So, over the last couple of days, LeMond's daughter has been spouting off, on Twitter of all places, at Lance Armstrong and Graham Watson, and making the insinuation that Watson is part of some 'Omerta' to keep all things Lance under wraps.
Now granted, I think what Watson did was wrong. Labeling the LeMond photos with the word 'FOOL' in the URL on his website was just dumb. Images of LeMond, as well as myriad other cyclists, have made Watson pretty freaking famous, and wealthy. Bad form Mr. Watson.
That being said, Simone LeMond needs to keep HER mouth shut. She's 21 years and carries a fucking chihuahua around in her purse. Paris Hilton much?
Does anyone believe that it's above LeMond NOT to use his daughter as a surrogate mouthpiece...really? She's always going to believe her Father. Do you NOT think that he's brainwashed her into belief that everyone in the peloton is a cheater/doper/scumbag?
Simone LeMond wasn't even a drunken twinkle in her father's paranoid, jaundiced eye when Greg won his first Tour. She speaks of 'Omerta'? What's the bet she had to Google the word after she heard it from her father?
Maybe she should sit down and have a conversation with Ole Greggy-Poo concerning his rapid recovery from a shotgun blast to the chest in 1987, then winning the Tour in 1989 with 60 lead bird-shot pellets in his chest, including one in the lining of his heart.
I think LeMond has forgotten about all of the shit he jacked into his own veins during his career. Having a touch of the crazy will do that to you!
Anquetil said you don't win Le Tour on mineral water alone...
As for me, I did 10x1 intervals this morning. I rode hard enough to give myself a headache, and puke a bit during a belch. Sweet...
Peace!
6 comments:
I'm not related to Lemond, but I am smart enough to know that from 1992 - 2008 pretty much everyone in the European peleton was on dope. I'm not even sure that anyone even questions that at this point.
And your insinuations againts Lemond are baseless and illogical. First of all, you refer to his brisk recovery from gunshot wounds. Do you know how long he was out ? I do. It wasn't short. Secondly, blood boosting drugs weren't even available until the very end of his career. When those drugs became available his performance DROPPED relative to everyone elses.
So genius, I challenge you to provide any reasonable proof, evidence, or circumstantial evidence of Lemond's invovlement with doping products.
We can surely do the same for your hero.
1) EPO began clinical trials in the early-mid 80s, and it was approved for use by the FDA in 1989. So it was, in fact, available during the time in which LeMond was still riding at his highest level. He won Le Tour in '89 and '90, remember? Finished 7th in '91 and won the Tour DuPont in '92, including a record prologue pace.
2) He was shot in April 1987, and also had an appendicitis and a bout with tendinitis in his leg. Both were setbacks and completely unrelated to the gunshot wound.
Yet he was well enough to train for, and win, the Tour in '89?
3) LeMond's paranoia is well known and has been mentioned in numerous articles. He records every phone call that he places or receives. He once said that it seemed as though he was riding against all of France. And the whole Trek thing? I HATE Trek and had to side with them on that one. Good job back-dooring all of those bikes on EP too, huh?
3a) No mention of Simone LeMond? It's not so far out of the realm of possibility that she's an indirect mouthpiece for Greg. Someone may need to check her and Kathy for Stockholm Syndrome.
4) YOU insinuate that Mr. LeMond did no sort of performance enhancing drugs. Really? Nothing at all? No speed, no caffeine, no old-school blood out/blood-in? Nothing? So I guess Anquetil was wrong?
5) If you, for a MOMENT think that I, or anyone, believes, in their heart of hearts, that Armstrong is as clean as the freshly driven snow, then you are deluded, at best! I feel pretty confident in saying that ALL of those guys used, and a good number still do.
6) I've read Hoov's blog enough to know that you are one of those 'burn it all down' guys who SAY they would like to see professional cycling start over. I'll say this, if the entire house of cards collapsed, and Euro cycling went away, guys like you would whinge about not having Flanders, Roubaix, or Le Tour to watch.
7) Who fucking cares what the Euro pros do? The only way it directly affects my life, and yours, is that it makes the racing more entertaining. Who wants to watch guys climb Sestriere @ 15kmh? You and I could do that!
What to take umbrage over something? Get pissed off about your boy Papp's hypocrisy. Selling while your testifying?
Get pissed about amateur category and Masters using dope to win $250 in a weekend. That's the stuff that affects all of us.
Thanks for stopping by...
I'm going to assume that you're 30 years old or younger or that you began cycling after 1996.
Lemond's appendicitis never was. It was cover for complications due to his recovery. He didn't want his competitors to know...and more importantly he didn't want PDM to know.
The introduction of EPO to the peleton is pretty well chronicled. And Lemond didn't take EPO.
Did he take other stuff ? Only he knows I suspect, but evidence would prove otherwise. He didn't race many post tour crits and raced a limited schedule overall. Amphetamines are very detectable and were tested for at the major races even back then. And his results and performances were consistent and belivable.
But none of that is relevant.
The accussations that Lemond makes, whether you like him are not, are accurrate.
And to answer your question, yes I do want to see riders climbing the cols at 15kph. Bicycle racing was much more entertaining when riders were getting dropped, cracking, and having bad days.
Watching Postal/Discovery put 8 guys on the front over every mountain for 3 weeks straight wasn't just unbelievable...it was boring.
Did no one ever explain to you what assuming does?
You are dead wrong on both of your assumptions. I remember the supposed halcyon days of cycling, before EPO was introduced to cycling, but I don't long for their return. Sounds to me that the word 'luddite' might best describe your attitude towards all things bike. My first bike was lugged steel with downtube shifters. That doesn't mean I want to pull the 25 year old tank out of the building and ride it in the TNWC.
If LeMond's accusations, or yours for that matter, are correct, and either of you had actual hard copy proof (photos, pictures, spreadsheets, etc.) then throw them out there and blow it up. If he had actual hard copy evidence, he'd release it. Thus far, all he has done is accuse, point fingers and whinge about a sport he hasn't been involved in for over a decade.
Saying that LeMond was totally clean is nearly as unbelievable as thinking that L.A. rode clean. Sure, the 'dope' may have been totally different, but it's a bit delusional to think that LeMond survived, and won, on little more than Gatorade and mini-ham sandwiches. Cyclists at that level have always doped, and will always dope. Sad, but the hard truth...
I hate to bring up a point of fact, but during Lance's Tour winning era, ALL of the favorites were doped to the gills. Ergo, the playing field was actually pretty level. Failed drug tests by these top level riders prove this point. Is everyone mad that L.A. did it better and didn't get caught? Or is everyone mad that the heroes of old have been pushed to the side and replaced by new ones?
Personally, and this is my opinion only, my belief is that LeMond is truly bothered by the fact that he was supplanted as the darling of American cycling. Sure, he may want to clean up cycling, but a small bit of hubris may be lurking in his shadow.
I'm sure you'll tap out a retort, so I'll leave you with this...
Conversations like this one are GREAT! It's what makes the world go around.
I appreciate and respect your opinion, I truly do.
Now that Lemond has been vindicated and most apologists have retreated I think you should consider retracting this post as its one of the first thing that comes up in a search for a still young Simone Lemond. It just makes you look at least very naive. How would you like people bad mouthing you on the internet for (rightly) defending your family?
2.5 years later, and this comes back up?
Do I really care that searching for Simone Lemond on Google brings up my little dirt road off the information superhighway? Nope. Says more about her lack of fame than it says about my dumbassed blog.
As for the "Lance Omerta" part of the post...yeah, I'm big enough to admit I was wrong. Fuck Lance...
Here's the rub though...Fuck Lemond too.
Vindication is a slippery slope, especially in this case.
Sure, his accusations proved to be based in fact, as did myriad accusations by myriad other individuals. Lemond didn't unmask Batman alone.
Now, let's talk about getting dropped in the Giro in 89, getting "vitamin injections" in the period between the Giro and the Tour, then winning the Tour. Oh yeah...it was 5-6 weeks later. Funny how Greggy Poo, and his family, don't want to examine that, huh?
Greg has dug himself enough holes, in both business and life.
The post won't come down, ever, simply because I still wholeheartedly believe what I wrote in it...barring the LA paragraph(s).
Like Hova says, "Not always right, but always real..."
Thanks for stopping by....
Post a Comment