Haha....at least he didn't do the stupid gun on the podium
Fool came up with a better one - Ballstrong.1st: Alberto "Pistolero" Contador
2nd: Andy "I Need a F*cking Cheeseburger" Schleck
3rd: Lance "Uniball" Armstrong
Not having a retarded nickname: Priceless
bwahahaha... so edited.Fool came up with a better one - Ballstrong.
OMFG! He has a damn hat!! What is wrong with this guy? Next he'll be at a press conference with a pin of the pistol on his suit
Cuntador?Fool came up with a better one - Ballstrong.
Someone needs to pull a gun on him and he won't be flashing a finger anymore...OMFG! He has a damn hat!! What is wrong with this guy? Next he'll be at a press conference with a pin of the pistol on his suit
I think the idea might have been that they didn't want to have the lead so early and have to defend it. Let someone else take it, make them defend it and worry about it and them and save the real fireworks for the later stages. Personally, I liked AC's approach. More excitement for me.Shoot, I thought Lancy-poo had been taking advice from Evans, considering the "drivel" he posts on Twitter (not to mention the public criticism of AC during the race). Real classy. At least AC was honest, and said some positive things about Lance's riding.
Can someone ask Armstrong how it was a bad thing that his team mate, who was clearly a stronger rider throughout the race, took 20 seconds on everyone at Arcalis? So the team strategy was to not try to win the race?
He was leading by example...he showed them how fast they should be goingI thought the team strategy was to try for 1,2, and 3 podium positions? How was shooting ahead of everyone (including his own teammates), helping to put them on the podium with him?
OMFG! He has a damn hat!! What is wrong with this guy? Next he'll be at a press conference with a pin of the pistol on his suit
It's hard from some to understand that being on a team with that much firepower can be a crap situation, but it's true. Contador has shown that he is pretty much the best rider on the planet right now and he deserves a team dedicated 100% to him. He thought he would get that with Astana, even with Kloden and Levi on the team. But then Captain Lance decided to un-retire and complicate things further. I think Contador did and said some stupid things during the race but he certainly left no doubts on the road.Contador was put into a ****ty situation. He was told he had to prove he was the leader. Of course all this is going on a team with super sketchy sponsors that most riders and staff want to get away from, Lance shows up with the ability to offer them a contract on his RS team for their loyalty. The team may have supported Contador by fetching him bottles but their loyalty was with Armstrong. Contador did a good job of keeping his mouth shut before and during the race, with his dominating victory he really doesn't need say anything more.
How was finishing in a group with brothers Schleck, Evans, Wiggo, the Mench, Sastre, Armstrong, Nibali, and the rest of the outside GC contenders going to help put team mates on the podium? Considering all he did was move himself up to 2 seconds in front of Lance, it seemed rather odd that Lance and Johan felt the need to publicly criticize AC... should have been an internal discussion.I thought the team strategy was to try for 1,2, and 3 podium positions? How was shooting ahead of everyone (including his own teammates), helping to put them on the podium with him?
I see where Alberto was coming from, he wanted to win, period. But remember, Astana was left out of the tour last year and I'm sure Johan was pretty sore about that, it would have been a hell of a statement to put 3 Astanas on the podium the very next tour. It also would have produced a lot of money for the team and it's riders and (correct me if I'm wrong) would have made history.If I was Contador I would have made sure my team wasn't 1,2,3. Team loyalty certainly wasn't with Contador. If Astana had a lock on all the podium spots what was to prevent them from screwing contador over and letting the podium re-shuffle so Lance could win? Having someone else in 2nd made Astana make sure AC got the win. It would have been easy for them to leave AC blowing in the wind or make him get his own food/bottles forcing him to lose some time.
Contador refuses Astana offer
The winner of this year's Tour de France, Alberto Contador, declined a contract extension with team Astana Wednesday. He plans to leave the Kazakh squad at the end of this season, although he is still has one more year in his contract.
Spain's Contador received an offer from the Kazakh government to remain with the team for an additional four years, earning four million euro net per year, according to L'Equipe. "Indeed, this proposal has been made," said Contador's brother and manager Francisco Javier. It also offered Contador sole leadership within the team even with the return of Alexander Vinokourov. "It is a rather appealing offer."
But Contador, tired from the power struggles within the team, declined the proposal. "I replied that we refuse and that Alberto's future wasn't about money only," said Francisco Javier.
"I said that Alberto had experienced a demanding season psychologically and that we now had to take care of his future and his tranquility. This season, there was [team manager Johan] Bruyneel on one side, the Kazakhs on the other side and Alberto in the middle, without us really knowing what was happening. We have nothing against the Kazakhs, to the contrary, but now we have to seriously think about Alberto. Things are too complicated to continue in these conditions."
Contador's teammate Lance Armstrong has already announced he will leave and form his new team, RadioShack, together with manager Johan Bruyneel and several of Astana's other star riders. Contador knows that building up a competitive squad from scratch around him as Grand Tour leader will be difficult. Contador likely to join an existing team that is able to meet his sporting needs.
Contador won the Tour for the second time this year, two years after his first. He missed the 2008 edition, but he raced and won the two other Grand Tours: the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.
El País, a Spanish newspaper, reported that on the Mont Ventoux stage of the Tour, Ivan Gutierrez, another Spanish rider, said that he offered Contador his water bottle but that Armstrong picked it off and drank it himself, then turned back to say something to Contador. El País also reported that Armstrong took the last Astana team car after one Tour stage and left Contador stranded, forcing him to get a ride with his brother.
I'm guessing Astana offering you millions of dollars would be much like me offering you millions of dollars.nice offer from Astana. wish i could turn down a $4 mil net contract. with the economy the way it is i don't think he made a bad decision. who knows who's going to be the director, Vino returning could pose problems, plus.... didn't Astana have a small problem with paying their riders and the rest of their ProTour contract? he may not get that size of an offer elsewhere, but it's probably a good bet that at least he'll get paid on time.
I strongly suspect that the "cash issues" that Astana was having was due to Vino pulling some strings behind the scenes.nice offer from Astana. wish i could turn down a $4 mil net contract. with the economy the way it is i don't think he made a bad decision. who knows who's going to be the director, Vino returning could pose problems, plus.... didn't Astana have a small problem with paying their riders and the rest of their ProTour contract? he may not get that size of an offer elsewhere, but it's probably a good bet that at least he'll get paid on time.
Probably helping MLB athletes with their "medications"Where's Manolo Saiz anyway?