Kenny - you might be right.
But, , my "opinion" is that the "opinion" of pros should be left to topics of racing, equipment and training.

"What do you think of Lance racing in triathlon" -
Answer: "Lance is a great athlete. If we wind up doing some of the same races, I look forward to competing against him."

Do you think he doped?
Answer "Lance is a great athlete. If we wind up doing some of the same races, I look forward to competing against him."

Do you wish you had a private jet?
Answer "Lance is a great athlete. If we wind up doing some of the same races, I look forward to competing against him."

If Lance was racing in this race today, could you beat him?
"I have no idea. He is not at this race. I look forward to competing against the guys that are here today. If Lance and I wind up doing some of the same races, I look forward to competing against him."

What would be your strategy against Lance?
"I have great sponsors. My XYZ bike is amazing. My xyz glasses are the best. This fuel belt makes sure I get in enought XYZ nutrition product. I can't wait to see how the XYZ shoes I race will help me run fast. "Lance is a great athlete. If we wind up doing some of the same races, I look forward to competing against him."

That is how you play the game. Trek, Nike, Oakley and whoever else rides in on the Lance train are going to be looking for other ways to get in on the action. Get your story straight and try to impress the big boys.

  
ETA: Must have hit a button by accident.

PC-PC-PC...That is the name of the game, unfortunately.

---

------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com

from Macca FB:

I cant wait to have a chance to race the big guy. He seems to have picked all the races I am not doing though. strange :) Maybe I might have to throw Kona back on the list to get my shot. Actually will reword that as this is my sport, "To give him his shot!" Regardless he brings a lot to Triathlon and it is awesome to have him here. I look forward to racing him. He is a legend in sport!

---

The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Yes lets get together a panel of ST experts to explain to Torbjorn the inside info on pro athlete development and performance,.


Ha ha ha. I'm never disappointed coming on here and reading all the expert opinions from the non-experts.

Now he just sounds like a guy that is creating a built in excuse for if/when he loses.


No he doesn't. He sounds like an articulate athlete willing to stand up and say what most reasonable people agree with. This defence that he is afraid of losing or setting himself up for if Lance does beat him is typical of the knee jerk reactions and smoke screens the Lance supporters continually throw up.

Most people can see through that type of defence and applaud TS for coming out with an informed opinion.

Wait a sec.....Macca? The king of smack talk/getting into people's heads? That dude is never lost for an opinion.

Now THAT is how you call Lance out as a professional and a competitor.

But you call them "personal attacks" because???.....they are voicing concerns. Where did Rapp or Matty Reed make a personal attack. TS referred to Lance's cycling, facts that followed him.


There are lots of legitimate concerns linked to Lance's return to triathlon, and I would think most would agree that the doping cloud surrounding Lance is a serious issue with respect to the credibility of our sport. The problem is that the discussion has been to the level of the typical argumentation of climate change negationists: Yeah, Lance did OK, but that is because he was doped. And if he raced clean, the fact that he doped all these year clearly gives him an undeniable advantage. And even if it does not, he has a jet and he is being pampered, and even if it is not the case, he gets all private expenses and money and from his fraudulent foundation, and if this is not the case, this is because Lance's cooked the books and he bought the auditors.


These are way past 'concerns raised in a professional fashion' and can certainly be seen by many as called personal attacks.


Francois in Montreal

Looks like you are reading into what is said.............so to:"Yeah, Lance did OK, but that is because he was doped.".....Who said that?..............To:" And if he raced clean, the fact that he doped all these year clearly gives him an undeniable advantage............I see some daid "If" then is it "possible" written in a thoughout question..Seems its the fan base jumping to the next step....................To:"And even if it does not, he has a jet and he is being pampered, and even if it is not the case, he gets all private expenses and money and from his fraudulent foundation, and if this is not the case, this is because Lance's cooked the books and he bought the auditors............I did not see it said as whining and I did not see pro's complaining about the foundation itself, just responding to things like articles that are already out there, not creating it.
Another poster responded (or two) hat the pro's should not mention any opinion except racing, why?are they not human or I guess the modus operendi should be " don't upset the Lance fanbase"..........Yoou are probably at least the 4th or 5th person that put in your post that a pro said "Lance doped" (referring to this race..)..Please show me where that was said...........but that is how it goes

A pro doesn't actually have to come out and say Lance doped or is doping for their statements to be seen as whining about Lance racing and inferring that prior or current doping is giving him an advantage. You honestly think Henning's tweet about the podium not being tested at Panama is anything other than a thinly veiled jab at Lance? Would that tweet have happened if the podium was BD, Richie and Lieto? Henning has his right to an opinion but when he makes it public like that he looks like a sore loser which reflects poorly on himself and his sponsors. Not saying its right but its true. Who knows what Macca actually thinks about Lance and drugs. But you don't see him saying anything about it. He is absolutely calling Lance out but he's calling him out on the race course and you know he believes that he can go out there and kick his ass. And what ever happens during a race I'm confident if Macca lost he wouldn't be calling for Lance to be drug tested after.

---

__________________________________________________
Follow my blog - Follow me on Twitter - Facebook Page
Powered by Accelerate3

Ok...Ok....You are all right.................Its best that all pro's keep thier mouth shut for the Lance fan base.......lance is fuckin untouchable...................................How would they look if the said something about someone else...................I do not know, those people are not under current investigation, ect. ect...So they have to be careful not what they say but what others think they are saying, that may be the fact but I think that sucks.....I see many disagree.....Over and out..Kenney.
Everyone says Lance should be treated like everyone else...................
.....Let me ask you this. ...................If Nina Kraft was still under investigation and won, and the top three podium spots were not tested, would it be OK for a another pro women to ask why?

You honestly think Henning's tweet about the podium not being tested at Panama is anything other than a thinly veiled jab at Lance? Would that tweet have happened if the podium was BD, Richie and Lieto
You honestly think the podium would not of been tested? I do not know, but its "Lance" not anyone and this happened too.......I did not see them saying that Lance cheated. just the "same old Lance shit" and "this" is what is bad.
But what you wrote is true.................."They do not actually have to say it".....What they say does not matter...............Facts are driven by Lance fanboys looking through "their" paradigm, not facts

Just replying to this thread in general since my last post directed at professional triathletes to consider how they run their business of "Pro Triathlete Inc."

Every industry has disruptive events. Every business in an industry needs to assess how it will continue to do business in the face of disruptive events. Look what Steve Jobs did with the convergence of 4G network deployments, 45 and 28 nm semiconductor process technology, one upping napster and working with the music industry vs against it, and enabling the consumer experience. You can call it dumb luck or view him as a visionary who took the covergence of all of this to do what RIM, Samsung, Motorola and others just could not pull off. I just cite this as an example because we can all relate to it.

I don't know if the arrival of Lance changes triathlon as an industry ENOUGH to classify this as a disruptive event, but if you are in the business, be it pro triathlon, race director, equipment vendor, or tri town/'resort, you should at least be thinking about how to use the event to grow your own business.

The Lance OPPORTUNITY is exactly that. Pro triathletes can spend energy on why this is bad for triathlon and spend time voicing it publicly, or they can spend some time, coming up with a strategy for their "PRO Triathlete Inc" organization (typically a 1 man organization) to grow their business. I'm not sure bashing on Lance or questioning his arrival gets them there.

I was actually surprised on Sunday that the Slowtwitch headline was that Bevan Docherty won the race. I understand that this was to be fair to Bevan, but the true media story was Lance. We can concede that without being "Lance Fanboys"

Dev to:We can concede that without being "Lance Fanboys"
You are absolutly right in the context you put it in...The truth is the majority read into what people are saying because they are looking athrough the fanboy lens. I do not see how Rapp was disparging to Lance.....However look at what posters are saying he said..............If its the oppertunity to make money, yep its there. Just think (personally and know its not realistic) that some should be able to be honest without weighing it against the dollar

The podium should be tested at every single race, regardless of which pros are in it. And several of the Euro pros have
been voicing this for years. So, you're inferring that this is a jab at Lance when you are just wearing big blinders and automatically
assume that Henning is a 'Lance Hater'. You want to give Lance the benefit of the doubt about his performances? How about you
do the same with Henning about give him the benefit of the doubt that all he wants is the podium to be tested in his sport, which
happens to also be his livelihood?

Just a quick side note: why so many "........................................." It makes your posts very difficult to read

Of course the podium should be tested at every race. In an ideal world you should probably test anyone who receives a paycheck plus randomly outside that group. That has nothing to do with my comment nor does my comment have anything to do with of Lance or him potentially doping past or present. I was commenting on how "some" pros are reacting to having Lance involved in triathlon and how their comments and opinions "could" affect how they are viewed. If you honestly believe that Henning would have made that statement regardless of who was on the podium then you have the blinders on. The podium should have absolutely been tested but the story of Panama 70.3 was Lance and if Henning is going to make that comment he has to expect that it is going to be viewed as directed at Lance. That has nothing to do with the validity of the comment but perception is everything.

---

__________________________________________________
Follow my blog - Follow me on Twitter - Facebook Page
Powered by Accelerate3

That was my whole point looking into it once Henning tweeted. How often does this happen that a full podium at a WTC 70.3 doesnt get tested? Is it all the time? Is it never? It seems to be a lot closer to never than all the time. Ive talked to Chrissie & Jordan who admittedly dont do TONS of 70.3, but Ive also confirmed the podium wasnt tested from Cunningham who was 3rd, and Dibens who said shes tested pretty frequently at the "big races". Right now Rev3 doesnt test at all, and Im reaching out to WTC on this issue. I dont know what happens at UltraMax but i find it hard to believe their budget is any better than Rev3s, excepting the races they host that are USAT championships.

---

-------------------------------------
You don't have to like what I say but you should respect my right to say them and I'll do the same to you.

Awesome response...btw, Kate Major was asked this question last night on the rev3 radio show. She nailed it perfectly. Even though they will never race against each other -obviously- she answered with class and dignity expected of a true professional. No innuendo, no veiled shots...

VM

.

I'm glad I'm chatting with the guy who can read inside Henning's mind...Amazing that despite all the circumstantial evidence against Lance, he gets the benefit of the doubt,
whereas Henning gets none, despite he being one of those originally involved (along with Sibbersen, Sabatschus, etc.) in the whole testing for pro triathletes and the elite
passport etc.. Sigh...

Perhaps I worded that too strongly. Henning should definitely be given the benefit of the doubt just like anyone else. I still think that given what the focus was on in Panama anybody who read that statement is going to potentially perceive it as directed at Lance. Fair? Probably not but in the context of what was happening in the sport that weekend it has to be given consideration.

---

__________________________________________________
Follow my blog - Follow me on Twitter - Facebook Page
Powered by Accelerate3

Good question. Brain farts?.Thanks though. Appreciate the feedback

To:That has nothing to do with the validity of the comment but perception is everything.
Again "That has nothing to do with the validity of the comment"..That says it all does it not? To you perception is more important. Validity doee not count. What a fucked up view
...Please do not bother to respond. The validity of what you write is not important. Just my perception of what you are about to write, correct? Why even post if the validity of what you write cannot be trusted because you are posting for perceptions sake?.So you admit you are posting for my percepttions sake, not for facts. You communicate to influence how I percieve your post and nto the facts of what you believe....Validity does not count Sheesh

<Lance is certainly not the only cyclist to - *as far as I know* - never really address the fact that cycling has a drug problem,>


Not sure what you are expecting. I've heard him say many, many times that drugs are a problem in all sports and he supports all the doping controls in cycling and is proud that cycling has been one of the sports on the forefront of testing. (of course, cycling and all sports have a LONG way to go on many fronts)


Here's a media alert for everyone - triathlon is no cleaner than any other sport. So everyone can get off their high horses about how Lance is dirty and going to be racing against a purely clean pro triathletes. Really? I hope he kicks the shit out of every whining crybaby out there. You know who you are.

I was actually surprised on Sunday that the Slowtwitch headline was that Bevan Docherty won the race. I understand that this was to be fair to Bevan, but the true media story was Lance. We can concede that without being "Lance Fanboys"

_________

Whether it's being "fair" or not, I think you have to look at each publication. An ST article is going to be alot different than an NYT or ESPN article (where triathlon is a complete after thought...non story). Within ST, people already know Lance is "the" story, so they dont really need the catchy headline. Whereas go look at ESPN; It took over 24 hours for a story to even be published, and what was the headline "Lance snubs 1st place" essentially.

---

------------------
@brooksdoughtie
USAT-L2,Y&J; USAC-L2
http://www.aomultisport.com