T
Tispectrum
Guest
Merckx lambasts Armstrong for riding on high horse
The warm ties between Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx and Lance Armstrong look to have coolled
severely following Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, the fifth leg of the World Cup. And Merckx,
who won five Tour titles in a career that included three world titles and seven victories in the
Milan-SanRemo, feels Armstrong - following his 20th place in a race he had claimed he would win -
has "overestimated" himself. "He was supposed to sail to victory. To have listened to him, it was a
formality and his rivals never even had a look in," Merckx, who is normally a close confidante of
Armstrong's, told Tuesday's L'Equipe newspaper. "The fact is, he failed. I think he overestimated
himself. Armstrong was not as strong as he thought. In any case, he didn't impress me." Merckx's
outburst was given momentum by an incident which occured in the final stages of the one-day classic
when Armstrong sailed past Merckx's son Axel, who rides for the Belgian Lotto team, on the Tilff
climb. Merckx junior had made a futile breakaway attempt, and Armstrong's apparent acceleration as
he rode past the 30-year-old rider was seen as a sign of disrespect. For Merckx, who was watching as
a television consultant, the gesture - similar to the one Armstrong dealt out to rival Jan Ullrich
during the climb to Alpe d'Huez in the 2001 Tour - was enough to alter his opinion on the man to
whom he has been a close friend since the American contracted cancer in 1996. Merckx added:
"Armstrong did the same thing to Axel during the Sydney Olympic Games. He came up behind him with
200 metres to go to finally finish fourth. "I can't understand his logic. By leaving Axel in his
trail on Sunday, he effectively ended his own hopes of winning. Armstrong rode badly." Armstrong,
having twice finished runner-up, looked en route to winning his first Liege-Bastogne-Liege - the
oldest of the one-day classics having first been held in 1892 - after chasing down Axel Merckx in
the final 20 kilometres. However the 31-year-old American was engulfed in the chasing peloton in the
last five kilometres - and to make matters worse he was outdone by former team-mate Tyler Hamilton
(CSC), who became the first American to win the "doyenne". Armstrong's failure to win the race -
having trained specifically for the victory all week - will be seen by some as a blow to his Tour
preparations in July. However, despite Merckx's opinion that Armstrong has lost some of his
humility, the 57-year-old Belgian feels his bid to equal Spaniard Miguel Indurain's five-in-a-row in
July has not been compromised. "I think he (Armstrong) is surrounded by people who are always
telling him how great he is that he believes he can say and do everything. "And, while he's American
and it's in his mentality to believe all that, that's more dangerous than he thinks. "As for the
Tour, that's something else. But his team might cause him a few problems. (Viatcheslav) Ekimov (37
years old) is not getting any younger and (George) Hincapie is having trouble getting back from his
injuries. "That said, Armstrong is still Armstrong. When it comes to the Tour, he's got the
advantage."
-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----
The warm ties between Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx and Lance Armstrong look to have coolled
severely following Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, the fifth leg of the World Cup. And Merckx,
who won five Tour titles in a career that included three world titles and seven victories in the
Milan-SanRemo, feels Armstrong - following his 20th place in a race he had claimed he would win -
has "overestimated" himself. "He was supposed to sail to victory. To have listened to him, it was a
formality and his rivals never even had a look in," Merckx, who is normally a close confidante of
Armstrong's, told Tuesday's L'Equipe newspaper. "The fact is, he failed. I think he overestimated
himself. Armstrong was not as strong as he thought. In any case, he didn't impress me." Merckx's
outburst was given momentum by an incident which occured in the final stages of the one-day classic
when Armstrong sailed past Merckx's son Axel, who rides for the Belgian Lotto team, on the Tilff
climb. Merckx junior had made a futile breakaway attempt, and Armstrong's apparent acceleration as
he rode past the 30-year-old rider was seen as a sign of disrespect. For Merckx, who was watching as
a television consultant, the gesture - similar to the one Armstrong dealt out to rival Jan Ullrich
during the climb to Alpe d'Huez in the 2001 Tour - was enough to alter his opinion on the man to
whom he has been a close friend since the American contracted cancer in 1996. Merckx added:
"Armstrong did the same thing to Axel during the Sydney Olympic Games. He came up behind him with
200 metres to go to finally finish fourth. "I can't understand his logic. By leaving Axel in his
trail on Sunday, he effectively ended his own hopes of winning. Armstrong rode badly." Armstrong,
having twice finished runner-up, looked en route to winning his first Liege-Bastogne-Liege - the
oldest of the one-day classics having first been held in 1892 - after chasing down Axel Merckx in
the final 20 kilometres. However the 31-year-old American was engulfed in the chasing peloton in the
last five kilometres - and to make matters worse he was outdone by former team-mate Tyler Hamilton
(CSC), who became the first American to win the "doyenne". Armstrong's failure to win the race -
having trained specifically for the victory all week - will be seen by some as a blow to his Tour
preparations in July. However, despite Merckx's opinion that Armstrong has lost some of his
humility, the 57-year-old Belgian feels his bid to equal Spaniard Miguel Indurain's five-in-a-row in
July has not been compromised. "I think he (Armstrong) is surrounded by people who are always
telling him how great he is that he believes he can say and do everything. "And, while he's American
and it's in his mentality to believe all that, that's more dangerous than he thinks. "As for the
Tour, that's something else. But his team might cause him a few problems. (Viatcheslav) Ekimov (37
years old) is not getting any younger and (George) Hincapie is having trouble getting back from his
injuries. "That said, Armstrong is still Armstrong. When it comes to the Tour, he's got the
advantage."
-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----