wheelsucker1

Here are some excerpts from Greg Lemond's recent speech at something called "Play The Game" in Coventry, England. You can hear the speech through this link: https://www.playthegame.org/conferenc...eg-lemond.html

Dude has clearly lost it.

On his thorough preparation for the conference: "I'm still kinda making sense of notes I've been trying to throw together."

On the secret of his success: "I was very fortunate to be very blessed genetically."

On his current condition: "I'm still fat as hell."

On his current condition: "On power output wise in 4 months I got to where I was in my last year of professional racing."

On the state of the Tour: "In today's world most people...it's almost embarrassing to be called a Tour de France rider or a Tour de France winner because it's assumed that you cannot win the Tour de France clean and I just pose the question back, 'If everybody is clean and nobody's taking drugs and there's a three week race that's called the Tour de France and you start at the start line three weeks later there's going to be a winner and most likely there'll be finishers too, and so can you do it clean? Absolutely. Will it be slower? Probably. Will it be more dramatic? Absolutely.'"

On climbing then: "I got really good at chugging water or beer or whatever you want to call it. "

On climbing now: "I see people talking on the phone now riding a climb at the front of the Tour de France."

On cycling: "I don't recognize the sport anymore."

On his own speech: "Where was I?"

On a tangent: "I helped create the very first hardshell helmet...oh God, I even forgot where I was going with this. How the hell did I get on to this? (Laughs) Oh, God, I'm just having a brainfart."

On being confused: "It's got to be lead poisoning, that's what it is. Can somebody help me where I was? Oh, Dr. Ferrari!"

On summing things up nicely: "This is embarrassing."

On 80s cycling fashion: "I raced with a plastic cup on my head for aerodynamics."

On his 1989 Tour de France win over Laurent Fignon: "I miraculously, I would say miraculously I did come back...I won it, I won it by 8 seconds"

Lance Armstrong to Greg LeMond on the 1989 Tour: "Your win in 1989 is like mine, it was a miracle."

Greg LeMond to Lance Armstrong on the 1989 Tour: "Hold on, mine was not a miracle."

In addition to rummaging around in his head for things to talk about, he also spends some time rummaging around beneath the podium:

DrPete 

It would appear that he's said no to performance-enhancing drugs in favor of recreational ones.

Bacchusbill

Hey OP, give credit where credit is due.....

https://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2009...ing-blame.html

popeye

Greg, just STFU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

patentcad

Whoah.

wheelsucker1

So slight intended. These excerpts were lifted from the NYC Bike Snob blog, a great and funny blog about the cycling culture.

Creakyknees

BSNYC rules. That is all.

El Diablo Rojo

Wow when I read them in context Greg's points were quite salient...nice to take take them out of context and make him seem nutty....good on you Wheelsucker.

RacerX

I like and respect LeMond. The official press quotes are much different than what was created by the original poster
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lemo...s-of-innocence

Cycling "virtually unrecognisable" says former champion

Three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond has told a conference that the scourge of drugs has made cycling virtually unrecognisable from the sport within which he was a professional during the 1980s and 90s. He was also scathing about the legacy of notorious Italian doctor, Dr Michele Ferrari, and one of his most illustrious clients, Lance Armstrong.

Speaking at the 'Play The Game' conference which began Monday at Coventry University, UK, LeMond outlined his theories surrounding the detection of doping using power meters, biological parameters and analytic data before lambasting the current state of cycling in relation to drugs.

"What I've watched for the past 15 years has been almost robotic racing. I used to gasp for air and had to think about when I could take a sip of water – my sport drink – I'd try and time it for a flat section on the switchback of a climb," said LeMond. "[Now] I see people talking on the 'phone' [radio] riding a climb at the front of the Tour de France. For me it's surreal – I don't recognise the sport anymore."

LeMond's views on how to move forward in the fight against doping in cycling stirred plenty of interest when he spoke of them at a press conference during last year's Interbike convention. The 'Play The Game' gathering offered an audience more empathic to the possibilities in anti-doping, so it was here that the American began his speech.

"I've been to WADA and tried to figure out how to find a cure to what I would call a disease which is affecting cycling and a lot of other sports," he said. "It seems like there's an uphill battle to try and get people to listen and change things..."

He provided a brief outline of the physiology behind his theories. "On climbs... today with watt-measuring devices, you could literally look at someone's oxygen intake and estimate how many watts they could produce at their best. When there's a huge variation in the norm – statistically there's been huge variations in the past 15 years – without a drug control, without detecting a steroid, just with statistics and analytical data you could likely decide whether someone's cheating," he explained.

"I believe there's going to have to be a blending of all those methods to determine if people are doping."

It was the precursor for his most scathing comments, the likes of which were muted by Lance Armstrong at the Interbike press conference. And it didn't take long before LeMond's countryman was the focus of the discussion. LeMond's commentary on the Tour de France quickly lead to the only seven-time champion in the event's history. "At the moment I'm in litigation with the Trek Corporation – it's also going to be a litigation against another American Tour de France winner. Their [sic] claim is that I have just blasted off against Lance Armstrong."

"In eight years I've made four different comments – in 2007 I did two interviews – so in that time I've talked to six journalists and made very benign comments. The first one I said, 'I'm disappointed and devastated that Armstrong is seeing Dr Ferrari'. When I was racing in the early nineties, Dr Ferrari was known for one thing – he could make you go very fast, and it wasn't because he knew physiology," said LeMond.

The 47-year-old recalled meeting Ferrari in 1994. "I had an SRM meter and he looked down at me and said, 'What is that?' I said, 'It's a watt-measuring device'. He said, 'What do you need that for?' I said, 'So I can see if I'm progressing, when I should be recovering and when I should train again'... He had no concept of it.

"I realised this when talking to a physiologist friend of mine – one of the smartest in the world – I said, 'This guy really doesn't understand. He's really a haematologist and it's really not about the training.'"

celticfrost

+1

This is what happens when people look at delivery (yep, Lemond's isn't that great) over substance (listen to what he's saying objectively, people). The ADD afflicted MTV/myspace generation wants to be dazzled by 15-30 sec. advertising blitzes (eg, Nike ads).

El Diablo Rojo

Greg has/is making some great points about doping in cycling. He's come up with some innovative ways to regulate the sport. I firmly believe that if had never questioned St. Armstrong he'd be at the forefront of the anti-doping movement.

devilshaircut

It was probably a lot different there listening to him talk in person, rather than reading excerpts online in text.

haimtoeg

Spot on prognosis by the Dr.

kimconyc

I actually watched the first 14 or so minutes of the actual video. LeMond makes some interesting points (like recording max output or VO2Max and comparing it over time). He lost me when he forgot what he was talking about and then started laughing at himself. This was at around 14 minutes.

His delivery needs work but I believe he is sincere in his attempts to make the sport better regulated.

Walter

Ignorance knows no bounds and clearly enjoys company....

This is an excellent butcher job though.

wheelsucker1

I included the complete video link, so the context is right there for all to view. Watch the video and draw your own conclusions...

El Diablo Rojo

Yes Greg must be high, the audacity of him to talk about drugs in cycling! Only someone completely lit up on god knows what would think that cyclist would use PED's...again if GL had always made nice with LA he'd be considered a genius...keep drinkin' the kool-aid and ignore the reality...

botto 

ps - you're late.

El Diablo Rojo

If you watched it and still posted the excerpts then you are either dumb or blind. I'm not going to say the GL is the most eloquent speaker but if you took the time to listen to what he's saying you'd realize he is both very passionate about this sport and he knows what the F he's talking about. But of course if you don't think that there is doping issue in cycling then you would think GL's lost it. Unfortunately there is a doping problem and GL has come up with a very innovative way to test these guys. A way that could objectively show who is performing beyond his body's capabilities.

haimtoeg

I am not, and never was a Lance Armstrong fan. I am in no position to judge if he doped, but it would not surprise me to learn he did. Regardless of that, if Greg Lemond, or anybody else for that matter, wants to make a point and be taken seriously they should prepare and practice. Appearing disoriented, going off topic, talking of brainfarts, lead poisoning, whatever else, does not help him establish himself as a prominent and credible speaker against doping.

Ih8lucky13

O.P nice starting a thread that is taken from a blog verbatim.

My conclusion is that Greg Lemond is not a polished public speaker.

Dubbayoo

He's had 25 years to work on it.

El Diablo Rojo

My dad was a brilliant man, a leader in his field and received many awards from the federal government for his work. He was also a terrible public speaker. You can know what you are talking about and not be able to speak coherently about it. GL is one of those people. If you can point out where he is wrong let me know. There are drugs in the professional peleton. He believes that you can quantify who is using them and who is not by measuring a riders Vo2max and using a Power Meter to see if said rider is exceeding what the wattage his body is capable of producing.

Voodoo76

One of the oldest plays in the book. Don't like the message? Kill the messenger. Dates back to 400 BC or so, still in use today.

edit: amazing how many times i've seen Lemond rideculed for statements taken out of context.

BillyD

Haters will go to any length.