Lance,not about the team ?

dennisn

frenchfighter wrote:

Pokerface wrote:

If you want to talk about 'great' cyclists in this Tour, look no further than someone like Big George Hincapie.

Busted collarbone, but refuses to get it x-rayed because he knows they'll have to pull him out of the final 4 days of the Tour. So he rides with it broken - and he's on the front, pulling like a diesel locomotive, right into the last corner in Paris, just so his 'boy' can have it a little bit easier to the finish line.

To me, that is greatness.

Yeah tough stuff old George, just like Tyler Hamilton.

Here is a picture for your desktop background:

Creepy post.

deejay

afx237vi wrote:

He went away, people began to talk about cycling instead of Lance Armstrong. A gentle peace descended over the land of internet-forum-world. People watched bike racing and talked with civility.

He came back... and look what happened.

Well almost afx, because the Drug issue has never left the forum but I agree that in the Main it has been much nicer.
Now the Riff/Raff have returned to try to persuade us that this "Freak" is some kind of great rider.
They had not heard of him 8/9 years ago but we knew him since 1992 as that Loud Mouthed Texan.

This Thread is --- Lance,not about the team ?
so he says there is no I in Team but there is an "A" and we all know who that is.

This so called great has never won a "Monument". - Zilch - Zero - Nil - 00
Other GT winners have

Merckx won 19
Coppi ............9
Kelly...............9
Bartali............7
Binda.............6
Hinault...........5
Bobet.............4
Gimondi........4
Don't worry about World Championships as this group won several of them.
Remember, Zilch,Zero, Nil, 00, but a part time Freak that made good on Cancer.

I am reminded by the mention of Binda that the Giro organisers did pay him not to start as that would give other riders a chance for glory.

afx237vi

deejay wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

He went away, people began to talk about cycling instead of Lance Armstrong. A gentle peace descended over the land of internet-forum-world. People watched bike racing and talked with civility.

He came back... and look what happened.

Well almost afx, because the Drug issue has never left the forum but I agree that in the Main it has been much nicer.

<snip>

Fair point, the doping conversations will always divide people, but LA even stokes them up a few notches more. People are always capable of talking about Ullrich or Vinokourov without it descending into a slanging match.

Maybe on German cycling forums there are arguments about Ullrich, I don't know.

frenchfighter

OLDEST WINNER: Firmin Lambot, BEL in 1922, 36 years

dennisn

frenchfighter wrote:

OLDEST WINNER: Firmin Lambot, BEL in 1922, 36 years

Never underestimate the power of old age and treachery.

andyp

Fausto Coppi: "Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."

Not this year though, eh Lance?

dennisn

andyp wrote:

Fausto Coppi: "Age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."

Not this year though, eh Lance?

Didn't realize that's who said that.

jamlala

frenchfighter wrote:

JamLala wrote:

as a newbie to cycling

Maybe in a couple of years you will understand why Contador is great.

I'll resist the urge to write a reason why I think you find him great, but suffice to say....ok. I have to say having read the LA autobiog (which anyone should read) I did find it pretty inspirational. So you won't convince me that LA isn't great, but I'll watch this space.....

frenchfighter

JamLala wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

JamLala wrote:

as a newbie to cycling

Maybe in a couple of years you will understand why Contador is great.

I'll resist the urge to write a reason why I think you find him great, but suffice to say....ok. I have to say having read the LA autobiog (which anyone should read) I did find it pretty inspirational. So you won't convince me that LA isn't great, but I'll watch this space.....

Maybe if you had read some of my posts on the subject you would understand why I think Lance isn't as great as people make him out and why Contador is already greater.

Once you have read more than an autobiography, seen Dodgeball and seen You, Me and Dupree then you may have a different opinion.

robmanic1

frenchfighter wrote:

Maybe if you had read some of my posts on the subject you would understand why I think Lance isn't as great as people make him out and why Contador is already greater.

....or, you could just stick hot pins in your eyes

Gazzaputt

frenchfighter wrote:

Maybe if you had read some of my posts on the subject you would understand why I think Lance isn't as great as people make him out and why Contador is already greater.

Do you run Contador's fan club?

frenchfighter

Hey Lala, this is one book you should read:

L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong

frenchfighter

He has a new book out about his 'comeback'. It's not about the team.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Comeback-2-0-Up ... 1439173141



Something else occured to me...if he was promoting cancer awareness, why didn't he have a vehicle in the publicity caravan throwing out wristbands or other related products?

dennisn

frenchfighter wrote:

Hey Lala, this is one book you should read:

L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong

Why would YOU read anything about LA? Seems very odd.

frenchfighter

Very simple. In order to have a balanced and informed opinion you read what there is about someone/something, bad or good. You weigh up and analyse the arguments and facts then form or adjust your opinion.

frenchfighter

I hope you people have had enough sources for people backing Contador now.

Haimar Zubeldia says:
A estas alturas, lo que diga yo de Contador sólo va a servir para afirmar lo bueno que es. Cada carrera que estoy con él alucino más. En Contador todo es bueno. En la montaña no tiene rival. En Verbier me sorprendió el tiempo que sacó en los seis kilómetros finales. Al terminar las etapas iba habitación por habitación para darte las gracias por el trabajo.
Translation: This means that, each night, at the end of each stage Contador was going room to room giving thanks to teammates.

frenchfighter

"Paolo Savoldelli has revealed that Johan Bruyneel’s arrival at Astana was enough to prompt him to leave"

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... yneel.html

jamlala

frenchfighter wrote:

JamLala wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

JamLala wrote:

as a newbie to cycling

Maybe in a couple of years you will understand why Contador is great.

I'll resist the urge to write a reason why I think you find him great, but suffice to say....ok. I have to say having read the LA autobiog (which anyone should read) I did find it pretty inspirational. So you won't convince me that LA isn't great, but I'll watch this space.....

Maybe if you had read some of my posts on the subject you would understand why I think Lance isn't as great as people make him out and why Contador is already greater.

Once you have read more than an autobiography, seen Dodgeball and seen You, Me and Dupree then you may have a different opinion.

I have read many of your posts on AC v LA, and like of what is read on these sites is predominately hearsay. I've seen Y, M & D - not Dodgeball granted, but they are films? How will my opinion alter based on a film? I'm no AC lover as in my mind he has descended to LA's 'level' by criticising in the press etc., but also I'm no LA lover in particular. But HIS name attracts funds to cancer research etc., and how anyone can say that is a bad thing is beyond me.

knedlicky

frenchfighter wrote:

Something else occured to me...if he was promoting cancer awareness, why didn't he have a vehicle in the publicity caravan throwing out wristbands or other related products?

There was a vehicle which was selling Livestrong armbands as well as some TdF items like T-shirts, etc. I didn't see anyone around me either buy an armband or be wearing one already, but did see a few people buying TdF T-shirts.

nicensleazy

I have always admired Lance until this years Tour. I see a different side to the guy. When watching the Tour de France update at 7pm every evening, when interviewing Lance he was always banging on how he had 7 yellow jerseys in the wardrobe......every interview. I think the icing on the cake was on the podium in Paris, Lance, grow up!

emadden

knedlicky wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Something else occured to me...if he was promoting cancer awareness, why didn't he have a vehicle in the publicity caravan throwing out wristbands or other related products?

There was a vehicle which was selling Livestrong armbands as well as some TdF items like T-shirts, etc. I didn't see anyone around me either buy an armband or be wearing one already, but did see a few people buying TdF T-shirts.

There was a nike car giving out yellow "Live strong" chalk which I happily saw a number of spectators use to write some no so encouraging words for droppedstrong.

For Nike the Livestrong brand is just a money making scam

rockmount

emadden wrote:

droppedstrong ??

WTF does that make the other 177 riders in the tour Einstein ?? :roll:

DB100

Well I'll say only this, my mum died of cancer in March this year. Anyone who dedicates time and effort to help defeat this terrible disease is ok by me. If his fame/self publicity helps generate interest and raise money then good for him. It's so typical of british mentality to slate someone who achieves what he has. He's a winner and I'm sure 3rd stung him. So stop bitching and ask yourself, what have you done for the benefit of others. He has a great legacy and without doubt, has been a fantastic competitor over the years.
Nuff said

BikingBernie

emadden wrote:

For Nike the Livestrong brand is just a money making scam

One might even say 'For anyone with a commercial interest in it the Livestrong brand is just a money making scam'.

DB100

Just how much did Geldof make as a result of Liveaid and that T**T Bonio from U2.
There are commercial interests in every walk of life, drug companies don't develop drugs for altruistic reasons they want to make money, it's a shi**y world we live in. But if his foundation makes even one life better or bearable, good!!!

BikingBernie

DB100 wrote:

Just how much did Geldof make as a result of Liveaid and that T**T Bonio from U2.

I don't know. Tell me. If they did make anything I am sure that they could have made a lot more if they had thought of setting up a commercial money-making venture on the back of the Liveaid thing, an equivalent of Armstrong's livestrong.org / livestrong.com setup.

DB100

Well Geldof earns on the speaking circuit, and U2 had three or four albums in the US top ten days after live aid. So did they do it entirely for altruistic reasons? Maybe/Maybe not, could it be argued that they have benefited large numbers of poor? probably. So commercially they appear to have done OK whilst raising awareness and money. So there may be aspects of Livestrong that people may not like, but surely it is the core message and end result that counts. I don't believe that LA would be associated with an organisation whose sole aim would be to make money from a disease that almost killed him.

st68

as far as the media is concerned lance is the only cyclist gettin sick off seeing his face on everything its getting boring as for his attitude towards contador it stinks an sums up what a bad loser he is like a spoiled kid sulking its never pretty in an adult its sad & pathetic

rockmount

st68 wrote:

as far as the media is concerned lance is the only cyclist gettin sick off seeing his face on everything its getting boring as for his attitude towards contador it stinks an sums up what a bad loser he is like a spoiled kid sulking its never pretty in an adult its sad & pathetic

Have you tried this ?

BikingBernie

What makes me uneasy is the way 'charitable goodwill' is used by companies to further their strictly commercial ends. Sure, there is a charitable aspect to the livestrong.org / livestrong.com brand but there is also a very big commercial one. Often in such set ups it seems that what really matters, the bottom line as they say, is the way the brand is able to generate corporate profits and keep the board in fat pay checks. A good example of this is Nike’s exploitation of Armstrong’s image. Similarly, Coca-Cola is one of the biggest donators to charitable causes in the world, but that giving represents a tiny percentage of the gross profits and is doubtlessly regarded as being a commercially justifiable part of their marketing / advertising / PR budget.

Perhaps such integration of charity into commerce (or as the cynic might have it, the exploitation of charitable goodwill for commercial ends) fits naturally into US way of doing things where 'business' dominates all. However to me it is akin to schools accepting 'branded' learning materials and Coke machines into class.