Johan Bruyneel has revealed how close Lance Armstrong’s comeback this year came to being curtailed after the Texan broke his collarbone in the Vuelta a Castilla y León.
Few know Armstrong better than Bruyneel, who is very much part of the cancer survivor’s inner circle having guided him to seven Tour de France wins between 1999 and 2005 as directeur sportif of the US Postal Service team. The pair hooked up again at Astana this season, and in 2010 Bruyneel will undertake a similar role at Armstrong’s new outfit, Team RadioShack.
In a remarkably candid interview with the Belgian magazine Humo, Bruyneel said that Armstrong came very close to throwing in the towel on his comeback after his accident, and it was only after the Belgian texted the cyclist with one of the Texan’s favourite aphorisms that Armstrong reconsidered, Bruyneel telling him “pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.”
Lance Armstrong had apparently been on the verge of abandoning his comeback, with his hunger to compete having vanished, according to Bruyneel, and no-one in the US managing to convince him otherwise. The Texan went on to finish 12th in the Giro d’Italia and stood third on the Tour de France podium in Paris, won by team-mate Alberto Contador after a fraught three weeks in which the fractures in the Astana team were all too visible.
Bruyneel took the opportunity of the Humo interview to launch a broadside at the Spaniard, saying that Contador was misguided in thinking that his victory in the Tour de France was down to his efforts alone, with little contribution from the Astana team.
He attributed Contador’s view that he effectively won the race with only the support of his mechanic and his brother Fran to the Spaniard getting a bit carried away with his sense of self-importance after his rapid rise through the professional ranks after his Tour de France win in 2007 and victories in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España the following year.
Bruyneel also suggested that the endorsements and money that flowed in afterwards, and his elavation to stardom among the Spanish public, might have gone to his head and coloured his judgment.
The interview also touched upon Bruyneel’s relationship with Frank Vandenbroucke, the troubled Belgian cyclist who died earlier this month at the age of 34. The pair first met in 1989, when the prodigious Vandenbroucke was only 13 years old and already training with the Belgian national team ahead of the World Championships in Chambéry, France.
Bruyneel fondly remembered some of the Belgian team’s riders struggling as they undertook a recce of the main climb of the road race course, with the barely teenaged Vandenbroucke comfortably keeping up at the back of the group.
(Source: road.cc)
Johan is right about alberto…although i’m sure he will do alright at next years tour…i think he will be in for a few unexpected surprises.
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Rich is right. Contador is a good rider but does not understand the team concept. Even the situation was not ideal for him in the tour he screwed many teammates attacking when he did not need to and dropping teammates out of the GC. Armstrong has always divided the prize money also with his teammates when he has won. Not Contodor. It a cliche but there is no I in team and I think Contador will find that out next year and not only from Radio Shack but from but from Saxo bank as well.
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Right, fingerbang will probably be on the podium (not necessarily in Paris, but at the end of various stages) for years to come. And this is not a negative opinion; he will bring out the hunger in other riders, Lance and other contenders.
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Lets see how Contador does without Johan! It is Bruyneel who has been there for all those victories. He is a master. From 99-09 he has won seven with lance and two with contador and he missed one year. Those are good percentages. I can’t wait for this year. Go Andy Schleck.
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Only Eddy Merckx could win the Tour without help!
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I agree, too, with Johan’s assessment of Contador. Whether Contador rides for Astana or another team in the 2010 TDF, I think Radioshack and Lance will give him a run for his money. He could do with a little humple pie…
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Lance’s imperfections make him even more of an inspiration to me. If he were a perfect and fearless idol he would still be awe inspiring but the fact that he has fears and doubts and overcomes them inspires me to overcome mine.
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Just look at the team time trial…without the rest of the Astana squad’s efforts Contador would have been out of contention…just look at what happened to Cadel Evans(30th on GC)…Evans must have known his tour hopes were gone after the TTT because his team was so weak in that discipline…one would think that Cadel would have been very happy to swap teams with Contador…even if just for the TTT…will be very interesting to watch next year…
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Contador is arrogant, but also incredible. To win the individual time trial and be dominant in the mountains was something amazing. Perhaps too amazing. However Cantador achieved it, he was far and away the strongest rider in the tour.
Contador also got caught out on the stage with the strong crosswinds, while Lance was tactically clever enough to know to stay at the front when the road turned towards the coast. Classic battle of experience versus youth. It’s a great battle. I hope Alberto does land on a team strong enough to make it interesting next year. And I hope Lance keeps the motivation high to again reign supreme.
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