Ok, so most of you know that the Tour de France has just been completed, RIGHT? How many of you watched it daily? Were glued to your seat every morning watching the days events unfold?? Well, I was. My husband was. My kids were. This is why we have cable. So that we can watch the tour every year the moment it’s on TV all the way through the reruns at 9pm at night.
Image Credit: VeloNews. You think they are FRIENDS?
This year’s tour was exceptional in my opinion. Lance was making a come back after three years off the bike. In years past, I’ve always watched the tour with interest, but, I don’t recall being as interested as I’ve been this year. Honestly, in year’s past, I wasn’t always a Lance fan. But, this year, I am. I loved the interviews he did with Frankie Andreu daily. Loved listening to Levi and George. It made our morning enjoyable. And, now, from the moment that Contador attacked his own teammate, Lance, on the first big climb of the tour, I have not had any love for Contador. He, I thought, looked like an idiot when he already would be in third place, when he attacked Lance and the other rider and rode away from the breakaway. Annoying. And, Lance can’t go chase down his own teammate…Then, on the final climb when he had the two Schleck brothers and Kloden (an Astana teammate), and he attacked again, only to leave Kloden behind?!! Gee, again, I thought what an idiot. Finally, you know what bugs me most about him? His little signature “gun through the heart” on the podium thing. Hate it. Doesn’t seem to display sportsmanship or kindness towards his rivals, teammates or fans.
And, now, you know what’s he’s done? He’s talked smack about LANCE in an interview with VeloNews. Read it here. He says, “My relationship with Lance is zero. He is a great champion and has done a great Tour, but on a personal level I have never had a great admiration for him and I never will,” the Spaniard told a news conference in Madrid.
My biggest issue with this is the actions. Attacking your own teammates in a race and more than once. Talking SMACK about a former tour winner?! Someone needs to take the kid down a few notches.
How should a champion in any sport behave? Should they praise their teammates?! Should they compliment the technical staff?! There is more to the sport than just YOU. Should they be grateful and thankful for a healthy body and mind to achieve their dreams?
Anybody have any thoughts on this??
4 responses so far ↓
1 Fitarella // Jul 29, 2009 at 12:49 pm
What a shame. I’ll admit to not really knowing a lot about the tour. I followed it, but had to google the rules/shirt colors a few times to “get it.” But what I was so impressed by was what a massive event it was and how it must have taken soooo many people to carry this whole thing out. Bravo to all of them!!! Contador’s attitude is just plain rude and distasteful. He seems to have put himself up on his own pedestal superior to everyone else. I wonder what his response would have been in Lance had won?!
.-= Fitarella´s last blog ..Official MizFit Fashion! =-.
2 Kimberly Lee // Jul 29, 2009 at 12:53 pm
My father is a retired football coach and his favorite mantra to his players was “Win with class, lose with class, otherwise your achievements are tainted.”
Contador showed no respect for his teammates, the technical staff, or the sport of cycling with his behavior.
.-= Kimberly Lee´s last blog ..Stories like this turn my stomach =-.
3 E.M. // Jul 29, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Contador’s rude? You have to be kidding? The first cyclist to call lance out on Lance’s own disrespect. Let’s see – Armstrong and his team refuse to give Contador a ride to the time trial – he gets to the race from the hotel car where Astana was staying. Lance and his team refuse to give Contador a ride from the top of Mt. Ventoux – Contador has to hitch a ride with his brother and girlfriend. And who is disrespectful?
Lance hires a PR firm to appear kind, requests that Frankie Andreu and only Frankie Andreu interview him on American tv for reasons not revealed by his own press agent who said the decision to have Frankie interview Armstrong “has nothing to do with cycling”. Yet Armstrong himself tries to make it sound as if Frankie wanted to be interviewed by him (see velonews)? No go. Frankie had to and was surprised himself as he says to Le Monde, “I was surprised….I thought he’d spit on me….”
http://www.lemonde.fr/sports/article/2009/07/07/lance-armstrong-prend-un-malin-plaisir-a-s-entourer-de-ses-meilleurs-ennemis_1216073_3242.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/deportes/uomo/solo/comando/elpepidep/20090727elpepidep_2/Tes
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/sports/cycling/28cycling.html?_r=2&em
Does Contador have to kowtow to Armstrong like everyone else? Good for him that he’s not a doormat.
Good racing? Sure. The real baby is the guy who can’t take defeat gracefully.
4 Paul M. // Jul 29, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Yes Contador’s rude, and Lance is not blameless. Contador became an outsider when lance “un-retired”. Johan Bruyneel and Lance have along history, and historically, Contador has been pretty aloof. Except for his mentor, doping enabler extraordinaire, Manuel Saiz (but I digress). It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Contador was the strongest rider on Astana. It was however, a classless act to attack his teamates on both occasions in the mountains. Why ruin a 1, 2, 3 podium sweep? Why allow Andy Schleck to insert himself into 2nd place? I think I know why: Alberto feels that he hasn’t been given the proper respect, he can’t communicate well with his teammates, he gets mad, he’s gonna show them who’s the new boss, he’s gonna attack when he wants, for his own reasons. This is how he’s going to lose next year. Next year Team Radio Shack will likely have the “Old Boss”, Kloden, Horner, Leipheimer, Zubeldia, Popovich, and they are looking into buying a Schleck. Contador may need to wait another year to win again.
Leave a Comment