It's part of the conspiracy theory, LeMond is taking over Cervelo.

I still do not know why Lemond got involved at all.

Because no one was talking about him anymore.

Agree.

Poor old man.

LEGEND.

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CAMPAGNOLO GRAN FONDO NEW YORK

Too bad none of you actually know Lemond. He's a great guy, and actually quite unassuming for somebody who's won it all. Not many superstars stay out of the limelight as much as he has.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

If he is so great and unassuming why did he not keep his nose out of the Lance and Landis garbage? Its because he wanted the lime light and wanted those that we're celibrating the tour victories of Lance and Landis to know he too won the tour. He should have stayed outside the issues and remained a great winner of the past. However by his actions to those of us that did or do not know him he became a big ass, instead of the great champion he once was.

You're wondering why Lemond got involved in the Landis and Armstrong cases? Maybe because he cares about cycling? Maybe he knew more than people on this forum and had something to say about it? And maybe because it was offensive to him how those two behaved? He's certainly not the only pro cyclist to be offended by the mess created by some of their colleagues.

You're saying he should just have kept quiet, just like most riders with inside knowledge did, but I for one applaud those who are willing to speak out even if it costs them their popularity with forum posters. I know it is popular to frame his statements about Lance as Lemond being jealous, but who came up with that concept?

Anyway, that might be a reason why he spoke out on the Landis and Armstrong cases, to warn people long ago about what we now know to be true. I'm not sure why people berate him for that, he deserves a monument (together with Paul Kimmage and a few others) for being willing to speak the truth when most others aren't. Because it's the silence of those that allows the few brave ones to be cast aside as bitter losers, which in turn makes the mess continue much longer than it has to. Don't you feel betrayed about the last 20 years in cycling? I do, although luckily I never raised any kids to worship pro athletes or anything like that.

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Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle

I'm not saying Landis and Lance were clean, are clean, are dirty, or whatever. All I'm saying is that if Lemond was not a part of or did not have actually first hand knowledge of what Landis or Lance did or did not do then he really should not have had anything to say about it in public. It all seems like second hand bitter information. Yes great he was doing it for the greater good of cycling which is awesome. He however seems to have done as much if not more damage then good. It was like he was trying to take cycling down.

The way Lemond took on Lance in public was not for the greater good of cycling. There is no way one can say it was. There were much better ways that should have been handled.

How did LeMond "Take On" Lance?


When it was made public that Armstrong using the sports most notorious doping doctor most who have followed the sport reacted negativity. Greg voiced what most in the sport felt, he said

Quote:

When Lance won the prologue to the 1999 Tour I was close to tears, but when I heard he was working with Michele Ferrari I was devastated. In the light of Lance's relationship with Ferrari, I just don't want to comment on this year's Tour. This is not sour grapes. I'm disappointed in Lance, that's all it is

Armstrong's response was to hire a PR firm (Public Strategies) to smear Greg. He told a dinner table full of people he was going to call John Burke (CEO of Trek) and kill Greg's bike line. He called Greg and threatened him, said he would find people who would say that Greg doped. Lance and Johan then approached multiple former LeMond teammates and staff and offered them cash, up to $300,000, if they would claim Greg doped. None of them took the offer.


It is disturbing the extent that Armstrong went to smear Greg and ruin his business. That there are still a few uninformed people out there who falsely believe that Greg "Went after" Lance shows that it partially worked

Well if you do not have first hand knowledge of the facts on Lemond, then your are guilty of everything in your post yourself. .....You say things like "if" and "seems" .............However, I think you have a right to state your opinion, and so does Mr. Lemond, the difference is in cycling Mr. Lemond has mucho credibility.There is much he knows that we do not I suppose......So far in hindsight, especially with this thread so old and the Novitsky investigation that he is correct on..........just like when the truth of epo came out years after he retired.....That was the time epo hit full stride. He was right then so I choose to believe his credibility now

LeMond has never come across to journalists as a terribly likeable guy.


That's because a lot of people are stupid and swallowed the LA fairy tale hook, line, and sinker. I thought LA was clean for a while myself early in his TdF victories, but Greg's speaking out on the topic was what first opened my eyes. No matter how likeable you find LeMond, he's always been a straight shooter.


Straight from the LA script


How? Be specific.

I'm sorry to have spoken negatively about the great LeMond, also sorry I was spelling his name wrong. I guess he seems like a wonder individual, if you personally know him, I do not however so have to judge him from what I know so to me he still appears to be an ass.

Kenney - yes I do not have first hand knowledge so should no longer talk on this subject I'm guilty as charged, sorry, after I address my critics I'm done and will forever keep my thoughts on this subject to myself, truly thanks for pointing out my errors.

JollyRogers - "How? Be specific." I have no idea but all that was done in the press at the time felt wrong. Out of this there were no winners. LeMond to many appears to be bitter jaded ex-cyclist, cycling as a sport was drug thought the coals by the major sports networks more then normal and lost even more credibility even though the major sports had plenty of doping issues of their but only cycling was talked about as having doping problems, the owners of LeMond bikes now have a non-existent "tarnished" brand, and the hero (right or wrong) to many cancer survivors and a great fund rasier for the cause was called out as a doper.

surftel - The nice LeMond quote called Lance out as doing drugs, it was public, how was Lance suppose to react? If his reaction as you state it is right it was harsh. However the relationship between LeMond and Trek was not the best at the time and was going to fail with or without Lances help.

Nice spin, but like most of your posts it is wrong

Greg did not "Call Out" Lance for doing drugs. He expressed his disappoint that Lance was working with Ferrari.....something most in the sport felt.


Perhaps you are new to the sport? LeMond bikes were doing very well. Sales had increased every year. They sponsored Pro Teams (Saturn, Mercury) and were Trek's best designed line. When Lance threw a fit like the petulant child Trek chose to screw Greg to keep him happy. Burke even admitted this as he forced Greg to write his absurd letter.


Suddenly requests by potential distributors in Europe were ignored. Despite 7 years left on the agreement Trek told dealers they were winding down the brand. Going as far as not having a single LeMond bike at Trek World. In the end it cost Trek big and Lance now has to keep his yap shut about Greg.


Google the term tortious interference, Greg has a slam dunk case against Lance. Trek was not the only business of Greg's he interfered with, he also called Tim Blixseth often and even tried to get Greg's partners at LeMond Fitness to sell out to him.


Armstrong has shown again and again he is obsessed with Greg.

You Americans really don't have a clue what you've had in LeMond. He is probably the greatest cyclist of the last 25 years and maybe even all time. To come from where he did into Europe's doping culture, stay clean and still win the tour three times was just amazing. If the blood boosters had not come into the sport he probably would have continued to beat guys on the older drugs for several more years while remaining clean. Hail Lance all you want but he's built his success on a house of paper cards which is probably going to come crashing down. Only a few who really know the ins and outs of cycling know the real US legend in cycling is LeMond. More kudos to him for not remaining quiet and trying to do his bit to fix the culture of his sport.

Because none of the folks defending LeMond in this thread are Americans?

Folks who know cycling have a clue. Those in the LA cult of personality are clueless.

You're the one who said that there were "much better ways". If that was true, it shouldn't be hard for you to come up with at least one much better way. Sometimes there are no good ways.

Place the blame where it belongs - on the person doing something wrong, not the person speaking out about it.

Let's see, you're glad he was found guilty, but you wish witnesses didn't testify against him.

He made an admission to Lemond. Lemond was a witness to that. He was subpoenaed to testify,though i doubt a subpoena was required.

Landis's people didn't threaten to out the fact of the abuse, they tried to make him think the abuser would be there, or some such thing that was pretty disgusting.

I sometimes wonder about Lemond, when he seems to ramble semi-coherently in different video clips etc. But I wonder more about the people who claim to have wanted, or want cleaner cycling then resent the whistleblower.

Lemond had it tough first off jimmy carter and his great foreign policy screwed him out of the Olypmics in 1980. The press did not like the brash american and could not understand why he wanted to go back to the states during the season. He did not trust his own team mates and why should he when they lied to him..."I will be riding for Greg next year". So I can understand his "bitterness".

But now look at his performance at the 1989 Giro d' Italia. He routinely got dropped on the climbs and finished 39th overall, yet six weeks later rode one of the greatest Tours ever finishing with the greatest Time Trial of all time. Oh yea just he did this just over two short years after getting shot in the back and having shotgun pellets in his myocardium.

I feel bad for Greg, he did more my US Cycling and the sport that brought us to Slowtwitch than anyone but....

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All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

How do we know he was drug free? If someone today pulled that off what would people say ? Did cyclist take drugs in his era , yes . Did Lance dope ,prove it did Lemond ride clean ,prove it. I hope neither did but I will never defend one and condemn the other.

Still, the point has been made many times that there is qualitative difference between the older "doping" and the EPO era.

Now that was funny. It made me laught. Thanks. " yea he might have cheated but he didn't take the good stuff"

The circumstantial evidence against Lance, the investigations, the alliances, all his former riders busted, his aquaintances..ect..ect......is nothing remotely compared to Lemond. The Giro in 89 is the only inconsistancy that I know so an anomoly. You say prove it that Lance was dirty........Are you friggen kidding me. ......Yet it has been tried to prove Lemond doped and there is NO evidence in anything approching Lance..........Sad that someone 20 years ago you lump in with Lnace because he can't prove himself clean.......................Let me guess, you did not follow cycling until the last 10 years

We like to call these people the 99'ers.

;-)

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Well you are laughing at your own private little joke as you've misunderstood what was being said. Heehaw indeed.

I hear that about the 89 Giro all the time on here. Lets take a look.
I know it said, or he said it was iron deficiency and he received shots.........but is it logical He needed to dope for the tour? He could of been sick and building his form. This example always seems an anomoly.....is this consistant with his career? At the time, and in the future was there a pattern where his competitors alluded to this?....No.........Yes horrible Giro,,,sandbagging too? peaking only for the tour since coming back? Sure possible. Out of form and sick, sure possible. Now lets look at the Tour that he came back.
He certainly did not dominate the 89 tour......................Remeber this year, Voekler rode out of his skin and had a shot till the end, he certainly was not the bst but when racing close you cna push a lot harder and go deeper, No?
Pedro won the Vuelta 7 weeks before and Fignon won the Giro less than a month before. Greg was fresh. Though Pedro lost almost 3 in stage one for not showing up on time and over 4 in stage 2 ttt, he finished 3rd 3+ back...........Fignon was 51sec ahead at stage 2, so they raced head to head the whole tour. No dominance. If anything Pedro was stronger catching back up. Lemond was hanging on to a guy that just won a grand tour less than 4 weeks before and was out ridden by a guy that won a grand tour 7 weeks before..............They were by no means fresh, where if it was sickness for Lemond he was fresh, and not beating anyone.
The fastest TT. Pedro was to far back, and yes it was fabulous what Lemond did. With equipment he gained some seconds.......Fignon double disc lost him some seconds..Als do not forget, Fignon was battling with some terrible saddle sores and was in serious pain. ............So do I think that the Giro result is any kind off proof, with no consistancy or pattern before or after......No......That was an incredible TdF, but Lemond did not control that race.....I have no reason that it was not simply courageous from a man with the proven talent combined with some unfortunate luck for Delgado and Fignon........
You may disagree, and I am fine with that........Cheers