# Alexi Grewal Comeback



## fab4 (Jan 8, 2003)

I thought Alexi Grewal's come back attempt was a joke when I read it on velonews.com last year http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...ewal-is-deadly-serious-about-comeback_142905# . I guess he's really serious. He put his name on the composite team availability list for the 2011 Redlands Classic http://www.redlandsclassic.com/composite-racers-male/ . I hope a team will pick him up.


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## Alaska Mike (Sep 28, 2008)

I doubt any invited team is going to drop one of their riders (a known quantity) for Alexi, unless they are short talent on their roster or their sponsor thinks having him there will be good publicity. Alexi Grewal is a very talented rider, but the man is getting up there in the years and hasn't exactly lived an easy life.

I've got my fingers crossed the organizers allow him to race even if he isn't on a team. Not sure of the legality of such an action, but a nudge from Lance or another influential person might be all it would take. Certainly wouldn't be bad publicity for the race, and the local news stations would eat it up. The man is a walking sound bite.


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## JustTooBig (Aug 11, 2005)

Alexi was indeed a really talented guy. Not sure how several years of hard knocks have affected his attitude and outlook, but even in his prime he was one of the most notorious in the peleton for strange outbursts and "everyone's out to get me" attitude. But hell, I hope he finds a way to race. It'd certainly be interesting to watch!


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## frpax (Feb 13, 2010)

He is very serious about it. 

I emailed the guys who run his blog and they passed my email on to him, and lo and behold, he emailed me! So over a few weeks in January (prior to him going to Chile), he and I swapped several emails.

I've been following his blog: www.alexigrewal.com


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## FSonicSmith (Jan 2, 2003)

I pray he makes a big splash. Life is perverse, and Alexi Grewal is exhibit A. He can race a bike, he can write, he thinks for himself, he says what he thinks. Stranger things have happened, and any success would be one of the most delicious things observed in many years. I named my second son after the guy 18 years ago-Alexi's always been my #1 hero of all heroes.


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## JoWu (Feb 9, 2008)

Why not? Colombian racer Libardo Nino, at 43 years of age, finished the Tour of Langkawi in second place against strong competition.


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## nayr497 (Nov 8, 2008)

Wish him the best. Following this for sure, should be interesting. I read his blog and have read the articles about him. Not always sure what he's talking about, or what to make of him, but hey, better than yet another athlete talking and writing in cliches. At least he's interesting.

Reading his article about riding his Trek in CA recently was a great reminder to never judge a cyclist by their bicycle. If Alexi shows up on that bike it might be easy to think he's a slouch. Bad idea.


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

What happened to his blog and comeback?


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## frpax (Feb 13, 2010)

wipeout said:


> What happened to his blog and comeback?


Blog appears to not exist anymore... 

He had hooked up with a Christian Cycling Club, and was doing some races. He went to Chile to do some racing down there, but then I've not heard of anything.

Alexi & I had emailed back and forth a bit prior to him going to Chile. 
A couple of months ago, I got an odd email from someone saying that he was Alexi, asking me to donate a couple of thousand dollars to him so that he could continue his training. I just figured that someone hacked his email and was spamming his contacts. I ignored the email. But it was weird. 

Whatever the situation is, I hope he is well. He was the sole reason I got into cycling, right after his Olympic win. Love him or hate him, he is a hero of mine...


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

frpax said:


> Blog appears to not exist anymore...
> 
> He had hooked up with a Christian Cycling Club, and was doing some races. He went to Chile to do some racing down there, but then I've not heard of anything.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the update. Yeah, the entire generation was fun to watch - Lemond, Phinney, Grewal, etc..


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## sanrensho (Jan 2, 2003)

Yeah, I noticed the site had disappeared a few weeks ago.

I hope it has been archived. There was some good writing there, including many tidbits about that generation of racers, and the old days racing in the US and Europe. Made for nostalgic reading and AG has a good way with words, his blog updates were very entertaining.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

frpax said:


> Blog appears to not exist anymore...
> 
> He had hooked up with a Christian Cycling Club, and was doing some races. He went to Chile to do some racing down there, but then I've not heard of anything.
> 
> ...


I got into road cycling and racing because of Alexi's win in the 1984 Olympics, but my hero back then, other than my dad, was Greg Lemond. Oddly enough, I didn't want Lemond to win the Tour because I wanted to be the first American to do so. In hindsight, I am glad he won it three times. Currently, no sports figure is a hero of mine, because I have learned a lot in life, and one thing is that sports figures should never be heros.

Who knows. Maybe Alexi found his true love in Chile and has decided to stay down there and forget about cycling.


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## dwc032 (Feb 1, 2011)

Alexi was suppose to stay at my house for the Cascade Cycling Classic. After seeing that his blog was down, and he is not posting on Facebook anymore, I kinda figured his comeback was over. Hope he is doing well!


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## steelbikerider (Feb 7, 2005)

I think that there was a lot of unrealistic expectations that he would be the rider he used to be. At 50+ it was going to be impossible for him to be anything more than a mid pack rider in national level races. To start training again after years of not training would be a huge shock to the body and to the lifestyle that he had developed. Alexi no longer had the support structure of family and friends to race at a high level and had been away from the sport and competition for too long to have much of a chance to be successful. His life was always in turmoil even when he was racing. 
To me he is one of those sad stories of a great talent that was never fully developed. I hope he is doing well.


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

Alexi was part of the Pro 1-2 group at the Mead-Roubaix outside of Boulder in early April. He had a tough race. I think that was his last race in the US.


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## vincemacmillan (Dec 1, 2009)

PDex said:


> Alexi was part of the Pro 1-2 group at the Mead-Roubaix outside of Boulder in early April. He had a tough race. I think that was his last race in the US.


Nah, Grewal raced the Iron Horse at the end of May. And though Alexi _was _pretty much pack fodder, Ned Overend, the 50+ year old winner of that (sort of) National-level race kicked the rest of the pack's [email protected]#!


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## PDex (Mar 23, 2004)

vincemacmillan said:


> Nah, Grewal raced the Iron Horse at the end of May. And though Alexi _was _pretty much pack fodder, Ned Overend, the 50+ year old winner of that (sort of) National-level race kicked the rest of the pack's [email protected]#!


Thanks. I didn't see any more results for him on the ACA or the USAC website.


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## steve_e_f (Sep 8, 2003)

He could easily make a bit of money with a good book full of stories...

he had some sort of rant or bone to pick on his blog about selling out, or not selling out. then he had a "this blog is going to die in two weeks thing" posted on there. Then all the sponsor logos disappeared.

I started to get a crazy conspiratorial vibe.


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