Tour of California - Lance Armstrong Smackdown Interview

klgriff1

klgriff1

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Joined
18 September 2006
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Location
Fayetteville, Arkansas
The Tour of California begins today but the fireworks began yesterday at the pre-race press conference when Lance Armstrong responded to a question posed by Paul Kimmage.

I'm really jealous of everyone near the race course as this is a great opportunity to catch some of the best sprinters in the world as well as to see how Armstrong's comeback is progressing.

The interview exchange is well worth watching, the video is mid-page.

http://velonews.com/article/87658/astana-under-the-spotlight

http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

Some of the bikes from this years race.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum....193;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;
 
On the 18th, he's starting from my town of Merced and finishing <1 hr drive from me.

On the day prior, he is finishing at the town just 30 miles north of me in Modesto.

I'm ditching atleast 1 day of class to camp out for a good photo spot before they close the roads. I SHOULD of bought an extra battery and card..... doh.....

I posted up asking if anyone on prime had ANY connection because I'd like to be able to get around without having to ditch and dodge highway patrol or security in order to get a good photo spot.
 
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Just watched the interview video. AWESOME JOB LANCE! He really did put the smack down on Kimmage VERY well, humiliating the guy, and Lance actually lifting himself up very high at the same time. Awesome Lance, awesome!

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://contagion.img.cdn.entriq.net/dayportcore/dpm/DayPortPlayers.js"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">DayPortPlayer.newPlayer({articleID:"2591",playerInstanceID:"BE4CFEAA-C03F-B836-C4D5-6F7B1153D45F",domain:"contagion.dayport.com"});</script>
 
You guys are so lucky! Man I'd kill to be there for this race.

Kudos to Lance for sticking up for Cancer survivors and telling that reporter to stick it up his arse!

I loathe the media and its continual prosecution of riders who have not doped (Lance), those who might have doped and could be innocent (Floyd Landis), and those who did admit to doping (Basso) and continue to be harrased.

I do hope that reporter's credibility is ruined. May the LA train keep moving along!
 
It's the same guy who has been bad mouthing Lance for years. I think it was mainly the European cycling community who encouraged this guy and looked down on Lance. Why? Because Lance is from America and kicked EVERYONE'S @SS in the Tour de France legally and legit according to all the blood work they put the guy through.

So even though we might hate that reporter here in America, he seems to have LOTS of supporters in Europe. They still think Lance cheated even though all the blood work and snooping reporters digging through the trash dumpsers couldn't prove that he was on drugs.

All we can do is cheer our boy Lance on. Kick some @ss, and put those critics in their place with win after win after win!
 
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Did anyone catch the coverage of the todays prologue?
Versus provides great coverage and in high def.

http://www.versus.com/cyclysm

Todays 2.4 mile time trial provides some insight into the riders fitness but the handful of seconds that separate all of the g.c. contenders doesn't mean much.
If you are in his camp or not, one has to appreciate that at least Lance's comeback generates enough interest to get daily coverage on Versus - although I think most could do without seeing Phil in high definition.
I really get the feeling that Armstrong is just training through all of the events until "the tour" in july. He has already stated something to the effect that he would like to see Levi win the tour of california and that he is going to be a super domestique for Levi.

Can't wait to see tomorrows coverage!
 
Jetpilot3 said:
You guys are so lucky! Man I'd kill to be there for this race.

Kudos to Lance for sticking up for Cancer survivors and telling that reporter to stick it up his arse!

I loathe the media and its continual prosecution of riders who have not doped (Lance), those who might have doped and could be innocent (Floyd Landis), and those who did admit to doping (Basso) and continue to be harrased.

I do hope that reporter's credibility is ruined. May the LA train keep moving along!
Click to expand...

Doping on the cycling tour is way rampant. The sport, in my opinion, doesn't really do a good job at trying to clean the sport up (Kicked out the Festina team from the tour a few years ago), but the problems persisit (Basso and Landis). I think that is why the media is so aggressive and seem to gravitate towards Armstrong. Look at the way the media treats Barry Bonds, who doped when it was allowed in Baseball (other than criminal acts). I'm not saying Armstrong doped, but the European media treats him the same as our media treats Bonds.

Miner
 
The European community is resentful of Americans who dominate "their" sport. It started with Lemond years ago. The perception of Armstrong doping is especially strong since he was subjected to drugs for his cancer treatment. I truly hope he didn't "sneak past" the testing due to his cancer treatment possibly masking the testing results. I doubt that is the case however.

I look forward to his return and to having someone to root for. Go Lance.
 
When Lance left, I stopped following. Good to have the guy back.

My first EVER experience with Lance would have to be the Olympics back in.... 1992 Barcelona. I remember the video clips of the guy and all I could think was....."Damn, his thigh is as big as a tree stump! They're way bigger than his waist!"
 
First off- GREAT THREAD! I am a total bike-o-file so this subject is close to my heart. That bike thread over on slowtwitch is awesome.

2nd- good for Lance. I am surprised he was able to hold his temper. The guy has been subjected to every kind of screening imaginable- YES he is a freak of nature- practically designed for the bike- but NO he isn't pharmaceutically enhanced.

Hope everyone enjoys the coverage.

P
 
Just saw the results of stage 2. Man, the weather here is horrid, those guys are really suffering out there.

It sounds like Lance is going to be a real team player and help bring Levi home in first. Kudos Lance.
 
This is probably one of the best cycling events featuring some of my favorite riders - Lance, Tyler, Michael Barry, Floyd, George, Horner, etc...love it!
 
87907


Victor Hugo Pena must have been feeling it before the event started - maybe he will take off the label after today's +13:46

85. 165 COL 19740710 PENA Victor Hugo RRC 04.29'32" 00.13'46"
 
God I just hope the thieving punks do not get their fingers on anyone's bikes this year. Every year, we get two big road races, in our town. And everytime, a team gets hit and loses SEVERAL bikes. Really pisses me off.

I'm anxious to post up some pictures, for wednesday and maybe tuesday towards mid to finish. I won't have much time but it only takes a few minutes to get them all to blow by towards the front. I wanted to go towards the half way point to get better pictures but it's not an option considering I'll only have 2 hours from race start to the time I need to be back at the college.

It's been over 10 years since I did any sort of real photography. However I know my camera is up to the task (Canon 40d). Any techniques that would work best? With good sunlighting, I should be able to shoot at a rate towards max of 6.5 fps. I willl only get one chance to do this since I'll be towards the front when they come through in one huge mass. No time to fumble around.

Assume bright lighting. I'm going to stick with a smaller aperture size to get the most detail through out in case I don't get lance front and center. Since I'll be able to take photos at a fast shutter speed, is panning even going to be neccessary? Will I be able to just point at one spot on the road as they pass and press down for the several seconds it takes for them to pass? Weather is crummy and the is coming quick so I won't get to experiment unfortunately.
 
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I don't have any photography skills.......and my limited photos from the TDF 2003 are proof. There are a lot of colorful blurs.
Although it would have been nice to come away with some great pictures of the tour riders, I really wish I would have had someone take a picture of me climbing Tourmalet when I passed by Didi - the red devil guy...he shouted at me shaking the pitch fork.. it was great.
The tour riders come by so fast that every time I was attempting to take a picture it left me with a feeling that I was missing out on something by not being able to see the entire field.

Check out the photos of "lance's comeback" and "cycling" under the index on Elizabeth Kreutz's website.

http://www.elizabethkreutz.com/main.php
 
I don't care if Lance ever doped, and I'll tell you why.

You want to dope on the Tour, go ahead!! Just earn the right to dope like Lance has, by getting testicular cancer and losing one of your balls.

If you survive that, you've got the damn right to dope all you want.

The Lance haters can go to hell!! Some idiots on this planet have their priorities seriously f*cked up.

Biking is merely a sport, surviving cancer is life.
 
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NSX_Dreamer said:
I don't care if Lance ever doped, and I'll tell you why.

You want to dope on the Tour, go ahead!! Just earn the right to dope like Lance has, by getting testicular cancer and losing one of your balls.

If you survive that, you've got the damn right to dope all you want.

The Lance haters can go to hell!! Some idiots on this planet have their priorities seriously f*cked up.

Biking is merely a sport, surviving cancer is life.
Click to expand...

I don't think one has anything to do with the other.

Miner
 
KooLaid said:
God I just hope the thieving punks do not get their fingers on anyone's bikes this year. Every year, we get two big road races, in our town. And everytime, a team gets hit and loses SEVERAL bikes. Really pisses me off.
Click to expand...

still not good:

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_yl...lug=ap-armstrong-bikestolen&prov=ap&type=lgns

Armstrong’s time-trial bike stolen in California
By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer
Feb 15, 5:53 pm EST

Buzz up!0 votes PrintSANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP)—Lance Armstrong’s time-trial bike was stolen from the Team Astana truck during the night before Stage 1 of the Tour of California.

Armstrong rode the bike to a 10th-place finish Saturday in Sacramento during the Tour prologue. The race is his first competitive appearance in his native country since the seven-time Tour de France winner began his cycling comeback last month.

A few hours after the time trial, someone removed four bikes from the Astana truck outside the team hotel in Sacramento. Armstrong’s time-trial bike, which was closest to the door because he was delayed by a post-race trip to doping control, was taken along with race bikes belonging to Astana teammates Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and Janez Brajkovic.

Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens confirmed the theft to The Associated Press after it was reported by Armstrong himself on his Twitter feed. Armstrong later posted a picture of the bike, which has distinctive yellow-and-black wheels and the logo of his Livestrong foundation.

“There is only one like it in the world therefore hard to pawn it off. Reward being offered,” Armstrong wrote before jumping on his race bike for the 107-mile ride from Davis to Santa Rosa through a steady rainstorm.

Team Astana manager Johan Bruyneel also mentioned the thefts on his Twitter feed before he began following his riders. The racers all have backup bikes, and two-time defending Tour champion Levi Leipheimer’s bike wasn’t stolen.

Armstrong won’t need his time-trial bike again until Friday in Solvang, where the race holds its second time trial. That segment is crucial to Astana’s hopes of winning the overall team title.
 

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