Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:13:35 -0400 From: Bianca Pratorius <biankita@earthlink.net> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Merckx ... Armstrong
Merckx is similar to the time in which he rode. Yes it is true that Armstrong has won more TDF, but at the expense of something very important. I feel that Armstrong won by the miracle of corporate control. Teamwork seems different now than before. Corporate headquarters decides who is going to win, and the engines dutifully block from behind while others carry Armstrong up to the front, being careful that no team member accumulates as many points as dear Lance. Technically Lance Beat Merckx's record, but who would you rather have dinner with? Who's picture is on your office wall? Who inspires you? The answer for me is Merckx because he won using a different set of rules (unwritten). Merckx won so many more races because he in effect was working for a living, having to win many different races to piece together a winning athletic persona. Lance peaks just once a year, and perhaps has done it in a way (modern pharmaceuticals) where he actually appears to be older than his mother!!! Lance is an American, but instead of pride, I feel shame... Shame for the kind of world that we have created. Armstrong is a good representative of that world, but I still prefer a time in bicycling history that reaches back to Merckx and the way he looked, and the way his bikes looked, and the way I looked at him when I was young.
Garth Libre in Miami Fl.
What a load of horse-hockey! Teamwork is no different now than it was then. Ditto Sponsorship. Ask Vinokourov how much he lets himself be controlled by others.
What do you think 1960s-1970s TdF riders raced on? Mother's Milk?
Remember Tom Simpson?
Lance's mom looks young because she is (50), and in case you've forgotten, Lance is a brain cancer survivor who is lucky to be alive - you might look a tad aged also if you'd gone through 1/10 of what he has. Or was that cancer thing all a Corporate hoax in your opinion?
Greg Parker Ann Arbor, Michigan (where I admire Merckx way more than Armstrong, but that's not the point...).
P.S. This is OT
(and OT means OFF-Topic)