Astana + Slow News Day
by jsallee00 on Jun 23, 2009 4:42 PM EDT
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Interesting Article here. According to this, Contador had a deal in place to go to Garmin, and take some friends with him. This after telling JB he was going anywhere... Who knows what to believe, but I was pretty surprised to see Garmin in the mix. Should be fun come Tour Time. Obviously things get played up when there isn't anything else to talk about, blah blah blah, hopefully I'm at 75 now.
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Very interesting read
I would have loved to have seen that. But if this is any indication of things to come Garmin sure seems willing to make a big move. If Astana splits after this season I wonder if this would be back on the table.
Interesting
I wonder if Vaughters will comment on this.
I could see Contador being a good fit for Garmin, assuming that the team feels confident that he’s on-board with their vocal anti-doping ethic.
One thing that struck me as odd in this story is the suggestion that the increase in Garmin’s budget to pay for Contador would be covered by a new sponsor described as “Herbalife, which sells weight loss and nutritional supplements via multi-level marketing.” I don’t know anything about Herbalife, but a weight-loss supplement strikes me as an odd fit for the Garmin team.
I hate them also.
There are a shit load of them here in UT. Apparently, they are making money right now though.
Herbalife
One item of interest about them is that they have their names on the jerseys of the LA Galaxy starting three or two years ago. I might be misremembering but I think they were the first company to pay for front of the sirt advertising in MLS. For that I get that they are interested in sports sponsorships.
Blame David Beckham
Herbalife came on board with the Galaxy when David Beckham came over. Not positive that Herbalife was the first, but they were one of the first (Best Buy for Chicago maybe was first?).
Anyway, Herbalife sees sports as a way to sell their crap. I’ve seen them handing off samples at the Tour of California previously. Sounds like cycling is the next step for them.
They are popping up
at a lot of sporting events. Ironmans, marathons, etc.
I signed my kids up for a day camp program through the city, they got this cool bag with guess who as the sponsor? Neways! Another BIG multilevel here in UT.
Yes, as everyone here knows I'm a bit obsessed with that happening
c’mon Bert I’ve had too many good dreams about this happening!
Is it just me
or are they rather less vocal this season? Not meaning to suggest for a second anything substantial’s changed, it’s just a feeling that the “clean” team thing doesn’t seem to have the same PR mileage this year? Not least because internal testing policies seem to be taking hit after hit at present (the Gusev CAS/TAS judgment released today being the latest, though reading it (or at least trying to), it seems slightly more complex than has been suggested).
Don't forget that last year it was all about Garmin
with several media outlets because they were the US team. Lance has come back and much of that PR feed has now been taken over by what we all know as the “Lance Factor.” I don’t feel their message or their progam has changed. I do see less media around them though as most races are flooded by Lance news. That’s just my take on it but I don’t read anything more into hearing less about them. That “Lance Factor” thing affects a whole lot more than just a star rider for many to follow.
I love C, not because he rocks as a cyclist, but because deep down he's a band geek! LOL!
Herbalife is/was a big sponsor of the Tour of CA. Always bothered me because
most (if not all) of there stuff is not FDA approved and its pricey. I am not a fan of the company.
GET RID OF THEM!!!!
So glad that folks here are so quick to turn up their noses at sponsorship money,
You know who I would like to
see get involved in cycling…Go Daddy! LOL I want to see cyclist in their commercials.
Heh.
Herbalife does sponsor a cycling team (Toshiba Santo, this year, think it was something else last).
Yes but I see the cancer fighting benefits of EPO much stronger than the other
uses. So that doesn’t bother me. Amgen isn’t making EPO to give elite athletes a way to win.
by ZoeRochelle on Jun 24, 2009 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Nasty, nasty company
I put a patch over their name when they sponsored the TdCali and I got a volunteer T-shirt.
First big boom (back when I was young) was selling dangerously strong herbal laxatives as weight-loss drugs. The inevitable damage to the consumers (don’t remember the details…ostomies? Comas?) led to some high profile lawsuits, even before they got in trouble for the pyramid scheme / rip off aspect.
What about roster limits if it actually had happened?
I thought the pro tour teams had a limit of 25. Would current riders have to get cut to accomodate AC and his posse?
How would that work?
PT teams should have at least 25 riders
And maximum 30.
Staring at the swim team gets you killed by a gang of dancing ninja min who know how to twirl.
by TheFigurehead on Jun 24, 2009 3:54 AM EDT up reply actions
If I was VdV, I would be VERY concerned that these conversations were even happenning…Even if false, it shows where JV’s head is and also that VdV is not their man for the medium term…Methinks that VdV needs to work VERY hard to solidify my fitness for the Tour…
IPersonally? I think that VdV is a hyper-over-achieving domestique who had a one-off peak in form last year. He was highly placed but did not have the self belief last year to attack even when he was on the form of a lifetime. I find it hard to believe that even he will have that self-belief 6 weeks after breaking several bones (ribs, vertebrae, etc) in Italy.
Also he is 33 and not getting younger, so his time in NOW!
I still think that CDE is the best place for Bert- It makes sense!…He could be their GT player, while Valverde can do what he does soooo well- KILL people in one days and week-long tours…That said, bert ain’t cheap, and he does come with gregario(s), soigneur, wrench, and salary demands. Valverde has al of these as well, and its hard to keep two stars happy all the time…
AC is thinking correctly though about moving on…Astana is a powerful, but OLD team- LA, Kloedi, LL, Horner, Zubeldia, Chechu are all in mid or late 30’s, and Popo is 29ish – with major money worries,and LA as a constant reminder of who runs the ASTANA show (remember where the domestiques hung out in the Giro!). Also it seems that only LA and JB can solve the cash flow issues in the short term.
IF LA takes over ASTANA at the end of the season it will only be for a season or two at best because barring some "Rebelllin Renaissance" this team will fall fast and far very soon and Lance is not in this to be racing at 41-42…
Okay….It’s almost July! Clearly I need the Tour to start because I am waaaaay too excited!
Cheers!
To be honest
I just want AC to leave. I think he deserves better. I can only imagine what these other manager’s/owners are saying to him. I of course, would have loved it, if Quick Step had snagged him. Not that it would have happened but if it had….wow!
Huh?
Even if false, it shows where JV’s head is and also that VdV is not their man for the medium term…
Scratching my head here…if the rumor is false (and there has been no confirmation so far—also, the media is not picking this story up: search Google News for contador garmin and the only two hits you get are the original story and an Examiner.com report repeating it), then how can it possibly indicate where JV’s head is?
I can't understand why people cheat--Mark Cavendish
Well, that's the beauty of speculation...
You can make assumptions based on conjecture to come up with wildly inventive facts (like the state of JV’s mind!) :-)
Okay…so maybe I was more talking about the state of MY mind were I JV! You caught me in a logical fudge there! Mea culpa!
Thanks for pointing it out!
DoctorNurse
I was enjoying the read,
Until you said this…
I think that VdV is a hyper-over-achieving domestique…
His performance wasn’t a one off peak and following him for years and knowing how well he goes in the 3rd weeks of GT’s hitting mountains, the man has earned his spot amongst the top. Do I think he is going to win the Tour this year, I don’t. But I think he has just as much a shot in those top spots as several others.
I love C, not because he rocks as a cyclist, but because deep down he's a band geek! LOL!
But I'm sure if COntador actually went to Garmin he would have to atleast crash one time in an important race
just so he could bond properly with his fellow teammates.
The Accountant Is Incapable Of Crashing
I give you evidence from 2005 Paris-Nice (WMV video 1.5 MB).
by tedvdw on Jun 24, 2009 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
yes, that was fascinating....
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
I remember watching that, that was a very impressive save.
I wonder if he takes Pilates, such body control you know.
Whether it's true or not (& plenty of usually credible people seem to think it is)
or a even good idea or not, the timing of this story seems potentially damaging to Garmin, as well as re-emphasing the whole LA/Contador Astana split . Only Astana sources so far, it seems.
I hadn't thought about it in that way
But so much was made last year, and earlier this year about the Psychology involving Vaughters trying to convince VDV that he really was the main guy, and the team was totally behind him, etc. You have to wonder what something like this will do to Christian’s ego.
All that time spent trying to rid the doubts, then to do this? But then again Christian is not the same rider as AC, and it’s a hard world out there.
"I get paid to hurt other people. How good is that? How good is that?
I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, that's good." Jens!
Christian rode with AC before on Liberty and if you look back
on photo’s last year Christian certainly appears to admire AC for his riding ability. He has spoken highly of AC caliber as a rider and from what I’ve seen, I would say that C respects him and they get along. C is now 33 and still is a great GC rider. Do not write him off for this Tour. A podium spot is not out of the question for him. All teams at some point will build for future years and C would understand this. I would not consider something like this as bad for C but encouraging for the team.
I love C, not because he rocks as a cyclist, but because deep down he's a band geek! LOL!
please, no
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
Very Funny Phil. YipperSnapper. LOL!
I have to be careful and in attempting to be so that got too wordy. yikes.
I love C, not because he rocks as a cyclist, but because deep down he's a band geek! LOL!
more than happy to take your word for that
just that when the sources on a story appear to come from one side only, it’s valid to ask why that might be.
Vaughters
From http://twitter.com/Vaughters/status/2301629144
Had a great dinner with a great bottle of Ribera del Duero. My date was a rider agent. Good guy. Some great talent coming to our team in …
Don’t know if the ellipsis implies that he is still typing his next message, or that he won’t say more.
or that he didn't realize he was at 140 characters already ...
(also interesting that JV wanted to announce the Garmin Tour team via his twitter… but their PR folks said “no”).
It's linked from the Team Slipstream twitter.
All JV, all the time! Check out Jonathan Vaughters’ new Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/Vaughters
I can't understand why people cheat--Mark Cavendish
Was confirmed by Jake at Garmin:
Did you know Garmin-Slipstream’s Jonathan Vaughters has his own account now? Follow JV at @Vaughters for fun w/ #procycling
I think I might be missing something…but just click on the ellipsis, the rest of the sentence is “2010.”
by plinytheelder on Jun 23, 2009 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow, I thought cyclingweekly was joking yesterday
their twitter feed listed
Oooh, you lot love a rumour! The one about Contador is that he’ll be riding the Tour in Garmin colours. We’ve checked. It aint true.
- I had just presumed that someone was really bored and was making up silly rumours for fun!
Yeah, even without the denial, the more I thought about this the less likely it seemed.
All other concerns aside, I just don’t think Garmin has the money to outbid CdE.
I can't understand why people cheat--Mark Cavendish
So for 2010
Columbia has signed Tejay van Garderen, while Garmin has signed Alberto Contador. Stapleton a little behind at the mo’.
Okay, that was fun
The bidding war for Contador should be quite entertaining, really.
Vandevelde had already gone to CSC when Contador arrived at Liberty, right? It would be like some sort of strange reunion.
C went to CSC in 2005. I'm pretty positive they were both on Liberty in 2004.
I love C, not because he rocks as a cyclist, but because deep down he's a band geek! LOL!
conta crashed in asturias in may and was out until november at the earliest
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
Bert = Phinney pay-back?
Could the Garmin recruitment of Contador be pay-back for the Livestrong “theft” of Taylor Phinney? Seems like there were suggestions that some of that may have been Armstrong pay-back to JV for some random texting a while back. Are these recent rumors possibly just stirring that pot, or a real attempt at tit-for-tat?
Either way, it would be fun to see Contador win the Tour with support from CdE or others while Astana tries to support Armstrong for the win.
This has the feel as a "C" version of the Hinault vs Lemond war
Just spinning the pedals in the hills of Western Maryland
Can we compare Phinney and Contador in the same league yet??
"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
I don't think the world needs another Ivan Basso-esque twitterer...
by Vlaanderen90 on Jun 23, 2009 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions
hey
at least we know Ivan is writing that himself. I’m not sure about Di Luca’s….
and if Bert is doing one, I’ll be following.
We need a Basso Twitter drinking game
One sip for commons:
He’s getting a massage
He misspells dinner as dinnar
“Now is the time for go to sleep”
He mentions Domitilla and Santiago (his kids) by name
He forgets the apostrophe in I’m
Two sips for stuff that happens occasionally:
He mentions his children and does not name them
He gives up and posts in Italian
He remembers to capitalize a place name
Chug the whole bottle if:
He completes a sentence in English that is properly spelled and punctuated, and is within reasonable grammatical boundaries.
I can't understand why people cheat--Mark Cavendish
Oh I'm in
on that game. Maybe during the TdF? I bet he will tweet during it since he isn’t riding.
His tweets just make me smile though. And no, I don’t think the last one has ever happened.
by cyclingdiva on Jun 24, 2009 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions
lol
He’s been tweeting from the swimming pool quite a bit lately. That needs to be included ;-)
Adrenalina Italiana!
A guess is that,
if AC were to be done out of a team for the TdF, Garmin might simply have been good for the time being, especially if VDV’s participation as a leader were seen as iffy because of his injury.
Maybe AC’s thinking about building a team—he’s talked about it before, but with the remake of Astana in 2008, perhaps there was no hurry. Things have been so tense and uncertain this year, I know if it were me at my job, I’d want to get some control and guarantees.
That’s a good article, and doesn’t grossly overplay the titilating behind-the-scenes intrigue angle. For cracking a juicy story, he doesn’t go too far toward making us shriek, which for a writer would be very tempting, because, man, this story has layers.
I want to know more about the mysterious American sponsor doing business in Kazakhstan. Who is this thought to be? Did this sponsor kick in to help Astana pay up, or not?
One good thing
about the AC-to-Garmin hypothesis, if such a thing had been true, is that it would have livened up the Versus commentating team.
someone in the astana camp must really really want la to win...
release this info right before the tdf, get la pissed… and we all know what happens next
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
interesting response from la
“Just read this [the article],” he wrote on Twitter. “JL [US writer Joe Lindsey, who broke the story – ed.] may not be far off on this (for once). I’m choosing to ignore and remove myself from drama. TdF – hard enough.”
he can’t have mellowed? nah….
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
These 2 weeks before Le Tour are liek the 2 weeks between the NFL division
championship games and the Super Bowl. The stories in the media get more desperate as time passes. And the fans are thinking, can we get on with the big spectacle please?
true enough
but the big doping story hasn’t dropped yet.
That’s as much a part of Le Tour spectacle as the heartwarming story about rehabilitating the image of some super-sized NFL ego (like, say, how Michael Vick has started adopting abandoned horses) that goes with the Super Bowl.
finally the 2009 stages have started to show up on the tivo schedule
"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind
by umwolverine on Jun 24, 2009 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions
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