so what has armstrong actually added to the giro?

leguape

2 million is small beer for the rights revenue and press and PR the Giro's got as a result of him being there.

petejuk

He's currently 12th. Love him or loathe him, he is racing at a high level. I would suggest he is approaching his best form this year. I still think he hasn't yet got the legs to be a GC contender but its coming. In so far as contribution goes, I agree, he hasn't done much more than race. I think we all expect more from him given the amount the press latches onto him and the fact that he wants to raise his livestrong profile. It would be nice if everyone ignored him and let him get on with riding. I think it would really rile him if the press left him alone. Who knows, maybe he'd have to win something to get his livestrong profile lifted?

pb21

''People like him are quite stupid thinking they can bend the will of the world''

I think you will find, to a certain extent, he has. He is not stupid, far from it.

The more I see of Armstrong racing the more I like him. I like his personality, I like his ruthlessness, I like his determination. It wouldn't be too appropriate in a everyday run of the mill society, but this is sport.

I will add that I am as sure as I can be about anything that his comeback is a clean one.

iainf72

pb21 wrote:

I will add that I am as sure as I can be about anything that his comeback is a clean one.

Awfully curious what would make you say that?

csp

He certainly does make sure that he is clean before he gets tested. What other reasons would he have for taking a shower before one?

mididoctors2

Adversity builds character.
Success can develope arrogance.

eh

Is LA going that well? After all Michael Rogers is 5 minutes up on him and he's hardly set the world alight in the past. Plus I suspect Sastre and Basso (Menchov ?) are to a large degree are treating the race as LA is, ie a hard training session for the TDF with the added bonus of a possible podium or stage. OK LA didnt have the best run into the race but I'd be surprised if the collarbone kept him off the bike for that long.

Has LA added to the race I dunno, but he certainly won't make up for all the years he snubbed it.

greeny12

cougie wrote:

Oh yes - deffo worth the 2 mill for the 'I will crush you little Prince' remark.

That must be my all time favourite !

Sorry folks, I must have missed this - what was this all about???

FOAD

greeny12 wrote:

cougie wrote:

Oh yes - deffo worth the 2 mill for the 'I will crush you little Prince' remark.

That must be my all time favourite !

Sorry folks, I must have missed this - what was this all about???

The day after Cunego ("the little prince") told the press that the riding was "too fast", suggesting that the leaders were doping, Armstrong rode alongside Cunego, told him he was a naughty boy and said, "I will crush you, little prince".

Corroburated by other riders...whom likened this childishness to a cartoon character. Could we see Lance providing the voice over for the villain in Shrek 4?

As the cleanest guy in sports, it does make me chuckle that Lance goes out of his way to persecute those who speak out against doping and brands them as "trying to destroy the sport" etc.

dennisn

Moray Gub wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

I'm all for his comeback and follow his every move - but it IS made difficult by his refusal to speak with the press at times. .

and yet some of the people criticisisng that especially in here are the most vehement critics of the over exposure he gets.............they are getting their wish regarding him not getting so much press exposure and when they get this they complain about him not speaking to the press.............go figure!

+1

iainf72

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him. Not to cover the race. And then doesn't speak. Bit of an own goal?

It's fine covering him but when there's a blinking race on I don't need to see some guy going backwards.

On Monday, we didn't see any of Franco P. but a fair bit of Lance even before he dropped back for Levi.

kozzo

Added publicity to the event and this thread is one of the evidences...

blazing_saddles

Moray Gub wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

I'm all for his comeback and follow his every move - but it IS made difficult by his refusal to speak with the press at times. .

and yet some of the people criticisisng that especially in here are the most vehement critics of the over exposure he gets.............they are getting their wish regarding him not getting so much press exposure and when they get this they complain about him not speaking to the press.............go figure!

+2
I've enjoyed the silence, as it should all be about the Giro, at the moment.

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him.

"....he brings loads of..."? As in he pays their way and / or MAKES(or orders) them to come? As in all they have to do is be at his command? As in his word is law? You
WILL cover me or else? Makes sense to me.

iainf72

dennisn wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him.

"....he brings loads of..."? As in he pays their way and / or MAKES(or orders) them to come? As in all they have to do is be at his command? As in his word is law? You
WILL cover me or else? Makes sense to me.

No Den, that's not what I meant and you know it. Many journalists were there because of him and nothing to do with the racing.

dennisn

FOAD wrote:

greeny12 wrote:

cougie wrote:

Oh yes - deffo worth the 2 mill for the 'I will crush you little Prince' remark.

That must be my all time favourite !

Sorry folks, I must have missed this - what was this all about???

The day after Cunego ("the little prince") told the press that the riding was "too fast", suggesting that the leaders were doping, Armstrong rode alongside Cunego, told him he was a naughty boy and said, "I will crush you, little prince".

Corroburated by other riders....

So Lance is this big, mean, ogre of a bully? First off, he doesn't look that big and mean to me. Secondly, what's with Cunego? Why didn't he just tell Lance to "f**k off" or as I suggested earlier "punch his lights out"? Are all the riders scared of him? I don't see it.
Yet bunches of people on this forum can't stop talking about this "intimidater" or "bully".
If he was as bad as all of you say, someone would have "put his lights out" long ago.

dulldave

Dennis, what are you havering about man?

iainf72

dennisn wrote:

If he was as bad as all of you say, someone would have "put his lights out" long ago.

So people get their lights punched out in your line of work quite often then?

CyclingBantam

FOAD wrote:

greeny12 wrote:

cougie wrote:

Oh yes - deffo worth the 2 mill for the 'I will crush you little Prince' remark.

That must be my all time favourite !

Sorry folks, I must have missed this - what was this all about???

The day after Cunego ("the little prince") told the press that the riding was "too fast", suggesting that the leaders were doping, Armstrong rode alongside Cunego, told him he was a naughty boy and said, "I will crush you, little prince".

Corroburated by other riders...whom likened this childishness to a cartoon character. Could we see Lance providing the voice over for the villain in Shrek 4?

As the cleanest guy in sports, it does make me chuckle that Lance goes out of his way to persecute those who speak out against doping and brands them as "trying to destroy the sport" etc.

Have you got a source for this? I do see things of this ilk said quite often along with lines like Corroburated by other riders to back it up when in fact there is nothing to say anything of the sort actually happened.

I went up to the moon today ... loads of people were there...

seriously though, is there anything to actually back this up, please do forgive my sarcasm.

afx237vi

BenBlyth wrote:

Have you got a source for this? I do see things of this ilk said quite often along with lines like Corroburated by other riders to back it up when in fact there is nothing to say anything of the sort actually happened.

I went up to the moon today ... loads of people were there...

seriously though, is there anything to actually back this up, please do forgive my sarcasm.

http://www.juliandean.co.nz/diary.php

About one-third of the way down the page. New Zealanders are not big on permalinks (although looking at some of their rugby players, they are quite big on perms).

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

If he was as bad as all of you say, someone would have "put his lights out" long ago.

So people get their lights punched out in your line of work quite often then?

If they are as bad as you claim this Lance character is they probably would get their *ss beat on a weekly basis. Although, not at work in most cases. Yet, I do recall seeing a video of a rider flinging another rider into a fence and getting a suspension(I think).
Whereas in most jobs this would be cause for dismissal. So, Cunego could have taken a swing at him but didn't. So he plays head games? What's the big deal with that? It does
seem to be working though. He's got a bunch of people on this forum believing that he's
"one bad dude". None of you have been within a 100 miles of him yet are sure that he's
an uncaring brute and possibly an evil demon. Now that's what I call playing a head game
the right way. If that's what he's doing. That makes sense. Go out there and convince everyone that you're an *sshole.

robthehungrymonkey

Jeeeeeeeeeeeees

Same old, same old....

Whatever he says/does, people moan...

thomasmc

He is riding better that I expected in the Giro! If he has not peaked he is a possibility for a podium place in Paris!

robmanic1

robthehungrymonkey wrote:

Jeeeeeeeeeeeees

Same old, same old....

Whatever he says/does, people moan...

I was thinking the same thing, but then I looked at the post heading, what did I expect?

dennisn

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him.

"....he brings loads of..."? As in he pays their way and / or MAKES(or orders) them to come? As in all they have to do is be at his command? As in his word is law? You
WILL cover me or else? Makes sense to me.

No Den, that's not what I meant and you know it. Many journalists were there because of him and nothing to do with the racing.

So that's Lances problem how? Is it his fault they follow him everywhere? Is it his fault that they write about him instead of the race leader? I don't understand your "issue".

Vino2007

i wouldn't be suprised if a lot of words get exchanged in races. i mean testosterone is pumping and therefore i cant see the big deal with the comment myself, other than people just wanting a way of attaching negativity to Lance Armstrong.

moray_gub

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him.

"....he brings loads of..."? As in he pays their way and / or MAKES(or orders) them to come? As in all they have to do is be at his command? As in his word is law? You
WILL cover me or else? Makes sense to me.

No Den, that's not what I meant and you know it. Many journalists were there because of him and nothing to do with the racing.

So what you saying here ? that he has to give interviews to the journos that are there because of him ............and how does he find that out does he go round the journos one by one and ask " hey dude are you here becuase of me, if so i gotta talk to you ? You guys want to have your cake and eat it with regards to Lance youve gotten what you wanted yet stil you aint happy............not so hidden agendas at play here.

moray_gub

FOAD wrote:

greeny12 wrote:

cougie wrote:

Oh yes - deffo worth the 2 mill for the 'I will crush you little Prince' remark.

That must be my all time favourite !

Sorry folks, I must have missed this - what was this all about???

The day after Cunego ("the little prince") told the press that the riding was "too fast", suggesting that the leaders were doping, Armstrong rode alongside Cunego, told him he was a naughty boy and said, "I will crush you, little prince".

Corroburated by other riders...whom likened this childishness to a cartoon character. Could we see Lance providing the voice over for the villain in Shrek 4?

As the cleanest guy in sports, it does make me chuckle that Lance goes out of his way to persecute those who speak out against doping and brands them as "trying to destroy the sport" etc.

As i understand it the alleged quote came about because they were fighting for position on approaches to a climb, but hey dont let the facts(such as they are ) get in the way eh

The Prodigy

Moray Gub wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

The issue is he brings loads of journalists to cover him.

"....he brings loads of..."? As in he pays their way and / or MAKES(or orders) them to come? As in all they have to do is be at his command? As in his word is law? You
WILL cover me or else? Makes sense to me.

No Den, that's not what I meant and you know it. Many journalists were there because of him and nothing to do with the racing.

So what you saying here ? that he has to give interviews to the journos that are there because of him ............and how does he find that out does he go round the journos one by one and ask " hey dude are you here becuase of me, if so i gotta talk to you ? You guys want to have your cake and eat it with regards to Lance youve gotten what you wanted yet stil you aint happy............not so hidden agendas at play here.

Its fair to say he will be criticised whatever he does.

moray_gub

afx237vi wrote:

seriously though, is there anything to actually back this up, please do forgive my sarcasm.

http://www.juliandean.co.nz/diary.php
[/quote]

Where is the corraboration from other riders though which was what FOAD has claimed ? We have all seen tha JD quote id like to see it from other sources espcially Cunego himself. Not saying it wasnt said but nobody else seems to be mentioning it.