Categories: Racing

Bruyneel’s Bad Year

For most directors, winning Le Tour for the billionth time would make for a successful season, but not for Johan Bruyneel. It turns out that dealing with the Kazakhi backers of Team Astana really put a stinker on his season. Add that stress to the considerable logistics involved in buying off testing laboratories and bribing the anti-dope controllers, and you’ve got yourself a busy season.

In a recent interview with CyclingNews.com, Johan finally put a topper on what has been a soap opera-worthy season for cyclists worldwide.

First, there was the comback of Lance Armstrong. Does anyone else remember him saying that when he retired he wasn’t going to be like one of those other athletes who kept showing up at events after retirement? I digress. The Douchebag was back, and it turned out to be a challenge for Bruyneel due, in no small part, to Armstrong’s crash in the early season. Turns out that Lance was whiney and felt like quitting, but Johan stepped in and threw his own famous quote back in the Texan’s face:

I had to force him: ‘Lance, you have to. You can’t go back now.’ I had to send him one of his famous sayings: ‘Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.’ I didn’t get a response, but he gave it a good think and pulled through.

Rationalizing the paradox of being ignored and listened to at the same time is pretty stressful stuff.

Much has been made of the team situation at Astana and the tension between Armstrong and Cuntador. Alberto felt isolated, and maintains that he won the Tour largely on his own steam and without the help or support of his team. That’s a bit of a surprise, I’m sure, to the 7 guys on the team who controlled the race before 2km to go banner when the attacks came. The quibbling culminated with Lance twittering that “there’s no I in team“. This is what Bruyneel has to say on the matter:

He [Contador] continues to say that he won the Tour on his own. That is completely untrue: without the team he wouldn’t have won the Tour that comfortably – maybe he would’ve won it, but still…

It will be interesting to see how Contador rides next year without the support of the most successful Director in Tour de France history. Speaking of which, what is the real problem with Cuntador? Apparently, it has to do with questioning the Belgian’s leadership:

The problem was that whatever I decided – the race plan, the team tactics, the riders selection – he always expressed his doubts. We all have the experience: we don’t make mistakes anymore; while Alberto still has much to learn.

One is to take what Johan says and like it, dammit! Also, I am to glean from this comment that he has become an Honorary Dutchman and has thus stopped making mistakes. Interesting move. I wonder who authorized that. I happen to be on the Awesomeness Panel and didn’t see anything on the subject come through.

Finally, what of the Kazahki backers of the team? What about those guys? I guess they were the worst part of his season. Unpaid salaries and general malfeasance permeated the season. There was some friction over the direction of the team, it’s image, and who should be on it:

I’m being judged on the results and the international image of the team, not on the image of the team in a godforsaken country such as Kazakhstan.

As a Dutchman reading a quote by a Belgian calling another country godforsaken, I have to ask, isn’t this a bit of a “pot-kettle” situation? Or was that Pot Belge?

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Buck Rogers says:

Oct 18 2012 at 10:05 am

@Chris

@Chris retard, you were supposed to hyper-link this

Great story. I told you all that I never liked Egg Timer. And hell, if Joe Papp follows and contributes to the blog, I REALLY need to start following it myself.
Dan_R says:

Oct 18 2012 at 10:51 am

yes, omerta is alive and well.
wiscot says:

Oct 18 2012 at 10:53 am

@frank

@Buck Rogers

Seemed appropiate to pull this thread back from the dead when I saw it on the bottom of the screen today. Talk about timely!

No shit.

And to nominate another directeur for COTHO status, Patrick Lefevre is up to his usual antics. Last week he said he didn't have the budget for Cavendish; then he sacked Eggtimer for his doping confession and lo and behold, a few days later he has the budget to hire Cavendish.

How convenient. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-confirmed-for-omega-pharma-quickstep

Convenient? Yes. Understandable? Yes. Eggtimer's best days are behind him. Cav has much more to offer that a decent showing in California, which for OPQS isn't as important as wins in Europe.
wiscot says:

Oct 18 2012 at 10:55 am

Just thought of something. Wonder if Taylor Phinney and his Dad were well aware, or had suspicions about the LA gig? He rode for Livestong and it would have been natural to go with the senior squad. Did he know something? Did he refuse to join the "program"? Wonder if we'll ever know . . .
Buck Rogers says:

Oct 18 2012 at 11:32 am

@wiscot

Just thought of something. Wonder if Taylor Phinney and his Dad were well aware, or had suspicions about the LA gig? He rode for Livestong and it would have been natural to go with the senior squad. Did he know something? Did he refuse to join the "program"? Wonder if we'll ever know . . .

I hope that "Junior Wunderkind" is clean. Always have had my doubts about him, more so than any other of the new generation coming up. I actually took it as a good sign that he went to BMC and not the Retirement Shack when he joined the Big Leagues, although with Big George at BMC with him, and his focus more on one day classics, not sure that that was a valid assumption afterall?
wiscot says:

Oct 18 2012 at 1:06 pm

@Buck Rogers

@wiscot

Just thought of something. Wonder if Taylor Phinney and his Dad were well aware, or had suspicions about the LA gig? He rode for Livestong and it would have been natural to go with the senior squad. Did he know something? Did he refuse to join the "program"? Wonder if we'll ever know . . .

I hope that "Junior Wunderkind" is clean. Always have had my doubts about him, more so than any other of the new generation coming up. I actually took it as a good sign that he went to BMC and not the Retirement Shack when he joined the Big Leagues, although with Big George at BMC with him, and his focus more on one day classics, not sure that that was a valid assumption afterall?

I suspect that Big George rode clean at BMC once he was out of the Shack. I think it's also interesting what Wiggins said this year about riding clean. He said he did it not just for himself, but also for his friends and family in that if he was busted for doping, he would be so embarrassed for himself and everyone else, he kept it clean. Basically, he doesn't want the shame associated with being a busted doper. He also doesn't want friends and family to suffer the abuse through association.

COTHO has no shame and now his kids will be the spawn of one of the worst, most nefarious cheaters in the history of sport. Of course, I'm sure he's indoctrinated them to deny what Daddy did too - the only thing is COTHO's denials won't cut much ice on the playground at recess. His kids will go through hell no matter what daddy says for the rest of their lives given the high profile COTHO manufactured.
eightzero says:

Oct 18 2012 at 1:29 pm

@wiscot

@Buck Rogers

@wiscot

Just thought of something. Wonder if Taylor Phinney and his Dad were well aware, or had suspicions about the LA gig? He rode for Livestong and it would have been natural to go with the senior squad. Did he know something? Did he refuse to join the "program"? Wonder if we'll ever know . . .

I hope that "Junior Wunderkind" is clean. Always have had my doubts about him, more so than any other of the new generation coming up. I actually took it as a good sign that he went to BMC and not the Retirement Shack when he joined the Big Leagues, although with Big George at BMC with him, and his focus more on one day classics, not sure that that was a valid assumption afterall?

I suspect that Big George rode clean at BMC once he was out of the Shack. I think it's also interesting what Wiggins said this year about riding clean. He said he did it not just for himself, but also for his friends and family in that if he was busted for doping, he would be so embarrassed for himself and everyone else, he kept it clean. Basically, he doesn't want the shame associated with being a busted doper. He also doesn't want friends and family to suffer the abuse through association.

COTHO has no shame and now his kids will be the spawn of one of the worst, most nefarious cheaters in the history of sport. Of course, I'm sure he's indoctrinated them to deny what Daddy did too - the only thing is COTHO's denials won't cut much ice on the playground at recess. His kids will go through hell no matter what daddy says for the rest of their lives given the high profile COTHO manufactured.

But ya know what...those kids all have trust funds, and the "playgrounds" they are on are full of other Rich people's snotty ass kids that don't have to play by the rules (!) either. Money corrupts all, and it starts at a very young age. They owe their privilege to COTHO/daddy's methods, and they just can't jeopardize that.

I'm sure if I worked a little harder I could get an Evelyn Stevens comment in here too.
niksch says:

Oct 18 2012 at 1:53 pm

@eightzero

I'm sure if I worked a little harder I could get an Evelyn Stevens comment in here too.

I knew you would get a dig in at Stevens as soon as I read "trust funds". Well done. I still like Stevens though, and one cyclocrosser from Boulder that happens to be on her road team.