Discovery in disarray.... ?

[whiteboytrash]

The cycle shop at the foot of Alpe d"huez had more Discovery kit that you can find ANYWHERE in the US and when I asked the owner said he couldnt keep it in stock.

If its true why do you think that is ? Like when you go Covent Garden in London and the tourist shops are full of what ? Locals buying stuff ? No its full of Americans buying T-shirts with "My Mom went to London and all I got was this lousy t-shirt !".

Sad that Americans go all the way to France and in particular d'Huez to buy Discovery kit so they can say (and say in American accent) "Last year I was at d'Ezzz and I picked up this Discovery kit and its awesome !"

I remember being in Paris after the 2004 Tour and there was some America guy telling his girlfriend in a bar: "Lance kicked **** this year on d'Huez, next year I'm going to get a chopper and fly onto Ventoux to see Lance". OMFG ! I think the chic was buying his story as well ! Shameless. You guys are more talk and about showboating and not riding. Buying Discovery kit on d’Huez… please !

 

[limerickman]

I think it is clear that the greatest TdF rider France has produced and perhaps the greatest all around rider France has produced respects Lance and his accomplishments, and clearly sannot stand that fat piece of lard Jean Marie LeBlanc.

Hinault obviously is PART OF ASO and is drawing the line in the sand.
Lance's reputation in France has been hurt by LeBlanc and L'Equipe but the many French cyclists I met on the roads of the TdF in 2003 and 2005 are fans of Lance and are many in number.

The cycle shop at the foot of Alpe d"huez had more Discovery kit that you can find ANYWHERE in the US and when I asked the owner said he couldnt keep it in stock.

Let me correct you. Hinault is hired to work 80 days per year for the ASO.
Part of which includes Hinault being at the TDF.
Hinault is not an employee of the ASO as such.

Hinault's given an opinion.

L'Equipe is actually a bigger constituent part of the ASO than Hinault.

 

[deli99]

You guys are more talk and about showboating and not riding. Buying Discovery kit on d’Huez… please !

Nice generalization of an entire country.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Nice generalization of an entire country.

about as much of generalisation as shiting ship containers of Discovery kit from a shop at the foot of l'Alpe d'Huez ?

 

[deli99]

about as much of generalisation as shiting ship containers of Discovery kit from a shop at the foot of l'Alpe d'Huez ?

I really have no idea what you are trying to say.

You know, some of us (Americans) do not exactly fit your stereotype.

For instance:

I am not a huge Armstrong fan. (and I don't consider him the best cyclist ever)
I would like to see JU win this year's tour.
I think anyone saying they would "get a chopper and fly to Ventoux" is an ass, no matter what country he is from!

 

[whiteboytrash]

I think anyone saying they would "get a chopper and fly to Ventoux" is an ass, no matter what country he is from!

If it got a chic into bed, I'd say it.....

 

[rejobako]

I remember being in Paris after the 2004 Tour and there was some America guy telling his girlfriend in a bar: "Lance kicked **** this year on d'Huez, next year I'm going to get a chopper and fly onto Ventoux to see Lance". OMFG ! I think the chic was buying his story as well !

You're just angry because the same girl ignored you when you asked her to come back to your hotel room to see your collection of Ullrich toenail clippings.

 

[deli99]

If it got a chic into bed, I'd say it.....

So when that American was saying it, your reaction was "OMFG" and "Shameless" (post 881), but you would turn around and do the same thing?

OK.

For the record WBT, I agree with a lot of your opinions on these forums, and you know your cycling. I just feel you are a bit too quick with the anti-American diatribe.

 

[bobke]

about as much of generalisation as shiting ship containers of Discovery kit from a shop at the foot of l'Alpe d'Huez ?

The point I was trying to make and which you obviously missed is that the majority of folks purchasing those kits are French, then Italian...and only a far far place behind and only a few weeks a year are the US riders. I am sure the belgian and germans etc are way up there too. I never heard a US or English word when I was at the Alpe when my son and some friends rode La Marmotte.

 

[thebluetrain]

You're just angry because the same girl ignored you when you asked her to come back to your hotel room to see your collection of Ullrich toenail clippings.

She ingnored him because he asked her to come back to his room to watch his collection of Harry Potter movies.

 

[MJtje]

The point I was trying to make and which you obviously missed is that the majority of folks purchasing those kits are French, then Italian...and only a far far place behind and only a few weeks a year are the US riders. I am sure the belgian and germans etc are way up there too. I never heard a US or English word when I was at the Alpe when my son and some friends rode La Marmotte.

Alpe d'huez is typically a dutch mountain when the TDF finishes there.......part of why it's called that way is also because of the many dutch wins on alpe d'huez......

 

[limerickman]

The point I was trying to make and which you obviously missed is that the majority of folks purchasing those kits are French, then Italian...and only a far far place behind and only a few weeks a year are the US riders. I am sure the belgian and germans etc are way up there too. I never heard a US or English word when I was at the Alpe when my son and some friends rode La Marmotte.

Sales of DC shirts.

I was part of an event this weekend - 1,500 cyclists - here in Ireland.
I counted some DC shirts.
But I counted far more CSC shirts, Rabo shirts.
I counted very few TMO shirts.

Nothing scientific of course.

I don't think that shirt sales reflect a riders popularity.

 

[Eldrack]

So, clearly DC's marketing department is not in disarray, still cashing in on the LA factor. Me thinks however that their riders performance is slightly more important than how many jerseys they sell.

 

[mitosis]

If Leblanc wasn't there he would have been invited. At the presentation many of the riders spoke out against the injustice..... LeBlanc got caught up in a political game and in the long run he lost. The truth is LA was bigger then the TDF on a worldwide basis. On a world wide basis, he was the TDF for 7 years...... LeBlanc couldn't handle that. LA is better known then all the TDF riders combined. LA brought a tremendous amount of money to the TDF society that LeBlanc cannot take credit for. The TDF was in serious money troubles when the LA story revived it. It would have taken years for the TDF to regain what it lost with the Festina scandal.
WADA was attacking LeBlanc and LeBlanc used LA as a scrapegoat. But that backfired with the report last month.

I don't know enough to argue about your opinion of LeBlanc and your conspiracy theories involving WADA but your idea that LA is better known than all the TdeF riders and bigger than the TdeF is ridiculous. Even in the states (where I was last year) there were many who didn't even know who Lance Armstrong is.

It might come as a shock to you and many others from the US but there is a whole world out there and they don't share the view of many from the US that the it is the centre of the universe.

 

[Rhubarb]

You guys are more talk and about showboating and not riding. Buying Discovery kit on d’Huez… please !

Nice generalization of an entire country.

And is actually a racist comment. Though isn't the first and won't be the last.

 

[musette]

Let me correct you. Hinault is hired to work 80 days per year for the ASO.
Part of which includes Hinault being at the TDF.
Hinault is not an employee of the ASO as such.

Let me correct you. Have you heard of such a thing as a "part-time" employee or "seasonal" employee? A "seasonal" employee makes sense if the goal on the part of ASO is, in part, for Hinault to be seen at the Tour.

Even if Hinault were not an employee (your argument), have you heard of a "representative"?

 

[bobke]

Let me correct you. Hinault is hired to work 80 days per year for the ASO.
Part of which includes Hinault being at the TDF.
Hinault is not an employee of the ASO as such.

Hinault's given an opinion.

L'Equipe is actually a bigger constituent part of the ASO than Hinault.

Its hard to tell if you just try to provoke people or are just that pompous naturally.
"Let me correct you."
Please show me Hinault's contract that states he works for them 80 days a year.
In any case. he works for them, he is their employee, he is the public face on the podium and he has chosen to make a very strong and public statement in support of that.
Regardless of his employment status, how many shirts are sold at Covent Garden, and the price of tea in CHina, no one responding negatively has been able to answer the question:
Hinault is France's greatest cyclist and has come out in support of Lance.
That should explin it to anyone.
Nuff said.

 

[whiteboytrash]

Let me correct you. Have you heard of such a thing as a "part-time" employee or "seasonal" employee? A "seasonal" employee makes sense if the goal on the part of ASO is, in part, for Hinault to be seen at the Tour.

Even if Hinault were not an employee (your argument), have you heard of a "representative"?

Hinault is retired and is a "contracted" employee (ie we pay you x for y days of work) during the Tour de France. The rest of the year he runs his pig farm in Brittany ! True story !

Funny enough to put things in contrast, Hinault welcomed back Richard Virenque and named him has France's "greatest ever mountain climber". So if you want to compare bad apples with bad apples, go ahead !

 

[wolfix]

I don't know enough to argue about your opinion of LeBlanc and your conspiracy theories involving WADA but your idea that LA is better known than all the TdeF riders and bigger than the TdeF is ridiculous. Even in the states (where I was last year) there were many who didn't even know who Lance Armstrong is.

It might come as a shock to you and many others from the US but there is a whole world out there and they don't share the view of many from the US that the it is the centre of the universe.

In the last 7 years if you polled people worldwide very few people on a world basis in non cycling countries would even know one pro rider except for Lance. The fact you were in the states and someone had heard of the TDf and not Lance is ********. Do you really think Ullrich is known outside cycling strong countries? I doubt it. When Greg Lemond won the TDF most people had never heard of the TDF in this country.
The US is not the center of the universe, but we are not cycling stupid. Within a few hours of me lives a 3 times TDF winner, the former home of a Giro winner and down the road a few miles is a current rider in the pro ranks in Europe.

I have followed the TDF for over 30 years. And never has a rider been so dominating in the world news as LA. He helped the TDF go beyond it's typical boundaries more then all the riders combined.

I have worked with international students as customers the past 5 years. And very few of them [mostly female] can even name a cyclist from their country. The Russians and Germans excepted. I had 5 french customers who can't couldn't even tell me the name of one French rider.{current] But they could tell me that they knew of Lance.

As far as WADA goes..... Conspiracy? Read the recent report and tell me that that LA was not targeted. The lab said he was targeted by **** Pound. And we may see the connection between WADA and the newspaper someday. LeBlanc had his comments at the 2006 TDf presentation about the dark ages shoved back down his throat with the report.


And the USA has made its mark on the TDf..... The US riders have won at least half of them in the past 20 years. To a good US rider, the July event is nothing but a annual ride around France.

 

[micron]

Leblanc's remarks addressed the issue of doping in the sport and the probability that its biggest name was a doper. The report you regard so highly did nothing more than vindicate the UCI at the expense of WADA and did nothing whatever to address the issue of doping - that was never its intent as a report - its intent was to absolve the UCI, which it did.

The issue of why Armstrong recorded 6 positive tests, tests with matching paperwork - paperwork that Armstrong has never denied is his - remains.

Besides, it's virtually impossible to divorce Vrijman's personal agenda - defending dopers before CAS - from his report.