Tour de France - Contador disdain for Armstrong

Eurosport - Tue, 28 Jul 15:21:00 2009

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has said that he found the time he spent off the road with Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong tougher than the race itself.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France Astana team-mates Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong - 0

The 26-year-old picked up his second Tour title in Paris on Sunday, finishing ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Armstrong who came third.

"My relationship with Lance Armstrong is zero," Contador said in Madrid, where he was given a hero's welcome.

"He is a great rider and has completed a great race but it is another thing on a personal level, where I have never had great admiration for him and I never will.

"On this Tour, the days in the hotel were harder than the those on the road.

"The situation was tense and delicate because the relationship between myself and Lance extended to the rest of the staff."

Contador, publicly criticised by Armstrong for ignoring team orders during the Tour, refused to be drawn on his future but it was unlikely to lie with his current team Astana.

"We'll have to see what happens," he said. "I don't know where I will go but it will clearly be with a team that is 100 per cent behind me."

After being greeted by family, friends and fans at Madrid's Barajas airport, Contador was given a victory reception by the president of Madrid's regional government in the centre of the capital.

At every opportunity fans sang the Spanish national anthem as a reminder to Tour organisers who accidently played the national anthem of Denmark at the podium ceremony on Sunday.

Reuters

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    What we have heard in North America (regarding the­ sniping) has been censored by the media for a drama.­ Unfortunately what has been said in the Spanish media­ is not readily available to North Americans. AC actions­ when he attacked his own team members during the TDF­ speaks loudest about his character.

    From Wannabe Traveler, on Sat 1 Aug 6:57PM

  2. I am a fan of both LA and AC. And they both did amazing­ at the TdF. During the tour, there were already obvious­ fissures in Astana but AC did his best to play them­ down. LA and JB were more direct with their views. I­ think AC was far more professional and focussed with­ his behaviour during the tour. After the tour, he could­ have kept quiet but then as a human who had been hurt­ by what went on during the tour, he has the right to­ make the comments he did. After all, they are parting­ ways and will be rivals here on out. MIght as well­ start the war now! And LA gave as good as he he got so­ it all makes for good drama. Looking forward to more!

    From morichan58000, on Sat 1 Aug 7:49AM

  3. Greg Lemonde won the tour 3 times, but his success­ isn't mentioned in the same breath as LA. And so­ it goes with Contador. Let him approach the winning­ ways of Eddie Meryx (sp), Bernard Hinault and LA and­ then he will have earned the right to speak in this­ way. I am not American - where everything is the­ greatest whether it is or not! - but can only fully­ credit LA with a finest of efforts in this tour. As­ for Aspana, they are losers! Where were their minds­ when they agreed to allow LA to ride for them knowing­ they had their top contender having to deal with the­ asinine politics of LA on the same team. As for LA, he­ was out to lunch to accept that ride. His planning?

    From Bruce, on Sat 1 Aug 1:57AM

  4. That's Contador's problem.

    From Only Human After All, on Fri 31 Jul 11:07PM

  5. What a shame AC does not have the emotional maturity to­ enjoy his win and move on. His character will be judged­ by how little respect he has for his team mates, not by­ his cycling ability. Time to mature, AC.

    From wood.annie, on Fri 31 Jul 11:17AM

  6. AC is an excellent judge of character!!!

    From fergus M, on Thu 30 Jul 9:20PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I honestly believe that LA is a great sportsman and­ loves cycling and the tour. If it came to it he would­ work for others in the tour as gratitude for the­ support from others. He knows that winning the tour is­ about your team and thanks the team at every­ opportunity, As did cav after a sprint win. A win in­ the tour is a win for the team. Maybe AC needs to learn­ this, to be honest I dont know, I do think that lance­ has a difficult personality when racing but that has­ made him the best. I thought that AC was amazing and­ that lance suffered but he was injured before so his­ prep was stunted. BRING ON THE TOUR OF 2010, I cant­ wait !!!

    From khandyer, on Thu 30 Jul 9:49AM

  8. only those inside the team know the truth and none of­ them are saying anything. the media is making all the­ noise and upgrading comments said probably in the heat­ of the moment.

    From chrystal_rainbow, on Wed 29 Jul 3:19PM

  9. Feeling very dissapointed reading this. AC won the TdF,­ prove himself as a champion, and sincerely i dont know­ what was his intention claiming this stupidity. LA won­ the tour, not once or twice, but seven times. He is a­ GREAT champion of the tour. It's a slightly­ difference between the champion and the great-one.­ Believe that Alberto has great future in front himself­ as a tour rider and overall, but greatness must be­ shown not only in the race, but in the everyday life­ and society. Miguel was one of the Great too. He choose­ his quiet social life instead of LA's glamour and­ neon-lights surrounding on a daily basis. No one to­ blame. Alberto is too young to compare to either one of­ them. They are great, and he has prospect to be,­ it's up to him what he decide to choose. This kind­ of statements and claims are not the right way, just­ wrong turns...

    From Goce J, on Wed 29 Jul 3:04PM

  10. Who is in charge of Eurosport's web content? The­ video widow on this page says "Astana boss hails­ superstar team: Astana team manager Christian Prudhomme­ reflects on a stunningly successful Tour de­ France". Christian Prudhomme being Astana's­ team manager as well as director of the TDF might be a­ conflict of interest, no? Sort yourselves out,­ Eurosport, the quality of your web journalism is­ already terrible without these stupid mistakes.

    From sera_pick, on Wed 29 Jul 2:06AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Armstrong needs to have someone sit him down and teach­ him about class. Why should Contador, the strongest­ rider on his team, who was told by Bruyneel and­ Armstrong that he was the leader, wait for his slower­ teammates on one of the major climbs???? The only­ reason to give such an order is to help Armstrong win. ­ What a joke. Nobody raised issue when Armstrong took­ off without his team leader at the opening of the Tour­ - especially not Bruyneel who should have been the one­ person to do so. After all, Armstrong said repeatedly­ until the race started that he was riding for CONTADOR.­ Armstrong has the unsavory habit of talking out both­ sides of his mouth and he will reveal himself as the­ poor loser that he is soon enough. Contador and­ Schleck are going to wipe him all over the mountains­ next year and he's going to have no one to blame. ­ But then I suppose he will blame his age. Had he­ earned his 7 tour victories without drugs, he would­ surely be content to congratulate the better man as­ Sampras, Jordan and other greats have done... makes­ you wonder why he still acts like a loser.

    From anthonyl, on Wed 29 Jul 1:38AM

  12. Richard: you said: "Contador would not­ have won­ the 2009 TDF without Lance."

    What are you­ smoking? and please tell us where we can all get some.­

    Seriously, did you watch any of the ITT where­ Contadoe smashed the field, including the beloved­ Armstrong. Or the mountain top finishes where Contador­ matched or beat all comers? (And don't talk to me­ a Wiggins - Where was he going to make up the 6 minutes­ gap on Alberto?)

    The truth is that Lance benefited­ far more from the Astana team strength than did­ Contador. On any other team, Contador still wins. On­ any other team, Lance doesn't sniff the podium.

    From Tom, on Wed 29 Jul 1:24AM

  13. You silly fools you are all commenting on nothing more­ than media hype its all conjecture and hearsay

    From Keith, on Wed 29 Jul 12:59AM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    What certainly even more disturbing that the Armstrong­ / Contador feud was the fact that tiny little Contador­ was able to generate so much power to win the last time­ trial. Seems almost impossible he could have done that­ without a little help!

    From Donald Newell, on Tue 28 Jul 9:17PM

  15. Prudhomme is grinning ear to ear over the prospect of­ these two facing off in this race. Not that he needs­ either one after Christmas. By that time every fee will­ be paid. Every check cashed and he'll be sitting on­ a huge surplus for 2011.

    From Maxx92, on Tue 28 Jul 9:12PM

  16. what an spiteful litte jealous @#$%

    From Mr Miller, on Tue 28 Jul 8:33PM

  17. Loved contadors victory salute in front of Armstrong,­ he held it and held it and held it, and you could see­ the megalomaniac crawl deeper and deeper into his­ extended bottom lip - well done Alberto, you had 21 on­ your back so your team leader, and not anything­ different!!

    From cclawrence79, on Tue 28 Jul 8:15PM

  18. Comment 244, I didnt call AC anything, I was merely­ putting down what LA said on his Twitter this morning.­ If you'd read it properly you would have realised­ I'd put the quotations in "quotation"­ marks.

    From Liz S, on Tue 28 Jul 7:51PM

  19. I guess its time to say whatever they want huh?

    From ivan s, on Tue 28 Jul 6:46PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    wolfgar - how many 1 day classics races has JB plotteda­ and won? not many! JB got lucky that he signed LA­ that is all.. there is nothing magical about JB as a­ DS.. he just got lucky.. and i'll give him this he­ does know how to spot talent and sign them up quickly.

    From tmartine, on Tue 28 Jul 5:21PM
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