sagginwagin

If he fears for his safety then he needs to find another avenue in which to promote his cause if in fact that is the primary reason for his return to the sport as he says. Those before him knew of the dangers and continued on. They too received threats against their lives. His implication that the French are responsible for his safety and if they can't guarantee it he won't compete is just an excuse to back out if the Giro proves too taxing for his 37 year old body. He faced the same threats in his last Tours and yet he continued to compete and he wasn't on a personal mission to increase cancer awareness as his primary goal during that time. He was competing for sake of competition.

Suzie Green

Heh, put me in that category, the Pirate Lover. But I'll still like Lance, so I hope he does ride the Giro!

xfimpg

Would someone please clarify exactly what LA did to have the French hate him so much?
And please don't say it's because he won the TdF 7 times...

Thanks
Mike

SunSwingsLow

Are you agreeing the French hate him or are you attempting to prove a negative with your question?

xfimpg

Neither.

Anyone else?

Any insights would be appreciated...

SunSwingsLow

I dont think he is hated by the French. I think some hated him early on in his career but i think he won alot of those people over during the later part of his TdF career.

Probably the biggest thing people who dont like him have against him are the doping allegations...but i dont believe thats just a french population thing.

dingonan

I hardly think a man like him would say something like that, I don't think he's even believing himself. This may be propaganda, or a later reframe for an excuse in case something goes wrong in the Tour (like him not winning anything).

Keith99

I've never heard Lance say the French hate him or anythign even close.

One thing that may have started the rumor is that many French (rightfully) discounted his first win. '99 arguably had the weakest field ever in a TDF, at least in terms of returning big names. It was only the 3rd TDF ever (and that includes the very first , which qualifies by definition) that had no returning winners. I thnik it had only one rider who had previously finished in the top 3.

The rude, a;most American French totally dismissed his win. More realistic commentators said he still had things to prove in the TDF and the better ones were looking forward to 2000.

gear

Where I live people hate the Yankees.
When I traveled through France I often heard people tell me (because I was an American and into cycling) that they appreciated the attention LA brought to the TDF.
I think the hate LA thing (media included) is the same as folks around here hating the Yankees. Its a sports fan thing, love the home team and hate the opponent. Beyond that they seem to admire him. My dad once whispered to me that he thought Dimagio was OK.

cyclezealot

He says that every year since 2001. He'll be fine as long as his legs are up to snuff.

Suzie Green

Agreed. Add to the fact that he is coming back from a multi-year layoff and the physical battle from cancer. A LOT of people were skeptical. I equate it to the controversy surrounding Pantani's win in 1998 after winning the Giro in the same year. The field was heavily decimated from the drug scandal, with whole teams pulling out mid-race. The loss of Virenque that year was a factor since he was on a similar level to the Pirate as far as climbing and time trialing.