Contador brings it home - Photo Josh Hallett CCA
A couple of weeks ago in the middle of a tense and tight Tour de France we noticed that the media were getting rather excited about the antagonising rivalry that was developing between Lance Armstrong and Contador. There had been a little flurry of quotes on the matter, too - Armstrong had said things were getting a little tense, while Contador said that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about:
Contador, 13 July - “I don’t feel any tension in the team. I don’t feel alone - I have important people around me. We still have two weeks to go. The most important thing is that Astana wins in Paris. It’s a subject which is starting to tire me a bit, it’s too repetitive. It’s true that Armstrong has a media impact no other cyclist does, and these things make these things grow. It’s true that the situation could be simpler, and I could focus exclusively on my pedalling. But my objective is to focus on the race and shut myself off from the rest. The situation of the team is normal. We eat together at the table and are together on the bus. Often the tension seems higher from the outside than it really is.”
In the intervening two weeks of racing, Contador proved that he is currently the best road racer in the world by some distance, ekeing out precious seconds and minutes from Armstrong, who eventually finished third, and the rest of his rivals, winning by over four minutes - placing strongly in the mountains, and winning the final time trial. Armstrong emerged with his head held high, especially given his lengthy absence from the sport. And suddenly, the roles have reversed. Here’s Lance ‘effusive in my praise’ Armstrong:
Armstrong had earlier hailed his team-mate’s abilities, claiming Contador is so good the Spaniard would have beaten him in his own heyday.
“I think this year’s performance would have beaten my performances in 2001, 2004 and 2005,” said Armstrong.
“Contador is that good, so I don’t see how I would have been higher than that, even in the other years.”
And here’s Alberto ‘remember when I said everything was fine?’ Contador:
“My relationship with Lance Armstrong is zero,” Contador told a news conference in Madrid.
“He is a great rider but it is another thing on a personal level, where I have never had great admiration for him and I never will.”
“The situation was tense and delicate because the relationship between myself and Lance extended to the rest of the staff,” he said.
“On this Tour, the days in the hotel were harder than the those on the road.”
So they didn’t like each other? Who knew? It is amusing that the roles have reversed, but no wonder that the Tour de France organisers are pleased that both plan to be back next year, in separate teams, competing for the 2010 title.
On a slight tangent, unlucky Astana - as a team, they were set up in 2006 to give Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov a lead seat in a big team, and to promote Kazakhstan - given that in that time Vinokourov was caught doping in 2007, missed the Tour de France in 2008 and this year, despite the success of having three of the top six finishers in the Tour de France and the two most famous cyclists in the sport, they are in a giant mess. Armstrong is on his way, Contador wants out, and team director Johan Bruyneel said the following - during the last days of the Tour:
Internal trouble has been brewing since Monaco when banned rider Alexandre Vinokourov, who the Astana team was created around, gave a press conference saying either he or Bruyneel must quit the team after the Kazakh’s doping suspension ends on July 24.
“We still had to talk about his possible return, but he gave a press conference in Monaco the day before the race started in our team hotel,” said Bruyneel.
“Then some whispers from the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation reached my ears and things have started to become very clear for me. Astana is finished!”
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PS - What’s not to like about Lance Armstrong’s response to Contador’s comments on his twitter feed?
Seeing these comments from AC. If I were him I’d drop this drivel and start thanking his team. w/o them, he doesn’t win.
And later…
hey pistolero, there is no “i” in “team”. what did i say in March? Lots to learn. Restated.
