Grumpy Sastre

iainf72

Who could he be talkingabout?

ju5t1n

from my reading the article, he's talking about the media

ridgerider

You mean no-one is slowing down to give hima a chance to wear the yellow jersey?

Fastlad

iainf72 wrote:

Who could he be talkingabout?

He's obviously talking about the man you love to hate! I do agree with sastre though. He is a previous tour winner and it's almost as though it never happened such is the hype surrounding Armstrong and Contador. Sastre is a quiet modest rider and unfortunately races as big as the TDF need personalities and BIG ego's!

gabriel959

He is also referring to the Spanish press - i read that every day and is all Armstrong and Contador and may be Cavendish / Schelk a bit but he is gone and to be honest it is a bit unfair, he is a great rider and who knows the race is not over yet!

frenchfighter

I'll be glad if he wins at Mt Ventoux as he is an admirable guy.

I guess for yesterday it was the fact he doesn't like quick starts to climbs (which favours Andy and Alberto) which is why he was distanced to begin with and made amazing time to get back.

Another reason why Lance's presence is negative - if he wasn't here, Sastre would get much more coverage, which he deserves.

And he is ridiculously stylish.

pottssteve

That Cervelo kit is awesome! I was eyeing it in a shop today but there's no way I'm paying 180 quid for bib shorts and jersey! :shock: Even if I did I wouldn't look as cool as Mr Sastre

GeorgeShaw

But even Sastre, ironically, believes there will be little chance of anyone beating Contador and Armstrong.

"There are only two riders to beat in this race, all the rest are already out," he said.

Ironically, surely he's referring to Contador and Schleck junior here.

SpaceJunk

Is Sastre in the Tour?

Wow.

Listening to Paul and Phil, I understood there was only 2 riders and another 180-odd to make up the numbers.

Le Commentateur

It's up to him to make the journalists take notice.

afx237vi

Le Commentateur wrote:

It's up to him to make the journalists take notice.

Yeah, by winning the Tour de France! Oh, wait, he already did.

Fastlad

Le Commentateur wrote:

It's up to him to make the journalists take notice.

Is that really you duffers? sounds like you....

nferrar

I like Sastre but he's done nothing so far in this year's TdF, why does he deserve more attention? Lance, love him or hate him, is a unique case when it comes to media attention - everyone else has had pretty much the attention they deserve depending on what they've done in the race.

dennisn

I'm sure he's right when he said that there are some that are "conspiring" to keep him from winning. Pretty much everyone out there is "conspiring" to keep someone else from winning and "conspiring" to get themselves, or a teammate, on the podium. Also you can't force people to respect you. They either will or they won't, but telling everyone you want and deserve this respect is about the quickest way to lose whatever you already have.

donrhummy

Some of what he says is valid, some is just because he's not doing well. He's right that coming in to the TDF he got no respect. Despite being the previous year's TDF winner, NO ONE in any media outlet gave him a chance to even make the podium. Also, ASO wouldn't let him wear the yellow jersey in stage 1. That's actually a very new thing and makes no sense. They always let the previous winner wear it if they want.

However, as for conspiring against him? I highly doubt any riders have wasted even a tiny bit of effiort making sure Sastre loses the tour. I think they're much more concerned about their own placings.

mandie

I think that the reason he was not allowed to wear yellow in Monaco is because the length of the stage was too long to be classed as a prologue and it was actually Stage 1 of the tour.
I think the last time tis happened was in 2000 at Futuroscope and Lance Armstrong (1999 winner ijust in case any one didn't know) definatly raced that stage in his USP colours rather than yellow.
So I think the rule is if it is a prologue then the previous years jersy holders can wear their jersies, if it is a fully fledged stage then you wear team or national champions colours.

timoid.

He's dead right. Don't think he'll beat Contador on the Ventoux though.

drenkrom

The yellow jersey thing was absolutely by-the-book. The stage was not a prologue, but a true stage. It happened to Armstrong in 2000 (when he also complained before someone explained it to him) and in 2005, IIRC. As for media not giving him a chance to make the podium, they were right, weren't they? It was pretty obvious he'd never have won last year on any team but CSC-Saxo, and that his team this year was not comparable at all. It may have seemed slightly less than respectful, but the race has proven it was right.

I love Sastre as a rider, I love his team and the way they ride, but poor Carlos has never been at his best with a mic shoved in his face, and this is another proof of that, I think.

Whatever, Carlos, let the legs do the talking and your fans will always respect you.

frenchfighter

More detailed info from Sastre:

"When I began I had no idea of where I would be. The other day I said that it would be difficult to win the Tour, but also that I hadn't been treated how I should have been, either by you (the Press) or by the race organisers. You haven't exactly taken away my hopes, but you have blatantly pushed me out of the race. Ever since Monaco I've noticed, if not a plot against me, certainly a feeling that you don't want me to win the Tour. I particularly got that feeling from certain riders"

"You created controversy between two riders and paid no attention to the others. The race is going just how you wanted it to. I've been left out of the limelight. The Tour wants to see a battle between two riders and it's not bothered about the rest. If the race is boring, it's because of everything that surrounds it; it's not an open race"

"It's all connected. If you're here, it's because there's interest. When there's a lack of respect towards certain riders, as is my case, I deserve more respect that I've been given. Now I can do what I want on my bike; no one's given me anything for free and I'm not here to please anyone"

"I had no pre-conceived idea about the race situation beforehand. If I'd been among the leaders and gone after Contador yesterday they would have said that I was boycotting the Tour for a fellow Spaniard. I'm not trying to do anyone any harm. I learned quite enough from what happened with Caisse D'Epargne in 2006. (The team was accused of not pulling in a breakaway in which Pereiro was involved). You've got your idol, and he's a great rider, but that's what you wanted and you've managed it"

Sastre stated that although he is "on holiday", he hopes to win on Mont Ventoux. "I'll try my best to win on the Ventoux. On 9 September an event is to be held on Mont Ventoux to raise money for cancer research. It's a Dutch initiative and I'm really looking forward to it"

"I've taken decisions accordingly. I'm not sad, I'm not throwing in the towel and I'm not resigned. I'm like the chest of solutions; it seems that I'm the one who has to take the initiative. The people who've made this race so boring will have to get it back on track. At first I was treated very badly. Now I'm doing what I feel like on my bike, inside and outside this race", he said.
Sastre was asked what the Spanish press had done to him. "You haven't done anything to me.The press have gone from informing to assessing. They judge people without knowing them and speculate about many things", he answered.

rockmount

Carlos ?? without Bjarne ?? ... Bjarne didn't show enough respect either .. apparently ??

ms_tree

frenchfighter wrote:

More detailed info from Sastre:

"When I began I had no idea of where I would be. The other day I said that it would be difficult to win the Tour, but also that I hadn't been treated how I should have been, either by you (the Press) or by the race organisers. You haven't exactly taken away my hopes, but you have blatantly pushed me out of the race. Ever since Monaco I've noticed, if not a plot against me, certainly a feeling that you don't want me to win the Tour. I particularly got that feeling from certain riders"

"You created controversy between two riders and paid no attention to the others. The race is going just how you wanted it to. I've been left out of the limelight. The Tour wants to see a battle between two riders and it's not bothered about the rest. If the race is boring, it's because of everything that surrounds it; it's not an open race"

"It's all connected. If you're here, it's because there's interest. When there's a lack of respect towards certain riders, as is my case, I deserve more respect that I've been given. Now I can do what I want on my bike; no one's given me anything for free and I'm not here to please anyone"

"I had no pre-conceived idea about the race situation beforehand. If I'd been among the leaders and gone after Contador yesterday they would have said that I was boycotting the Tour for a fellow Spaniard. I'm not trying to do anyone any harm. I learned quite enough from what happened with Caisse D'Epargne in 2006. (The team was accused of not pulling in a breakaway in which Pereiro was involved). You've got your idol, and he's a great rider, but that's what you wanted and you've managed it"

Sastre stated that although he is "on holiday", he hopes to win on Mont Ventoux. "I'll try my best to win on the Ventoux. On 9 September an event is to be held on Mont Ventoux to raise money for cancer research. It's a Dutch initiative and I'm really looking forward to it"

"I've taken decisions accordingly. I'm not sad, I'm not throwing in the towel and I'm not resigned. I'm like the chest of solutions; it seems that I'm the one who has to take the initiative. The people who've made this race so boring will have to get it back on track. At first I was treated very badly. Now I'm doing what I feel like on my bike, inside and outside this race", he said.
Sastre was asked what the Spanish press had done to him. "You haven't done anything to me.The press have gone from informing to assessing. They judge people without knowing them and speculate about many things", he answered.

Well he must be mad 'cos he doesn't usually say a lot! And that's a lot! Good on yer, mate!

gabriel959

He has had a pretty virulent answer from Fernando Llamas (a well known spanish sports journalist) in el mundo.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/20 ... 00198.html

Fastlad

gabriel959 wrote:

He has had a pretty virulent answer from Fernando Llamas (a well known spanish sports journalist) in el mundo.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/20 ... 00198.html

I'm sorry but i don't speak much spanish..........up here in Glasgow


...but i'm sure it's a good read!

gabriel959

You could always Google Translate though