In article <[email hidden]>, "Kurgan Gringioni"
Quoted message said:"Nev Shea" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:jean-yves hervé <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:
Quoted message said:on French TV, less than 5 minutes after the race, he gave a very nice and gracious interview
(in very good french), gave credit to Ullrich, said the expected "too early to tell, still in
yellow" reply to the idiotic questions. All in all, I am quite impressed by his gracious,
smiling, and friendly attitude so far. It's the first time in 3 years that I watch the TdF on
French TV, and I can hardly believe it is the person as the obnoxious guy who won in 1998. I
am no Lance fan by any means (been a Jan fan since 1996), but this year, Armstrong's behavior
has been quite admirable so far (can't say for the last couple of years). I actually find
miself liking the guy despite miself :-)
Thanks for posting this. I'd like to know if your perceptions have been influenced by the French
press this year. The reports we've heard in the past have been that the French press has taken
every opportunity to smear and criticize Armstrong; are they being less critical this year, or
maybe even positive from caught up in the 100 years celebrations and all that?
He has gotten more relaxed and less paranoid in his dealing with the press.
Indeed, he looks much more relaxed, very confident when interviewed in french. He is smiling, making
jokes. My perception is not affected much by the french press because I live in the USA 330
days/year.
I think that several think contributed to getting Lance's relation to start on the wrong foot, back
in 1999 (of course, this is all a personal opinion, not the Truth, coming down from the skies). It's
not the language thing, because Indurain and Ullrich don't speak french either.
1. Lance, because he had not participated to the 1998 Tour completely misjudged the effect of the
Festina affair, all the mud dragged day after day. Particularly coming right after Pantani being
kicked from the Giro, questions about doping *had* to be asked, and his reaction to them was
stupid, boorish, and quite frankly suspicious. I understand that he took the questions as a form
of attack, an invasion, but frankly they were quite tame compared to the ones that journalists
were asking Riis, Ullrich, and Jalabert one year earlier.
2. I wrote that language was not an issue, but one thing was: Lance never smiled. Ullrich did not
speak french, but he seemed to be enjoying himself, smiling during interviews. Lance always kept
the same straight "hard" face.
3. Cycling takes pride itself on being the sport whose stars are the most accessible. There is no
other sport where you will see fans touch their stars right before, after, and even during the
competition. Armstrong came out in 1999 as the distant one, would ignore fans, disappear right
after the race, give very few interviews, etc.
4. Even when he bothered to give interviews, they, well... sucked. He just came out as an arrogant,
not very interesting, jerk.
As I wrote in my previous post, my memories of Armstrong interviews on French TV dated back from
2000 (the last time I went back in France for summer), and I am really amazed at the change. Since
the French journalists don't seem to be surprised, I can only assume that this has been a gradual
change, in which both sides have learn to appreciate each other.
Regards,
jyh.
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jean-yves herve' /\ Department of Computer Science \/ e-mail --> [email hidden] and Statistics /\
University of Rhode Island \/ Tel. --> (401) 874-4400 Kingston, RI 02881-0816 /\ Fax. --> (401)
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