From: ccsdhd@gdt.bath.ac.uk (Dennis Davis)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles
Subject: Re: LEMOND - No More!
Date: 22 Jul 92 13:36:47 GMT
Organization: Bath University Computing Services, UK

In article <h9dmzml@lynx.unm.edu> sery@crunch.unm.edu (sery) writes:
>In article <1992Jul20.101051.7656@vax.oxford.ac.uk> ftgcdj@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
>>Well, Greg Lemond has quit the Tour, and I for one will not miss him. I was
>>getting a bit fed up with all his whinging about not feeling to good on one
>>day, then saying he felt great the next (the day he and Chiapucci stole just
>>over a minute). You don't here people like Roche or Chiapucci complaining.
>>
>> [stuff deleted]
>>
>I will miss him.  I don't think it's whining when you say you're tired when
>you are asked how you feel.  What's he supposed to say?!?  The TdF is an
>INCREDIBLY HARD race.  I'm continually amazed that humans are able to finish
>it much less excel day after day.  I wish him better luck next year.
>
> [stuff deleted]

Well I wouldn't consider Greg LeMond to be whinging either.  If
anything, I'd put it down to possible cultural differences.  Greg has
been telling people how he feels when they have been asking him.
This often isn't the reply expected by the the British Standard
Englishman.  (That's BSE for short.  And no, it isn't the same as
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy the mad cow disease.  Even if they
may appear outwardly similar.)  Often the question is purely
rhetorical.  You answer 'Fine', or some approximation thereof, and
pass on to discussing more important matters such as the weather.  If
you make a habit of telling people how you actually feel, then you
may find them avoiding you in the future.  This is sometimes a useful
ploy for getting rid of people you don't like, much better than a
leper's bell around your neck.

Certainly Greg has been interviewed a lot.  This is quite
understandable.  He is very open with the press and the only listed
English-speaking favourite for overall victory.  You would expect him
to be interviewed a lot.  The troubles of others I've seen
interviewed -- Alan Peiper etc -- haven't been discussed.  This is
hardly surprising, they aren't in overall contention.  In the early
stages Stephen Roche was interviewed a few times.  He mentioned a few
times that his back trouble might hamper him.  I wouldn't accept this
as whinging either, just being realistic.  Of course Stephen was very
happy when they interviewed him yesterday after his superb lone win
of Stage 16 at La Bourboule.

As has been said, the Tour is an incredibly hard race.  They are
heading for a record average speed in this year's Tour.  Three
expected finishing times are given for each stage, apart from the
time trials.  Obviously the times take different weather conditions
into consideration.  When Greg finished about 50 minutes down on the
stage before he retired, he was still inside the fastest time
estimate for the stage.  You go figure.

I gather that there is a distinct possibility that both Greg LeMond
and Stephen Roche will be riding the Kellogg's Tour of Britain in
early August.  I certainly hope that the original poster doesn't let
the presence of Greg stop him from watching the TV coverage of the
Kellogg's.  We've just got to keep the viewing figures up so Channel
4 keeps screening the stuff, and preferably more of it.  With any
luck both Greg and Stephen will be riding the Wincanton Classic as
well.
-- 
Dennis Davis, BUCS, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
D.H.Davis@bath.ac.uk     ...!uunet!mcsun!ukc!gdr!D.H.Davis
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles