Bruyneel talking [censored]

oely said:

sporza.be080405 bruyneel blijft boosOpen ↗

JB has a cry, saying without Contador riding theres no stars in the Tour this year and the current favourites arent attractive enough for the public.

and goes on to say that earlier, it was Cipolinni and Armstrong that made it spectacular.

Ill pay Cipo but not Armstrong. It happens alot in sport, if someone is successful, suddenly they have personality and charisma. Common mistake with Armstrong. A winner he may be but he never had anything else spectacular.

No surprise there though. Given that Contadope is "his boy", these kind of statements are expected.

oely said:

sporza.be080405 bruyneel blijft boosOpen ↗

JB has a cry, saying without Contador riding theres no stars in the Tour this year and the current favourites arent attractive enough for the public.

and goes on to say that earlier, it was Cipolinni and Armstrong that made it spectacular.

Ill pay Cipo but not Armstrong. It happens alot in sport, if someone is successful, suddenly they have personality and charisma. Common mistake with Armstrong. A winner he may be but he never had anything else spectacular.

I agree he is talking [censored].
That's what we've come to expect from the likes of him.

Any knowledgable fan of the sport would know that all of the grand tours and major stage races have races within races.
The GT's have the KOM, Green Jersey, Team competitions - as well as best young rider, most agressive rider competitions.
Knowledgable fans follow these races within races with a great level of interest, as well as the overall race result.

Bruyneel's comments underscore his disrespect for the sport, the riders and the (knowledgeable) fans.

It could quite possibly have an element of sour grapes...

Indeed Lim. And in any event, each GT creates a new group of riders who we then follow with interest and excitement. I am not excited to see Contador or whoever... I am excited to see pro riders battling it out for the yellow jersey...

Powerful Pete said:

Indeed Lim. And in any event, each GT creates a new group of riders who we then follow with interest and excitement. I am not excited to see Contador or whoever... I am excited to see pro riders battling it out for the yellow jersey...

Yes exactly... Who wants to see just one person win it, its better for the race and cycling if there are group of riders who could win.
If astana were to come back in for the tour, you lose that excitement because of contador.

coneofsilence said:

Yes exactly... Who wants to see just one person win it, its better for the race and cycling if there are group of riders who could win.
If astana were to come back in for the tour, you lose that excitement because of contador.

Some of 'Armstrong's Tours' were among the most boring GTs ever.

Cobblestones said:

Some of 'Armstrong's Tours' were among the most boring GTs ever.

Armstrong was an efficient winning machine but charismatic? His testicle wasn't the only thing they cut off - he clearly had a personality bypass at the same time.

As for Dirty Bertie - someone please tell me where he was so spectacular in the Tour last year? He never once got the better of Rasmussen and might have finished off the podium altogether had the Chicken finished the race. It was the latter who set the race alight not Contador - who is about as exciting as any Armstrong clone could be. Bruyneel really does talk out of his [censored]

micron said:

Armstrong was an efficient winning machine but charismatic? His testicle wasn't the only thing they cut off - he clearly had a personality bypass at the same time.

As for Dirty Bertie - someone please tell me where he was so spectacular in the Tour last year? He never once got the better of Rasmussen and might have finished off the podium altogether had the Chicken finished the race. It was the latter who set the race alight not Contador - who is about as exciting as any Armstrong clone could be. Bruyneel really does talk out of his [censored]

Yes, I agree with the points of everyone, but will any other team manager say anything else if he were in JB's position?

sports.espn.go.comstoryOpen ↗
in English

Cobblestones said:

Some of 'Armstrong's Tours' were among the most boring GTs ever.

Agreed but it wasn't so much that Armstrong totally boring but his entire team was... this years Paris-Nice was far more exciting that any of the USPS/Disco wins maybe bar '03...... it just got stupid an entire team riding the entire race on the front of the peleton..... the funny thing the UCI thought thats what the public wanted... I really think they've just realised that got it horribly wrong... It was a brave move by ASO to ban ASTANA but what it does it takes away one of the biggest doping teams of all time but also means that other team don't feel they have to dope to keep up with Bruyneel....... see: Valverde interview this month in CycleSport.... he fairly much admits to doping but glad to give it all up to just ride like he did when he was a junior...... I'll copy the text in shortly.....

whiteboytrash said:

Agreed but it wasn't so much that Armstrong totally boring but his entire team was... this years Paris-Nice was far more exciting that any of the USPS/Disco wins maybe bar '03...... it just got stupid an entire team riding the entire race on the front of the peleton..... the funny thing the UCI thought thats what the public wanted... I really think they've just realised that got it horribly wrong... It was a brave move by ASO to ban ASTANA but what it does it takes away one of the biggest doping teams of all time but also means that other team don't feel they have to dope to keep up with Bruyneel....... see: Valverde interview this month in CycleSport.... he fairly much admits to doping but glad to give it all up to just ride like he did when he was a junior...... I'll copy the text in shortly.....

Have the UCi actually realised they got it wrong. I don't think they have. To me it seems the UCI wantsto keep everything the same but on abigger scale. The ASO are the ones that saw it as the wrong way to go about it.
Maybe i'm wrong.

whiteboytrash said:

Valverde interview this month in CycleSport.... he fairly much admits to doping but glad to give it all up to just ride like he did when he was a junior...... I'll copy the text in shortly.....

This is very interesting. Never doping is one thing, but stopping without being caught is a different matter entirely. I hope many riders feel the same.

coneofsilence said:

Have the UCi actually realised they got it wrong. I don't think they have. To me it seems the UCI wantsto keep everything the same but on abigger scale. The ASO are the ones that saw it as the wrong way to go about it.
Maybe i'm wrong.

I was basing that on Verdruggin's comments last week.

Here is some of the Valverde interview:

CS: Jogging ? Thats a bit strange for this time of the year ?

AV: When I was a junior I used to jog lots in winter but when I was an amateur I stopped doing it. This year, I went jogging right the way through January so I wouldn't take my bike out to much. I did around 10km a day.

CS: So in fact you're now training as if you're doing a duathlon ?

AV: Sort of. That wasn't my intention.

CS: You say you want to hold back for the Tour ?

AV: All I say is that I'm not as competitive as I used to be. When I go training with friends I no longer sprint for signposts.

CS: What about Classics ?

AV: I'll do them the best I can but without being under as much pressure as in previous years. Somewhere in the top 5 would be a great result.

CS: Last year you were all but barred from the Worlds. Don't you worry if you start winning races those sort of problems will come back ?

AV: Things are calmer at the moment, but whether I win races or I don't it makes no difference. In any case I don't want to waste my time talking about those questions.

Any knowledgable fan of the sport would know that all of the grand tours and major stage races have races within races

JB pretty much nailed it for the masses. Either he is not a "knowledgeable fan of the sport" or his comments are intendeded to the casual cycling fan that may have something better to do with his/her time than watch a watered down race. IMO, his comments aren't directed to the minority of knowledgeable fans but to the majority of casual fans who would enjoy the drama of last years winner defending his title. The many casual fans that I know are interested in what races Contador will be in so they can watch. They also could give two [censored]'s about Disco or Astana. It's not the bike or the team - it's the individual drama that is captivating to the masses, a big part of which will be missing from this year's tour for the masses.

limerickman said:

I agree he is talking [censored].
That's what we've come to expect from the likes of him.

Any knowledgable fan of the sport would know that all of the grand tours and major stage races have races within races.
The GT's have the KOM, Green Jersey, Team competitions - as well as best young rider, most agressive rider competitions.
Knowledgable fans follow these races within races with a great level of interest, as well as the overall race result.

Bruyneel's comments underscore his disrespect for the sport, the riders and the (knowledgeable) fans.

The disrespect for the sport has come from the aso The organization has tried to become bigger than the sport. It's there way or no way and they aren't doing such a wonderful job.

obxbes said:

The disrespect for the sport has come from the aso The organization has tried to become bigger than the sport. It's there way or no way and they aren't doing such a wonderful job.

face it, the American audience is a miniscule part of the audience for cycling, and particularly the Tour. It's the casual fans in Europe that are important, not a tiny handful of [censored] 'America's Favourite Team' fans.

At the end of the day, there'll be new rivalries and new stars this year. Remember 1999 - who was in the Tour that year? None of the big names - and look what happened that year. At the end of the day, the race is bigger than the riders and it is the race that makes 'stars' or breaks them - they certainly aren't ordained by order of Bruyneel.

obxbes said:

The disrespect for the sport has come from the aso The organization has tried to become bigger than the sport. It's there way or no way and they aren't doing such a wonderful job.

Difficult to understand your statement without explanation. Are you speaking from Astana's exclusion? Or ?...

Bike N Ski said:

snip... it's the individual drama that is captivating to the masses, a big part of which will be missing from this year's tour for the masses.

Have to disagree with you here. As other have said, there will be new rivalries during the Tour, and we will all be enthralled and watch it. No need to hark to Contador et al.

Bike N Ski said:

Any knowledgable fan of the sport would know that all of the grand tours and major stage races have races within races

JB pretty much nailed it for the masses. Either he is not a "knowledgeable fan of the sport" or his comments are intendeded to the casual cycling fan that may have something better to do with his/her time than watch a watered down race. IMO, his comments aren't directed to the minority of knowledgeable fans but to the majority of casual fans who would enjoy the drama of last years winner defending his title. The many casual fans that I know are interested in what races Contador will be in so they can watch. They also could give two [censored]'s about Disco or Astana. It's not the bike or the team - it's the individual drama that is captivating to the masses, a big part of which will be missing from this year's tour for the masses.

You'll find that here in Europe the sport has been followed - and will always be followed - regardless of who may or may not be racing.
Mr Bruyneel, given his European nationality, should know this.