Last column of the Tour...

Greg LeMond's last column for the Tour 2009 is entitled "Pure talent, or simulated?"

I managed to save now all the columns of last week. If you didn't manage to get them, just let me know, I'll post them here!

Le Monde (the newspaper) mentions that all the money that Greg earned with writing those columns will be donated to 1in6.org.

Who is the greatest champion?

Very nice column by Greg LeMond today in the Le Monde! 

Greg starts by reporting what Lance Armstrong said about last year Tour, qualifying it of a sort of 'joke' and questioning how someone like Christian Van de Velde could finish 5th of the Tour. Armstrong recently (and only very recently...) apologized for his words. 

Greg also reminds us that Armstrong also criticized ASO chief Patrice Clerc for how he handled the Tour since he, Armstrong, retired: more positive doping tests.... which is a sign, for Armstrong, that things were going better before he retired. It's actually just a sign that controls have become more efficient. 

Greg then asks: Did Armstrong see the link between Van de Velde finishing 5th and this anti-doping stronger policy led by Clerc? Did he wonder whether it could be that this 5th position is the logical result of removing strongly doped riders from the field? Maybe Van de Velde finished 5th because that's where his natural talent can put him, and he could never express this talent in the middle of totally doped riders...

The last sentence of the column is simple: "Wouldn't the audience and people loving cycling like to know who is the greatest champion, even if his name is so far less known?"

The Greatest Tour of All

For once today, the first post is not Greg's column in the newspaper Le Monde, but an article in Procycling, where Greg talks about the spring of 1989 and how the last TT in the Giro changed all for him that year. 

Here it is: The greatest Tour of all.

A business where the unacceptable is accepted

Greg LeMond in his column shows his disgust about the possibility of legalizing PEDs, and his anger towards team directors who disregard riders' health as long as they can make money.

Throw away the radios!

Greg's opinion about radios...

"Drugs and radios make riders become robots"

Let the riders' talent and intelligence speak for themselves. 

Advice to Contador

In his column in Le Monde today, Greg LeMond explains how complicated the situation is for Alberto Contador, and that Armstrong is probably in a better place to win the Tour.

In either case, that would be a very dubious winner in my mind... 

Break the omerta

"Briser l'omerta". The title says it all. In his column, Greg LeMond recalls that cycling won't get clean if nobody listens to the riders who either denounce what they witness as far as doping goes or admits to doping and explain how they got PEDs. 

Mabuse, Conconi, Ferrari... in jail!

Greg LeMond's column today points out that riders are lab rats for unethical doctors such as Ferrari and Conconi, who don't care about riders' health... and those guys should be the ones going to jail.

The year the EPO changed cycling

Today's column written by Greg LeMond in Le Monde is entitled "L'année où l'EPO a changé le vélo". 

1991... the beginning of the end, not only for Greg, but also for other great riders of that time, and for us, spectators. Instead of watching humans riding back, with their good days and bad days, with surprises and drama, we had then, and still have, to deal with robots, who kill competition quickly. They are not writing the history of the Tour de France, they are just adding victories to a list. 

Life in yellow

Greg's piece in Le Monde today is about the yellow jersey, how his first race bike and jersey as a kid were yellow, and how the infamous "maillot jaune" can make you fly... or break you.

Laurent, my friend

Greg's Monday article in the newspaper Le Monde is about Laurent Fignon, and is entitled  "Laurent, mon ami".

I found it a very moving piece, because Greg clearly shows that he considers Laurent Fignon as a real friend, even though Fignon wasn't exactly nice towards him in his autobiography, which was just published, and also shows he is affected by Fignon's illness. 

I love how Greg doesn't try to answer Fignon's attacks but only shows his positive feelings towards him. High road always... 

LeMond as a journalist for Le Monde

I'm really sorry that it's been so so long since my last post. The summer time finally gives me a bit more free time, and with the Tour de France starting now, it's good timing! 

For a starter, Greg was invited as a speaker at the conference "Play the Game" and you can see the video here.

There was also a very extensive and nice interview in the Irish Times on June 27th.

And... last but not least, and for people reading French, Greg is now a journalist for the french newspaper "Le Monde".

I'm really happy that this newspaper gives him this important spot to express his ideas! 

FredCast interviews Greg LeMond

David Bernstein (FredCast) posted a long interview with Greg LeMond about why he sat front row at LA's press conference at Interbike and explaining more what he asked there, and his ideas to be able to detect autologuous blood transfusion for instance, his views on pro cycling right now...

Really nice complete interview, highly recommended ;-)!

FredCast has the audio of the press conference

Wow... two posts on the same day. That's a first for me.

You can listen to the press conference there: http://www.thefredcast.com/

Big thanks to David ‘Fredcast‘ Bernstein for putting that online!

Interbike

Cyclingnews has a quite complete report about the press conference made by Lance Armstrong and in which Greg LeMond questioned the anti-doping program that will be led by Don Catlin, a UCLA specialist about doping tests and who helped uncover the BALCO scandal, to ensure that Armstrong is clean.

Don Catlin will be paid by team Astana, to perform "independent" (add sarcastic laugh here...) testing on Armstrong. As was pointed out by LeMond in this press conference, Catlin will conduct tests concerning steroids and EPO use, but no measurements of Armstrong VO2max, power outputs... or anything else that might help uncover blood doping. Talk about transparency...

Photos of the press conference are here.


And this is the article from VeloNews about this conference:

Armstrong press conference turns tense
By Neal Rogers
Posted Sep. 25, 2008

A scheduled Lance Armstrong press conference at the Interbike cycling trade show in Las Vegas turned tense Thursday morning when three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond questioned his plan to disclose his blood and urine values during Armstrong’s 2009 comeback season.

Armstrong announced Wednesday in New York City that he is working closely with Don Catlin, who formerly ran UCLA’s World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory. In an attempt at full transparency, Catlin will post Armstrong’s biomarkers online for the sports community to see.

LeMond, who has been at odds with Armstrong for years going back to the Texan’s relationship with controversial Italian doctor Michele Ferrari, sat in the front row and was granted the first question by Armstrong.

LeMond immediately brought Catlin’s methods into question, claiming that VO2 max, oxygen intake and power output can be used as indicators of whether a rider has used illicit performance-enhancing methods.

Catlin, whose background is in laboratory testing for banned substances, answered LeMond by saying, “that’s not my area of expertise.”

LeMond told Catlin and Armstrong that it might not be Catlin’s area of expertise, but it is an area that Australian researcher Michael Ashenden has studied.

Armstrong, who was joined on the podium by Catlin and American teenage cycling phenom Taylor Phinney, then interjected, telling LeMond, “We are here to talk about a few things — the global cancer campaign, my comeback to cycling… I appreciate your being here, but it’s time for everyone here to move on.”

Lemond replied, “So the whole history has just been passed over?”

Armstrong then moved on to the next question.

LeMond drew a similar line of questioning later in the press conference, and after several minutes Armstrong quipped, “Greg, I almost feel like we should have a fourth chair up here” before cutting LeMond off and again taking other questions.

Little update...

Bikeradar.com has a nice little article about Greg here, with a few pictures.

It finishes with this:

Whatever the outcome of the legal wrangling with Trek, it's apparent Greg LeMond loves the same thing we do: endless ribbons of pavement on which to ride, a clear 75-degree day, and the company of fellow cyclists to remind us why cycling will always matter.

With Armstrong coming back next year (makes me nauseous to just write it... ), it's nice to get little reminders on the positive aspects of cycling.

And about LA coming back, it's reported here and there that there has been a little tense moment this morning at the Interbike 2008 in Las Vegas, to which Greg LeMond participates with LeMond Fitness, when Greg asked a question about doping to Lance Armstrong during a conference the latter was holding. There's no report yet about what was actually said, but I'll try to keep us informed ;-).

25 years ago today...

September 4th, 1983: Greg LeMond won his first World Championships in Altenrhein, Switzerland (Elite men's road race... We know he got a gold medal and more at the Junior ones in 1979).

The Bobke Strut blog has a great post about his win, with a lot of material, links and pictures, that I had never seen before. I highly recommend a visit there!

A few video interviews

I put up some videos of an interview that Greg LeMond did when he was visiting the Tour de France 2008 on my youtube account:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The videos are from this site and can be seen there too. My purpose for copying them on youtube is just to make the interview easier to find and have the three parts close together.

Well, actually, the main reason is so that we are able to watch the interview without having to endure the horrendous Trek commercial that precedes each part of it ;-) ...

LeMond and Fignon riding today's TT together

Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon rode the time-trial Cholet-Cholet (stage 4) of the Tour de France this morning. It's great to see them getting along so well, after also having seen them being interviewed side by side last year on the Tour (video is here ;-)). It was said on French television that they did the TT in about 45 min (so 'just' 10 min more than the stage winner today, and only 2 min more than the last... not bad at all!)

I hope there'll be videos or pictures available somewhere.

As other news, several articles (for instance that one) mention that Greg's favorite for the Tour is Cadel Evans.



And I'm editing this post to add that I just found this video interview of Greg on Versus. Several things to comment on in what he said. I hope to have more time later to come back on it ;-).








And edited again, to add this other video on Versus. Nice one ;-)

Greg on the Tour in Brittanny

As I said before, there are right now quite some news about Greg and I have a hard time to catch up here. Right now I have time just to indicate the latest news. Sorry about that...

And the latest news is the following: Greg LeMond was on the Tour de France today, for the 2nd stage (Auray - St Brieuc) and shared his will to participate in the anti-doping fight and in the changes that are needed to clean cycling. He gave interviews that are reported in many media sources. Here's a link to the most complete interview, as far as I can tell... One of the main points he made is that cycling does not need UCI anymore. Here's the quote:

"The UCI is just there to stamp licenses and make the regulations. The solution for cycling is very simple: organizers and riders should create their own federation and take over the sport"

I couldn't agree more ;-).

He was invited by his former teammate Eric Boyer to follow the stage, and Greg could be seen briefly on French television, beside Bernard Hinault in an interview conducted after the stage.

Here is also a video of one of the interviews Greg did this morning in Auray.
It is also indicated in the media that Greg drew big crowds around him and was asked for many autographs. His presence on the Tour didn't go unnoticed, and that's good news...