Contador - I Will Never Admire Armstrong - Page 4

I would say a lot of them were. He is the Tiger Woods of cycling and brings out the crowds and sponsors. But his presence doesn't make as much impact at the Tour, because the Tour is such a huge event to begin with. But you should have seen the crowd at a crit Lance did in California about two months ago. It was insane. 5 deep around the entire loop. Would anyone in the world have cared if Carlos Sastre were at that crit?!?!

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Lance Armstrong’s Last Words, August 10, 2007 - “We're proud of our record. We won eight Tours, a Vuelta, a Giro and other races and not one positive test," Armstrong said. “I’m not sure if there are many other teams who can say that right now. Couple that with our ethical record, despite all the gossip and nonsense that goes on.”

Ventoux is near Mediterrannee where a lot of "busy" people are at his period of the year. No doubt some of them prefered the shadow of the trees of Ventoux.
An other point is the recession, a lot of people stayed at home for their hollidays. When stages were in proximity, some of them went to the race, a free show. Many of them watched them on TV, that explain the increase of telespectators (8%)... I doubt that Lance is the main reason.

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6 +2 (according Ashenden) samples with EPO should have banned Lance Armstrong to start next TDF !

Miracles. Do you believe in them?

Ok some of dont like Lance, thats fine but Contador is a self centered asshat and you know it.....

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the crowds in America are only there because of the huge public relations machine that is behind LA. he has been imaged into an American hero and consequently Americans flock to see him.

if that criterium were held in Spain, i'd bet the crowds would turn out for Sastre for 2 reasons: a). cycling is a major European sport, b). support for Sastre.

as for the crowds drawn to events in which armstrong appears--when pope john paul ii came to america, he drew huge crowds as well. were those people all roman catholics? little concept known as the "cult of personality." great draw for event promoters and hot dog vendors, but what point does that prove for you? that armstrong is more popular than spoilt tuna fish? a flat tire? carlos sastre to a public that would be hard pressed to know the difference between a chain ring and class ring?

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"Kick over the statues and the tyrants die. Wave bye bye to their heroes with a hammer."
--The Redskins, Kick Over the Statues

When Armstrong raced here in Texas at the Tour de Gruene (in Nov 2008, a few months after he annouced his return) the crowds were not that big at all.

What struck me most about him; however, was that although the event was a local thing and there was never any doubt that he had this event in the bag, he didn't come off as friendly or that concerned about one guy who was a survivor (cancer had obviously hit his body hard from the looks of it) and treated him just like another one of 'those' guys he had to deal with as part of the Armstrong branding.

I'm not a fan of Alberto but I can understand his 'beef' with Armstrong. You just don't get a great feeling about him. Aside, i also have a lady friend who (along with her pals) was invited back to his place for a party one night (2-3 years ago) after being out and meeting him in a bar in Austin. Apparently he spend the whole time cracking on to married women.

Still, maybe I am just green with envy because he has so much money and can command what he wants (within reason!)

That's an insult to Tiger Woods, who is a genuine class act.

He pulled good crowds at the Tour down under in Adelaide at the start of the year. I think there was 150,000 people watching the final criterium. It was obvious he was the reason for the massive increase in interest at that race.

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Steve
CyclingForums.com

Yes there was a feud - with two great riders in the same team that was bound to happen. But they were keeping the personal stuff private, and Contador in particular went out of his way to say it was nonsense after the time trial. To change so drastically as soon as the race is over is not good for his image amongst other riders.

Yes the huge global interest this year was to see this seven time winner come out of retirement. He will be in the Tour of Ireland in a few weeks and that is going to be more interest in that than ever before. It's been great for cycling. Cycling fans are very pleased.

No, look at the crowd in Italy for the Giro. It's obviously about Lance.

What a load of Bollocks.

With respect.

This country has a long history in this sport and it had huge fanbase long before the uniballer said he'd appear here.

In fact Armstrongs announcement to appear at the Tour of Ireland, has had zero effect.

Quite the contrary in fact.
The tour has been reduced from five days to three days.

So you're talking rubbish.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Private? Probably you don't speak french, it was already known: here on TV, Cyril Guimard and a well-known reporter are saying that Contador has been great in that feud.

mms://a533.v55778.c5577.e.vm.akamaistream.net/7/533/5577/42c40fe4/lacinq.download.akamai.com/5577/internet/cdanslair/cdanslair_20090728.wmv

The funniest was Guimard speaking of the great champions, saying that they all have won Tour de France at 23 ! He never cites Armstrong's name.

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6 +2 (according Ashenden) samples with EPO should have banned Lance Armstrong to start next TDF !

Is Guimard doing media work these days?

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it" - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.