does anyone actually think lance is a nice guy?

VinceEager
VinceEager Posts: 247
edited January 2010 in Pro race
there is plenty to admire about him as a rider and as a champion (doping questions / doubts aside) but do any of his fans think much of him as a character?
i'm just wondering because he is such a 'personality' in cycling but the impression i get is that he's not a guy to make an enemy of.
...the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon...
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Comments

  • Paulie W
    Paulie W Posts: 1,492
    HIs Mum...?
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I'm sure his friends and family think he's a nice guy. He's done nice things like go for rides with the fans and all that.

    He thinks I'm a negative unpleasant person, so I'll hold the same opinion of him.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I don't really think it matters. I am quite happy with sports stars being flawed in other aspects of their personality, in fact some degree of sociopathy and/or OCD seems to be a prerequisite for achievement at the very highest levels. The likes of Chris Hoy may well be the freak, as he seems like a well rounded individual! (Though only his closest people would really know).
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    I'll give Lance the benefit of the doubt until I know him personally. Like I tend to do with most people in the spotlight who I know a lot about , but don't really know.

    He's one hell of a bike rider though!
    Ben

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  • PinkBianchi
    PinkBianchi Posts: 63
    There's something about him that makes me feel a bit sick. It might be the fact that he desperately tries to be a very nice guy, and no, I don't think he really is.
  • northernneil
    northernneil Posts: 1,549
    until you actually meet and talk to someone I never judge people,

    even Jordan and Peter Andre types ..... I dont know them just from seeing them in an artificial environment on TV - it would be the same with Lance or even public enemy No. 1 Ricco
  • GyatsoLa
    GyatsoLa Posts: 667
    I've met a few people who are on the 'outer circle' so to speak. They all say he can be very generous and charming to meet and is genuinely popular with cycling people around Austin. But he also likes to act as the big man locally - making a big fuss of paying for dinners in local cycling events and things like that. He is also of course notoriously ruthless and vindictive to people who he perceives as being disloyal. I think there is something of the charming bully about him - capable of playing the nice guy when needed, but also playing Mr. Hard also when needed. I imagine only a handful of people close to him know which side is genuine (or maybe neither or... or both... or whatever).
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,549
    iainf72 wrote:
    He thinks I'm a negative unpleasant person, so I'll hold the same opinion of him.

    You wear that badge with pride, dontcha? :wink:
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    I would guess that most of his friends are cycling or cancer related. He gets tons of coverage at the races and it seems that he talks to everyone, everyone talks to him, and
    smiles and laughter are all around. I wouldn't call this someone who is hated by all.
    Also, if you want to win the TDF you're going to have to have more than a few people around you whom you like and they like you. And not just necessarily just on your own team. Making enemies in any occupation is not the best of strategies. Then again making enemies period is not the best of ideas.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    dennisn wrote:
    I would guess that most of his friends are cycling or cancer related. He gets tons of coverage at the races and it seems that he talks to everyone, everyone talks to him, and
    smiles and laughter are all around. I wouldn't call this someone who is hated by all.
    Also, if you want to win the TDF you're going to have to have more than a few people around you whom you like and they like you. And not just necessarily just on your own team. Making enemies in any occupation is not the best of strategies. Then again making enemies period is not the best of ideas.

    But the question isn't about whether he is likeable or not - just whether or not he is a nice bloke. Plenty of dictators have been likeable; as you imply, to be powerful relies on some support. Some people will support you as they want to bask in reflected glory, some because they are scared not to and some just because they like powerful people. Doesn't make them nice though.

    TBH, IMO it seems highly unlikely that he is a 'nice bloke' but you never quite know.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • Doobz
    Doobz Posts: 2,800
    my gran is 98 years old and she said these exact words..

    "I don't like the look of him. Its his eyes.. they look like he is up to something dodgy.."

    you gotta remember she is a bit senile but old people speak the truth no?

    Personally. I think he is a class A kock-sucker
    cartoon.jpg
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    andyp wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    He thinks I'm a negative unpleasant person, so I'll hold the same opinion of him.

    You wear that badge with pride, dontcha? :wink:

    You set him up, I knock him down.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Rolf F wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    I would guess that most of his friends are cycling or cancer related. He gets tons of coverage at the races and it seems that he talks to everyone, everyone talks to him, and
    smiles and laughter are all around. I wouldn't call this someone who is hated by all.
    Also, if you want to win the TDF you're going to have to have more than a few people around you whom you like and they like you. And not just necessarily just on your own team. Making enemies in any occupation is not the best of strategies. Then again making enemies period is not the best of ideas.

    But the question isn't about whether he is likeable or not - just whether or not he is a nice bloke. Plenty of dictators have been likeable; as you imply, to be powerful relies on some support. Some people will support you as they want to bask in reflected glory, some because they are scared not to and some just because they like powerful people. Doesn't make them nice though.

    TBH, IMO it seems highly unlikely that he is a 'nice bloke' but you never quite know.


    I think bunches of people have a preconceived idea of what he's like in person but I have always found that whatever opinions I've had of people(co-workers I thought I didn't like, etc.) went right out the door when I sat down and had a beer with them.
  • gabriel959
    gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    I personally think he is a kock and a bully. If that is what it takes to be succesful, I want to change race, to Klingon or something :)
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  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Doobz wrote:
    my gran is 98 years old and she said these exact words..

    "I don't like the look of him. Its his eyes.. they look like he is up to something dodgy.."

    you gotta remember she is a bit senile but old people speak the truth no?

    Personally. I think he is a class A kock-sucker

    Don't mean to argue with granny, but how's her vision holding up these days????
    Hate to say it, but isn't that profiling? :wink::wink: Sort of like, you look mid-eastern - therefore you are a bad person?

    As for old people speaking the truth, I can vouch for the fact that as you get older lying to people happens less and less. No real reason to.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Don't know him personally, so impossible to tell.

    All I've seen is a media image and read quotes from him. Meaningless without ever having spent enough time with him to make a full assessment.

    He may be a really nice chap, he may be a fool. He may feel the same about me but we're never going to find out...
  • dave milne
    dave milne Posts: 703
    Didn't Dan Coyle say something like "one of the most comon misperceptions of Lance Armstrong is that he's nice"?

    And he's a fan
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    dennisn wrote:

    I think bunches of people have a preconceived idea of what he's like in person but I have always found that whatever opinions I've had of people(co-workers I thought I didn't like, etc.) went right out the door when I sat down and had a beer with them.

    Perhaps you need to learn to thin slice better then Dennis? :wink:

    You're making the mistake of thinking your own experience counts as evidence in itself. If you sat down with a beer with someone, found him to be a nice bloke and then were shown a video of him battering an old lady and setting fire to an orphanage, would you still think he was a nice bloke?

    It's like that time I said hello to Vaughters in London and he ignored me. Do I think he's a swine because of it? No, not really. All the other evidence seems to indicate he's a nice bloke.

    And before someone accuses me of saying Lance beats up old ladies, I'm not.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    dave milne wrote:
    Didn't Dan Coyle say something like "one of the most comon misperceptions of Lance Armstrong is that he's nice"?

    And he's a fan


    ...but is he a friend?????
  • shinyhelmut
    shinyhelmut Posts: 1,364
    Doobz wrote:
    my gran is 98 years old and she said these exact words..

    "I don't like the look of him. Its his eyes.. they look like he is up to something dodgy.."

    you gotta remember she is a bit senile but old people speak the truth no?

    Personally. I think he is a class A kock-sucker

    Does your gran fancy a job with WADA? Or maybe AFLD? :lol:
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    iainf72 wrote:
    dennisn wrote:

    I think bunches of people have a preconceived idea of what he's like in person but I have always found that whatever opinions I've had of people(co-workers I thought I didn't like, etc.) went right out the door when I sat down and had a beer with them.

    Perhaps you need to learn to thin slice better then Dennis? :wink:

    You're making the mistake of thinking your own experience counts as evidence in itself. If you sat down with a beer with someone, found him to be a nice bloke and then were shown a video of him battering an old lady and setting fire to an orphanage, would you still think he was a nice bloke?

    It's like that time I said hello to Vaughters in London and he ignored me. Do I think he's a swine because of it? No, not really. All the other evidence seems to indicate he's a nice bloke.

    And before someone accuses me of saying Lance beats up old ladies, I'm not.

    .... would I still think....? No not at all. People can change their opinions can't they?
    You might think you hate LA, but that could change couldn't it? I might meet Lance, suck down a couple of beers with him, and decide that, hey, he's a nice guy. Two weeks later that could change. Same with all of us. Although the longer you know someone, the more involved you get with them and you're able to overlook minor faults for the greater good.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    He's probably alright if you take him away from competitive situations, which is the only place we see him. He's clearly ultra-competative and will do anything to win, and that's going to bring the worst out of him. Even press conferences and other interviews are part of the competition. He's done nothing that Alex Ferguson hasn't been doing for 20 years (except EPO perhaps).

    I've got a couple of friends who have played sport at a high level and when they're competing they're pretty unpleasant. But take them away from sport and they're the complete opposite - two of the politest, nicest people you could meet. The thing is both of them have said that they know that their 'sport' behaviour is out of order, but they just aren't able to stop it.

    Armstrong's probably the same and more.

    Or he could be a 24 carat a-hole. We just don't know.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    dennisn wrote:
    You might think you hate LA, but that could change couldn't it? I might meet Lance, suck down a couple of beers with him, and decide that, hey, he's a nice guy. Two weeks later that could change. Same with all of us. Although the longer you know someone, the more involved you get with them and you're able to overlook minor faults for the greater good.

    If someone did burn down orphanages or beat up old ladies would you *ever* decide they were nice?

    I wouldn't want to "suck down a beer" with Lance. Or Ivan Basso or any pro cyclist. I have no interest in meeting any of them.

    And for what it's worth, I don't hate Lance.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • VinceEager
    VinceEager Posts: 247
    RichN95 wrote:
    He's done nothing that Alex Ferguson hasn't been doing for 20 years (except EPO perhaps).

    :lol: quite
    ...the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon...
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    iainf72 wrote:
    dennisn wrote:
    You might think you hate LA, but that could change couldn't it? I might meet Lance, suck down a couple of beers with him, and decide that, hey, he's a nice guy. Two weeks later that could change. Same with all of us. Although the longer you know someone, the more involved you get with them and you're able to overlook minor faults for the greater good.

    I wouldn't want to "suck down a beer" with Lance. Or Ivan Basso or any pro cyclist. I have no interest in meeting any of them.

    Really???? I'm always up for new acquaintances. Whomever or whatever they may be.
  • vision267
    vision267 Posts: 149
    I quite like Basso,I think he is an interesting person and not at all afraid of Lance.As for the big man himself he is a bit of an asshole.My dad does not like him at all and he has only watched him a few times.

    My view of him is he is a bully,but all bullies are coward's.Alberto Contador did not back down from him and he really got my respect.However Lance Armstrong has got star quailty,and seem's to put the fear of god into some rider's.

    I wonder how he would have got on against the badger,they would have hated each other.
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    Given the ever increasing list of ex wives we can probably learn that he's not a model husband...
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • dulldave
    dulldave Posts: 949
    'Nice guy' and 'like' are a bit different though. I think he's a nice guy in some respects and not a nice guy in others.

    Do I like him? No, not really.

    Do I hate him? No, not really.
    Scottish and British...and a bit French
  • Rodrego Hernandez
    Rodrego Hernandez Posts: 1,436
    I've met him and ridden with him.

    He's OK but i didn't like him, not sure why! He has different persona for dealing with different people so I guess I could say that I didn't like that about him, he's a typical arrogant American. Does some good for cancer charities but I guess he needs something to do with his time.
  • pedro118118
    pedro118118 Posts: 1,102
    Off the bike, I'm sure he's popular with his friends and his family.
    On the bike, he does what he needs to do to get where he wants to be and that can be percieved as ruthless, focussed or driven depending on your opinion.

    In the wise words of Bob Sugar, "This isn't show-friends, it's show-business."

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