Pr*ck

RobFowl

http://www.cyclingwebsite.net/txtzfiche.php?berid=4382

Armstrong says he'll kick ass after last year's 'joke' of a Tour

28-06-2009 06:49:58

SEVEN-TIME Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong says last year's race was a "a bit of a joke" and has revealed that watching it unfold helped convince him he could win it again.

It was won by Spaniard Carlos Sastre from Australian Cadel Evans, Austrian Bernard Kohl - who was later suspended for doping, Russian Denis Menchov and American Christian Vande Velde. But in a new book, Lance Armstrong - The World's Greatest Champion, Armstrong makes it very clear he believes that, had he still been racing, he would have won the Tour again.

While his comeback to racing is aimed at promoting his Livestrong global cancer awareness campaign, he also makes it clear that the goal of winning an eighth Tour title was a huge motivating factor in his return.

That challenge confronts him next Saturday when he and 179 riders line up for this year's Tour that starts in Monaco and finishes 3500km later on the Champs Elysees in Paris on July 26. Interest in Armstrong's return at the age of 37 will be massive.

In the book, Armstrong also reveals the strength of his belief that his winning days are far from over.

"I'll kick their asses," he told author John Wilcockson in a conversation soon after last year's Tour while discussing his planned comeback. "The Tour was a bit of a joke this year. I've got nothing against Sastre … or Christian Vande Velde. Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

TinyExplosions

He's not doing himself any favours at all!

ednwireland

the sooner he retires again the sooner we can get back to watching bike racing liked the wednesay comment in cyckly weekly when hinault made some comment

Lance Armstrong perhaps should have thought a little more before calling Bernard Hinault a 'wanker' less than a month before the start of the Tour de France.

Hinault's popularity may not be imbued with warmth in his home country. He wasn't nicknamed 'the badger' for nothing. His was an intimidating, bullying presence in the peloton and he ruled by fear on the bike and said exactly what he thought off it.

It wouldn't be June without an Hinault interview in which he criticises the French riders, writes off the lazy ne'er-do-wells and generally talks about how much better things were in his day, when men were men, who raced seven hours on the bike, then spent all night working in the fields.

He also criticised Armstrong, saying he'd prefer it if the Texan did not show up at the Tour de France before adding: "I hope Contador gives him a beating."

Armstrong responded on his Twitter feed (where else?) by saying: "What a wanker. Five TdF wins doesn't buy you any common sense."

Well, it seems that seven Tour de France wins doesn't buy you any class either.
I don't expect Armstrong to like Hinault's comments, but he is perfectly entitled to express his opinion.

my bold bits

full thing here
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/comment/353507/the-wednesday-comment.html

Ghost Rider

You have to admit, though: all this sabre-rattling does bode well for a mouth-watering TdF...

TinyExplosions

Ghost Rider wrote: »

You have to admit, though: all this sabre-rattling does bode well for a mouth-watering TdF...

I actually think he's playing mind games, and has everyone where he wants them. I don't think he'd have announced the comeback if the figures didn't work out with him being able to win it, and so I reckon it'll be a fairly close race, but he'll be top of the podium at the end.

ROK ON

When LA was racing in the last few tours before retirement, things got very boring.
Now, however, should be the most interesting inyears. Can't wait. Game on.

Dodge

TinyExplosions wrote: »

I actually think he's playing mind games, and has everyone where he wants them. I don't think he'd have announced the comeback if the figures didn't work out with him being able to win it, and so I reckon it'll be a fairly close race, but he'll be top of the podium at the end.

Going to be very interesting to see if Armstrong will work for Contador.

Chris Horner was the unlucky one on the Astana team this year and he wrote in his blog about that Contador wanted one of his "boys" (Paulinha) in their and that politics is hindering his career. By all accounts LA and Levi were campaigning for Horner to get on the team and neither was that happy that Contador got his ally on

petethedrummer

I hope he buys the TDF or sets up his own one, so he can concentrate on winning that every ear for the rest of his life. Then the everyone set up a parallel race but not tell him about it.

iregk

RobFowl wrote: »

"I'll kick their asses,"

Has he gotten a new strand of EPO that we don't know about?

zzzzzzzz

iregk wrote: »

Has he gotten a new strand of EPO that we don't know about?

Doesn't he always?

SACH Central

iregk wrote: »

Has he gotten a new strand of EPO that we don't know about?

Probably. You can be sure he has a completely watertight, undetectable way of keeping one step ahead of the doping authorities. He definitely won't be caught doping at the TdF or indeed anyother race he races. It has to be/will be completely, 100% undectable. To say he would be 'caught with egg on his face' if he were caught doping would be a bit of an understatement :P

You can bet your life that his previous 7 'wins' were all EPO fueled.

By the way I think the whole Astana team are rotten to the core. I think, unfortunately, he will win this years TdF but only through doping.

lukester

He's just calling a spade a spade. When you fight cancer and beat it down, you learn that life is about winning, and speaking the truth.

I hope he delivers a sucker punch and steals the win from under everyone's nose on the Ventoux.

You don't get to be a winner by being everyone's buddy.

ednwireland

hope he gets his ass kicked on every mountain and TT (but i bet he doesn't)

Húrin

typical American cowboy

niceonetom

Uh oh...someone drank too much Hate-orade and ate too many Hater-tots.

Signal_ rabbit

lukester wrote: »

He's just calling a spade a spade. When you fight cancer and beat it down, you learn that life is about winning, and speaking the truth.

I hope he delivers a sucker punch and steals the win from under everyone's nose on the Ventoux.

You don't get to be a winner by being everyone's buddy.

+1

SACH Central

lukester wrote: »

He's just calling a spade a spade. When you fight cancer and beat it down, you learn that life is about winning, and speaking the truth.

I hope he delivers a sucker punch and steals the win from under everyone's nose on the Ventoux.

You don't get to be a winner by being everyone's buddy.

Signal_ rabbit wrote: »

+1

And I bet you guys

still believe in Santa Claus

lukester

SACH Central wrote: »

And I bet you guys

still believe in Santa Claus

Did he enter the ring in a cancer smackdown, and win?

Didn't think so.

Vélo

Why in God's name do most people hate Lance so much?

Is it because he's the best, too cocky or just sick of him winning?

Surely it would be better to just enjoy the fact that you were there to see one of the greatest cyclists of all time, if not the greatest. I've never really followed the racing side of things so maybe that's why I don't have much of an opinion of him but I'd rather think he was clean and just very good at what he does. I'm sure I'll be watching the tour this year because it seems to be getting very intersting.

No doubt there'll be a backlash for this

Caroline_ie

LoL ... Lance has a great anagram I just figured out today ...

'CLEAN'

... brilliant!

Deisetrek

Vélo wrote: »

Why in God's name do most people hate Lance so much?

Is it because he's the best, too cocky or just sick of him winning?

Surely it would be better to just enjoy the fact that you were there to see one of the greatest cyclists of all time, if not the greatest. I've never really followed the racing side of things so maybe that's why I don't have much of an opinion of him but I'd rather think he was clean and just very good at what he does. I'm sure I'll be watching the tour this year because it seems to be getting very intersting.

No doubt there'll be a backlash for this

Agree Velo , he's the makings of the Tour this year , I'd love him to win it ,but even if he doesn't these kind of utterances alone will bump up viewing figures no end . Controversial figures are essential in all sports , love 'em or hate 'em they can't be ignored .:D

Lumen

Caroline_ie wrote: »

LoL ... Lance has a great anagram I just figured out today ...

'CLEAN'

... brilliant!

But he was born Lance Edward Gunderson, which anagrams to Now Needs Drug Calendar, amongst other things.

Caroline_ie

Lumen wrote: »

But he was born Lance Edward Gunderson, which anagrams to Now Needs Drug Calendar, amongst other things.

Yes it is better than Gram Snort Clean


what about that one: Drug Scandal Renewed On

niceonetom

"Clear Strong Man" too. The case is airtight.

I also see Garcon Lent Mars which would lead me to believe that, had he been born in France rather than Texas, he would have grown up to a slow boy from mars. Lucky escape really.

ROK ON

I wonder will this thread nysteriously disappear like the last Lance thread.
If he dopes and is ever caught, then he will be in a world of trouble back in the States. He won a very sizable insurance payout a few years back after betting that he would win X amount of TdFs. The payout was contested bt the insurance company.
If he is found to have doped during a tdf win, then he will have committed insurance fraud on a very very large scale. In the USA that would be a very serious crime.

TinyExplosions

niceonetom wrote: »

Uh oh...someone drank too much Hate-orade and ate too many Hater-tots.

Wooooo-yeah!

Lay off Lance guys, he's a total hero and you should look up to him, and tell your children to be more like him. He's awesome.

Jumpy

That man has a pair of balls I tell you.

TinyExplosions

Jumpy wrote: »

That man has a pair of balls I tell you.

Not any more!

Ba-Dum Tish

petethedrummer

Why is he disliked..... hmmm I dunno ..............

The Simeoni Incident
Christophe Bassons
Michele Ferrari: Lance got 'training advice' from him.
In depth Discussions on doping and LA

If you want more reasons, I'll post them later, got to go to a meeting now. Its a meeting on how much I love cancer.

Acoustic

didnt he clain he was the most tested athlete ever ?????????

has it ever been proved he uses epo amongst other things ???

so many haters on here its unreal

he'd whip all yo asses fo show

Vélo

Acoustic wrote: »

didnt he clain he was the most tested athlete ever ?????????

has it ever been proved he uses epo amongst other things ???

so many haters on here its unreal

he's whip all yo asses fo show

But would he beat Blorg up the Glandon?

Raam

Acoustic wrote: »

didnt he clain he was the most tested athlete ever ?????????

has it ever been proved he uses epo amongst other things ???

so many haters on here its unreal

he's whip all yo asses fo show

Bjarne Riis
Jan Ullrich
Ivan Basso

none of these guys ever failed a test either

Lumen

blorg

Vélo wrote: »

Surely it would be better to just enjoy the fact that you were there to see one of the greatest cyclists of all time, if not the greatest.

I know Eddy still rides his bike but I haven't heard anything about him coming out of retirement

You are right about Lance though, it's difficult to see how anyone else could win this tour, not only does Lance know this race inside out, he has by far the strongest team. With Contador riding in support (as he he will need to do after Lance dominates the opening week) Lance will be undefeatable. Barring a stick in the spokes Lance is pretty much guaranteed to be in yellow in Paris in a month's time!

Go Lance! Stick it to cancer where it hurts! Kick cancer one in the balls for me!

nitrogen

Acoustic wrote: »

didnt he clain he was the most tested athlete ever ?????????

has it ever been proved he uses epo amongst other things ???

so many haters on here its unreal

he'd whip all yo asses fo show

You have to know the whole story to know why people hate him. David Walsh's book, From Lance to Landis is a good place to start, or listen to his interview with Competitor Radio (It's a 2 hour interview, but as intriguing as watching a thriller).

Acoustic

Raam wrote: »

Bjarne Riis
Jan Ullrich
Ivan Basso

none of these guys ever failed a test either

yes and none won 7 TDF after cancer

Raam

Acoustic wrote: »

yes and none won 7 TDF after cancer

I wonder how he managed to do it?

Acoustic

Raam wrote: »

I wonder how he managed to do it?

maybe his fitness

didnt he have a bigger lung capacity to indurain ??

bcmf

Acoustic wrote: »

maybe his fitness

didnt he have a bigger lung capacity to indurain ??

And Indurain was clean, right?

Anyway I believe LA is taking the stance of Dubya at the start of the Gulf War 2. Friend or Foe. I reckon he is trying to cause a split 'cause he will end up having his own tour and you are either with him or against him.

Sadly I believe he will win the tour.

blorg

Acoustic wrote: »

didnt he have a bigger lung capacity to indurain ??

Armstrong had a lower VO2 Max than Indurain and indeed lower than Greg LeMond (who cheated in his own TdF wins by introducing aerobars.)

Armstrong wins despite this.

DirkVoodoo

I think Lance's VO2 max wasn't that high, it was his low lactate threshold that was his strength, thus the high pedalling cadence.

I agree with ROK ON, this is just going to make it a much better tour, I can't wait.

So it starts this weekend? Are there plans to watch it in Kerry?

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Are there plans to watch it in Kerry?

We had it in the gaff last year, so hopefully they still do

RobFowl

blorg wrote: »

Armstrong had a lower VO2 Max than Indurain and indeed lower than Greg LeMond (who cheated in his own TdF wins by introducing aerobars.)

VO2 max is not the same as lung capacity. AFAIK Indurains was higher.
The aerobars issue !!! they were legal and Fignon had them but decided not to use them. In the 1990 tour everyone had then aand in the 1986 tour no-one did.

blorg

RobFowl wrote: »

The aerobars issue !!! they were legal and Fignon had them but decided not to use them. In the 1990 tour everyone had then aand in the 1986 tour no-one did.

And who used them first? And where did he get the idea?

Euro Rules wrote:

24. You shall NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, associate with triathletes.

The man tarnished the sport we all know and love.

RobFowl

bcmf wrote: »

And Indurain was clean, right?

Banesto were thought to be one of the first teams to have organised doping.
Also all the 5 time + TDF winners have serious doping accusations leveled against them. Anquetil refused a test after setting an hour record. Merckx lost a Giro because of a failed test, Hinault is on record as saying that supplementing natural body products is not doping (testosterone). Big Mig failed a test for Salmeterol and got off on an technicality and then there's LA (clean as a whistle obviously)

RobFowl

blorg wrote: »

And who used them first? And where did he get the idea?

Originally Posted by Euro Rules
24. You shall NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, associate with triathletes.


The man tarnished the sport we all know and love.

I am just going outside and may be some time.

alfalad

blorg wrote: »

Armstrong had a lower VO2 Max than Indurain and indeed lower than Greg LeMond (who cheated in his own TdF wins by introducing aerobars.)

Armstrong wins despite this.

Greg was at a charity cycle in Clare and Limerick at the weekend, was chatting away to him and fair to say he is not a fan!

Interesting hearing what Greg thought though!

TinyExplosions

Vélo wrote: »

But would he beat Blorg up the Glandon?

Nobody could do that...

no wait a second, are you saying I dope? I've never failed a test, those samples from 1999 had to have been tampered with, honest, and the steroid cream was a mistake, I'm awesome, I'm the best, leave me alone!

RobFowl

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Nobody could do that...

no wait a second, are you saying I dope? I've never failed a test, those samples from 1999 had to have been tampered with, honest, and the steroid cream was a mistake, I'm awesome, I'm the best, leave me alone!

Emma O Reilly's an liar.
Frankie Andreu is a liar.
Stephan Swart was just a no-body.
Ferrari just gave training advice.
Tyler only took drugs and blood after leaving USPS
Ditto Floyd
Ditto Vaughters
Ditto Herras
LA never failed a drugs test (apart for the steroids cream)
Those 1999 samples were tampered by the cheese eating surrender monkeys



PS Blorg its cold out here don't know how much longer I can last

blorg

I will concede that many Lance's supporting riders were dopers and cycling is a team sport, it is true... But this was done without LA's knowledge or permission. No-one has been more outspoken than LA in their opposition to doping and I think a large part of his comeback is to show that he can win the tour with a clean team, half of which is working against him.

@RobFowl- I forgive your transgression, after all Saint Lance dabbled in the dark arts of triathlon somewhat himself.

RobFowl

blorg wrote: »

@RobFowl- I forgive your transgression, after all Saint Lance dabbled in the dark arts of triathlon somewhat himself.

:cool: