does anyone actually think lance is a nice guy?

moray_gub

jerry3571 wrote:

I

A man of extremes. Most bike riders are a bit nuts though so maybe he's good and bad with a little bit in between. I wouldn't like to be on the wrong side though.

-Jerry

Most cyclists tend to be the commom 5/8 guy who happens to ride a bike quickly why some people seem to think they are some sort of sporting demi-gods is mystyfying in the extreme.

Pokerface

I don't know him. Be he helped inspire me to get back on a bike. Whether they were his words or just his stories - I don't care.

His 'media personality' and 'dodgy history' aside - I like him and would be happy to sit and have a drink with him if the occasion ever arose. And I don't think it makes me a lesser person for feeling that way.

BikingBernie

A reason to say no...

Booknoise: What’s our biggest misconception about Armstrong?

Daniel Coyle: That he’s a nice guy. Lance is smart, charismatic, incredibly hardworking, and he does a lot of good works, especially within the cancer community. All that has led most of us to the misimpression that he’s saintlike or even cuddly. He’s not, by a long shot.

http://www.booknoise.net/armstrong/qanda.html

Another one...

L'EQUIPE
October 6, 2005, page 12.
English translation of "Ce qui s'est passe sur le Tour 2005". (An interview with the ex-USP team doctor, Prentice Steffen)

After the publication of his testimony about Jemison and Hamilton in an article in the Sunday Times of London in 2001 when he expressed his certainty that US Postal had begun doping, Dr. Steffen received a phone call from Armstrong in which he threatened him in the following terms (the same that he used against Greg LeMond and Mike Anderson, his former personal assistant): "I have a lot of money, good lawyers, and if you continue to talk, I'll destroy you."


And another...



The Sunday Times
May 27, 2007

Armstrong wasn’t a fan of the 32-year-old Italian (Simeoni had testified to Italian police that he had been given EPO and testosterone by Dr Michele Ferrari, one of Armstrong’s inner circle) and some heated words were exchanged as Simeoni was pressured to freewheel back to the pack, where he was abused by a number of riders.

“I was protecting the interests of the peloton,” Armstrong, who has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, explained to reporters. “The other riders were very grateful . . . I followed Simeoni. He is not a rider the peloton wants to be in the front group. All he does is attack the peloton, says bad things about the other riders and group in general. When I came back I had a lot of people patting me on the back.”

Two days later, shortly after the start of the final stage to Paris, Simeoni attacked again. “He threatened to ruin my career,” Simeoni told L’Equipe, the French sports newspaper, “so I attacked to show that I wasn’t going to be intimidated by him. When I was caught, Armstrong organised a chorus with [Filippo] Pozzato, [Daniele] Nardello and others and they started abusing me, ‘Bastard! Bastard!’ They humiliated me.”

And another...

The way he dumped Sheryl Crow a few months after announcing they were to be married, and little more than a week before she entered hospital for emergency treatment for breast cancer... as if he was unaware of the problem she was facing when they announced their split. And this from the 'patron saint' of cancer!

As Armstrong's now deleted (no surprise there given the actions of Armstrong's team of legal rotweillers) page on dikipedia put it...

"married Kristin Richard in 1998. After bearing him three children, caring for them while he spent up to half a year, every year, training in Spain, and then supporting him through major illness and recovery, Armstrong rewarded his wife by dumping her for singer-songwriter Cheryl Crow. He subsequently broke off his engagement to Ms. Crow after she was diagnosed with cancer. That, apparently, was too much of a downer for him."