# Astana Celebratory Dinner



## real stonie (Mar 30, 2006)

VS: "Did you have a celebratory dinner with the Astana Team last night?"

Lance: "umm.....actually I had dinner with the Radio Shack guys."


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## gh1 (Jun 7, 2008)

Shocking! Not. Super domestic's ass, if he couldnt be a teammate then he should have stayed retired.


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## bikeguy0 (Sep 23, 2007)

For crying out loud. His "Teamate" attacked Lance and Kloden and screwed up a 1,2,3. Good for Lance.


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## moonstation2000 (Sep 5, 2008)

His teammate AC dragged LA up Ventoux to catch the schlecks. He got LA third place. I don't understand why? But he did.

While classy LA stole his entire team out from under him.


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## dwwheels (Feb 28, 2007)

real stonie said:


> VS: "Did you have a celebratory dinner with the Astana Team last night?"
> 
> Lance: "umm.....actually I had dinner with the Radio Shack guys."



Then Frankie countered with "To celebrate your 3rd place."


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## Snakebit (Mar 18, 2002)

moonstation2000 said:


> His teammate AC dragged LA up Ventoux to catch the schlecks. He got LA third place. I don't understand why? But he did.
> 
> While classy LA stole his entire team out from under him.


Oh I think that accusation is a bit of a stretch. Contador was on Lances wheel part of the time. It's true they both worked for their own goals but Contador had enough support to take yellow and Lance got what he needed for a podium finish. Such a mixture could have been far worse but they got the most out of it. I don't believe that Lance can still win the Tour, two riders are now surpassing him with other possibilities coming hard on his wheel. He's an old man in a sport where youth has a decided edge everything else being equal. He knows it as well.


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## SteveDave (Sep 20, 2007)

bikeguy0 said:


> For crying out loud. His "Teamate" attacked Lance and Kloden and screwed up a 1,2,3. Good for Lance.


His "Teammate" was his team LEADER. The goal is the yellow, not a podium sweep/ego trip for Johan. The leader got that designation by demonstrating that he was clearly stronger than Armstrong and Kloden. He beat them in the first TT, and no one could match him in Andorra. He's the protected one, and the one the rest of them ride for. He sat up and called off his acceleration on the Columbiere when he saw that Kloden was cooked, but couldn't very well allow the Schlecks to ride away from him while he tended to a bonking Kloden. Should he have gone back to the team car to get his helper a bottle or some food? Yes it's too bad Kloden couldn't go as the objective was to move Kloden and AC further away from Wiggins (a man they were worried about because of his TT ability), but it just didn't work because of Kloden's bonk. If it had worked out as planned it would have been brilliant and the sweep may well have panned out. Sometimes things don't go according to plan and you have to improvise. You can bet your ass though that if it was Lance in yellow instead of AC in that situation, Lance wouldn't have even looked back. He would have kept the gas to the floor all the way to the line. And everyone would be praising him for taking the race by the balls and showing everyone who's boss. AC sits up trying to limit Kloden's losses and everyone calls him an a$$hole. I guess if your name isn't Lance, you can't do anything right.


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## jecjec81 (Jan 28, 2008)

LOL. And it never stop..... 

GET a life guys!!! Haha!


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Can we agree that neither of them were great teammates, and both are eternally damned to being team leaders? How terrible.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

Guys, if you were forming a new bike team and your new sponsor -- that's going to cut you a $15 million check in a couple of months -- invites you to dinner, you go to dinner with your sponsor. No-brainer. He will celebrate tonight with the team.


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## FondriestFan (May 19, 2005)

fornaca68 said:


> Guys, if you were forming a new bike team and your new sponsor -- that's going to cut you a $15 million check in a couple of months -- invites you to dinner, you go to dinner with your sponsor. No-brainer. He will celebrate tonight with the team.


Yeah, because he couldn't tell them, hey I have to celebrate my teammate's victory. Let's do dinner tomorrow.

If Contador had done the same thing, he would be crucified by the Lance fans on here.

Armstrong decided on taking the low road here. At least he's familiar with it. 

http://tour-de-france.velonews.com/article/96014/armstrong-skips-party-honoring-contador


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## moonmoth (Nov 8, 2008)

fornaca68 said:


> He will celebrate tonight with the team.


Absolutely correct, I think. The real parties are tonight according to all books written about the US Postal/Discovery days in Paris. 

Lance, of course, could do what he did in Rome right after the Giro, and head straight for the airport where his jet was warming up.


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## ti-triodes (Aug 14, 2006)

moonmoth said:


> Lance, of course, could do what he did in Rome right after the Giro, and head straight for the airport where his jet was warming up.





Wasn't that due to his girlfriend giving birth any moment?


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## snowman3 (Jul 20, 2002)

fornaca68 said:


> Guys, if you were forming a new bike team and your new sponsor -- that's going to cut you a $15 million check in a couple of months -- invites you to dinner, you go to dinner with your sponsor. No-brainer. He will celebrate tonight with the team.


Actually, it ain't that good of an excuse. I can't imagine anything that urgent or pressing w/ RadioShack that couldn't wait a couple of days. I've always rooted for Lance to win, but I'm not in love with the guy to the point I worship him. So I gotta be objective and he's been a little bit of a jerk lately. I can cut him some slack, but also have to call it like I see it. (Well, as best as you can see it when all the info you get is news reports and interview clips)


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

moonstation2000 said:


> His teammate AC dragged LA up Ventoux to catch the schlecks. He got LA third place. I don't understand why? But he did.
> 
> While classy LA stole his entire team out from under him.


Say what?
AC didn't drag LA up Mt. Ventoux to catch Schlecks....
1st and 2nd were already determined at this point, IMO.
Tactically, only riders LA was marking were Frank (who was 38 secods behind) and Wiggins (behind 23 secons). AC only marked Andy and LA only marked Andy and Wiggins, that's all. I dont think LA would've cared how far Andy and Contador were up the road.
I do agree that they were not made for each other to say the least...


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## varian72 (Jul 18, 2006)

On the surface it looks poopy, but my guess is there is no love lost here. AC proved he was the best, but a leader isn't always the person who finishes first. I'm no Lance sycophant, but AC to me...seems more an individual (abeit a fast one) more than a team leader. I think he races for himself. So what? Exactly...he won and probably will continue to do so if he maintains his fitness.


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## ericrob (Jul 23, 2002)

It was a total insult to AC and the other 'teammates' and crew who busted their hump to get a 1st and 3rd spot in the tour. Armstrong is an egomaniac and obviously couldn't handle being second fiddle to AC at the celebration dinner, I honestly hope AC signs for a decent team to enable repeated tour wins, AC is total class and showed that class under extreme pressure from the Prima Donna Armstrong.


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## ProRoad (Oct 13, 2008)

what a bunch of Lance hater posers, get a life or ride your bike for once..


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## Sasquatch (Feb 3, 2004)

we dont hate lance, we just think it was classless to skip the victory party.


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## cheddarlove (Oct 17, 2005)

SteveDave said:


> His "Teammate" was his team LEADER. The goal is the yellow, not a podium sweep/ego trip for Johan. The leader got that designation by demonstrating that he was clearly stronger than Armstrong and Kloden. He beat them in the first TT, and no one could match him in Andorra. He's the protected one, and the one the rest of them ride for. He sat up and called off his acceleration on the Columbiere when he saw that Kloden was cooked, but couldn't very well allow the Schlecks to ride away from him while he tended to a bonking Kloden. Should he have gone back to the team car to get his helper a bottle or some food? Yes it's too bad Kloden couldn't go as the objective was to move Kloden and AC further away from Wiggins (a man they were worried about because of his TT ability), but it just didn't work because of Kloden's bonk. If it had worked out as planned it would have been brilliant and the sweep may well have panned out. Sometimes things don't go according to plan and you have to improvise. You can bet your ass though that if it was Lance in yellow instead of AC in that situation, Lance wouldn't have even looked back. He would have kept the gas to the floor all the way to the line. And everyone would be praising him for taking the race by the balls and showing everyone who's boss. AC sits up trying to limit Kloden's losses and everyone calls him an a$$hole. I guess if your name isn't Lance, you can't do anything right.



Everyone has an opinion on this one. I have to speak up,(so to speak) 
I've watched that clip a number of times and my opinion is that Contador did not wait for Kloden. He does not look to me like he is purposefully slowing up. 

Matter of fact, on the replay, he attacks, gets some ground, looks back and continues moving ahead at speed. Then when the camera is looking down at AC and the Schleks,
you can see the brothers starting to bridge up. AC has a pained look on his face and frankly, it looks to me as though he halted his attack because they were coming back to him. Not because he was waiting for Kloden. AS he and the Schleks continued up the road, there were a few face shots of AC where I thought he didn't look that good. Like he was hurting. I thought it was the first time I'd seen any weakness in him and I think the Schleks should have tried to double team him!
That being said, I agree it seems tactless that Lance didn't go to the team party but I suspect he and JB made AC's life hell. He all but said that in an interview.

I suspect fairly soon we will get the low-down on what actually went down. I suspect AC has no intention of allowing himself to be bullied!

Guess I need to state that I am a Lance fan but also realistic. I believe AC should have gotten this Tour considering he was screwed out of the last one,and that JB should have released him from his contract to race. Sponsor guarantee's I guess.


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## CabDoctor (Jun 11, 2005)

Lance just knew during the celebratory dinner Contador would be doing that stupid pistol thing the whole time. Shotting the water pitcher, the bread rolls, the waitress, heck....even probably shooting his own reflection in his dessert spoon. Yeah I wouldn't want to be there either. Even if it meant hanging out with the owners of radio shack.


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## desmo13 (Jun 28, 2006)

CabDoctor said:


> Lance just knew during the celebratory dinner Contador would be doing that stupid pistol thing the whole time. Shotting the water pitcher, the bread rolls, the waitress, heck....even probably shooting his own reflection in his dessert spoon. Yeah I wouldn't want to be there either. Even if it meant hanging out with the owners of radio shack.


Post of the week. 

Who cares besides the Lance haters. If Lance offended any of his friends, I am sure the would of flooded twitter with it. There is no love lost there, so neither of them pretend a friendly relationship. So what? They are competing team mates/leaders/rivals.. they are not married.


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## Maximus_XXIV (Nov 10, 2008)

bikeguy0 said:


> For crying out loud. His "Teamate" attacked Lance and Kloden and screwed up a 1,2,3. Good for Lance.


So Kloden and Lance beat Andy?

Really????


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## Maximus_XXIV (Nov 10, 2008)

varian72 said:


> On the surface it looks poopy, but my guess is there is no love lost here. AC proved he was the best, but a leader isn't always the person who finishes first. I'm no Lance sycophant, but AC to me...seems more an individual (abeit a fast one) more than a team leader. I think he races for himself. So what? Exactly...he won and probably will continue to do so if he maintains his fitness.


How many of Lance's teammates finished on the podium or won a stage in 99-05? All for one.


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## Kram (Jan 28, 2004)

Really, I don't give a f%ck about any of this, but a lot of those guys probably didn't have a couple of days to hang around Paris and do dinner w/LA, so that's why it likely HAD to be that night. Sheesh. Get a life,m'kay?


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## smbrum (Jul 9, 2008)

these 2 were never "teamates" just riders who happen to be stuck on the same team together. You can never put riders of that level on the same team and expect them to play nice. Current champion and former champion that still thinks he has the goods...just doesnt work. I'd be surprised if AC wanted him there anymore than LA wanted to be there. Radio Shack dinner was irrelevant. LA probably asked them to fly in and have dinner just so he'd have an excuse not to attend AC gig.


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## Italophile (Jun 11, 2004)

bikeguy0 said:


> For crying out loud. His "Teamate" attacked Lance and Kloden and screwed up a 1,2,3. Good for Lance.


That is pure fantasy.


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## Italophile (Jun 11, 2004)

ericrob said:


> It was a total insult to AC and the other 'teammates' and crew who busted their hump to get a 1st and 3rd spot in the tour. Armstrong is an egomaniac and obviously couldn't handle being second fiddle to AC at the celebration dinner, I honestly hope AC signs for a decent team to enable repeated tour wins, AC is total class and showed that class under extreme pressure from the Prima Donna Armstrong.


+1, though Contador did attack Klöden twice when he shouldn't have. I don't excuse that, but I can understand it, since AC was essentially isolated on this team when Lance got that 40 second advantage in that week 1 wind split. From there on, it was up to AC alone to win the Tour, and Lance simply couldn't swallow it.

I admire Lance a lot, but he is a prima donna of the most distasteful kind. They were dishonest to AC all year, and I still think they had undermining him on the blueprint all along. Next year, we shall see who is the better rider, with a team working for him alone.


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## Italophile (Jun 11, 2004)

smbrum said:


> these 2 were never "teamates" just riders who happen to be stuck on the same team together. You can never put riders of that level on the same team and expect them to play nice. Current champion and former champion that still thinks he has the goods...just doesnt work. I'd be surprised if AC wanted him there anymore than LA wanted to be there. Radio Shack dinner was irrelevant. LA probably asked them to fly in and have dinner just so he'd have an excuse not to attend AC gig.


Bingo!


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Wasn't the "celebratory dinner" in question on Saturday night, after Ventoux? I doubt the dinner was anything more than the normal team dinner. Seems to me that the race wasn't over, and there was still one more stage to run.

If Lance skips the party AFTER the race, I think that would be interesting.


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## ericrob (Jul 23, 2002)

You know what, the Lance zombies will follow him regardless of any display of arrogance or disrespect. Imagine for a second if Lance was in yellow and Contador didn't show at the celebration dinner, there would be outrage. At this point though, I think the conversation is reduntant. let's move on shall we?


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