on how he goes about his business. His return to cycling and his PR to raise funds for cancer is nothing but a platform to stay in the public eye and prepare his next career move (politics or whatever).
I’m a fan of both of them, and I’ll be perfectly happy if Alberto passes Lance by one day. I also think that Lance will be the first to congratulate Alberto when that day comes.
Yes, Lance focused on the Tour, but he also has won the Worlds and U.S. National championships, San Sebastian, Fleche Wallone and the Dauphine Libere (twice). I think that he is a leader, not a dictator, and if he tried to “gag” his teammates, they would leave him hanging in the wind.
Alberto has a way to go to become a leader and may find it hard going to on his own. The press about him not thanking his teammates was overblown, but I don’t think that you can easily dismiss how his attacks were viewed by some of his teammates and his D.S.
I wish Alberto luck. I wish him more wins. I hope that he doesn’t flame out and fade away.
I have to agree with Fred; I think this is very poor journalism and the choice of words is terrible. Contador only gave a very honest and measured answer to a valid question. And please, save us the spin: Contador was riding for Astana long before Armstrong got there, so he didn’t get himself into anything. If anything, it was the opposite. Avoid clichés like “alpha male” as well if you can.
Thanks.
Good comments. Thanks.
Yes, I could have been more objective. And good point on Alberto already being at Astana.
This is pathetic journalism. In fact, I’d call it hero-worship, not journalism.
You’d be hard pressed to find any objective measure that places LA higher on the “Admirable Behavior” meter than AC.
Americans worship their sports heroes to an irrational degree. It’s really not about the sport anymore, as demonstrated by your abject sycophancy to this ego-maniac.
Did AC childishly snatch a water bottle to keep it away from his TEAMMATE? Oh yeah, that was Lance.
Did AC monopolize the TEAM cars & leave his TEAMMATE to his own devices in order to whisk his family around & schmooze executives forming a new team? Oh yeah, that was Lance.
Did AC whimper relentlessly on Twitter about his TEAMMATE? Oh yeah, that was Lance.
Did AC move into an existing TEAM structure & try to take over in a really underhanded & seedy way? Oh yeah, that was Lance.
But Lance is the greatest cyclist of all time! Oh yeah, AC actually won more of the great races. Not to mention Eddy M.
But AC was implicated in a drug scandal! Oh yeah, so was Lance, convincingly to anyone who actually reads the evidence.
But Lance survived a life-threatening medical problem! Oh yeah, so did AC.
Shall I continue? Catch a clue & do your job, writer.
I’d have to ask that you read the entire article as well as my subsequent comments.
If you look at more than just this one article, you’ll see that we don’t really do Lance worship here. Yes, he gets a lot of attention because he’s an American and we cater to a largely American audience. He generates traffic and that’s good.
I think that going off and having dinner with Radio Shack executives instead of celebrating with his team was deplorable.
As I sort of implied above, I’m looking forward to Alberto and Lance taking their battle to the road next year. 2010 is going to be an interesting year.
For those who might accuse us of hero worship, here’s some indication that we cover Alberto just as much as Lance.
If you’re searching for Alberto, we rate pretty high. The other side of the equation is clickthroughs. We just get more interest and clickthroughs on Lance.
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