"I never understood what his problem was. He won the Tour and everyone who watched it on TV and...

"I never understood what his problem was. He won the Tour and everyone who watched it on TV and knows a bit about cycling realised what we sacrificed for him. And he went out in the press and said things that made no sense, like we did not want to work for him."(...) "We were one hundred percent for him, working for him," (...) " He has a problem with his head." By Andy Schleck abou Carlos Sastre

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The link is written correctly

But the hyperlink takes you straight back to this page. Needs fixing!

Interesting read though.

by Mark T1979 on Oct 26, 2009 7:08 PM EDT reply actions

Corrected

by Frinking on Oct 26, 2009 7:24 PM EDT up reply actions

As much as I like Andy, I wish he'd maintained his silence on Sastre...

Sniping through the press is never useful

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 26, 2009 9:03 PM EDT reply actions

Yea but it's the only way most of us get to hear any of this.

And I like some of the shit they have to say about each other.

No horn, watch for finger.

by sminer on Oct 26, 2009 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I know, but I prefer to keep the guys I support on pedestals

I hate trash talk.

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 26, 2009 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Trash talk is sometimes good and sometimes bad, or sometimes just for humor.

But this stuff from Andy is more like insider info from what we were wondering must have been going on behind the scenes in order for Sastre to leave the team after just winning the Tour.

No horn, watch for finger.

by sminer on Oct 26, 2009 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions

And in spite of my desire to know what goes on behind the scenes,

I am of the opinion that that’s where it should stay. I don’t think this hurts Sastre, but I’d rather Schleck hadn’t said it. Call me old-fashioned…

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Sastre trashed talk them in an interview this year..

I’ll try and find the interview…

So I say it is andy just replying to comments made by sastre…

"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"

Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009

by CycleGirl on Oct 27, 2009 2:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Go for it. It demeans them both in my eyes.

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 4:56 AM EDT up reply actions

Understand where you are coming from..

But Sastre did win, and Andy did work his Ass off, in fact the whole friggin Team did….

and Trust me, the smile on Sastre’s face and the whole Team that evening at Alpe d’huez showed Team work and Unity….and I didn’t see Sastre complain on the Champs E’lysee that day!!

"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"

Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009

by CycleGirl on Oct 27, 2009 5:21 AM EDT up reply actions

But you didn't see Andy/Frank etc complain either

Wouldn’t it have been so much nicer if they’d all left it at that? And I don’t care who started it, it takes a bigger man not to bite.

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 5:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Btw..

I think they worked for each other, F. Schleck and A. Schleck. They haven’t been much of a help for Sastre till the Alpe d’Huez. So not really that strange that Sastre bashed the Schleck brothers.

(Or am I now a Schleck basher?)

And it’s totally strange quote. If you lose that much time in one stage you are going to help other teammates?

by Frinking on Oct 27, 2009 5:44 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm a big fan of 'suck it up', win or lose...

Hence my affection for the likes of Stuey ;)

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 5:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, I'm not sure that it's wise

for Andy to come out with the sort of shite that he did, based on reports in the media of what Carlos said.

With Carlos leaving The Great Bjarne’s Horde, the media were keen for a feud / scandal… and where one doesn’t exist, they tend to have no hesitation in manufacturing one….

by Lou... on Oct 27, 2009 6:15 AM EDT up reply actions

That's old-fashioned!

Do Australian talk about other thins than the weather?

by Frinking on Oct 27, 2009 5:41 AM EDT up reply actions

Now trash talking you could be an exception ;)

It’s not all Australians being old-fashioned. Maybe just me…

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 5:45 AM EDT up reply actions

Aah.. trashtalking in relevance to cycling is mucho bieno for me..

That’s how I survive the first hours of the race.. Well.. and the last

by Frinking on Oct 27, 2009 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm more the person who covers her eyes ;)

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Remember after Worlds

when an article appeared somewhere, with no source mentioned, claiming that the Aussie team had voted on their leader, etc etc?

A couple of us Aussies said “No”, without hesitation. For me, there were two reasons why I was so dismissive of the story… 1) that’s not how we roll, and 2) even if it WAS how we roll, the public wouldn’t be hearing about it in any great hurry (and the article did not even pretend that there WAS a source.. no source = fiction)

by Lou... on Oct 27, 2009 6:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Psst, totally OT

Have a look at new fanpost by James Moffatt and read his bio. Fantastic…

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 7:04 AM EDT up reply actions

But the discussion was fun..

But I miss some relevance to my post..

by Frinking on Oct 27, 2009 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions

It's not relevant, that's why I put OT

I was just tipping my hat at his chutzpah ;)

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

Well...

my point was that yeah, we talk about the weather a lot ;-). We don’t have a great tendency to ‘air our dirty laundry’ in public. Stuff like Andy’s comments should stay behind the scenes ;-)

by Lou... on Oct 27, 2009 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Old- fashioned

No horn, watch for finger.

by sminer on Oct 27, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions

here's a good read on that

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/2056/Schleck-convinced-he-can-win-the-Tour-outlines-season-plans-and-blasts-Sastre.aspx

by Yakko on Oct 26, 2009 9:53 PM EDT reply actions

Thanks. I'm thinking that we know where CN's story comes from...

or maybe both journos were scrupulous at transcribing exactly what was said. It’s just that Velonation journo was better ;)

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 26, 2009 10:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh Andy, you have lots to learn =)...Lance could have a field day with this material.

I don’t see Carlos as a guy with a big head and he did techinically have senority on the team and the best GT results but that is a whole different conversation.

by Vlaanderen90 on Oct 27, 2009 1:55 AM EDT reply actions

I'll find the article - as my above comment.

"the rest was over 30. And that doesn't mean old and useless, but experienced and with the stamina"

Jens! Voigt, Crit Intl Interview, 2009

by CycleGirl on Oct 27, 2009 2:36 AM EDT up reply actions

The Yakko link is excellent

"How strange it was to see men doing something beautiful. Something pointless and elegant." Tim Winton, 'Breath'

by Seahorse on Oct 27, 2009 4:56 AM EDT up reply actions

IMHo

tell away Andy. It’s the truth, which is usually good to know.

Maybe the real story is the difficulty of building international coalitions on teams. You see it happen, but you see it fail too. Was Carlos feeling isolated on Team Riis with all those northern boys?

"Harder! Better! Faster! Stronger!" Philippe Gilbert

by Chris Fontecchio on Oct 27, 2009 12:41 PM EDT reply actions