Tour De France 2010: Tough times ahead for...

[Sylv]

[quote="Sylv"]How could they not go with "Le Cav' se rebiffe" .. (literally - the idiot fights back)

[quote]Lance Armstrong has not spoken to former Astana team mate Alberto Contador in almost a year - or he does not remember if he did.

The Spaniard visited Armstrong's RadioShack team bus before Thursday's Tour de France fifth stage to offer the seven-times champion a watch inscribed "Tour de France 2009" as a souvenir of his victory in last year's race.

American Greg LeMond started the tradition in 1990 when he gave all his team mates a watch.

Armstrong, who had a tense relationship with Contador when they shared the leadership at Astana last season, did not personally receive the present.

"I didn't speak to him. I was in the back of the bus. I didn't see him. I was in the middle of something else," the 39-year-old American told reporters.

Armstrong raced against Contador only once this year at the Criterium International in Corsica and the pair did not talk to each other.

A photograph taken during the third stage of the Tour on Tuesday showed Armstrong standing up on his pedals and appearing angry as he looked at Contador.

"I saw that picture and it looks like we're having an argument but there's nothing. Absolutely not, absolutely not," the American said.

"I don't remember the chit-chat to be honest. It's not what it appears to be."

On arriving in Montargis after stage 5 of the Tour de France Lance Armstrong made the following comment about Contador's present. "Very generous of him. Obviously he recognizes he had the support of a great team so that's a nice gesture."

Commenting on his relationship with Contador in the 2010 Tour Armstrong told Roadcycling.com "It's fine, really. I think in the press room and maybe for the people in front of the TV it looks a bit heated, but it's really not. You know there's very little said, very little dialogue and that goes also from our team (RadioShack) to his team (Astana) you know I think there's a mutual level of respect there that we have for each other despite you know what went on in the last 12 months."

Armstrong added "I think we're both tired of drama and just looking forward to two weeks of seeing who's the best guy this year. You can't take away the fact that he's maybe the most talented guy to ever throw a leg over a bike. I don't have a problem with saying that."

Armstrong lies 18th in the 2010 Tour de France standings, 50 seconds behind Contador who is ninth.

[Ben]

Sylv,

Fancy, translating the article, related to Pevenage

http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves20 ... enage.html

[nick de meyer]

google translator so may not be 100% but u get the gist of it

Pevenage admits his fault
In an interview with The Team, Rudy Pevenage, former coach and mentor of Jan Ullrich at T-Mobile admits organized trips to Dr Fuentes for his champion. This is the first time that the Belgian admitted his involvement in Operación Puerto.

Pevenage and Ullrich in 2006, shortly before their exclusion from the 2006 Tour. (EQ)
"I organized the trips Jan (Ullrich) in Madrid at Dr. Fuentes. What good would now continue to lie?"With these words, published Thursday in the team, Rudy Pevenage, former sports director of the German team T-Mobile has chosen to break the silence in which he had walled up since 2006. That year, he had been fired by his team on the eve of the Tour, then continued to use doping substances in the medical part of the Operación Puerto, whose central character is Dr. Fuentes. Ullrich won the Tour de France 1997, is retired from the road since 2006. According to an investigative report of the German police released in 2009, the former champion would Fuentes accessed 24 times between 2003 and 2006, but he has never officially recognized doping.
"EVERYONE KNEW IT WAS ALMOST NORMAL."
Despite his confession, Rudy Pevenage tries to justify himself by denouncing a practice of widespread doping. "What you should know is that when I was organizing trips in Fuentes, I did not feel like committing a sin. I knew a lot of clients of Fuentes, of which good runners, they were at the Tour 2006. Everyone knew it was almost normal. " Worse, Pevenage said that using these illegal practices had become a necessity for its riders: "Little by little, watching the results, we realized that it lagged behind the other teams [...] it was found that some had found another method of preparation to avoid the EPO. "
"WE WERE NOT STUPID EITHER, ARMSTRONG WAS KNOWN BEFORE HIS CANCER. THE METAMORPHOSIS AFTER HIS RETURN WAS SO EXTRAORDINARY. "
Always shield with Ullrich, Rudy Pevenage remains critical of Lance Armstrong, the competitor of the time. "The rivalry has pushed us to do our utmost to beat him. We were not stupid either, Armstrong was known before his cancer. The metamorphosis after his return was so great. I am still convinced that Jan was much stronger physically."
And if former athletic director believes he was punished for example, he remembers being exposed due to a small error: "Usually, to communicate with Fuentes, I used a prepaid card with an unknown number. But in the Giro 2006, I wanted to call to tell him the stage win in January, except that I had more credit. So I used my personal phone. Fuentes was then tapped, my number was displayed."benign An error will result in the fall Pevenage, since converted into real estate. Jan Ullrich, he, always liable to disciplinary sanctions.

[DavidKennett]

Bit more [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/sports/cycling/14cyclinginquiry.html?_r=3&hpw]weight[/url] than WADA or UCI.

Will he have a stage win to talk to his cell mates about

[Dombo]

I wouldn't start licking your lips and choosing your cake just yet, Marco. T'aint over 'til it's over

[Paul H]

[quote="marco"]
Phil and Paul:
Will pretend nothing has happened.

[Dombo]

Think he meant Messrs Liggett and Sherwen

I just hope for Marco's sake LA's webcrawler doesn't lead him to press for extradition of our intrepid campaigner under US libel laws. I certainly wouldn't fancy his chances in front of a Texas jury.

[Dombo]

[quote="marco"]Dombo, you keep mentioning this line now. Please post links to anything I have written that won't stand up in court and i will remove them for you.

[higg]

Let's hope nobody spots the inference that all Texas courts are corrupt .....

Any evidence ???

Aodan.

[Dombo]

erm, no idea what you mean.....

[Ben]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/07/ ... ong_129823

When confronted by the report on France 2 television after the 14th stage, Armstrong pointed the finger at LeMond and his victory on the race in 1989.

“We will have the opportunity to tell the truth to the authorities, and Greg LeMond will tell the truth about 1989 I hope,” said Armstrong, who is now 38th overall at 39:44 behind Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck.

“Because he, too, needs to tell the truth. I have nothing to hide.”

[Toks]

Sshit, give me a break!
[img]http://i32.tinypic.com/qsrqfl.jpg[/img]

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/20100 ... ontroversy