Questions for Lance
Comments
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You devoted your life to winning the Tour de France. You have always said you were riding clean. Given the widespread evidence of systematic doping in professional cycling, and your influence over the governing bodies, why did you not speak out about the problem? Surely you must have been furious about it?
What interests of the peloton were you defending when you chased down Simeoni?0 -
+1 for steve 2021's "What interests of the peloton were you defending when you chased down Simeoni?"0
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are you ashamed of spitting at simeoni?
why are you such a control freak (journo blacklisting etc)
and why wont you let your old tour samples be tested?0 -
No need to worry everyone.
Lance has cleared upthis Simeoni mess already.
The new improved Lance is just exactly like the old Lance. "look into the eyes, not around the eyes, into the eyes, I never chased him I just followed his wheel. Yellow jerseys do that all the time"
I wonder if Lance has ever seen David Lynch's Lost Highway and taken "I prefer to remember things my own way, not neccessarily the way they happened" as his mantra.Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
could we have David Walsh to be guest Editor for that issue
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iainf72 wrote:
“First off, I did not chase Simeoni down,” Armstrong said. “I was simply following his wheel. That is the truth of the matter. I never bridged across to Simeoni. He was in front of me, people were attacking, he accelerated, and I stayed on the wheel. We have footage of the race that will back that up. There was never more than bike length between us. There was no gap closed. There’s a big difference between following wheels and closing a gap.”
Could you please ask Lance whether he actually believes this horsecrap, and if he doesn't, why does he expect us to?
Reminds me of when you see a politician on TV defending an unpopular policy. You know it's rubbish, they know it's rubbish, yet their lips are moving and the same old bull is coming out of their mouth. Tessa Jowell says: people can't wait for ID cards. Lance Armstrong says: I did not chase Simeoni down.0 -
afx237vi wrote:Could you please ask Lance whether he actually believes this horsecrap, and if he doesn't, why does he expect us to?
A lot of people will believe this. And that's his game. I don't know how many times recently I've been told that he was "the most tested athlete" - Yeah, ok, not even close.
And why does he insist on calling himself "we"?Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
Why did you take Simeoni back to the peleton with you?
What do you think of Team Garmin?
During your career, doping was wide spread, did you ever feel the temptation do dope, especially seeing as you worked closely with Dr Ferrari, a notorious doping doctor?
If your main aim is to raise cancer awareness, why not put your energies into build a LIVESTRONG team, based around clean cycling, with wealthy benefactors (surly you must know a few possible guys) in a similar fashion to the old Slipstream team, rather than coming back and racing for a team intent on raising awareness for the country of Kazakhstan.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Of all the various aspects of the Lance story, it's the bullying of Simeoni that upsets me: I found it profoundly offensive. Can you ask him to justify:
After watching footage of the incident?First off, I did not chase Simeoni down,” Armstrong said. “I was simply following his wheel. That is the truth of the matter. I never bridged across to Simeoni. He was in front of me, people were attacking, he accelerated, and I stayed on the wheel. We have footage of the race that will back that up. There was never more than bike length between us. There was no gap closed. There’s a big difference between following wheels and closing a gap
I'm also intrigued about how he justifies spitting at Simeoni (echoing gematkinson1)0 -
It was Pozzatto that spat at Simeoni, not Armstrong.'This week I 'ave been mostly been climbing like Basso - Shirley Basso.'0
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http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2004/to ... ts/stage18
"Earlier in the day, a strange incident that will certainly go down in the annals of Tour de France history enlivened Stage 18, when Domina Vacanze rider Filippo Simeoni bridged across to the day's winning break on the first climb of the day after 32km. Suddenly, surprisingly, maillot jaune Lance Armstrong went in pursuit of Simeoni and soon both riders had bridged across to the break together. The other riders in the break were dumbfounded to see the maillot jaune there among them, taking his pulls and participating in the escape. But they soon realized that if Armstrong remained up front, their breakaway was doomed. Cente Garcia asked Armstrong to drop back after the gap reached 2'00 on the chasing peloton, led by a heaving mass of magenta T-Mobile jerseys. Armstrong told Garcia Acosta that he would drop off, but only if Simeoni would do so as well. Reluctantly the Italian agreed to do so and both he and Armstrong spoke after the stage today.
On his way to an unprecedented sixth Tour win, Armstrong's action today is hard to interpret. He explained that "I was protecting the interests of the peloton" to French TV after the stage and continued by saying, "The story of Simeoni is not a fair story...there's a long history there. All (journalists) want to write about is parts of the story. It's a long history...a guy like (Simeoni), all he wants to do is to destroy cycling...and for me, that's not correct. And I when I went back to the group they said 'chapeau'...thank you very much. Because they understand that (cycling) is their job and that they absolutely love it and they're committed to it and don't want somebody within their sport destroying it. So...for me it's no problem to go on the wheel, to follow the wheel."
Perhaps since you are now affiliated with cn.com would you care to cast this up with Lance? Shouldn't he be reaching for the lawyers over some of this stuff, if his current version is correct...Le Blaireau (1)0 -
And in particular how "protecting the interests of the peloton" squares up with his current "There was I, just riding along, when all of a sudden I found myself ahead of the peloton" shtick...Le Blaireau (1)0
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Not surprised that some of you had trouble staying "within the bounds of decency, legality and won't cause offence to anyone." :roll:
1. What was your training/work with Ferrari like?
2. Do you regret the Simeoni thing? Not that Simeoni is a saint like some believe...
3. Vino used the same doc and said there were no problems since you used him too, but he got caught doping. your take on that-and his looming comeback to your/his team?
4. Are you willing to ride for Contador in the Tour?
5. Will you race the classics?
6. Do you read cycling forums, if yes, what do you think of aurelio?
after the first shock, it's actually very cool to have him back, kick ass Lance! 8)0 -
afx237vi wrote:iainf72 wrote:
“First off, I did not chase Simeoni down,” Armstrong said. “I was simply following his wheel. That is the truth of the matter. I never bridged across to Simeoni. He was in front of me, people were attacking, he accelerated, and I stayed on the wheel. We have footage of the race that will back that up. There was never more than bike length between us. There was no gap closed. There’s a big difference between following wheels and closing a gap.”
Could you please ask Lance whether he actually believes this horsecrap, and if he doesn't, why does he expect us to?
Reminds me of when you see a politician on TV defending an unpopular policy. You know it's rubbish, they know it's rubbish, yet their lips are moving and the same old bull is coming out of their mouth. Tessa Jowell says: people can't wait for ID cards. Lance Armstrong says: I did not chase Simeoni down.
Gee, I laughed when I read that velonews article.....
In other news, Jan Ullrich has come out and said, contrary to LA's assertions, the Kaiser DIDN'T attack Lance during the 2003 TdF stage to Luz-Ardiden, he was simply sitting on a wheel.
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steve2021 wrote:You devoted your life to winning the Tour de France. You have always said you were riding clean. Given the widespread evidence of systematic doping in professional cycling, and your influence over the governing bodies, why did you not speak out about the problem? Surely you must have been furious about it?
What interests of the peloton were you defending when you chased down Simeoni?
Without putting words in his mouth, I can probably take a guess at this one:
'Why would I bite the hand that feeds me? I'm not gonna talk negative about this sport - it could jeopardise the income I exploit from everyone. So let's make out the problem never exists. Let's get the media asking me for 'exclusives', and let me come back from my retirement so I can rape and exploit you some more!'0 -
I have some more questions:
Is it just an urban myth, or did you really have someone monitor every webpage out in cyberspace referencing to you?
And if that is the case, do you still do so now?
I'd love to know what you're thinking with all these questions.0 -
I'd like to ask:
1. What REALLY motivates him?
2. Does he suffer from tinnitus?Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0 -
Lance, Was it a "If I race with Johann/Astana I have to race SRAM components?" How did things sit with Shimano on this--? Seems like you've had a long history with Shimano, their shoes, components, and pedals. How will Nike play into things with Astana?0
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toontriathlete wrote:Lance, Was it a "If I race with Johann/Astana I have to race SRAM components?" How did things sit with Shimano on this--? Seems like you've had a long history with Shimano, their shoes, components, and pedals. How will Nike play into things with Astana?
He's a part owner of SRAM now so that answers that questionFckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.0 -
SpaceJunk wrote:I have some more questions:
Is it just an urban myth, or did you really have someone monitor every webpage out in cyberspace referencing to you?
And if that is the case, do you still do so now?
I'd love to know what you're thinking with all these questions.
Er, Google alerts? http://www.google.com/alerts0 -
Given your repeated assurances that you and your team won clean... why do you think so many of those who helped you win the Tour later resorted to cheating to compete (Hamilton, Landis, Beltran, Heras...)?"In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
Good game this, but we all know that as usual he'll be teed up with questions about his magic shoes, improbable wheels, super wind tunnels etc etc otherwise his lawyer will ask the journalist to leave the room and never speak to them again. A niche market like cycling cannot pass up on Lance on the cover, Lance on the inside page, Lance in the news and Lance everywhere else - it sells magazines and it sells more of them and it sells them to people that would die of boredom reading about the 1968 Paris-Nice or the duels between Merckx and DeVlaeminck. Commercially they'd be mad to upset Lance or stop banging on about him.
My questions for him (I'm playing along)
When are you planning to retire for good?
How will you measure the success or failure of your comeback - racing results, income for LAF, 'increased awareness' (and how do you intend to measure that)?
If you don't race the Tour much of the publicity for your comeback will be lost - after all finishing 4th in the Giro isn't going to be the same as an eigth tour is it so you have to do the Tour right?
And if you are doing the Tour you will be working for Contador, right?
You've indicated that you'll do the classics except Paris Roubaix. What are your goals in these races?
Do you think the Belgians are particularly uninformed about cancer?
What's your favourite Cheryl Crow song?
Your kids are the most important thing in your life. You already sacrificed a lot during your cycling career by being away a lot. How are you reconciling that with your comeback?
When are you retiring for good? Doh, already asked that, but just making sure.......0 -
So, the question and answer session with Basso appears to have been dropped from the mag (rightly so too) and some bright spark thinks up this one?
One question: How much did he pay 'dr' Ferrari for 'training advice' and is this similar to the advice Fuentes was giving Shrek & co ?
I guess this is another 'interview' that wont take place ?
What next, q&a with Hamilton,Heras,Beltran, Landis...'HOW WE WON THE TOUR CLEAN?0 -
I'd like to ask what advice he has for those riding next years Etape, about how best to ride Mont Ventoux.0
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leguape wrote:SpaceJunk wrote:I have some more questions:
Is it just an urban myth, or did you really have someone monitor every webpage out in cyberspace referencing to you?
And if that is the case, do you still do so now?
I'd love to know what you're thinking with all these questions.
Er, Google alerts? http://www.google.com/alerts
Thanks leguape - was fully aware of Google Alerts. I just wonder if he really did bother employing someone to monitor it (or worse still, do it himself). I'd rate that in my top 5 worse jobs of all-time. 0 -
Employing someone to look for his name being mentioned? He may seem insecure and paranoid but surely not to that level...0
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drug abuse causes paranoia so why not?0
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1. Does it really bother you that 95% of all your competitors were found guilty of taking drugs but still people more associate you with drugs.
2. What does the Tour De France in terms of cycling mean to you, is this the only REAL race and all the other Pro races are add ons to fill the calendar, as more hatred/investigation is directed towards you than any other rider and after 1999 you only really concentrated on the TDF...so looks like a lot of others think in this way.
3. Does it really worry you when you read Cycling forums and see lots of pure hatred and sarcasm (and in some cases 'extreme scary' hatred ) getting hurled towards you.....or do you just think 'who are these people anyway'.0 -
Q. Did you cut a deal with Giro director Angelo Zomegnan to ride the Giro only if Flaminia were not invited?
Q. With regard rules being rules in the case of Simeoni how did you manage to get a start at the TDU? And who greased the wheels so you could start in the TDU?
Q. You may not ride the TdF due to the abuse from the french public? Even though you are entering Paris - Nice? Your right to Condemn the abuse from the french public but shouldn't you also condemn the abuse of fellow riders?0 -
DavMartinR wrote:
Q. With regard rules being rules in the case of Simeoni how did you manage to get a start at the TDU? And who greased the wheels so you could start in the TDU?
That's a fantastic question.0
