Alberto Contador Shows Ugly Side in Comments
Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, of Spain, showed a rather ugly and arrogant side on Monday when he made comments about his dislike for American and 7-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong.
“My relationship with Lance is zero,” Contador said at a news conference, one day after winning his second Tour. “He is a great rider and has completed a great race, but it is another thing on a personal level, where I have never had great admiration for him and I never will.”
“On this Tour, the days in the hotel were harder than those on the road,” Contador said. “The situation was tense and delicate because the relationship between myself and Lance extended to the rest of the staff.”
Armstrong, who tried to be diplomatic and the wise veteran on the team, responded via his Twitter to his former cocky and victorous teammate.
“Seeing these comments from AC. If I were him I’d drop this drivel and start thanking his team.”
I believe Lance is right. Contador won the 2009 Tour de France because he is a great rider but having a great team is the only way any rider can win the grueling Tour. Contador not only had the greatest Tour rider on his side, and at his back, in Armstrong, but he also had the best team manager Johan Bruyneel.
That will change next year when both riders leave Astana. Armstrong and Bruyneel have already announced the formation of the American team, Team Radioshack. Bruyneel will put together the best team possible for Sir Lance to mount a challenge to Contador to regain his place on the top of the podium.
Retired Belgium cycling great Axel Merckx had the following to say on his Twitter.
A champion is also measured on how much he respect his teammates and opponents. You can win a race on your own not a grand tour.
And Astana team director Johan Bruyneel went all Abe Lincoln on his Twitter feed:
Sometimes it is better to be silent and thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt!
I think both men sum up the situation quite perfectly.
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Next time, try to be a little objective about such commentary. If Lance Armstrong wasn’t such a dick, he wouldn’t have had his place in the Dickipedia. Check it out. Seems like you’re a die hard Lance fan. Sorry, can’t help that medical condition.
Obviously sfa would qualify for membership in the Dickipedia as well. There is a reason they have teams in the Tour and without a strong cohesive experienced team you don’t win the GC. Contador is an extremely talented rider but his level of maturity is way down the ladder. And it will show if he does not have a strong team around him next year. And Lance has earned his ego - surviving cancer and winning 7 in a row. I think the classier act than Contador is the Schleck brothers and in particular Andy. He will be a threat in the future to Contador.
Agreed ( sfa ). Lance was great. He did a lot of good things for cycling & more importantly cancer awareness.
Unfortunately, his swollen ego has led him back to cycling and Bruyneel’s team.
In Lance’s absence, AC won all three major tours and appreciates that this is achieved with the support of his team. That support has not been so evident this tour, with Bruyneel’s focus clearly on keeping Lance happy and sorting out a new team - announced during the Tour while still working for Astana - Really Professional !
AC does not need lessons from Armstrong. He hammered him in both TT’s and on any hill he chose. Armstrong certainly was at Contador’s back - as it is the best position from which to stab someone by griping and whining and flexing your cheek muscles in faux diplomat-mode. Lance has thrown his rattle out of the pram - again ! First move will be to buy Andy Schleck to get him to work for St Lance next year - thus nullifying a rival again.
sfa get a life! You take your vast amount of knowledge from a webpage made by some morons who’s got too much time on their hand. Whether or not Armstrong is a “dick” is irrelevant, the question is whether Contador’s tirade is acceptable behavior. Contador is spoiled man who needs to grow up and be thankful he is given an opportunity to express his athletic abilities. He should just shut up and be glad. The man is a moron.
Lance is as arrogant as they come, he deserved the backlash because he treated AC like dirt the whole tour. Stop putting Armstrong on a pedestal, he’s a bitter loser, simple as that.
The only ones making comments throughout the race were Armstrong & Bruyneel.
Im glad Contador kicked his ass all the way back to Texas..
From one who speaks and understands the spaninsh language, I would suggest that you listen and have somebody that speaks Spanish translate the content of AC’s press conferance here is the link http://www.steephill.tv/2009/entries/contador-post-tdf-news-conference/
you will notice that there was no ill intent in AC comments. On the other hand it seems that LA is only upset because he EXPECTED AC to be his domestique and to hand LA his 8 win. I admire AC by not given it to him, as others have for the 7 wins that LA has. AC work harder than LA did, LA just set in the pack and waited for AC and the rest of the team to guide him to a win, HAHAHA I’m finally happy to see that LA got what he has always diserved. I live in USA.
Thanks AC
What I saw is that the Astana team was all the way with Armstrong and against Contador which makes Contador’s win more honorable. Armstrong is angry and bitter because he couldn’t beat Contador, team or no team. He couldn’t even make second. o what’s the excuse for that? His perevious wins are suspicious. To be under scrutiny by the Tour de France committee for drug use doesn’t happen by accident. No smoke without fire. He got away with it by covering up the whole abuse with his testicular cancer as an excuse. This time he was watched closely and he lost. Coincidence? Contador is a great champion and he will prove so on the next TDF by kicking Arnstrong’s ass again. Mark my words.
Sorry Josh, this is bollocks.
If Alberto Contador has shown his ugly side here, how many times has Armstrong shown the same? He has been disrespecting his own team leader since he joined Astana. AC isn’t a great team mate or a great person, I am sure. But let us be clear that it is AC who has kept quiet and proven his class on the road while Armstrong has been all huff and puff, in the literal and figurative senses. Of course, like Bruyneel says, Contador has now removed all doubts about his sportsmanship.
Both men are selfish, stubborn and egoistic, like the best of athletes.
Contador is a dirty spick who has no team for 2010 and no chance for a major stage race victory without a team, 14:59 - 15:00 its over Contador