Professional Cycling For the Fans - Stage 17: Pau - Revel

What I can't believe is that OLN, knowing this is the longest stage, slotted only 3 hours. I just finished watching my damn tivo, and the final descent to the finish is cut off! So I flip over to tv, and tivo didn't get the last 30 minutes of the tv coverage either! So I have no ending to stage 17 whatsoever, just when it was getting interesting. What a bunch of gnits! Dammit!

Koffeemy DVR recorded the follow up coverage that is 2 hours long. I fast forwarded to the end and that version of the the coverage does in fact have the end of the race plus post race interviews.

Could someone please point me to (or summarize) Landis' comments about Armstrong in L'Equipe this week? I can't read French and I can't find an English link....

Thanks!!

Could someone please point me to (or summarize) Landis' comments about Armstrong in L'Equipe this week? I can't read French and I can't find an English link....

Thanks!!

Here's a translation using google:

Google Link (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lequipe.fr%2FCyclisme%2Fitw_landis.html&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8)

- After queries from readers wanting more details about comments made by Floyd Landis to L’Equipe that earned a rebuke from Lance Armstrong, here are the relevant sections of the story that appeared in yesterday morning’s paper:

“I will always remember the 2003 Tour, it was the only time that people thought he could lose. Everyone around him was concerned, even us, his team-mates. But the most surprising thing was that he didn’t show anything. I will always remember that he directed the other riders around like the boss of a company. For him, the race was business and he was the boss.

“In some teams they often talk about their friendship, but in a team like that with someone who behaves as if he really is the boss, I don’t think you can go that far in talking about friendship. In everyday life it’s hard to be friends with your boss. I don’t believe that Lance has ever had that kind of friendship with any of his team-mates, even with George Hincapie, whom he has known since he was 17. Friendship can’t exist when you give orders and direct others. It’s not necessarily a negative thing. It’s by acting in this way that Lance

So how did Lance respond to this, other than apparently driving the split when Landis was caught out the back? I havent heard anything about this until reading on CyclingNews and Pez that it may have had something to do with Landis' comments...

If you read the "Lance Amstrong's War" by Dan Coyle, you'll understand the dynamics of the Lance-Floyd's relationship lot better... There is whole chapter on it... Knowing that, IMHO, Lance still cannot completely get over Floyd's leaving for Phonak... In his world, you are either with me, or against me... ;)

- After queries from readers wanting more details about comments made by Floyd Landis to L’Equipe that earned a rebuke from Lance Armstrong, here are the relevant sections of the story that appeared in yesterday morning’s paper:

“I will always remember the 2003 Tour, it was the only time that people thought he could lose. Everyone around him was concerned, even us, his team-mates. But the most surprising thing was that he didn’t show anything. I will always remember that he directed the other riders around like the boss of a company. For him, the race was business and he was the boss.

“In some teams they often talk about their friendship, but in a team like that with someone who behaves as if he really is the boss, I don’t think you can go that far in talking about friendship. In everyday life it’s hard to be friends with your boss. I don’t believe that Lance has ever had that kind of friendship with any of his team-mates, even with George Hincapie, whom he has known since he was 17. Friendship can’t exist when you give orders and direct others. It’s not necessarily a negative thing. It’s by acting in this way that Lance

I consider myself a big fan of Lance, and also root for Landis. I don't really see anything really bad about what Landis said (although the George Hincapie line was unnecessary, true or not). The same was said about Jordan, Bird, great QB's, etc. I'm not sure if that's why Lance drove the split, but it wouldn't surprise me, and if he did, it would seem rather petty.

I probably dont know all the inner workings of FLoyd and Lance but...

Lance is there to win, not make friends. Im at work in a highly competitive industry based on 100% commision. While I like most of the people that I work with I do not consider any of them "friends." Im here to make money not friends.

Highly driven/successful people see the world in black and white most of the time, which keeps them focused on the things that help them win. ANYTHING that does not help them win is extraneous and cut loose. This can come across as harsh or even mean at times but its not meant to be cruel, its meant to be effective. Id say Lance fits this pretty well.

- After queries from readers wanting more details about comments made by Floyd Landis to L?Equipe that earned a rebuke from Lance Armstrong, here are the relevant sections of the story that appeared in yesterday morning?s paper:

?I will always remember the 2003 Tour, it was the only time that people thought he could lose. Everyone around him was concerned, even us, his team-mates. But the most surprising thing was that he didn?t show anything. I will always remember that he directed the other riders around like the boss of a company. For him, the race was business and he was the boss.

?In some teams they often talk about their friendship, but in a team like that with someone who behaves as if he really is the boss, I don?t think you can go that far in talking about friendship. In everyday life it?s hard to be friends with your boss. I don?t believe that Lance has ever had that kind of friendship with any of his team-mates, even with George Hincapie, whom he has known since he was 17. Friendship can?t exist when you give orders and direct others. It?s not necessarily a negative thing. It?s by acting in this way that Lance

All I see is a guy giving an honest, potentially incisive, viewpoint. Big deal. Nothing to get aggro over. That's what I imagine Armstrong's relationship is with his teammates, not that I (obviously) actually know anything about it. Just surmised, I suppose.

If you read the "Lance Amstrong's War" by Dan Coyle, you'll understand the dynamics of the Lance-Floyd's relationship lot better... There is whole chapter on it... Knowing that, IMHO, Lance still cannot completely get over Floyd's leaving for Phonak... In his world, you are either with me, or against me... ;)

If you read his first biography, the same attitude was there even when he was just a teen -the "with me or against me" started as a big chip on his shoulder about being a poor kid against rich kids, from the wrong side of the tracks, with a single mom, etc. He's been able to use it to his advantage to motivate himself, IMO.

Dominant athletes (or professionals in almost any occupation) are far more driven, focussed, and motivated than the average Joe - that's part of what makes them great in their fields (along with extraordinary talent, of course). It most likely does not make them great friends or great people, however.

So none of what's been said or written here about Lance surprises me.

I believe it was on OLN that they interviewed the author of Lance Armstrong's War. One of the questions they asked him was that if it was true that Armstrong was unhappy. The author replied (he had followed Lance around for a year btw) that it's not that he was happy or unhappy, he was just driven. He also mentioned that it's very hard to get close (personally) to Armstrong, and the closer he got to him the more he didn't like what he saw... but as he got farther away he started liking him again.