# what's wrong with this guy?



## unai (Oct 10, 2003)

Fromhttp://nyvelocity.com/content/features/2009/one-man-alone-command

No comments


One Man Alone at the Command
Fri, 07/31/2009 - 9:24pm by Andy

This El Pais article has been bouncing around the 'net for a few days now. A reader translated it and sent it in.



An Italian journalist asks Alberto Contador if he thought Johan Bruyneel, director of the Astana team, preferred Lance Armstrong to win the Tour. He smiled, his eyes brilliant, “Good question. Ask Johan that instead of me. I won one. That counts.” Contador won what he defined the “double Tour, of the hotel and on the road.”

(Contador: The day after Arcalis was psychologically the worst of the Tour. The Spaniard had to come down from Mt .Ventoux in his brother's car.

On the road and in the team's kitchen, you can review the history of Contador being by himself in his second tour in 2009.) 


1. Abanicos en la Camarga

"The tactic for not getting the yellow too early was so as not to burn up the team," Bruyneel said. "If I would've had gotten the yellow, I wouldn't have had to reliquinsh it. I would've defended it," Armstrong said. Acquiring the yellow jersey in the first week was a priority in Lance's strategy that was happening to paralyze any initiative that Contador might have had to establish his own hierarchy in the team. After realizing his (Lance’s) limits and the talent of Contador at the time trial in Monaco (22 seconds in favor of the Spaniard’s) the Texan found his opportunity on a roundabout and in a change of the wind on the Camarga (the place this happened) which is open to the Mediterranean.

“I was just behind Alberto at that moment,” said Rojas, the Murcian sprinter from Caisse d’Epargne. “He was on Paulinho’s wheel who in turn was behind Zubeldia. Seeing that, I didn’t worry when I saw that Paulinho moved to the side, and Alberto got separated. I thought that the ones who were in front were not too far and that with a sprint, we could have caught them but as soon as we rounded the curve, I saw that we were really far away, that they had discarded Alberto.”

After the circle of his friends from Columbia, and in spite that in the front group was the leader Cancellara, Armstrong made Zubeldia and Popovich work on the front with Alberto in the back. The difference at the finish line was more than the 41 seconds that allowed Armstrong to recover for the leadership in the team. This gave the Texan the reason to pound Contador in his twitter with the same style that he used during Paris-Nice criticizing Contador’s lack of intelligence, tactics, and lack of respect for “The Boss”.

“A winner of seven Tours know how things are going,” Armstrong reminded Contador two days after the team time trial in which Astana destroyed the Tour in which the Texan ended up fractions of a second from the yellow. An example of a punishment, they left him at the back of the peloton, being beaten up by the wind from the coast on the way to Perpignon without any teammates, not even his loyal Paulinho with him. “I felt sorry to see the way they were treating him,” said the Belgian Champion, Tom Boonen. “They were trying to break him.” But Contador, a “hard-head”, in Armstrong’s own word, had some ideas of his own as he demonstrated in Arcalis.

2. The frustration of Arcalis

Contador, as concentrated as he was in controlling his tongue in order not to get into the provocations of Armstrong, he bit his legs more than what he intended on the first mountain in Andorra where he was planning to attack with 5 km left in order to catch up with the yellow jersey contrary to Bruyneel’s wishes because Bruyneel didn’t want to show Armstrong’s strength too soon. Contador had doubts – the wind was blowing too much from the front which put a brake in the attacks that they were hoping to come from Evans, Sastre, and the Schleck brothers, the losers of the time trial. He didn’t want to be the first to attack, it would’ve looked too ugly. Finally, Evans made a move with only 2 km remaining when the one from Pinto made a move. Little space to catch up to the leader – he ended up 6 seconds from Nocentini and two seconds ahead of Armstrong. “The next day in Arcalis, was psychologically the worst of this Tour,” Contador finally admitted responding to the criticisms from the duo Bruyneel-Armstrong. “I always obey the instructions from the team,” repeated Armstrong. “I have won 7 Tours.” From that moment on, he stopped considering the Spaniard a member of the team, acting as if he, Contador, simply didn’t exist. Contador was left without defense; if at least he would’ve attacked from far away and conquered the leadership…After that, he found refuge more in his little group of support: his mechanic, his masseuse, Paulinho, his brother-manager-comforter, and his press agent. While membersof Armstrong’s side on the team didn’t hold back in showing their sentiments, the rest of the members, the independent guys, impartial ones, the ones that thought of only the good of the team, they found themselves in a balancing act. They couldn’t show any signs of happiness or unhappiness for the actions of one or the other so it wouldn’t be misinterpreted because the pride of the champions are very susceptible; also, they had to calculate the hours that they would wear the different team jerseys: the blue Astana, the black Trek….All in order not to throw more fuel on the fire since the fire couldn’t be extinguished.

3. En ingels, no
In English, no

From the beginning, Contador decided to offer his press releases in Spanish with translations in French. The English fell outside of his capabilities. Many people understood that as a territorial demarcation like a reply to the power of Armstrong in the English-speaking press. Bruyneel always thought that it was better for him to express himself in his native tongue even though he recognized that “Contador speaks English better than what people think.” The truth is that this decision hid a message to Armstrong in his particular war of nerves. Many in the media were surprised with the absence of the manager Bruyneel in the press room with Contador. Bruyneel, his director, only showed up at the first press conference in Monaco. Later he, Bruyneel, chose to withdraw from sight: “If not all the questions come to me and it’s not about taking away the limelight from the protagonist.”

For others, it looked more that Bruyneel wanted to isolate himself from Contador. The truth is each one of them has his own agenda of communication. It happened the third week, “the week of Contador’s glory”, was tainted with Armstrong’s news: the criticisms in twitter, interviews with a few journalists, and finally the announcement of his new sponsor. Beaten on the road, Armstrong turned to the battle of the images. Always in English.



4. Armstrong, le ‘roba’ el coache
Armstrong steals the car

If he had any doubts, the time trial of Annecy erased them right away. Contador did his preparations: a ritual training and warm-ups. But when he requested a car to go to the start line, he found there was none available. Armstrong made sure all the cars were used to pick up his family and friends upon their arrival that day in France. Contador, the leader of the Tour, had to go from the hotel to Annecy in his brother, Fran’s, car while Armstrong’s troop had all the Astana cars waiting for them. The psychological warfare reached its moment of guerilla warfare; it was childish. The virtual elimination of Contador was a result of Armstrong’s domination, the day he announced his new team.

The car turned out to be the point of disagreement. On Mt. Ventoux, Contador, the last one to come down because of the appearances with the media, came off the mountain again with his brother’s, Fran’s, car, accompanied with his girlfriend, Macarena. He was obligated to the press room at the bottom of the mountain as required by the leader of the race. It was the worst moment for him to go down when all the spectators were going down the road as well. At one time he was almost bumped by another car – without danger. It surprised the people to see the leader so unprotected in that cluster of cars, people and bicycles. The car was yet another issue facing Contador.

5. El desayuno mas amargo
The most sour breakfast

Lance Armstrong, dressed in his warm-up suit and cap, came down for breakfast in the Astana hotel. He finds the table empty and sits in one corner. Following is Alberto Contador and he sits on the other side of the table. There are no words, no look and no gestures between them. Then the rest arrive. The atmosphere is tense. It’s the day after the stage that ended in the Grand Bornand, the day of Contador’s attacked the Schlecks and he threw away Kloden’s chances. It was Contador’s worst moment, something like the night of the long nights for an arrow in calculation. Armstrong’s twitter was hot. The Texan was saying that he chose to control his tongue. Levi Leipheimer from the distance, accused the Spaniard of taking the German from the podium. Bruyneel didn’t buy the leader’s argument for why he attacked.

The heavy word of Astana fell that day on top of Contador. There the delicate threads that still held the team together were broken. And there, Armstrong said “enough” to the guy who was breaking his present and future plans. Probably, that day Contador was left without moral support from his team and he heard more than ever the sounds of silence. Life was never easy for Contador on Astana, but on July 22, he experienced absolute war, the feeling of being outside of his home. That day, Armstrong decided that the kid had gone far enough. Contador preferred to be quiet instead of lamenting. Armstrong and Bruyneel were already working in finding the other team in which Contador would be on.

6. Agua en el Ventoux, champagne en el hotel
Water in Ventoux, champagne in the hotel

A mistaken scene on the way to Ventoux left in the memory of many, the difference of Bartali or Coppi – no one will know who offered water to whom. Italian society was divided as well 50 years ago with those idols. Contador refused to accept Armstrong’s courtesy – an offer of water in the Caisse d’Epargne water bottle. “I was in the breakaway when the group of Armstrong and Contador caught up with me. I was on the left of the road when Contador got to me. I offered him my bottle because I saw that he didn’t have any water and I am his friend,” says Ian Gutierrez, who is number one in breakaways (in the entire Tour did 581 miles by himself.) “But, I extended my arm with the water when Armstrong who was a little behind me grabbed it on the fly taking it from Alberto’s reach. After drinking it, he offered it to Alberto, but he passed. And he was going to keep it when I reminded him it was mine and for him to return it.

This detail reflects the patronizing feeling with which the winner of 7 Tours considers not just his relation with his team but with the peloton. He was also the one that decided when to toast the champagne the winnings of the team: in the middle of the jubilee, the night of the team time trial and not without being cold to Contador when he won the yellow jersey in Annecy. “A funeral to celebrate the yellow jersey,” another member of the team said. Owner of his champagne glass, in tradition going into Paris, knocked glasses with everyone except Armstrong.


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## iamnotfilip (Jul 9, 2007)

nice to read a non-American point of view for a change, thanks for the translations.


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## gregario (Nov 19, 2001)

As someone else said, "There is no "I" in "team", but there is a "dick" in "RaDIo ShaCK".


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

UK's Cycling News reports the same basic facts. In my opinion LA's reputation has been tarnished by his spiteful, petty treatment of AC.
Luckily AC had the strength of character to cope with LA behaving like a Big Girl's Blouse. English term - look it up - which describes LA pretty well.


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Oh jeeze, not this again. Haven't we already seen this entire article posted before and discussed it endlessly?


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

mohair_chair said:


> Oh jeeze, not this again. Haven't we already seen this entire article posted before and discussed it endlessly?


Yes.
And I'll say it again. Why can the Spanish media not be slanted in favor of AC just as the American media is biased towards being pro LA? On either side it is nationalistic propoganda, and both sides are making exagerated claims on what actually happened. Personally I think the American side has a bit more fact to it than what is being reported here. I think how the race played out on the road proves that this article is mostly BS.

Can we be finished with this now? It is so two weeks ago.


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## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

Personally, I think that it is worth keeping the memory of how LA behaved alive, in readyness for the next round of endless uncritical hero worshipping tosh as Wonderlance & his poodles build up for next year's TdF.


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## dmar836 (Nov 17, 2007)

I just imagine analyzing a football game the same way. "He knew the coach put me in for a reason - for a certain play but he did his own thing." or "He knew I was open, but he didn't throw it to me - he just didn't run the play correctly." Maybe, "So-and-so arrived in his own limo and didn't arrive on the team bus with the rest of us." "He knew the waiter asked for my order first, but he butted in anyway." Wahhhhh 
Ladies, mis-communications and drama happen every day in sports and in life. I'm surprised MTV doesn't turn the TdF into a series - after "The Hills"! 
Every team has it's playbook and a plan. Some teams you never even saw at the front of the peloton - what about their drama? Who do they blame? Did they have any water bottle drama? Not every situation develops as intended so the plan has to adapt. Don't act like this was all scripted from the get-go. 
One could just as easily write about all the good will noticed between LA and AC and highlight all the nuances of that angle.
Unfortunately, business can be the same way - you are young and proud, think you know best, and refuse to fall in line and take one for the team just one time, and you may be fed to the wolves and ostracized forever. Is that the teams fault? Business' fault? Particularly after the Kloden slap, I suspect that's what happened to AC. Several times, I saw AC supported by the team - and he still did a potentially damaging move. The two obvious ones were, first, attacking on the climb and, next, chasing the Schlecks to the damaging of Kloden and the overall GC lineup of the team. That was obviously a race against LA and not a needed stage victory. I'm sure third would be a team sock comment made that we didn't hear about. 
Sure, LA has enough draw to divide any team but actions count for something and sometimes it's easy to step into the "unpopular" lane. 
Now go watch a real soap opera!!


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## barhopper (Aug 10, 2009)

I think Lance behaved just fine. :thumbsup:


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## NextTime (Oct 13, 2007)

Geez guys - get over it. Is this the second, the third or the fourth time we have seen this recycled. Crikey.

Also, what's up with condoning the Spanish press proganda? I keep hearing, "if the American press does it, why not the Spanish?"

I would suggest not Versus is not the equivalent of "the press". Yes, they were Lance friendly, but they are in the entertainment business - they are not represenative of what should be an unbiased press.

I'll have to ignore this forum for another week or two to find something different to read.


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## ti-triodes (Aug 14, 2006)

TFF said:


> A man of class and integrity like Hinault or Lemond would clearly never have engaged in the inappropriate verbal sparring in the media and on twitter that we saw from Mr Armstrong.




Nah, they would just b*tch directly to any news reporter nearby! :cryin: 

I still remember LeMond whining constantly about Hinault during the entire '85 Tour! :thumbsup:


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## ti-triodes (Aug 14, 2006)

NextTime said:


> Geez guys - get over it. Is this the second, the third or the fourth time we have seen this recycled. Crikey.
> 
> 
> I'll have to ignore this forum for another week or two to find something different to read.




Better get used to it till next July. The place usually gets taken over by the He Man Lance Haters Club most of the year.


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## barhopper (Aug 10, 2009)

Sticks and stones .  
Contador's behavior in the race was much more egregious .


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## bandoulu (Nov 1, 2004)

barhopper said:


> I think Lance behaved just fine. :thumbsup:


Good job no one takes what you think too seriously .


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## Ken (Feb 7, 2004)

Might makes right and the mightiest won, AC.


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## st3v3 (Jul 25, 2009)

They're both pricks. Neither one handled it well, and who you think is the larger phallus depends mostly on your country of origin. The tour is over.


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

barhopper said:


> Lance was ........... and always has been a TEAM player.


Only cause there is a "me" in TEAM.


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## Dan Gerous (Mar 28, 2005)

Tour's over but clearly, elementary school hasn't started yet.


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## Italophile (Jun 11, 2004)

gregario said:


> As someone else said, "There is no "I" in "team", but there is a "dick" in "RaDIo ShaCK".


Not to mention an "adios" in r-ADIOS-hack. 

That's what Alberto will be saying as he leaves Lance in his dust next year.


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## gegarrenton (Jul 10, 2009)

st3v3 said:


> They're both pricks. Neither one handled it well, and who you think is the larger phallus depends mostly on your country of origin. The tour is over.


Exactly


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

Italophile said:


> Not to mention an "adios" in r-ADIOS-hack.
> 
> That's what Alberto will be saying as he leaves Lance in his dust next year.


We'll see who will be leaving whom in their dust when this is all cleared up. And who will even start.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-wants-2008-giro-samples-re-tested-for-cera


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

double post oops


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

TFF said:


> Pat McQuaid has already declared Contador to be the picture of a new generation of clean cycling. Call me crazy, but I don't think the spokesperson for cleanliness is going to get busted.


Yeah, I can totally understand how a guy, who has previously been implicated in a doping scandal, can show up at a Grand Tour after he's been sitting on a beach for a week and stomp a bunch of guys focusing their entire season on the Giro GC. 3 of the top ten have since been busted for CERA. I can see how that can happen. We'll see how well he does once he's outside of the JB loop looking in. Prolly fair as well as Hamilton, Landis, Herras, and Beltran.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

*Moderators Note*

Sorry about the troll infestation- its been cleaned up; someone decided to play with sock puppets (next time _both_ handles get banned) and a banned troll tried again (and failed again). Sorry if your posts got caught in the clean up, feel free to repost your thoughts if they did.


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## iamnotfilip (Jul 9, 2007)

mtbbmet said:


> Yeah, I can totally understand how a guy, who has previously been implicated in a doping scandal, can show up at a Grand Tour after he's been sitting on a beach for a week and stomp a bunch of guys focusing their entire season on the Giro GC. 3 of the top ten have since been busted for CERA. I can see how that can happen. We'll see how well he does once he's outside of the JB loop looking in. Prolly fair as well as Hamilton, Landis, Herras, and Beltran.


While reading this, for a while I wasn't sure whether you were talking about Lance or Alberto. But I am just not sure what your argument really is as LA hasn't really won a tour outside of Johan Bryneel's tams. Are you saying that if Alberto does win after leaving Johan's team (somthing which many have failed), he'll definitely prove that he's better than Lance?

The whole doping connotations are not really relevant to this discussion and just sound like sour grapes which I guess is understandable to a point.


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

iamnotfilip said:


> While reading this, for a while I wasn't sure whether you were talking about Lance or Alberto. But I am just not sure what your argument really is as LA hasn't really won a tour outside of Johan Bryneel's tams. Are you saying that if Alberto does win after leaving Johan's team (somthing which many have failed), he'll definitely prove that he's better than Lance?
> 
> The whole doping connotations are not really relevant to this discussion and just sound like sour grapes which I guess is understandable to a point.


Well no.
He is better than Lance. But one man cannot win the Tour alone. Had they been on different teams this year I think AC would have still won, but it would have been much closer. I find it frustrating that some people think that LA was out to get AC by any means necessary. If that were the case we would have seen much different actions in the race by LA than we did. He played well on the road. AC did not. But somehow he was made out to be the victim. Did he win the Tour? Yup. Did he have a solid team around him? Yup. Was he ever isolated in the mountains? Just once. Cause HE ATTACKED HIS TEAMMATE!! Was he ever out of position? Just once, CAUSE HE LOST THE WHEEL! There have been several reports from guys who were at the front of the second pack when the feild split, they all say it was AC who let the wheel go. It seems silly to me to think that people actually belive all this crap about how AC was isolated from the rest of the team. He may have not been popular at the hotel, but maybe his actions and his decissions have alot to do with that. I will say it now, AC will not win the Tour next year. I'm not saying LA will win, just that AC will not.
I'm just sick of the AC teabaggin I guess. We'll see how it plays out next year, if it plays out.


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## Jesse D Smith (Jun 11, 2005)

mohair_chair said:



> Oh jeeze, not this again. Haven't we already seen this entire article posted before and discussed it endlessly?


Yeah, I had to re-check the posting date, expecting it to say "1 Week Ago". 
I suppose the bright side is that in this fast moving world, where we get spoiled with instantaneous access to news which happened second ago, and ADD at a near epidemic, it's nice to see people still have the capacity to maintain their attention on a subject for long periods of time.  Whether those are worthy subjects, Michael Jackson, etc. is subject to debate.


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## afpm90 (Aug 10, 2009)

mtbbmet said:


> Well no.
> He is better than Lance. But one man cannot win the Tour alone. Had they been on different teams this year I think AC would have still won, but it would have been much closer.I find it frustrating that some people think that LA was out to get AC by any means necessary. If that were the case we would have seen much different actions in the race by LA than we did.


We didn't saw that actions from Armstrong because he wasn't capable. He didn't have the capability for that. If he had we would have seen a different race. Is that simple.



mtbbmet said:


> He played well on the road. AC did not.


Why not? He won the Tour. He attacked when he had the chance and he was the strongest man. I would like to know what were Contador errors.



mtbbmet said:


> But somehow he was made out to be the victim. Did he win the Tour? Yup. Did he have a solid team around him? Yup. Was he ever isolated in the mountains? Just once. Cause HE ATTACKED HIS TEAMMATE!!


In that stage, Contador clearly get a order from the car to stop his acceleration. He would have won that stage. And how can you know if Kloden wasn't going to break without the acceleration

In conclusion,you can work for Armstorng as a PR.


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

afpm90 said:


> We didn't saw that actios from Armstrong but he wasn't capable. He didn't have the capability fo that. If he had we would have seen a different race. Is that simple.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You obviously know nothing about pro cycling.


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## afpm90 (Aug 10, 2009)

mtbbmet said:


> You obviously know nothing about pro cycling.


Just because I don't support Armstrong, I don't know nothing about pro cycling??? 

You instead of presenting arguments to prove your point, you decided to attack me. Well, that shows a lot.

Armstrong was inferior to Contador and Schleck, and only the help of his team provided him the third spot.


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## barhopper (Aug 10, 2009)

il sogno said:


> Only cause there is a "me" in TEAM.




Still can't find that "I" that AC put in the Astana Team.


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## barhopper (Aug 10, 2009)

bandoulu said:


> Good job no one takes what you think too seriously .


:thumbsup: 


It would appear that you are taking it very seriously :lol:


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

mtbbmet said:


> Well no.
> He is better than Lance. But one man cannot win the Tour alone. Had they been on different teams this year I think AC would have still won, but it would have been much closer. I find it frustrating that some people think that LA was out to get AC by any means necessary. If that were the case we would have seen much different actions in the race by LA than we did. He played well on the road. AC did not. But somehow he was made out to be the victim. Did he win the Tour? Yup. Did he have a solid team around him? Yup. Was he ever isolated in the mountains? Just once. Cause HE ATTACKED HIS TEAMMATE!! Was he ever out of position? Just once, CAUSE HE LOST THE WHEEL! There have been several reports from guys who were at the front of the second pack when the feild split, they all say it was AC who let the wheel go. It seems silly to me to think that people actually belive all this crap about how AC was isolated from the rest of the team. He may have not been popular at the hotel, but maybe his actions and his decissions have alot to do with that. I will say it now, AC will not win the Tour next year. I'm not saying LA will win, just that AC will not.
> I'm just sick of the AC teabaggin I guess. We'll see how it plays out next year, if it plays out.



Your blind love and blindness towards anything even mentioning Lance Armstrong didn't give a fly CPR when it was dying is staggering. 

I'm a big Lance fan. But if Boonen, Zubeldia and other pro peloton riders say they pitied Alberto during the Tour for the way he was treated within his own team, then surely that means something as well.

Boonen basically said Contador was left in the dust to ride at the back at times. 

Zubeldia reiterated how Contador thanked his team.

Contador NEVER ONCE said anything about the Lance rivalry. In fact, he always said there was no problem and that he enjoyed riding together etc.

He only ran his mouth once when asked for the truth after the tour. He spoke about how he felt. He was ostracized. He was treated as an outcast.

Who, in the hell leaves the maillot jaune to ride down the Ventoux in his own brother's car? Or go to the TT on his own?

Yeah, I guess everyone does right.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

mtbbmet said:


> Yes.
> And I'll say it again. Why can the Spanish media not be slanted in favor of AC just as the American media is biased towards being pro LA? On either side it is nationalistic propoganda, and both sides are making exagerated claims on what actually happened. Personally I think the American side has a bit more fact to it than what is being reported here. I think how the race played out on the road proves that this article is mostly BS.
> 
> Can we be finished with this now? It is so two weeks ago.


Oh yes, but you posted this 4 days ago as well. 

Oh and yes, Lance's actions were admirable and supported Contador all the way as well.

LA fan here, but his actions, while it wins a gold medal in the Art of War, were a douche set of things to do. JB is an ass as well for not stepping in to say enough is enough. Or at least stop some of the things. 

Of course, you won't agree.


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## uzziefly (Jul 15, 2006)

mtbbmet said:


> I'm just sick of the AC teabaggin I guess. We'll see how it plays out next year, if it plays out.



And even Lance fans are sick of the "LA is the messiah, AC is a twerp" mantra as well.


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