I’m pretty sure that Levi only rode for Contador and wasn’t trying to ride against him. As far as the minute thing, I don’t know about that. To me it makes sense that you would want a teammate to be close to you/ahead of your rivals. If Contador had crashed, Levi would have then had the responsibility to lead the team to victory. I think something has been lost in translation and is making Bert seem a tad bit paranoid, which I don’t think is the case. I definitely agree about the Lance sentiments though. But, no way is JB going to let Bert go anywhere without blood being shed.

… almost like we’re hungry for controversy in Camp d’ Bruyneel!

and I don’t like his comments about Leipheimer, seems like he didn’t like having him next to him… Leipheimer was the one that created the big split in the Angliru and he spent some energy there, he also was the first to jump for dangerous moves of Caisse d’Epargne guys!

Nice to hear some honest words from Contador finally (if you got the translation correct). We’ll know for sure on Thursday at the Armstrong Interbike press conference whether he’s joining Astana. If he does, it’s clear Astana will not have the same team dynamics as USPS.

Related: Interesting photo from the Vuelta stage 14: “Mosquera pulled for the entire final climb but was passed at the end by Contador and Leipheimer”

I see an alpha male talking about his rivals.

He’s pretty truthful too- if there were no timre bonuses or if the last TT were Tour length, he may well have come in second. I see no problem with Contador noting that and still wanting to win.

Bruyneel over the past two years has had to balance Bert and Levi. Its worked for two years- there is no hint of a falling out in their camp- but no other team (yes, including CSC) has had two such good Grand Tour riders these past two years and there have been only a few teams in cycling history that have had such. Compare to Rabobank. Big difference.

More excellence from the Gav. Surf must not be up today…

To Steno: just my $.02 on the nature of blogs, but we’re not professional journalists (by and large), we’re people trying to figure out what the story is from our limited perspectives. The best thing is to do what Gavia did: translate as best she can (usually very reliable), provide a link to the original, and let others help/debate/etc. I appreciate your caution, but for a site like this the standard of care is, do your best and allow the community to add more value, if needed.

…contador (to the negative) a bit but not surprised this is how he felt. to me, it was obvious levi was being selfless. i guess levi was the true champion if gentlemanly acts count…

whoops

The best part of the article for me was learning this phrase:

Quién es más chuparruedas!

Hopefully Armstrong will announce his plans soon so the other GC contenders can avoid being on his team.

And it appears Alberto will be looking for another team:

“He (Armstrong) is a great cyclist and he is also a great humanitarian and that makes him a perfect fit for our team,” Kazakhstan Defense Minister Danial Akhmetov, who is also president of the country’s cycling federation, told Reuters.

Why you would give up years of grand tour podiums for a longshot, albeit a public one, is beyond me.

I can’t see how Lance rides for anyone but Astana, and I can’t see how Alberto stays. If I’m Levi, I stay on with Astana knowing that I will have a dynamite team, and there is greater than a 60% chance Lance will be riding for me by the third week of the tour.

that first, if Lance does come back to Astana, Contador will get to know the feeling that Leipheimer got to know when, first they hire Basso, then AC.

Second, I so WISH that Navacerrada had been 20 km longer! Puto!

The Gods are urging Veloki to stay up all night mocking up a vintage Three’s Company television poster. I might even commission the piece if we have Johan in the role of Mr. Furley.

Contador lost me with these remarks. If he had said from the beginning that he had earned the right to be team leader and that he would love to have Lance come ride for him he would have earned more respect from me. But this complete reversal of impressions completely reverses my impression. Then he adds to that with a few jabs towards Levi. Now Contador is showing his true colors as a cocky prick. You can certainly bet that Contador is headed elsewhere and next year’s TDF will be a battle royale. Maybe this is all being planned out by writers/producers to bring intense drama to the sport of cycling.

My Spanish is pretty good and I thought your translation was great. I’d make one modification: re: the Angliru, he said he wouldn’t want it in the Vuelta every year “because it would lost some of its mythical quality. It’s a special mountain, but any rider with adequate conditioning can climb it. There are others that are more difficult, like the Motirolo.”

I agree with you on the tone, which is strangely glib, to put it mildly. He definitely has a bone to pick with Leipheimer. I mean, calling him a wheelsucker? I frankly don’t see how they’d work together after this.

There’s also an interesting statement on Bruyneel: asked what decision Bruyneel will come to regarding Armstrong, Contador says: “When it comes to results, he believes more in me [than he does in Armstrong], but we have to remember that he got where he is because of his association with Armstrong, and no one can deny that.”

Also hilarious about Kazakhstan: “I’ve never been, though they’ve invited to go hunting there”!

but what the heck…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/sports/othersports/24armstrong.html?_r=1&ref=sports

read here
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/columns/story?id=3605553